Finally, I'm done with the stupid potato patch. There better be some darn fine potatoes coming out of that thing. I'm in two minds about carrying on further towards the shed. The soil is getting thinner and it's very shady, so probably not that productive. I'll need a small patch for my Jerusalem artichokes, whenever they arrive, and one for one lot of sweetcorn, since I don't want the Red Strawberry cross pollinating with the Applause F1, but I'll probably leave it at that for this year. Looking at my patch, I'm pretty proud of what I've achieved. Before and after photos to follow.
At the moment I'm back down at the other end, clearing the last of the nettles from under the apple tree. I was going to sow the whole area with wild flower seeds, but I think I'll use part of it for courgettes or squash. I need to be careful - there are a lot of budding leaves, and it's very easy to knock them off. The birds have cut back on the amount of seed they're eating, although they're still pecking away at the fat balls.
There's lots of space between the fruit bushes too, and they won't grow that big this year, so I may use that space for salad crops and suchlike. There's so much stuff I need to get started, at least now the digging is mostly done.
An awkward social situation - my fat, bald, basement dwelling neighbour (not the sleazy one) asked me out for a drink. Caught on the hop and doped up on painkillers I said yes, and immediately regretted it, even though I need to keep the guy on side for repairs (he's the broke one who's always pleading poverty). I'm the sort of person who frets endlessly over stuff like this, and over the last couple of days I've played all sorts of conversations with him over in my mind - should I invent an imaginary boyfriend, should he perhaps be a Royal Marine judo expert, should I pretend I'm a lesbian or a nun... In the end, after a marathon digging session which helped me to develop a bit of perspective on the situation, I knocked on the door and told him I'd have to cancel because it wasn't convenient and maybe we should grab a coffee in town sometime after Easter. Depressingly, he almost seemed relieved. I've got to move house soon...
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Sunday 29 March 2009
PSB
Let it be noted that freshly picked purple sprouting broccoli, lightly steamed and served dripping with butter, is now my new favourite vegetable. I like broccoli - who'd have thunk it?
Clocks go forward... yay!
The clocks have finally gone forward, and I was able to spend a leisurely Sunday shopping and mooching about before heading down to the allotment at about 4pm. From there I worked until about 7.45pm. There was a fight at the co-op just across the road I think, and police cars were parked there most of the time I was there. It's not in a great area, to be honest.
Today I tried an audiobook on my ipod - Northern Lights by Phil Pullman. I lost track of time entirely, it's a fantastic book with beautifully realised characters. I'd love to be a writer myself one day, and this showed me just what I should be aspiring to. I didn't plant much, but I did buy some peas at Frosts, the other big garden centre. For some reason it seems a little smaller and grubbier than Huntingdon Garden and Leisure, but the prices are just as extortionate. I bought some pea plants, since mine seem extremely slow to start. The compost they were in was so light that the plugs just fell apart as I took them out of the tray. I'm not too optimistic about their survival. I've transferred the cabbages, tomatoes and peppers from home into the cold frame. The cabbages seem too leggy really, and I had to throw out a tray of brussels sprouts and leeks since I left them on the draining board where they were extensively grazed on by the cats.
Harvested quite a bit of broccoli, including some of the purple sprouting, and one of the remaining cabbages. One of the robins managed to get under the pigeon netting - he soon found his way out though. He's incredibly tame and startled me when he practically landed on my foot. The birds have slowed down on the bird seed a bit. I'm putting out the regular stuff now, not extortionately expensive sunflower hearts. Still quite a bit of traffic, but no-one has adopted the nest boxes yet.
Planted: Pea, Early Onward
Today I tried an audiobook on my ipod - Northern Lights by Phil Pullman. I lost track of time entirely, it's a fantastic book with beautifully realised characters. I'd love to be a writer myself one day, and this showed me just what I should be aspiring to. I didn't plant much, but I did buy some peas at Frosts, the other big garden centre. For some reason it seems a little smaller and grubbier than Huntingdon Garden and Leisure, but the prices are just as extortionate. I bought some pea plants, since mine seem extremely slow to start. The compost they were in was so light that the plugs just fell apart as I took them out of the tray. I'm not too optimistic about their survival. I've transferred the cabbages, tomatoes and peppers from home into the cold frame. The cabbages seem too leggy really, and I had to throw out a tray of brussels sprouts and leeks since I left them on the draining board where they were extensively grazed on by the cats.
Harvested quite a bit of broccoli, including some of the purple sprouting, and one of the remaining cabbages. One of the robins managed to get under the pigeon netting - he soon found his way out though. He's incredibly tame and startled me when he practically landed on my foot. The birds have slowed down on the bird seed a bit. I'm putting out the regular stuff now, not extortionately expensive sunflower hearts. Still quite a bit of traffic, but no-one has adopted the nest boxes yet.
Planted: Pea, Early Onward
Sunday 22 March 2009
Sunday Afternoon
The usual Sunday afternoon on the allotment. I went to Huntingdon Garden and Leisure, but it was heaving (I think due to Mother's Day) so I passed on the usual scone. They have a lot of nice plug plants, much bigger and healther than the ones I've tried to grow on the windowsill but horribly expensive. I think my windowsill brassicas are going to have to be abandoned though, they're far too thin and leggy. Returned the duff greenhouse to Argos without too much fuss (I'd been putting it off, I hate taking things back) and saw a nice camera I might buy with my credit note. I've also got a greenhouse brochure from HG&L - the cheapest proper greenhouse is around £350.
There was a big pile of wood chippings on the allotment. Usually I miss this kind of thing but this weekend I was in time to grab a couple of barrows full. Enough to mulch the strawberries at any rate. I had another go at the potato patch. I would guess I'm about two-thirds of the way through, but it's a horrible job. Still, at least I'm likely to be done before my spuds have finished chitting. On the minus side my fingerprints will be messed up for my computer log-in (again) and I'll have to use oceans of handcream tomorrow morning.
My sciatica is starting to fade, but my leg aches a lot. I can only drive short distances before it gets too painful, but a long walk eases things up a lot. It wakes me up at 6am like clockwork at the moment, but walking to work (two and half miles) more or less sorts me out for the day. Between that and the allotment I'm losing weight like crazy.
