Hit and miss

It's been a little hit and miss at the Allotment over the last week and half,I've done a bit while at the plot but still have quite a bit left to do. In the netting frame I've planted some more veg which are 1 row of white cabbage primo, 2 rows of swede ruby and 2 rows of swede best of all. 

My sweetcorn are coming on very good and strong so I've planted them out, some people have only started to sow them on the site. I've planted two types out one of them is mini one and the other is Kelvedon glory,don't know which is which because I misplaced the labels. 

Grandad seat

Been a while since my last post I have been to the plot, well in between work and having a few days away. Keith on the next plot got given an old bench,so he cleaned it up and changed a few screws now it looks brand new. He did say its the grandad chair,so with me not being one yet I can't sit on it. While the cats away the mice will play so the saying says,right better get some more planted and blogged about. 

Things are coming on.

Been nearly a week since my last post not really done a lot during the week,been busy at work and when got home Ive ended up falling asleep. The times I'd been at the allotment I've just watered,it's the first time in weeks we have had some rain well Thursday and Friday. With the rain we had for a couple of days has made the soil more workable,it's was. so nice working with some soft soil instead of rock hard boulders. 

I decided to put up some netting to protect my cabbages/ sprout / turnips and anything else i plant,last few years i  have made a small frame but then i keep raising up once thing have grown.So this year i thought I would make a bigger frame so I don't have to keep raising it, I did have in mind what I wanted but as always i change it as I go along but it seems ok up to now. I put 3 sides up with timber and metal poles then tied it together with washing line,also used some duck tape and bits of wire to finish it. The roof is just thin twine and ripped up carrier bags hanging down,don't know if this will work but i will give it ago. On the front section I have pulled the netting from either side to the middle,but it doesn't reach so I have to make a small section up to stop the birds getting in. 

With the netting up I decide to plant out a little veg,first was two rows of red cabbages and two rows of sprouts. The red cabbage are red drumhead,but with the sprouts I'd lost the name tags so forgot which ones i have . So I have either one type planted or a mixture of both,the spare ones I had I gave away  so hope the ones Ive kept do grow. I also planted a row of turnips which are golden globe,so again the spare ones I have given away. 

The last thing I planted was two rows of beetroot which had been growing the greenhouse,i also weeded among the spuds well at least I've made a start which I need to keep up with. 

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stevemoulson
Steve Moulson
__________________
I can overlook intolerance, and I can overlook adultery. I just can't stand politicians.
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Allotment rent

Got my letter today saying how much it's going to cost me to have my allotment,a total of £79 had to handed over to the council which i did pay today so all paid up.

Waiting game.

I've done it I've made my first attempt at making some wine,it's all gone ok at the moment but only time will tell. The wine I've done is rhubarb wine because its the simplest one and I have plenty,only problem now is that I want to make more wine now. It's cost me a little bit to start making the wine,but now that I have the equipment now I just need fruit and sugar.


3lb of sugar

3lb rhubarb

Both mixed together

Some of the juice

All the juice now and it's a waiting game.

Little more done.

Went to the plot yesterday to try and plant a little out,but it was quite windy so had no chance of doing it. So I ended up re potting a few plants in the greenhouse and chatting, I've still a few more plants to pot on in the next few weeks. The main thing is now to harden some of the plants off so I can plant out once the wind has gone,i think this year the plots is going to be quite full so at least all areas will be worked. I got given some Antirrhinum,Love lies bleeding and I sowed some Primrose mardigras, I also potted on some sweet peas from small modular trays to tubes. I measured the amount of soil I could put inside one,each tube had just under enough soil to fill a 3 1/2 inch pot.

My strawberry plants have started to have some small flowers on them,I think its the first time I've seen them with flowers on. If I get loads of fruit I may have to try and make some strawberry wine,I'm half way through making some rhubarb wine at the moment. Fingers crossed it works and it does taste nice,can't wait to taste it in six months.

More seeds planted

I've sown a few more seeds yesterday some ones I've grown before,then sown some seeds I've never used before. The seeds I planted are Gherkins
Waltham butternut squash
Aubergine ophelia
Sweet pepper redskin
Detroit globe beetroot
Cheltenham green top beetroot,the gherkins I never grown before but buy them in jars. The Aubergine and butternut squash I've never used or eaten before,seen them plenty of times in the shops but never tried them at all. Saying that I've never tried any squashes before,must of had a shelter life so need to get out of the shelter and taste some new veg. I keep Pushing the family to eat more veg and try new produce,I'll try most stuff but it's harder getting family to eat more. Its so easy to get a take away and eat ready meals,don't get me wrong info like the odd take away but I do eat most of what I've grown if no one else does.

When I was here yesterday watering I did noticed a bee in the water butt floating on its back,I took it out and put it in the greenhouse to warm up. I must be getting soft in my old age,but I felt sorry for it so I did my little bit for nature and sent it home safe and sound.

Re potting on

I've done a lot of re-potting on this last few days and still have a bit left to do,I've re-potted 2 lots of sweetcorn,courgettes,tomatoes,cabbages, even potted on some beetroot but it didn't look good. Ive sown two types of cucumbers that have come through now,I didn't see anything one day and the next we had about 10 coming though. It's surprising how quick something's grow with a little heat,then you get some that don't grow and others that are like rockets.


Everyone been saying to each other have your potato popped through yet,I had a look and my earlies have come through. But everyone seems to be laughing at me,because mine have grown away from the ridges and none are in a straight line. I do the same each year dig a trench and plant the spuds,then I bank them up but never do it straight well it looks ok when I've planted them.

That weekend went quick

Wow that BH weekend went quick and I hardly did anything,well did a little more than i would of done if I was sat at home. I planted the blackcurrant bush i go given the other week,I'm looking forward to getting some fruit from it later on sometime in the future. I gave the bush a good tidy up before I planted it,only because it had a few Weeds and twigs mixed in the tub.

I also got given a couple of tomato plants that a chap had spare growing,the only thing is the ones I have been given are a lot bigger than mine. Mine have been growing in a unheated greenhouse,the ones given to me was grown in a heated greenhouse. What a difference a heated one is to a unheated greenhouse,I'll need a long extension lead to reach my house.


For a while now I've been looking for trays to put pots in instead of one at a time,I use an old dog bed tray to hold a few pots in. I do use tube caps I get from work which do work a treat, but I still wanted more bigger trays to hold more in either inside the greenhouse or outside. I have had the trays under my nose for weeks without thinking, it's the home delivery trays you get your shopping in. The trays have holes in so I've used some sheeting to cover them up,or you could use old compost bags to cover the holes up.

Little more done

I made it to the plot on a couple of times this week sometimes just to water,then manages to plant some sugar snap peas and pea onwards out on Thursday. I have already got some peas starting to grow straight from seeds in the soil,these ones I planted i had growing in the greenhouse from spare seeds. Last year I didn't do very well with peas so hoping for a better year,the times I had grown them most of them didn't make it home . My swede ruby have started to grow now,on Thursday we had nothing and yesterday we had a few popping through. Oh and I did a little weeding around the raspberries,surprising how quick the weeds grow.

Not enough time

Not enough hours in the day to get anything done at the allotment,works been busy so only been down for quick visits. It's either to water during the week or just a walk around the allotment with juke,but yesterday I managed to plant some broad beans that had been growing in the greenhouse. I'd already planted some direct into the soils a few weeks ago,but these ones were groins in the greenhouse in cardboard tubes. So I flattened the soils as much as I could and watered it along the line, then I went along with a dibber and made a hole for the bean and tube to fit in. I put a little compost in the bottom and a little on top,put the tube in and watered now just have to wait for my beans.