Step by Step

Great news! One of the dads at the children's school is having his front garden revamped and is getting rid of all the paving slabs that are laid there. He has said that we can have them all if we are prepared to take them away. Are we? Of course we are - they will be perfect for creating a pathway between our allotment and the one above. If there are any left over, we will lay some paths between the different beds that we have marked out. So far we have collected 17 slabs with many more to come. They are about 2ft square which is just a little narrower than the pathway between us and the allotment above, so with a little spadework straightening up the edge of the pathway we will have a lovely path to walk on, and best of all no more strimming or mowing there which will leave more time for .....digging. Must get back to it!

Greenhouse Growth

It's very satisfying to see the main greenhouse being emptied of its small(ish) plants and for them to be put in the patio greenhouse and then hardened off outside before being planted at the allotment. Over the past 4 weeks I have planted 24 beefsteak tomatoes "Brandywine" and after a slightly hesitant start they are now "putting on weight" and looking good. 23 "Ailsa Craig" tomato plants have also gone in and are beginning to perk up. I have also planted 4 courgettes "Defender". At the moment they look a little floppy as they were quite pot-bound, but with some TLC I am hoping they will perk up. Waiting in the wings are the cauliflowers and the 5 different varieties of chillies. We know that we are a little late in planting out most of our vegetables, but are suffering from lack of cultivated space. With each bit that we dig, however, we are planting as fast as we can. We reckon that even if we get small amounts of produce it will all have been worth it and we are learning all the time.

Before planting out we dig a patch at least 3-4 times to get it to as good a standard as we can in the time available to us. Well over half the plot has now been cultivated, and it really has been worth it as our plants are thriving in their planted positions.

I'm already thinking ahead as to what I might like to grow next year .......

Bean There

Last week it was time for some planting. First to go in were the cucumbers (burpless tasty green) and they are at the top of the second bed in front of the pathway that separates us from the plot above. It is sheltered by a 12" drop between plots and is a sun trap. I put 7 plants in at about 18" apart. They are not quite tall enough yet to be tied into the canes that are next to them, but with some sun, rain and a feed (3 essentials I am told that cucumbers need) hopefully they will be happy.

After having dug and re-dug the part of the bed just below the cucumbers and onions, it was ready for the French beans to be planted. I made a very deep trench and lined the bottom of it with torn up newspaper and then soaked it with water. That was the easy bit. Next I had to construct a "tent" of canes, which was quite difficult as I needed 2 pairs of hands and not just mine. The canes were 8ft high, and I'm just over 5ft tall, so I improvised by getting a huge clod of hard earth and used it as a ladder to reach the top of the canes to put the crossbar on the top and then tie them all in. It was "arm-breaking" work and I was looking into the bright sun all the time I was doing it. However, there was a great feeling of satisfaction when it was all done.

On top of my trench with newspaper and compost I put a thick layer of home-made compost and then planted 28 beans into their places next to a cane and tied them in. I gave them another good water to settle them in and will see what happens.

I also planted the last of the potatoes Bonnie which seemed to take quite a long time to "chit", but as they have been planted much later than the other two varieties (Sante and Charlotte) I am not particularly in a hurry to harvest them.

With all this digging, carrying heavy bags full of weeds, kneeling, bending and stretching, who needs to go to the gym or keep fit? Get an allotment - it's cheaper, plenty of fresh air, and loads of home grown tasty fruit and vegetables to eat that haven't clocked up hundreds or thousands of air miles.

Space Invaders

Over the past four weeks since my last blog, apart from being away for a week, we have been digging as much as we can. We have divided the plot up into 4 beds. Bed 1 is the biggest and is the potato and onion bed. It has been thoroughly dug apart from about half a square metre right at the very bottom. The tomatoes are almost ready to plant out there when the final bit of digging has been done. Bed no. 2 is half dug and we have already planted some red onions there and is now ready for some of the beans to be planted this week.

Before the rains came over the past week, the ground was so hard that the digging was very laborious, but now it has been well and truly soaked the earth is beautiful and crumbly. The only problem is that the weeds have taken over in a big way and are really invading the rest of the plot. Last Wednesday Peter spent most of the morning pulling up grass from bed no. 4 (which is the bed where the compost bin is). It was coming up very easily, but underneath we found some huge cracks in the ground, some of which were over 2cm in places.