In other news, found a 1938 penny on Jim's plot as I was walking past. Pennies were enormous in those days. Then again, you could probably buy a car with one. I might buy a fruit tree and bury the penny, and a 2009 equivalent, in a sort of time capsule underneath. That would be kind of cool, I think.
There was a big pile of wood chippings on the allotment. Usually I miss this kind of thing but this weekend I was in time to grab a couple of barrows full. Enough to mulch the strawberries at any rate. I had another go at the potato patch. I would guess I'm about two-thirds of the way through, but it's a horrible job. Still, at least I'm likely to be done before my spuds have finished chitting. On the minus side my fingerprints will be messed up for my computer log-in (again) and I'll have to use oceans of handcream tomorrow morning.
My sciatica is starting to fade, but my leg aches a lot. I can only drive short distances before it gets too painful, but a long walk eases things up a lot. It wakes me up at 6am like clockwork at the moment, but walking to work (two and half miles) more or less sorts me out for the day. Between that and the allotment I'm losing weight like crazy.
In other news, found a 1938 penny on Jim's plot as I was walking past. Pennies were enormous in those days. Then again, you could probably buy a car with one. I might buy a fruit tree and bury the penny, and a 2009 equivalent, in a sort of time capsule underneath. That would be kind of cool, I think.
Saturday 21 March 2009
Carrots ho!
Nothing much to report. Got the carrots in. I'm trying them in containers to beat the dread carrot fly. I've put a mix of 45% garden soil, 45% potting compost, 10% sharp sand and a sprinkling of water retaining gel/fertiliser. I also bought a box of 100 fat balls from Petsmart, which officially makes me a bird-obsessed sucker. Can't help it, I love those little guys; outside the window at work they're like 24 hour reality TV. Nothing happening with the nestboxes yet - I suppose I'll just need to wait until next year. In other news the broad beans are coming up. No sign of the spring onions and beetroot, but the purple sprouting is going to need harvesting soonish. No sign either of my irritating Bulgarian language student pal. Also I found a 1938 penny on Jim' plot as I was wandering past. I shall present it to him tomorrow as he will doubtless be around.
I've found the best windowsill in the house for seeds and put my propogators there. The tomatoes are doing nicely, but nowhere to put them in the absence of a greenhouse. I can stick them in the cold frame, I suppose, so still a few weeks to sort it out.
Planted:
Carrot: Paris Market
Carrot: Early Nantes
I've found the best windowsill in the house for seeds and put my propogators there. The tomatoes are doing nicely, but nowhere to put them in the absence of a greenhouse. I can stick them in the cold frame, I suppose, so still a few weeks to sort it out.
Planted:
Carrot: Paris Market
Carrot: Early Nantes
Monday 16 March 2009
Hard work
A not great day on the allotment. I started on the potato patch but it's almost solid clay and infested with couch grass. As I get towards the back fence, the soil gets heavier and colder. It's going to take a few days to get through it. I only did about a third of it and it took a solid afternoon. There's also a lot of flint in the ground, and my hands are covered in cuts. Had a chat with Rose, who started when I did, and Sylvia the allotment rep. After my brush with the Bulgarian, I didn't feel much like staying on after everyone had left, so only lasted until about half four. I have to admit though, the allotment is starting to look like a proper allotment and the apple tree is finally bursting into leaf. I put up a couple of nest boxes, possibly a little late. No takers yet.
Surreally, someone is playing a jazz trumpet somewhere outside as I type, as though this was thirties Paris rather than suburban England. I rather like it but God only knows what the neighbours will think. There will be curtains twitching. There may even be tuts of disapproval and letters to the council. In any case, whoever the guy is, he certainly needs the practice.
Surreally, someone is playing a jazz trumpet somewhere outside as I type, as though this was thirties Paris rather than suburban England. I rather like it but God only knows what the neighbours will think. There will be curtains twitching. There may even be tuts of disapproval and letters to the council. In any case, whoever the guy is, he certainly needs the practice.
Sunday 15 March 2009
Hairball update
Apparently cats eat leeks that have been carelessly left in a bag on the kitchen counter. At least mine do. Who knew?
Generally bad day
Got a reasonable amount done this weekend - hoed most of the newly sprouting weeds, put the cauliflowers out of their misery, took out the last of the spring onions (looking very overblown, but they've survived the winter very well.) and brought them home, together with a sickly looking cabbage and a few very nice looking leeks. Tomorrow I'm going to have a go at clearing the potato patch - an all day job, but then one less thing to worry about.
Time slipped away again and I was the last person on the allotments when some random Bulgarian wandered in from the street. His vocabulary of about 50 words did not stop him giving me his opinion on digging, potatoes and that all English people are lazy for a half hour solid. His name is Grommit (something along those lines) and he lives over the Co-op and has a job here as a forklift truck driver for the next 18 months. The irritating thing is that he's earning more than I am. If I'm there on my own again, I think I'm going to have to lock the gate. While the guy was probably harmless I'd prefer to avoid this sort of thing in the future, especially in the evenings.
My unpleasant neighbour's unpleasant children were screeching at each other across the road when I arrived back home. He has something like five kids with three different mums - and the last mum was 15 years old. The smell of cannabis is pervasive. I'm looking forward to the day when he does a runner owing three month's rent and with any luck bankrupts the landlord who inflicted him on the rest of us in the building and who won't pay his share of repairs but who can apparently afford a new car. No more police banging on the door at 2am at least. Both myself and his other neighbour have harboured secret fantasies of slashing his tyres, however mum number three managed to get there first... Nasty people. My goodness, I'm in a misanthropic mood today. And it sounds as though I live in some awful slum, which I don't. Curse this credit crunch... I need to move somewhere quieter. Eh... and now I hear the sound of a hairball being upchucked by one of the cats. I need a beer.
Time slipped away again and I was the last person on the allotments when some random Bulgarian wandered in from the street. His vocabulary of about 50 words did not stop him giving me his opinion on digging, potatoes and that all English people are lazy for a half hour solid. His name is Grommit (something along those lines) and he lives over the Co-op and has a job here as a forklift truck driver for the next 18 months. The irritating thing is that he's earning more than I am. If I'm there on my own again, I think I'm going to have to lock the gate. While the guy was probably harmless I'd prefer to avoid this sort of thing in the future, especially in the evenings.
