Ow... ow ow ow ow ow
I think my back has gone again. Stupid potato patch.
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
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