2015 June....How did that happen !

It's been a while since we updated this Blog, but here goes.....

The second half plot is a thing of the past , a change of shifts and some common sense made us realize that it would just be too much for us to manage. So we walked away from that plot and after the seasons crops were harvested we put the remaining plot to bed for the winter after a good dressing of muck.
Once the fishing season was out of the way it was time to st
art all over again, the lotty was in good shape with only a light surface dressing of weeds. The digging over and weeding only took a couple of trips before the beds were looking ready for the first plantings.
The beds have been rotated:
Bed 1. Peas and Broad Beans.
Bed 2. Parsnips, Beetroot, Celeriac,Carrots and Onions.
Bed 3. Sunflowers, Climbing Beans, Leeks, Swede and a little raised bed for a go at square foot gardening.
Bed 4. Potatoes
Bed 5. Sweetcorn and Squash
Bed 6. Brassicas

The Poly tunnel will eventually have  chillies and some hanging baskets of tumbling toms , it has been a bit of a nursery for the plants we've grown on from seed, especially with all the strong winds we've battered by, they've needed some protection.
This is how things looked early May (the first time I remembered my camera !)

Then we jump forward to 03/06/15.

The peas and beans coming along nicely, onions putting some neck on but best of all the Parsnips ! They are the hot topic as everybody struggles to grow them on our allotments. We started ours off in peat pots then planted them out once big enough, still in the pots to prevent any root disturbance......if the tops are anything to go by they are doing well.

 

The Leeks can just be seen ion the bottom left of the last pic, they have done really well, much better than the last two years. We followed a top tip from a Youtube channel I follow that sugested growing them on in a deep tub . It has given us some really strong young leeks that are now in the ground and showing no signs of any problems.

 

We then forward again to this weekend just gone (08/06/15) and another snapshot of how a little rain and a good bit of sunshine has sent the crops on a growing spree ! I ve had the little Black and Chocolate helpers with me supervizing events....bless them ! Even the Pallet Palace got a Spring clean.

  That's where we're at down at the lotty, at Home the veg beds are rapidly filling up. We've got Sprouts and Kale under the mesh frame, Leeks,Onions, Turnips and Spring Onions in the middle bed. The last bed will be for our salad leafs. Courgettes are in tubs this year. The Strawbs are already fruiting up nicely....I'll have to watch those closely as I know where they'll end up.....without me seeing any of the finished crop !

 

There you go a quick whistle stop update.....mental note to self.....keep the updates more regular from now on.

Adios.

 

 

Well we got it.

We got the second half plot .....finally after nearly a month of weed growing waiting !

Today was 6 hours of hard weeding and digging over.....we really cracked on though as we've got about a third of the plot dug so far. That's it though until next week as we're off on on our ollidays on Friday ....yippee !

The progress so far on 18A our new half plot.

At the start :

After today's efforts :

Nearly full circle already !

Well what a year this has been on the plot, from a patch of waste land to winning the newcomer half plot prize and now as the air feels cooler giving a hint that we are moving towards the end of summer, the plot is emptying and the digging starting over all again.

We've learned a lot this year, a few mis-haps towards the end of the season......planting too close together to cram as much in as we could , that has been the biggest point to take forward for next year.

We've had good crops of onions,carrots,peas,broadbeans, potatoes, squashes, lettuces , cabbages, cauilflower, chillies and a few tomatoes....plus too many courgettes !!! So we can't complain. Perhaps a little more thought with succession planting so we don't get the glut of some crops that we have had this year.

Anyway, so far we've got all the spuds lifted and stored then the bed dug over. I lifted the last row of beetroot and the remains of the failed swedes yesterday, then weeded and dug over most of bed four. The day before I dug over and weeded bed three all but one corer where the sprouts are still growing.
Hopefully this dig as we lift regime will ease the job of the back end of the year digging ritual. Plus we have put our names down for a second half plot that is next but one to us, so by getting stuck into the plot we have now,if we do get the second half we'll have the time to get it in order. We're jusrt waiting for the allocations officer to get his finger out and give us the nod ! What a system .....it's if your face fits or he thinks you should have a plot.....nothing of a system, which if we are rejected I'll be taking issue with at the AGM in November.......in the meantime the empty plot is just geting over run with weeds, when we could be working it !

