New Plot Going Wild

 9th May 2022 - Tomatoes in, potatoes buried, new plot going wild…

Locking up after another day at the “Haven”. The Mint herbs are coming back in all their varieties. The Purple Sprouting Broccoli is starting to produce… definitely a lot of foliage these days!

In picture two you can see the growth in the grass… only a couple of days and looks like we managed some good coverage with the seeds by hand. The tomatoes and now in the ground too!

The days are drawing out nicely now: 6:40pm and probably another 2 hours of sunlight. In this picture a better look at the tomatoes… They look a bit lost at the moment but that is always the way, and then you find you’ve got them too close together. We have too many tomato plants again. I hope we have better fortune this year. Last year they got blight quite early on before we got many tomatoes. This year with a good summer, and earlier in the ground, hopefully we can avoid this nuisance, or maybe we have to get a blight resistant variety.

Now you see them, and then you don’t. Buried once more as they pop their heads above the soil, potatoes grow damn quick when you are trying to keep them covered. We are creating a gaping hole next door as we remove the topsoil for this purpose.

Over on plot 2, wildness is starting to take hold. As we have not as yet cultivated or planned the plot, nature is forming its own ideas about how things should be. The strimmer is called for soon, and at some point digging will be needed to put our plants we have been growing… 

Now we have got this extra plot, a whole new set of jobs begin to raise their heads. We’re not complaining, but, we feel like once again we are chasing our tails as we did in the first year. We are very pleased though that as we undertake this new plot we have a compost heap, a fire place, and a place to take a break and have a cuppa… we really appreciate what we have already in place.

Herb Box and Tomatoes Going In!

 7th May 2022 - Herb Box and It’s all coming to life!

The plan was always to have two boxes on top of these rails at the front of the plot. So far during an interlude in other projects, one has been organised. Chris took a different stance to building this box and instantly regretted it. Should have used 4 stakes, one in each corner to pull everything together as he had done elsewhere… so this box once full of soil has started to bulge a bit and might need a bit of additional support at some point.

There is a single marigold in that seedling tray, propped on the painters' ladders. Plenty of these have already been digested by slugs… but also an error harvesting the seeds from last year meant we have struggled in the germination phase… plan B is now called for.

Elsewhere, we don’t appear to be getting any carrots coming through on the taller raised bed, and parsnips seem to be a bit difficult again this year… might need a second or third sowing. The Asparagus in the corner of the square section appears to have taken. 

5-pallet-section high now on the potato structure. The potatoes are beginning to show themselves which means we have to keep covering them with soil. This is no mean feat as it is 4 x 1 metres and each section is 6-8cm high. The soil also needs digging and sifting from the new plot which is hard work too!

Check out the grass! We can certainly can see the growth now! This will be left for at least 1 month start to finish with the first cut somewhere in the 6 week region.

Here we go in the last picture, Desi is preparing for the tomato planting exercise. We have checked the weather and looks like we have positive numbers for the next 12 days and then we are perilously close the the date where we pretty much never have frosts. End of May. So we’re going for it!

Fireplace Sorted and the “Haven” Coming to Life

 4th May 2022 - Fireplace Sorted and the “Haven” Coming to Life

It is nice to see the “Haven” with greenery again. Yes we still had some brassicas growing from last year but in the main the whole plot was looking a bit sorry for itself from December without anything properly drying out.

The winter salad stuff has had it, as it is now going to seed with the yellow flowers in the foreground of the first picture. The herbs, bottom left (chives, oregano), mints, are doing well too. The pallets have been moved as there is a big space now on the lower plot, and check out the Purple Sprouting, which is doing very well now.

The Fireplace / BBQ has been emptied and rebuilt. The firewood has been sorted, and we have implemented some kind of fire guard to prevent the netting from being destroyed by hot air/flying ashes. You can see how the netting has already fallen to the hot ash problem, we will monitor and correct as necessary.

Over on the other side of the plot. We still have a couple of brussels to clear and pull up, plus some kale, which to be honest needs removing as we’re not really eating it now. We have learnt a few lessons about growing what we like eating. If you’re not keen on it, best not to grow it.