My unpleasant neighbour's unpleasant children were screeching at each other across the road when I arrived back home. He has something like five kids with three different mums - and the last mum was 15 years old. The smell of cannabis is pervasive. I'm looking forward to the day when he does a runner owing three month's rent and with any luck bankrupts the landlord who inflicted him on the rest of us in the building and who won't pay his share of repairs but who can apparently afford a new car. No more police banging on the door at 2am at least. Both myself and his other neighbour have harboured secret fantasies of slashing his tyres, however mum number three managed to get there first... Nasty people. My goodness, I'm in a misanthropic mood today. And it sounds as though I live in some awful slum, which I don't. Curse this credit crunch... I need to move somewhere quieter. Eh... and now I hear the sound of a hairball being upchucked by one of the cats. I need a beer.
Sunday 8 March 2009
Cold Frame
Cold frame, cold frame, I gots a cold frame... ain't I a lucky gal! They were on sale at Huntingdon Garden and Leisure, so I stuck it on the flexible friend. My seedlings are looking a big leggy on the windowsill at home - my flat doesn't get too much light - so I'll put them in the cold frame wrapped up in loads of bubble wrap and see how they do in there. Also, my bedroom won't be full of homeless baby potatoes anymore - the sound of them quietly sobbing themselves to sleep is heart-rending. Eh, this gardening business is turning out to be expensive. On the plus side, I had another scone approximately the size of my head. I've got to limit those things to one a month before I end up hospitalised with diabetes or something.
Still, a pleasantish couple of hours pottering around on the allotment, although there was a short but bracing hail storm. I potted up some blueberry plants - I hope they don't get nicked, I love blueberries in my porridge. The cold frame is up, the fittings are a bit fragile looking. I'll come back and rebuild it with tougher screws when the weather's a bit nicer. It was blowing a bit of a gale, enough to blow the metal trough I'm planning to put my carrots in over onto the next allotment, so I stuck a pallet on top of it. Let's hope it survives better than the Argos Greenhouse (still haven't taken that back yet). I had a brochure from a firm called Rhino which builds greenhouses that can withstand force 10 gales - unfortunately they start at about a grand. The only way that's going to happen is if an eccentric millionaire happens to be reading this and feels like making a donation to the 15b cause. A thousand pounds represents more tomatoes than I can comfortably imagine.
Went to London to see La Cage Aux Folles yesterday. A wonderful show with an outrageous, fabulous chorus which earned many shrieks and a deserved standing ovation from the audience. I went with my cousin's wife, a really good friend. She's having a toughish time at the moment and has decided to take off with her best friend to the Caribbean at about a week's notice. The trip to London with me was planned for ages, so she arrived home at about 1am this morning and then had about an hour and a half to pack before she had to head back down to London in order to check in at 6am at Gatwick. Eh... I wish I could afford to head to the Caribbean on a whim. The cost of the flight alone has set her back the best part of one Rhino greenhouse.
Bad back is much better now, and I can mostly feel my leg again. All the rain meant no digging, which probably wasn't a bad thing. A lot of catching up to do next weekend though, the weeds are starting to peak through and there's a fair bit of hoeing to do.
Still, a pleasantish couple of hours pottering around on the allotment, although there was a short but bracing hail storm. I potted up some blueberry plants - I hope they don't get nicked, I love blueberries in my porridge. The cold frame is up, the fittings are a bit fragile looking. I'll come back and rebuild it with tougher screws when the weather's a bit nicer. It was blowing a bit of a gale, enough to blow the metal trough I'm planning to put my carrots in over onto the next allotment, so I stuck a pallet on top of it. Let's hope it survives better than the Argos Greenhouse (still haven't taken that back yet). I had a brochure from a firm called Rhino which builds greenhouses that can withstand force 10 gales - unfortunately they start at about a grand. The only way that's going to happen is if an eccentric millionaire happens to be reading this and feels like making a donation to the 15b cause. A thousand pounds represents more tomatoes than I can comfortably imagine.
Went to London to see La Cage Aux Folles yesterday. A wonderful show with an outrageous, fabulous chorus which earned many shrieks and a deserved standing ovation from the audience. I went with my cousin's wife, a really good friend. She's having a toughish time at the moment and has decided to take off with her best friend to the Caribbean at about a week's notice. The trip to London with me was planned for ages, so she arrived home at about 1am this morning and then had about an hour and a half to pack before she had to head back down to London in order to check in at 6am at Gatwick. Eh... I wish I could afford to head to the Caribbean on a whim. The cost of the flight alone has set her back the best part of one Rhino greenhouse.
Bad back is much better now, and I can mostly feel my leg again. All the rain meant no digging, which probably wasn't a bad thing. A lot of catching up to do next weekend though, the weeds are starting to peak through and there's a fair bit of hoeing to do.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Oop... forgot to add
In the midst of the greenhouse debacle, I managed to plant:
Pea: Meteor
Pea: Oregan sugar snap
Spring Onion: Ishikuro
Parsnip: Gladiator F1
I need to drill some drainage holes in the bottom of the carrot tubs, and also I need to bring a screwdriver for the shed door - it's almost off its hinges again.
Pea: Meteor
Pea: Oregan sugar snap
Spring Onion: Ishikuro
Parsnip: Gladiator F1
I need to drill some drainage holes in the bottom of the carrot tubs, and also I need to bring a screwdriver for the shed door - it's almost off its hinges again.
Bad Shed
Meh... the greenhouse fell over in the first stiff breeze. Those plastic joints turned out to be made of apple cores and chinese newspapers - it didn't take a whole lot to snap them. Putting it back together wasn't really an option with the bits I had left, so back to Argos with the whole shebang. At least I didn't throw away the box, but finding the receipt may be a problem.
The real tragedy is that my baby spuds are homeless already, and also all mixed up in a heap. I need to find somewhere to put them where the cats won't eat them (do cats eat potatoes? mine probably do). Must be a window sill somewhere in this house... Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise, at least the greenhouse didn't go down when it was full of tomatoes, or when the potatoes were further along. I'll try to sort out the spuds, but they all look pretty much the same to me. I was going to plant them in cropping order, but now it'll just be a huge rainbow free for all. Should make for an interesting harvest.