Rant over.....lol

Here's how the plot is looking, with the sunflowers now smiling over the plot.

  
Just a quick update, soon be time for the fishing season to start again and so the lotty will take second place in the priority of spare time use.

23/07/14 update.

Everything is growing really well, the wet then sunny then wet again weather has been bringing all the crops on in leaps and bounds. There have been a few upsets though, the warm wet weather has caused the diseases on the allotment site to go into overdrive. Blight has hit most of the plots potatoes, we hopefully cut the tops off at the first sighting on our spuds so we're hoping the ones still under ground will be ok.

Next door (the witch) has started to show the failings in their gardening, the lack of work they have put in coupled with no weeding has meant that most of their crops are either stunted or just about killed off with various pests and diseases ! We're having to be vigilant though having them next door is less than ideal as we have to battle with the same pests migrating across.

Our onions were hit with powdery mildew but we lifted them and disposed of the infected leaves, next door didn't and theirs have gone black now.......I just hope that our leeks escape the disease.....we'll just have to wait and see.

This week has seen us eating our veg and salad at just about every meal....I'm loving the taste of organically grown fresh veg.....nothing like it and so satisfying knowing that it all came from our own hard work !

So updated pics of the plot :

 

Now the onions are lifted I've put in some late Purple Sprouting Broccoli.  

 

At long last the Caulis are developing curds, this is the biggest so far , I ve snapped a couple of leaves over the white to keep it clean. I'm really pleased that they are finally coming on.....I'd just about given up on them.....I'm pleased I just left them be now.

The onions are drying on top of mesh, another few days and they'll be ready to hang up on strings in the shed.

 

The best bit, a nice brew and then sit back in the deckchair and admire the fruits of our labours ! 

 

Some of the Beetroot crop is now in jars, some spiced pickled the rest into sweet chutney.....I tried some with a nogging of Cheddar Cheese.....WOW ! It's really tasty...yum yum !  

 

Some of our Courgette glut has been started off as wine....the self sufficiency is starting to increase.....hopefully we'll save a bit of money on the shopping bills over the next few months as well as having a big happy smile and full bellies to show from our plot. 

 

Another bag of lovely fresh food brought back today.....I'm having a big plate of veg in a giant Yorkshire pud for my tea....no need for any meat , the veg are so tasty.

   That's it for now, watch this space in a couple of weeks time.

11/07/2014 update.

We're just coming to the end of a fantastic fortnight off work.......we've been able to spend loads of time down on the plot getting everything in order and generally enjoying the allotment garden.

The annual judging has taken place this week and guess what ? We only went and won best newcomer, we also marked higher than the best long term half plot but the committee decided to make us best new comers because we didn't enter last year due to not getting the plot early enough.

The hard work early on in the year is starting top pay off now with most of the crops going really mad, plus the wet weather coupled with sunny spells has put mega growth on just about everything.

The only down this week is to discover light on the spuds.......a lot of the plots are suffering with it. We've managed to lift the effected spuds and they are not too bad, certainly good enough for eating now, just not for storing.

Working along the plot from the top end.

In the polytunnel the chilli plants are all now bearing fruits, with the cherry bomb cilli being the one most heavily adorned in fruits up to now.

We lost a tomato plant recently but all the others seem to be doing ok with fruits now forming on the trusses. The beef steak plants are doing really well.

I ve got some herbs coming along in pots inside the polytunnel and also a few other trays of seedlings of parsnips,swedes and chinese cabbages.

I'm going to have to put down some beer traps as slugs have been eating the leaves of one of the pepper plants, I don't want the other plants ravaged by the little slimey critters !

Moving back outside, I ve been trying to make use of the wall space with a few bottle planters of Chinese cabbage, the bottles tied off to some lumps of scrap branches.

The rest of the plot is looking really good with steady growth on everything, even the carrots are coming along........who knows if the carrot flies have been busy , only time will tell there.
Oh and we've added a new plot sign....Bob the whirligig bee (plot 19 Bee !)

So there you go a quick round up of where things are at , still plenty of summer left and then the winter digging to look forward to !
Work tomorrow....Boo ! But we're finishing the hols off with a trip over to Leeds....come on the Rhinos !