Looking down the recently seeded grass path, there is now a green tinge to it. We couldn’t see anything growing for a while, then there was this green tinge and grass everywhere. So pleased that this has been a success, neither of us have really sown a lawn before and it will make a change to have some decent grass rather than the couch grass that we inherited.

Looking up the central path, the wood chip is providing a functional (dry to walk on) path and beyond it you can see we still have to complete the area in front of the polytunnel… that is an imminent smallish task once the concrete slabs are put in position.

In the polytunnel we are keeping the wood ash from the fire. This contains potassium and is good to put on the soil during winter, not now, so storing it for later.

Looking through the gap between the polytunnel and the compost bins we can see in the foreground that the Jerusalem Artichokes are doing amazingly well after their relocation and the broad beans beyond them continue to grow nicely. We have now placed a lot of yoghurt pots on the shelf between the polytunnel and the broad beans. Desi has sown radish in these… we’ll see how they get on.

At the front, a close up shot of a wild primrose, sweet peas, grape hyacinth and a blackberry that we hope will grow here… those other green stalks might be daffodil’s but too late to flower now.

In the last picture, I think these are early signs / shoots of a clematis that we planted last year as a cutting from the one in my sister's garden. Hopefully it will make it… we watch with interest on this. It really didn’t do anything last year so we’ll see.

New Plot Activity and Potatoes

 2nd May 2022, New Plot Activity and Potatoes

Into May we go. This Horseradish grows quickly! We also have a few Primroses growing in this front section, they are perennial. Along the back we have now planted the sweet peas. I hope we are not too early and that they don’t get whacked by any frost!

On the new plot, the soil "stealing" continues. This soil is very light and crumbly, this must be because it was dug over earlier in the year and been broken up by the weather. We’re collecting stones again here for around the cold frame and compost bins.

Good that we have the strimmer, there aren't any flat bits around here, lumps and bumps everywhere. It is going to take us a while to dig this up and prepare for planting, we hope we have enough time for this year! Reminds us of last year trying to get everything ready to plant and chasing our tail… here we go again… Desi has been trying to get up the worst of the brambles dug up which are running amok on this plot, but they go everywhere. The problem is that they were planted around the gooseberries and left unattended by the looks of it.

Check out the white front door laying down there. We will use this as another cold frame like the one which I built by the polytunnel, however this one will be less deep and comes with the door which will open upwards and can be propped up when the weather warms up.

Here is a view of the top of the new plot from half way down. Checkout the plot opposite our other plot. The chickens and rubbish have gone which is great and it has been allocated to an old acquaintance that I know from Networking days, Audrey Mitchell.

As we are taking this soil from here, I’m not sure how we are going to replace it… we shall see. We need to start formulating a plan (maybe) for the new plot, or at least a rough outline to guide us.

The potato structure is growing, now 3 slats high. I have prepared enough for 6 and with a few pallets left, I could extend to 8. However getting enough soil will be the problem in the end.

In the last picture, a plot overview. The Purple Sprouting Broccoli seems to be growing nicely now, as are the onions all under the white netting behind the fire. We’re quite keen to wrap things up on this plot and get on with the new one. There is much more to do over there, and so until the planting, we only have a few small jobs to do here.

Just a Few Tidying Up Jobs Left Now…

 30th April 2022, Just a few tidying up jobs left now…

Here we are at the end of the second month of spring, and the last bits of bark have now fallen off these two stumps we purloined well over a year ago. We rescued them from the communal area where the wood chip is stored for everyone's use. I thought one of them might be used as a kind of a chair, the other one, heavy enough, to hold things down perhaps. Anyhow, the bark fell off due to the weather, and we have now used some wood preserver on them, and they look really nice, well, we think so!

Inside the polytunnel we now have a convenient shelf all around which is serving as a nice ledge on which to “grow on” tomato plants (and other things). Last year there were weeds all around the edges of the polytunnel, so this year it’s very nice to know that we have dealt with all that. Things will be growing where they are supposed to be growing!

Plants are also doing well in the cold frame. As we have a heater for in here, it is suitable for both germination and growing of the established plants.