The real tragedy is that my baby spuds are homeless already, and also all mixed up in a heap. I need to find somewhere to put them where the cats won't eat them (do cats eat potatoes? mine probably do). Must be a window sill somewhere in this house... Perhaps it's a blessing in disguise, at least the greenhouse didn't go down when it was full of tomatoes, or when the potatoes were further along. I'll try to sort out the spuds, but they all look pretty much the same to me. I was going to plant them in cropping order, but now it'll just be a huge rainbow free for all. Should make for an interesting harvest.
Bad back
Bad back this week, thanks to Sunday's digging. At least, in vindication of the good old NHS, I was able to see get a nurse appointment at the local GP within two hours of ringing up (my leg was going numb, I'm not a complete wimp). The nurse, a slightly scary Irish lady, has prescribed light exercise, ibuprofen, the occasional hot water bottle and not sitting around for too long. The bad news is that compressed nerve means no digging this weekend - I'll have a lot of catching up to do if my baby spuds aren't going to be homeless next month. Luckily I have a long weekend coming up soon and if the worst comes to the worst I know a couple of lads down the road who might do a couple of hours digging for me for twenty quid (against the spirit of the thing, I know, but homeless baby spuds!)
In other news some of my seeds are sprouting, namely one cabbage, two cauliflowers and a purple sprout. No doubt when I'm a bit more seasoned at this I won't be all 'yay! hi guys!' every time a seed germinates. I'm going to hobble off up to the allotment later to feed the birds, plant the peas, carrots, spring onions and parsnips I didn't get around to on Sunday and check the greenhouse is still standing.
The bad back was probably aggravated by my new two mile trudge to work. The new office is in the middle of nowhere and a bit of a tip. However my window looks out over the a scraggy hedge, in which I've hung a bag of peanuts and some sunflower seeds. To date this has attracted:
What appears to be a family of three bluetits
An enormous robin
A slightly smaller robin
A nervous greenfinch
A long tailed tit (only seen him once)
Some random blackbirds
A dunnock (small brown thing)
A pigeon (boo!)
It's like having your own reality TV show going on outside the window.
In other news some of my seeds are sprouting, namely one cabbage, two cauliflowers and a purple sprout. No doubt when I'm a bit more seasoned at this I won't be all 'yay! hi guys!' every time a seed germinates. I'm going to hobble off up to the allotment later to feed the birds, plant the peas, carrots, spring onions and parsnips I didn't get around to on Sunday and check the greenhouse is still standing.
The bad back was probably aggravated by my new two mile trudge to work. The new office is in the middle of nowhere and a bit of a tip. However my window looks out over the a scraggy hedge, in which I've hung a bag of peanuts and some sunflower seeds. To date this has attracted:
What appears to be a family of three bluetits
An enormous robin
A slightly smaller robin
A nervous greenfinch
A long tailed tit (only seen him once)
Some random blackbirds
A dunnock (small brown thing)
A pigeon (boo!)
It's like having your own reality TV show going on outside the window.
Sunday 1 March 2009
Nothing spectucular
It was supposed to rain today, but other than a rather grey hour or two in the afternoon it was fine all day. I didn't get to the allotment until about 4pm, but then spent two perfectly happy hours on there working until dusk. No sign of any birds today, but all the food I'd left in the week had gone.
I started with some hoeing - best to get it under control before the weeds really start sprouting - and dug over half of my root veg bed. I planted what remained of the winter onions and also a half row of beetroot - forgot the spring onion seeds though. The garden centre had an offer on herbs, so I started my herb garden. Nothing spectacular, but a very pleasant afternoon. Masses still to do. I need to get the carrots in for one thing.
Not many people around, but I had a quick chat with bicycle lady. She and I were usually the last ones off in the summer - both of us liked to start late, out of the heat, and work until it was dark. Talking of summer, I bought my ticket for this year's Secret Garden Party. I've missed out on Glastonbury this year, and SGP sounds like a nice, chilled alternative. It also has the advantage of only being about five miles down the road, so I can come back for a shower if things get too grungy.
Planted:
Mint
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Onion: Golden Sun
Onion: Red Baron
Onion: Shenshuy
Beetroot: Boltardy
I started with some hoeing - best to get it under control before the weeds really start sprouting - and dug over half of my root veg bed. I planted what remained of the winter onions and also a half row of beetroot - forgot the spring onion seeds though. The garden centre had an offer on herbs, so I started my herb garden. Nothing spectacular, but a very pleasant afternoon. Masses still to do. I need to get the carrots in for one thing.
Not many people around, but I had a quick chat with bicycle lady. She and I were usually the last ones off in the summer - both of us liked to start late, out of the heat, and work until it was dark. Talking of summer, I bought my ticket for this year's Secret Garden Party. I've missed out on Glastonbury this year, and SGP sounds like a nice, chilled alternative. It also has the advantage of only being about five miles down the road, so I can come back for a shower if things get too grungy.
Planted:
Mint
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Onion: Golden Sun
Onion: Red Baron
Onion: Shenshuy
Beetroot: Boltardy
Saturday 28 February 2009
Yay! March!
It's March (as near as dammit) and I've been planting the first lot of seeds in mini propogators. Only a few plants of each, I'm going cautiously first time round and doing lots of successional sowings. My paper pot maker has had its first outing, and to my surprise the little pots are easy to make and seem to be staying in one piece. So, today I've planted:
Chili Pepper: Hot Tepin
Chili Pepper: Cayenne
Pepper: Summer Salad mixed hybrid F1
Tomato: Sungold
Tomato: Suncherry
Tomat0: Roma
Tomato: Garden Pearl
(so many free tomato seeds in gardening magazines!)
Courgette: Black beauty
Courgette: Golden Zucchini
Courgette: Patty Pan
Courgette: Yellow scallop
Aubergine: Black beauty
Cucumber: Marketmore
(I hate cucumber.... but I got the seeds free. Maybe the ones I grow myself will taste nicer)
Sweetcorn: Applause
Brussels Sprouts: Falstaff (the purple ones I have two packs of)
Cabbage: Golden Acre/Primo
Cauliflower: All the year round
I'll leave it a week or so before I plant the veg that needs to go directly into the soil. There's still a lot of preparation to do, and two large patches that need digging over.