The greenhouse looks a wonderful sight with rows of pots full of tomatoes (3 varieties), French beans, courgettes, cucumber, cauliflowers, strawberries, chillies, white onions and chitted potatoes all ready to be planted out as soon as the ground has been dug.

The potatoes and onions that we planted before Easter are growing really well. The onions have got green tops on them that are about 12 inches in height and the potatoes look lovely and bushey and are getting quite tall. I "earthed up" some of them last week for the second time. Must sign off now as there's lots more digging to be done.

My Patch, Your Patch

Today we went to the allotment for a couple of hours - it's amazing how the time seems to just fly by as the digging progresses, plans to plant what where, new people to meet and chat to, and of course the odd few minutes to sit down with some water and take stock of the progress made.

All the people we've met on the site who stop for a chat are really friendly and are very encouraging to us. They love to see us as a family all working together, each doing our bit. We've been given lots of friendly advice too and it's interesting to find out what they are growing and how successful they have been. It's a very relaxed atmosphere and no-one really seems to rush.

The children have now got their own mini plots of about half a square metre each and they are both working hard watering, digging and "mashing up" the ground. They have collected lots of stones from around the plot so that they can make a nice edging when they have finished digging.

Today we planted 5 rows of onions red baron (about 50 onions in all). They have all rooted nicely and we planted them in rows about 12" apart with about 4" between each onion set. Each one is nicely bedded in some home made compost with just the tip sticking out. We're now hoping that they are rooted enough to discourage the birds from pecking them out of the ground.

Now it's time to start rooting the white onions so that we can plant them in the next fortnight or so.

Dig, Dig, Plant

Since I last posted a blog we have been methodically digging the plot so that we can begin planting. The middle of the plot seems to have huge amounts of bindweed roots that we are digging out so that the vegetables that we grow do not compete with them. The edges of the plot do not have so many roots and it is always very satisfying to find the tapered end of a root and to think that "another one bites the dust". Although it is hard work and it would be quicker and easier to rotivate the ground, in the long run it will be well worth it.

With the hot, sunny weather that we've been having just recently, we are wetting a small patch of earth, let the water sink in and then dig that particular bit. It's very encouraging when we come to dig over that patch of earth again a day or so later to find that the earth underneath has retained that water and it hasn't all drained away.

We have also tested the soil with a really good soil testing kit that is very easy to use. We are very fortunate in that our soil has a pH of 7.0 (neutral) so hopefully we do not have to be too choosy about what we grow.

To date we have planted 6 rows of "Sante" potatoes and 2 rows of "Charlotte" potatoes. They have chitted really well and it was fun to plant them in their trenches. The children enjoyed spacing them out and counting how many potatoes were in each row (about 9 if you're interested).

So for now, it's back to some more digging.

Dig, Dig, Digging

Between us we have now made 3 trips to the allotment and have almost finished digging the first rectangular strip ready for planting. The earth where the cabbages were was easy to dig, but as we have now gone well past where they were, the earth is harder to dig as it has become a bit compacted and with the glorious weather we had last week there is a very dry crust that we have to dig through. We have also hit a big patch of bindweed roots, so this has slowed our progress a bit. We are being careful to get out all the bits of roots that we can so that in years to come they will not be so prevalent.

Although the digging is getting harder and the progress has slowed down a bit, there is something very satisfying about looking back over what has been dug, and there is a real sense of excitement that as soon as the first strip has been completely dug, the potatoes will go in, followed by the onions.

I picked up a tip from one of the allotment holders about onions - plant them on a shallow bed of compost so that they grow small roots before planting them out in the plot. That way the birds are not able to peck them out of the ground so easily before the top growth starts.

We have also assembled the compost bin and it is already half full of vegetable matter and some grass. When the children come down to the allotment next week I'm sure they will enjoy adding screwed up newspaper and cardboard to the ever-increasing pile.

The sweet peas that I plan to plant up the sides are growing nicely in the greenhouse and are almost ready for pinching out as they are about 6 inches high.