Sunday 18 September 2016

Goodbye Summer!

Although the weather is still pretty great, the day's are getting noticeably shorter and the mornings are dark enough to switch a light on when the alarm sounds. The plot is definately showing signs that summer is out and Autumn is almost upon us.
The squashes and pumpkins are beautiful rich colours and will be harvested by the end of the month. I am sure we have harvested the last of the sweetcorn and what is left on the dwarf fench beans will be left to dry out before I  harvested them for next years seeds.
There is a shift from growing and planting out to clearing the beds of spent crops. We will now be focusing on becoming a 'no dig' plot. The main part of this method is to feed the soil. Meaning now is the time to start mulching with beds with organic matter such as compost or manure (or both). We do not make anywhere near enough compost for this and the manure I collected earlier in the year won't really be usable yet! I have worked out an estimated cost of buying in compost and believe it is managable, especially as we should need less as the years go by. When we spotted Wilkinson selling off all their compost for £1 a bag this week we didn't even hesitate to fill the car boot.... 600l for £12 not even a dent in the amount we need overall really but fab all the same.
So I made a start covering a couple of the beds I had cleared. I also decided to cover a patch of perennial weeds that we hadn't yet sorted out. It had actually become the place we put down a picnic rug for the children, like a really ugly lawn haha. It is mainly dandelions but also bindweed and marestail. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to really test out the no dig on a piece of ground that hadn't been cleared of weeds through digging. So I covered it with a layer of compost about 3inches thick, then layed a thick black plastic sheeting on top and weighted it down with wood. I figured it will be a good test to see how long it takes for the weeds to completly die and how much difference the compost will make to the soul conditions.
If it is succesfull it will become part of the large strawberry patch I have been dreaming of since we signed the lease! One of our older plot neighbours has informed me that he had been talking about my 'funny idea' with some of the other allotmenters and they are all interested to see if it will work- no pressure then! I just hope it doesn't all blow away in the next few months.....
As this is our first year on the allotment it is all new and a huge learning curve, however I wasn't expecting to feel sad at the thought of the summer finishing, and I left the plot, feeling a bit lost. I have since made a loose plan for the next few month and am looking foward to the different jobs on my to do list.
Autumn has always been my favourIte time of year, being able to enjoy it at the allotment can only make it that much more wonderful can't it?

Tuesday 23 August 2016

Sweetcorn

One of the jobs that has been on my to do list for a while was re-covering the ground inside the fruit cage. This job was initially done a tad hastily by the husband, and  as a result about a foot all around had become uncovered, meaning all the weeds were still growing. In fact it had become a jungle of bind weed and I found myself avoiding looking in the end. I'm not sure why I had put the job off as long as I did, it only took half hour and the whole plot looks so much better for it!
After a bit of weeding I also planted out some betroot and chicory, ready for winter. I am losing so many plants to the pesky slugs, I really hope they are still there next week. I am still not using any form of slug control but I have found myself looking at organic pellets more and more. I have decided to move forward with the plot using the no-dig method. ( Google Charles Dowding if you have never heard of it, it sounds amazing) in theory it should balance out the pests eventually but it will take time,  so I have to decide whether it is worth waiting and possibly losing more baby plants or not!
Two of the courgette plants have stopped producing so out they come today. I almost felt reloeved as dealing with the glut this year hasbeen a challenge haha. Ithink one or two plants will be plenty next year. It looks sad to see such a big empty gap, but I reminded myself that it is space for the winter crops. I plan to grow chicory, beets, chard, endive, sorrel, lambs lettuce, field beans and garlic as well as winter brassicas,  so if it all goes well the plot won't have empty space for long.
The harvest have been getting more and more exciting and today was no exception. I harvested our first ever, home grown sweetcorn! Managed to get it home and on the plate within an hour and it has been the best tasting hrvest so far. It is a thousand times nicer than anything I have ever bought and I cannot wait to pick more.

Sunday 7 August 2016

Plot 28a

A plan is made and digging has comenced! The plan for this side is for the front section to be the veg patch, with 6 4ftx10ft veg beds to fall into the crop rotation, then a herb bed, currant bushes and apple tree down one side, and the odd perenial veg dotted about. Then a fruit cage homing raspberry canes and blue berry bushes, leaving the back section of the plot for a lower maintanace ochard ( 4 trained fruit trees) a rhuburb and asparagus bed and a carrot patch!
So far I have most of the front section dug over and the fruit cage is under repair, fingers crossed we have it all ready by spring 2017!

Update

It has been another month of digging, planning and a little bit of harvesting too! In fact in July we brought home £52.86 worth of fruit and veg comparing to Asda prices, not to shabby for our first ever July on the plot.
Unfortunately we lost all of the tomato plants to blight, even though there was a fantastic fruit crop I had to bin the lot as they were effected so badly! I have started looking at blight resistant varieties for next year, as well as early fruiters, in the hope to grow enough next year to make some great tomato sauce at least!
Luckily our plants at home are still growing strong, and my little boy is picking a few to munch every day.
As I have been a little terrible at blogging, here are some pics from July instead!