Also, my seed potatoes finally arrived. I've put them in the new greenhouse covered with bubble wrap. Let the chitting commence. Also the digging, the potato bed is about a million miles from being ready to plant.
Chili Pepper: Hot Tepin
Chili Pepper: Cayenne
Pepper: Summer Salad mixed hybrid F1
Tomato: Sungold
Tomato: Suncherry
Tomat0: Roma
Tomato: Garden Pearl
(so many free tomato seeds in gardening magazines!)
Courgette: Black beauty
Courgette: Golden Zucchini
Courgette: Patty Pan
Courgette: Yellow scallop
Aubergine: Black beauty
Cucumber: Marketmore
(I hate cucumber.... but I got the seeds free. Maybe the ones I grow myself will taste nicer)
Sweetcorn: Applause
Brussels Sprouts: Falstaff (the purple ones I have two packs of)
Cabbage: Golden Acre/Primo
Cauliflower: All the year round
I'll leave it a week or so before I plant the veg that needs to go directly into the soil. There's still a lot of preparation to do, and two large patches that need digging over.
Also, my seed potatoes finally arrived. I've put them in the new greenhouse covered with bubble wrap. Let the chitting commence. Also the digging, the potato bed is about a million miles from being ready to plant.
Sunday 22 February 2009
Rhubard!
Forgot to add... the rhubarb is coming up! No sign of the asparagus yet, so fingers crossed.
The Greenhouse Has Landed
I put together my heap of junk greenhouse from Argos today. It turns out that I did have all the parts, but some were wrongly labelled and the instructions said that I needed more 'joint A' than I actually did. I wait with bated breath to see if the thing survives the night. I certainly need some bigger pegs. Jim gave me a hand putting the thing up. It didn't quite fit together and may need some additional persuasion with a hammer. Masses of stuff to get planted. I have what seems like hundreds of packets of seeds all due to go in in Feb/Mar. Where did February go, anyway?
By the way last night I had a very nice meal of salvaged cabbage, leeks and spring onions fried until slightly brown and crispy, with pesto and wholemeal pasta. Even though I say so myself, and I am probably the world's lousiest cook, it wasn't half bad.
Jim tells me he's been made redundant, so he's probably going to be down at the allotment a lot. I hope he gets something else soon, but times are not great and I'm vaguely worried that my own job is on the line. Disgruntled Daily Mail reading guy was around too. He was bemoaning the latest break-in. I'm guessing he's one of those 'glass half empty people' since he never, ever seems to be happy about anything, but I've got to admit that it is irritating that the local criminals seem to have the run of the place. He regaled me yet again with the story of how three break-ins ago, someone called the police while the sheds were actually being broken into and was told that it wasn't an emergency. This, much more the actual break-ins, has caused a lot of upset, and I hear the story from different people about three or four times a month. Emails to reply to from the PSCO and Neighbourhood policing officer. If I can get them to come on site to maybe postcode some tools and show a presence it might make people feel a bit more secure.
Left my BlackBerry (not the good kind) lying around on the ground when I left and had to drive back to retrieve it. On Friday I had to drive back because I forgot to lock up. Clearly I am losing my mind. Senility beckons, it's all downhill from here...
Saturday 21 February 2009
Mildew and scones
Finally, a clear weekend after a fine week. Tomorrow I plan to spend the entire day on the allotment. Today a hair-dressing appointment, so I only had an hour or so to spend this afternoon. I used the time on my rather ill-fated brassica plot. Downy mildew has hit hard, and I had an entire bucketful of yellowing leaves to clear away. The broccoli isn't too badly affected, but the cabbages are disastrous. I picked a few of the smaller ones, but on getting them back home I found that the mildew had caused black patches on the inner leaves. The cauliflowers look fairly pathetic, but on Jim's advice I'll give them a week or two to perk up. The broccoli is looking okay, and there are sprouts on the way. The leeks have done wonderfully well and seem unaffected by slugs, mildew or pigeons. I also have a few surviving spring onions. Stir-fry tonight.
There are many wonderful and surprising moments in the life of the new gardener. The taste of the first strawberry, the fearless little robin landing just a foot from you as you dig, the beauty of a sunset over the substation. To these I add the discovery of the scones at the local garden centre, Huntingdon Garden and Leisure. These are the best scones I have ever tasted in my entire career as a human being on this planet. These are not the miserable, cold, doughy little things you seems to get in most restaurants. These are wonderful, crumbly, freshly baked, about four times the size of a normal scone and crammed with fruit. The only way to eat them is to cut them into slices like a small loaf. I may well start making special trips up there at opening time so I get my scone still warm from the oven. It is an utter mystery to me how they make any money out of them. As a loss leader perhaps - the garden centre is on the slightly pricey side.
There are many wonderful and surprising moments in the life of the new gardener. The taste of the first strawberry, the fearless little robin landing just a foot from you as you dig, the beauty of a sunset over the substation. To these I add the discovery of the scones at the local garden centre, Huntingdon Garden and Leisure. These are the best scones I have ever tasted in my entire career as a human being on this planet. These are not the miserable, cold, doughy little things you seems to get in most restaurants. These are wonderful, crumbly, freshly baked, about four times the size of a normal scone and crammed with fruit. The only way to eat them is to cut them into slices like a small loaf. I may well start making special trips up there at opening time so I get my scone still warm from the oven. It is an utter mystery to me how they make any money out of them. As a loss leader perhaps - the garden centre is on the slightly pricey side.
Sunday 15 February 2009
Interesting Weekend...
...well, relatively speaking. I started to put the greenhouse up but found it was short a piece. From the box it seems to have been returned to the store once already, resealed and put back on the shelves again. Not sure whether to return it or just try to replace the piece. it's a sort of corner joint - plumbers use something similar, an 'outlet 90' which costs about a quid and would easily do the trick. Irritating that stores do that though. It happened to me at IKEA once which meant a hundred mile round trip to get my item replaced.