The grass is now starting to grow which means regular cutting soon. The grass seeds are also beginning to germinate although difficult to see until things start to look green. There are a few jobs still to do (not big ones): rebuild the fire, using a slightly larger concrete slab for the base, wood chip for covering and final groundworks around the door of the polytunnel, a wood surround to hide the water pipe in the middle of the allotment and finding a home for these pallets, off the plot where we intend to grow the brassicas this year.

While I am doing the above in a few weeks time, Desi will be planting out the tomatoes and other plants that are ready to go out.

Under the net there we have a few Brassicas from last year, brussels, and Kale. The leeks got infected by some fly, which basically renders them inedible… but the scent here is wonderful. We are leaving the leeks in for seeds.

This fire is a bit of a mess at the moment: I need to empty the ash and put it on the ground somewhere and then rebuild the fire. We still have a lot of wood to burn. You can see the bark from those two stumps behind there.

Inside the polytunnel is a very handy place to put the tools we leave at the allotment. This little corner provides a very handy place to store a lot of things we use each day, without taking up a lot of room. We also have a work surface to put some plants that will be going out soon. We have Lobelia there and courgettes maybe? We’re both looking forward to the planting out exercise, and while Desi does that, I (Chris) will start on the second allotment project, a lot to do there as well… 

Polytunnel Done - Tick!

 28/29th April 2022, Polytunnel Done - Tick!

Final couple of days to get the polytunnel finally off the “to-do list”. The last raised bed is now at an advanced stage. We are going to put some cucumbers in here, we think, a nice sunny spot, next to the water tap, what is not to like! The back wall has been assembled in this first picture. Check out also the cable being used to hold the door open! Ever since we have had the polytunnel standing we have been finding things to hold the door open, now finally it can be tied open properly.

Wahey, it is done. To be honest, Chris he's had enough of making raised beds. This one resembles a box with the lid open, but don’t be fooled, it is a raised bed, no moving parts…😉 We’ve just got to pop some soil in there now. This seals the side of the polytunnel to the tall raised bed round the corner, and it is an additional rat prevention strategy.

Notice in the next picture the terrace table top is secured against this part of the polytunnel, on the inside, fastened with stretchy hooks. The other flat table top is at the back behind the work table… These things were not part of the plans, we just spotted a way to store them like this which saves space and keeps them dry too! These things have often happened, finding additional benefits that were never part of the original "plans". It has happened too often now to be just luck!

The new plot is entering its working life as being a source of topsoil for the original plot. Here another hole is emerging as the soil is borrowed for another purpose. Can you guess what that other need for extra soil might be? (read on to find out).

The piles of weeds are from the gooseberry bush clearance exercise. I will be relocating these piles to the fireplace when they have dried out sufficiently. Then preparing this plot for planting at some point. We have a feeling we'll be chasing our tails again this year with too many plants and not enough space to put them all out, we’ll see, but it's a nice problem to have… 

The potato structure is being topped up with soil from the other plot now, as we have exhausted our “piles” on the main plot… we have to keep covering these potatoes as they grow very quickly.

Polytunnel Final Push

 27th April 2022, Polytunnel Final Push

We are homing in on the completion of the polytunnel. Having sorted the back of the polytunnel (a major undertaking) we are now left with just sorting the inside and the front entrance section.

In the first picture, a useful piece of thick and tallish wood, similar to that used for levelling the beds, appeared which was dead handy as both a step and to provide a solid anchor point to assemble the rest of this front area.

In the next picture, this is the last section which needs a raised bed. The other side of the door has to enable the door to open and close so it just needs to be secured over there. Here however, we need a final wall and that needs to be attached to something outside the polytunnel, and the frame also needs securing here too.

A progress update on the gooseberries that we are recovering. Having thinned them out, we can actually see what we have. These were buried in rubbish and overgrown. We have no idea how they will fruit, but it will be interesting to see.

Back to the polytunnel. The inside wall has been constructed and we can see that next, here, the beginning of the back of the last polytunnel raised bed is beginning to emerge, on the right hand side.

Inside the polytunnel once more, as the wall is complete, the soil has been put back and a ledge installed, for what yet- we don’t know. On the other side there is still a bit more work to be done, but we are getting there too!

Meanwhile, in front of the terrace, grass seeds have been sown, and the whole area cordoned off so that we give the grass the best chance of getting a decent root system, before it gets too hot and dry.