Wednesday 22 June 2016

Digging

3 hours of child free allotment time meant one thing today, digging, digging and more digging! I love having the children with me at the allotment but find myself limited to tasks such as weeding, planting and occasionally seed sowing, as you can imagine they also only stay tolerant for around 1.5hrs before we come home again, so when they are otherwise engaged, I have to make the most of it. I normally manage a 3 hour childfree afternoon every week. It is never quite enough time to tick many jobs off of the 'to do' list but I really relish every moment.
We still had 2 veg beds to dig on plot B, both 4ft x 10ft before we can really start digging over on plot A.
We seem to have fallen into a routine with the bed digging: We start with a first dig, turning over the soil/ grass whilst removing any trace of perennial weeds, then a week or so later a 2nd dig takes place, to break up the large clumps, and double check for perennial roots.   We usually end up digging it over a few more times before it is ready for planting or sowing, depending on whats going in them.
Today was all about the first dig, here is a before and after picture(see below). As you can see 2 hours doesn't get you far! But there is only about 5ft left to go haha! The most time consuming part of the job is getting out those weeds. Our plot suffers mainly with 4 perrenial weeds,
*Dandelion, competes for nutrients and water, and spreads a gazillion seeds (epecially appealing to small children) they are not too hard to deal with but the tap root often goes deep and it will re grow if you leave even a small bit behind. They seem to grow into entire seeding plants overnight!
*Mares tale, the roots go really, really deep and snap really, really easily, they don't really compete for nutrients but they do get in the way, taking up space when they open up like little ugly Christmas trees.
*Bind weed, although it is a pretty plant, it strangles everything else! It grows and spreads like crazy. It has long, deep roots that spread, again it will re grow if a tiny bit of root is left behind.
*Creeping buttercup, spreads like crazy, the roots spread underground and there are lots of root on one plant (seriously google it!) they don't root too deeply, but are a real pain to dig out, they also grow back if a bit of root remains, can you see the common theme here? Sigh!
They are all a big pain in the bum, but I figure that if we get out as much as possible now, we will have to deal with them less and less each season,  you can see from the picture that I managed to fill half a big trug just with these weeds today, mainly the roots, just in this small patch, so you can imagine how much of the things we have already had to deal with, and how many of them are waiting for us on plot a!!!

Friday 17 June 2016

Rain, Rain go away!!!

The rain this week has definately been welcome in the respect that the plants have loved it, trouble is, so have the weeds! I managed to sneak to the plot for a much needed, baby free 4 hours yesterday and ended up spending 3 of those hours weeding. It is a good chance to spend time observing the plants and seedlings a little more up close and personal though isn't it? I spotted some baby butternut squashes and a baby cucumber, as well as realising that a few pumkins plants needed securing onto the arch they are growing over.
Our strawberrys are not doing great. We were given enough runners from a fellow plotter to fill a 6ft x 6ft bed but we have lost about half of them. We just didn't get a chance to water them enough while they established and we had some really hot days at the time. But whilst on my epic weeding session I saw that most of the survivors are sending out lots of runners so we can replace the dead ones with those.
I also spotted a row of snow peas germinating. I had sowed some Dellikett peas directly in April,  each and every one of the things failed! I ended up sowing them again in modules and transferring them to the plot last week. It is such a relief to see success with some direct sowings. Now we have more space I am planning for bumper pea crops next season and really didn't  fancy doing all the sowings in modules.
I did leave wishing I had time to dig another bed or 2 but hey ho it is working progress.
We have plans to take the four children to the plot for a few hours tomorrow. A neighbour spotted that we had given them each a bed of their own and kindly brought two big planters with a treasure trove of plants for them to pkat, what a lovely gesture! There is tomato plants, sweet peas, sunflowers, poppies and nasturtiums. The children are so excited to get planting! They have also sown their own seeds in pots at home so we are keeping our fingers crossed that they grow, if they do maye they can have a post if their own.
But for now I am going to get back to new new kindle purchases, 'Veg Journal' and 'How to grow winter veg' both by Charles Dowding, I am really liking the no dig idea......

Monday 13 June 2016

A Re-think

When we planned Plot 28B we had no idea we would end up with next door. So this is the area we came up with outside the shed door,  a row of composting bins, followed by a 1ft flower bed, followed by a small seating area. To create the seating area we put weed guard down first the chucked stones on top. 

It wasn't quite what we wanted, for a start, munching lunch right next to stinky compost bins would never have been ideal, and I had dreamt of lots of cottage garden flowers as well as cutting flowers and various bulbs. Unfortunately space was at a premium so no more than a row of flowers would have to do. Once we took on the extra plot however, we were no longer as limited for space for anything! All the ideas I had shelved could now be a possibility and I spent a few days re-planning and drew up a new plan for both plots. That included a change around of this area.

Today's job was to move 2 full compost bins, as well as two empty ones to the other plot, after levelling off an area and weed guarding it first. Of course nothing can ever go completely smoothly, and I spend about 2 hours digging out a bucket full of broken glass! Once the bins were in place I then had the joyous task of moving lots of half composted compost, complete with angry ants and plenty of other crawlies. I also added 9 bags of fresh pony manure to the end bin. I saved a space for a husband project on the end, so keep a look out for a post in the future.
This means we can extend our seating area, and have a bigger flower bed. Finishing this should
be one of our next jobs I think!
It wasn't all about the icky jobs today though, I went home soaked with hours of rain and sweat, exhausted, with aching muscles, but with this trug full of beauties, to make it all worth while!

The Broad Beans were kindly gifted to us from a lottie neighbour.