The really interesting thing that happened was that I found what appears to be a stone age hand knife. I've reported it to the council and will see what they have to say. With any luck they will send a team of burly archaeologists to dig over the potato patch. I need to work out how to put pictures on this thing...
On the allotments my fellow plot-holders are starting to emerge like shy fieldmice coming out of hibernation. Mr Best-Kept was around, tidying up his immaculate plot, and Rose the lovely Chinese lady who started at the same time as me also came by to check on her site. Nobody else is mad enough to start digging yet - the soil is still too heavy and cold. We need a full week of dry weather for it to be really workable. I gave up after clearing my future greenhouse site.
I've pretty much written off my cauliflowers and cabbages, by the way. Maybe I'll give them until the end of the month, but unless they start looking a lot brighter they're coming out to give the broccoli more room. I planted them much too closely together. Now they're all affected by downy mildew, made much worse by the cold wet weather. The leeks are doing okay, mind, they seem to be fairly bomb-proof. I might have one for my tea. No sign of the rhubarb yet. All the established plants are starting to make a showing. I've ordered my seed potatoes. Still haven't made a proper compost heap.
The really interesting thing that happened was that I found what appears to be a stone age hand knife. I've reported it to the council and will see what they have to say. With any luck they will send a team of burly archaeologists to dig over the potato patch. I need to work out how to put pictures on this thing...
On the allotments my fellow plot-holders are starting to emerge like shy fieldmice coming out of hibernation. Mr Best-Kept was around, tidying up his immaculate plot, and Rose the lovely Chinese lady who started at the same time as me also came by to check on her site. Nobody else is mad enough to start digging yet - the soil is still too heavy and cold. We need a full week of dry weather for it to be really workable. I gave up after clearing my future greenhouse site.
I've pretty much written off my cauliflowers and cabbages, by the way. Maybe I'll give them until the end of the month, but unless they start looking a lot brighter they're coming out to give the broccoli more room. I planted them much too closely together. Now they're all affected by downy mildew, made much worse by the cold wet weather. The leeks are doing okay, mind, they seem to be fairly bomb-proof. I might have one for my tea. No sign of the rhubarb yet. All the established plants are starting to make a showing. I've ordered my seed potatoes. Still haven't made a proper compost heap.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Snow...
...and more snow. Everyone is sick of the snow now, even the new guy at work who just came over from India and spent the weekend making a snowman. It was a sunny day today for a change, and since I was out of work at 4pm-ish and needed to put out more sunflower seeds I walked to the allotment instead of going home. The round trip from work to town to allotment to home is probably about two miles all told, but it was nice just to be outside. It's a trip I hope to be making a lot more in the summer. The snow is mostly melted and the broccoli has a few unpecked new leaves, which is encouraging. I'm hoping it will rally once the weather warms up. From the footprints in what's left of the snow it looks as though I'm about the only person to have visited all week.
A bird just flew into my house, a rather skinny looking starling who I think is nesting in the eaves, managed to get into the loft and out through the loft hatch which I'd left open. However she soon managed to make an exit through the window. Now the baby birds outside are making a fuss - I hope she finds her way back to her nest.
(Thankfully) the cats were rubbish. The stripy one would no doubt have caught her in the end, but the cowardly one just hid under the bed. If I am ever burgled he will be completely useless. Now both cats have 'the rips' and are racing around the house with inflated tails. They are telling each other how awesome they were in the face of superior firepower.
Drama in the plot 15b household! I'll go and close the loft hatch now.
A bird just flew into my house, a rather skinny looking starling who I think is nesting in the eaves, managed to get into the loft and out through the loft hatch which I'd left open. However she soon managed to make an exit through the window. Now the baby birds outside are making a fuss - I hope she finds her way back to her nest.
(Thankfully) the cats were rubbish. The stripy one would no doubt have caught her in the end, but the cowardly one just hid under the bed. If I am ever burgled he will be completely useless. Now both cats have 'the rips' and are racing around the house with inflated tails. They are telling each other how awesome they were in the face of superior firepower.
Drama in the plot 15b household! I'll go and close the loft hatch now.
Thursday 5 February 2009
Snow
It's snowing like the clappers outside with a good six inches on the ground and more on the way. I'm tempted not to go into work, but since it's just a ten minute walk away I can't really avoid it. They'll probably send us home early if the snow keeps up, though. On the plus side the cold is breaking up the soil on the allotment beautifully. The rough clumps from the area I dug over on Friday are wonderfully loose. When I get round to digging it properly the roots will just pull straight out and the soil will have a fine, crumbly texture, like breadcrumbs. The garlic I planted at christmas is coming up nicely, little purplish spikes in neat rows. These are the first few months of gardening for me, and so far it has consisted mostly of putting dead looking things (sticks, dried up bulbs, oddly shaped rooty clumps) into the ground and keeping my fingers crossed. It's still a nice surprise when they actually start to sprout.
Wednesday 4 February 2009
The Cop Shop
A quick visit to the police station today to provide a statement about my shed. A lot of burglaries in the area apparently, and there are going to be plain clothes and uniformed patrols about this week. PSCO Jim tells me they'll pay passing attention to the allotment, though I suspect any would-be burglars will be put off by the forecasted ten inches of snow. He was very nice, but clearly my shed is not at the top of their list.
I paid a quick visit to the allotment after I was done at the police station. No birds around that I could see but all the sunflower seeds from Sunday were gone. I filled up all the various dispensers and topped up the bird bath. Hopefully that should hold them until the weekend.
My lucky dip seeds arrived from Thompson and Morgan. Mixed peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, some dwarf cauliflowers and Falstaff purple sprouts - which of all the hundreds of varieties in the catalogue, is one of the ones I had already ordered. The plan, incidentally, is to plant as much weird shaped and coloured veg as possible to put off the light-fingered locals who see the allotment as a free open-air Tescos.
My brassicas are still looking very pigeon pecked and frostbitten. I don't know if they'll rally. The cauliflowers are looking particularly pathetic, practically nibbled to stalks. Maybe they'll rally as the soil warms up. Early days.
