22nd May 2022 - Neighbours and Innovations
In the first two pictures we have created an extension for the cold frame. Sometimes you can leave the lid off with the weather being good and it saves hoisting it up and down. This little addition saves us traipsing down early in the morning, as it is getting hot in this “cold” frame now.
The good weather is bringing the neighbours out. The kids are being introduced to the wonders of watering and the challenges of an allotment and growing food.
In the third picture it looks like the allotment that had the fire is finally being cleared, and maybe the neighbour next door is giving up her allotment as the vegetation is beginning to get out of hand. Once you leave it a couple of months things begin to get on top of you.
It has been pretty dry weather-wise and consequently plants are needing to be watered. We have an issue now that we have plants that should be going in the ground but we haven’t cleared or created the space as yet… time is getting tight.
Tomatoes have been planted in the polytunnel, finally… and there is enough space this year to get quite a few peppers in there and the aubergines as well, although we are late with them, again. We didn’t have huge success with aubergines last year, they seemed to get some disease or other (mould) which then stunted their growth / fruit production.
Lots of seedlings in the polytunnel and in the cold frame too…
The plot is filling up… we have the table out properly today too. When we get a chance to have long days at the allotment, we are starting to make a day of it down here and enjoy lunch on the terrace. This time last year we were still sitting in makeshift rest areas… These days we are very grateful!
In the last picture everything in the front of the allotment is starting to grow nicely… And you can see at the top of the rear of the polytunnel the extended shelf we have built that will enable us to grow salad leaves and seedlings out of harm's way, making more use of the structures we have created.