I paid a quick visit to the allotment after I was done at the police station. No birds around that I could see but all the sunflower seeds from Sunday were gone. I filled up all the various dispensers and topped up the bird bath. Hopefully that should hold them until the weekend.
My lucky dip seeds arrived from Thompson and Morgan. Mixed peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, some dwarf cauliflowers and Falstaff purple sprouts - which of all the hundreds of varieties in the catalogue, is one of the ones I had already ordered. The plan, incidentally, is to plant as much weird shaped and coloured veg as possible to put off the light-fingered locals who see the allotment as a free open-air Tescos.
My brassicas are still looking very pigeon pecked and frostbitten. I don't know if they'll rally. The cauliflowers are looking particularly pathetic, practically nibbled to stalks. Maybe they'll rally as the soil warms up. Early days.
Monday 2 February 2009
A beautiful weekend
Burglary aside, it was a beautiful weekend. A sunny Sunday, not too cold, made it ideal for digging over the corner of the plot reserved for my eventual greenhouse plus herbs, flowers and containers. Because I have one of the few trees on the allotment I tend to spend a lot on wild bird food. At any given time my apple tree hosts one hanging bird bath, a sunflower seed holder, a peanut holder, two coconut halves filled with suet and a suet ball holder. As a result, whenever I go down the the allotment I startle away a small flock, most of whom head off to the trees to wait impatiently for me to go. Not the robins, however. I've discovered that there are two of them, bold little things, quite willing to watch me do the digging and then swoop down and hoover up the worms as if they were spaghetti. They hover in front of the coconut shells like hummingbirds. I had no idea they could do that. A few other birds eventually overcame their shyness. They have clearly realised that 'the blue shed lady' is a harmless sucker who buys her suet balls in tubs of 50 from Petsmart.
Not to go into too much detail, but work was a nightmare this week. I've moved into a technical job I'm worried I'm not capable of doing. I was on call over the weekend, tied to my BlackBerry (not the good sort), watching the database error messages mount up. I wasn't sure whether I should go into work or if I'd be able to fix it if I did. Going to the allotment and just digging made me feel calmer, somehow clean.
The snow started about 1600, just a few flurries but enough to leave a thin layer on the ground. I carried on digging, just breaking up the ground more than anything. The last opportunity I think I'll have for a week, heavy snow is forecast, but at least I may have unearthed a few thistle roots and slug eggs. The sky cleared afterwards, and I saw a kestrel hovering in the air above me, just underneath the new moon. Whatever happens, life is still beautiful. Even if I get fired, even if I end up as a mad cat lady living in a caravan somewhere, sans marbles, I'll probably still be able to afford my allotment. Sometimes I dream about selling up, heading up to Scotland and buying an island croft, or spending three years on the National Trust careership gardener scheme and becoming a head gardener somwhere. Secretly, I suspect I'd be rubbish at it.
Not to go into too much detail, but work was a nightmare this week. I've moved into a technical job I'm worried I'm not capable of doing. I was on call over the weekend, tied to my BlackBerry (not the good sort), watching the database error messages mount up. I wasn't sure whether I should go into work or if I'd be able to fix it if I did. Going to the allotment and just digging made me feel calmer, somehow clean.
The snow started about 1600, just a few flurries but enough to leave a thin layer on the ground. I carried on digging, just breaking up the ground more than anything. The last opportunity I think I'll have for a week, heavy snow is forecast, but at least I may have unearthed a few thistle roots and slug eggs. The sky cleared afterwards, and I saw a kestrel hovering in the air above me, just underneath the new moon. Whatever happens, life is still beautiful. Even if I get fired, even if I end up as a mad cat lady living in a caravan somewhere, sans marbles, I'll probably still be able to afford my allotment. Sometimes I dream about selling up, heading up to Scotland and buying an island croft, or spending three years on the National Trust careership gardener scheme and becoming a head gardener somwhere. Secretly, I suspect I'd be rubbish at it.
Burglary!
The shed was broken into the weekend before last - I'm leaving it unlocked now, on two occasions so far the thieves have easily bust their way past the padlock only to turn up their noses in disdain at my grubby wellies and bendy tools. I'm heading down to the police station on wednesday to give a statement to the local PCSO. I'd like to get an allotment watch scheme started - some nice publicity for the local police and hopefully a bit of passing attention too. I've bent the ear of Reg, the allotment representative, a couple of times now. Security is terrible, and the gate is often left unlocked or with the lock left on the combination. I suspect Reg will go along with it just to shut me up. He has been reporting it to the council and relying on them to report it to the local police, but little or nothing has resulted from this. When I discovered the latest break-in I was on my way to see my sister in London, so I asked a couple of friends of mine to pop over if they had time and fix the window, which the thieves had pushed in with an old fence post. My friends were, rather sweetly, quite outraged on my behalf, while I've got to the stage of merely thinking 'meh... here we go again' each time the shed is forced open.
Sunday 18 January 2009
A productive week. Not only did I mulch my asparagus but I also planted my first broad beans. I wasn't sure how many to put in, so I set up a mini cane pyramid and planted about ten beans round it. In about a month I'll do the same again. The pigeon netting is up; since I lack any form of DIY skill, I've used bent bamboo canes as a framework and piled earth around the edges of the net.. Unexpectedly it's actually stayed up and as a bonus appears to be keeping the pigeons out. I've dug over the potato plot, a piece of previously untouched soil, and while I haven't actually removed any of the weeds, I've loosened the soil into handy bite sized chunks in the vague hope that the frost will get in there and make my job easier. I have quite an area of grass to clear before March, at least 4m x 7m - my potato plot and my fruiting veg plot. Luckily it's mainly couch grass and seems to be light on the heavier stuff like dandelions and thistles.
The birds are hoovering their way through the sunflower seeds like they're going out of fashion. I'll need more of those and more peanuts for next weekend. From the amount that's being eaten I suspect I'm feeding every bird on the entire allotment site. Maybe they'll munch a few slugs while they're at it. On the plus side, I have a very sociable robin, send by some universal department of cliches, who comes to watch me digging from no more than a yard or two away. He has not yet perched on the handle of my fork but it's probably only a matter of time.
It was a fine, clear afternoon today and I was able to work until about 5pm. Although it's only January the first signs of spring are coming. The buds on the apple trees are lenthening and the garlic I planted last month is starting to appear through the soil. The purple sprouting broccoli is purple sprouting, and the gardening magazine are starting to go on about chitting seed potatoes (Apparently I need egg boxes. And seed potatoes.). What's more amazing is that I quite happily did two and a half hours' hard exercise today, and would have kept going if the light hadn't gone. I am really not an exercise person, as at least four lapsed gym memberships will testify, but I don't think I'll ever get bored of the allotment.
Planted: Broad Beans Aquadulce Claudia
Harvested: Nowt, although the leeks are coming along nicely
The birds are hoovering their way through the sunflower seeds like they're going out of fashion. I'll need more of those and more peanuts for next weekend. From the amount that's being eaten I suspect I'm feeding every bird on the entire allotment site. Maybe they'll munch a few slugs while they're at it. On the plus side, I have a very sociable robin, send by some universal department of cliches, who comes to watch me digging from no more than a yard or two away. He has not yet perched on the handle of my fork but it's probably only a matter of time.
It was a fine, clear afternoon today and I was able to work until about 5pm. Although it's only January the first signs of spring are coming. The buds on the apple trees are lenthening and the garlic I planted last month is starting to appear through the soil. The purple sprouting broccoli is purple sprouting, and the gardening magazine are starting to go on about chitting seed potatoes (Apparently I need egg boxes. And seed potatoes.). What's more amazing is that I quite happily did two and a half hours' hard exercise today, and would have kept going if the light hadn't gone. I am really not an exercise person, as at least four lapsed gym memberships will testify, but I don't think I'll ever get bored of the allotment.
Planted: Broad Beans Aquadulce Claudia
Harvested: Nowt, although the leeks are coming along nicely
Sunday 11 January 2009
Drat that Pigeon
Weekends are the only time I really get at the allotment when the nights come this early. In the depths of December it was too dark to work by about half three. Now, on a good day, I can be working until half four or so, and every day there's a minute or so more light. Before I had an allotment I didn't appreciate, didn't really even register the long summer evenings. Now I look forward to the day when there's going to be enough light to head over after work during the week (that'll be March 29, British Summer Time fans).
At this time of year there's not much work to do - the soil is either frozen solid or what Jim on 15a calls 'claggy', which means that even looking at your allotment funny gets a pound or two of mud stuck to your boots. Still, time is running out and I'd like to get my potato and fruiting veg beds dug before sowing starts in March. I did manage to get a few fruit bushes in today (a gooseberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant, two loganberries and a blackberry, three for a tenner at Homebase), but the allotment was all but empty. Jim has shown me up by knocking together an impressive raised bed - he's told me where to get the cheapest timber and what nails to use, so my fruit bed will be next. Jim is by way of being my guru, supplier of kale and butternut squash and the font of all knowledge. He told me that he'd had an eye operation over Christmas, from which he'd recovered nicely, and also that my raspberries are planted too close together. Meanwhile, pigeons are decimating my purple sprouting broccoli and cauliflowers. The time has come to buy a net - a job for next weekend. I have no issues about feeding the small, cute birds, but I draw the line at these evil, honking winged hoovers.
Got the new Grow Your Own and Kitchen garden. One has an offer for ten quid's worth of Thompson and Morgan seeds for £1.99 - what you get is a lucky dip, I guess of whatever isn't selling. It might be worth a shot, although I'm already up to my ears in seeds, mostly packets of salad leaves from the aforementioned magazines. I'm not a huge salad fan, and my radishes have ended up as a sort of slug buffet in any case, so hopefully not more salad. The slugs are public enemy number one at the moment and as soon as the soil warms up I'm going to nematode 'em. Yeah!
At this time of year there's not much work to do - the soil is either frozen solid or what Jim on 15a calls 'claggy', which means that even looking at your allotment funny gets a pound or two of mud stuck to your boots. Still, time is running out and I'd like to get my potato and fruiting veg beds dug before sowing starts in March. I did manage to get a few fruit bushes in today (a gooseberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant, two loganberries and a blackberry, three for a tenner at Homebase), but the allotment was all but empty. Jim has shown me up by knocking together an impressive raised bed - he's told me where to get the cheapest timber and what nails to use, so my fruit bed will be next. Jim is by way of being my guru, supplier of kale and butternut squash and the font of all knowledge. He told me that he'd had an eye operation over Christmas, from which he'd recovered nicely, and also that my raspberries are planted too close together. Meanwhile, pigeons are decimating my purple sprouting broccoli and cauliflowers. The time has come to buy a net - a job for next weekend. I have no issues about feeding the small, cute birds, but I draw the line at these evil, honking winged hoovers.
Got the new Grow Your Own and Kitchen garden. One has an offer for ten quid's worth of Thompson and Morgan seeds for £1.99 - what you get is a lucky dip, I guess of whatever isn't selling. It might be worth a shot, although I'm already up to my ears in seeds, mostly packets of salad leaves from the aforementioned magazines. I'm not a huge salad fan, and my radishes have ended up as a sort of slug buffet in any case, so hopefully not more salad. The slugs are public enemy number one at the moment and as soon as the soil warms up I'm going to nematode 'em. Yeah!
And.... eight months or so later, the blog creaks into life. Sorry... I've been busy. The story so far... I've cleared about two thirds of the plot, acquired a shed for forty quid, started a mushroom farm, battled slugs and pigeons, planted a few battered looking cabbages, pruned my apple tree, 'acquired' several sackfuls of dead leaves from work and completely failed to start a proper compost heap. I have a stack of gardening magazines and seed catalogues a foot high. I also have a pair of flowery wellies which my friends bought me for christmas (the family completely ignored my requests for allotment related pressies... c'est la vie, but I did get a £30 argos voucher which should go some way to getting me a greenhouse, assuming they don't go bust before I've saved up the rest). The early nights and cold weather have put a huge crimp into the amount of time I can spend on the allotment. However I've planted raspberries, strawberries and asparagus, all of which are looking pretty miserable, and I'm about to head off and put in some fruit bushes. Wish me luck, gentle reader, the soil at the moment is either frozen solid or horribly boggy.
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