8 hours ago
Wednesday, April 8
Monday, April 6
Getting as much done as we can while we can
We are still allowed to go to our allotment during lockdown but we are trying to limit our time there to getting done the things that are necessary rather than just pootling about. We are also keenly aware that the lockdown conditions could change at the drop of the hat and so are planning accordingly.
We had some brassica plants at home that would have spoiled had we not planted them out so this was a priority. We planted calabrese - Aquiles, cabbage - Regency and cauliflower - Seoul. Being early plantings, all as usual were bought as plug plants.
As, on our site brassicas run the gauntlet of multiple pests the young placed were covered under a protective tunnel of enviromesh.
We had already planted a row of early potatoes comprising of half Casablance and half International Kidney, so we planed up a second identical row.
Another job that needed to be completed was the planting of onion sets. One bed was ready for this and so I planted a row each of Sturon, Hercules, and Centurion and another row made up of a mixture of Red Karmen and French Pink.
We finally planted up our trial potato bed which comprise of four tubers each of Ulster Prince, Sarpo Una, Maris Piper, Pentland Javelin, Gemson and Mayan Rose
The potatoes that we planted earlier in crates have just pushed through, We put two tubers in each crate. One contains International Kidney and the other Casablanca.
In another crate we had sown some carrots and radishes both of which jhave now germinated.
The troughs had been in our plot greenhouse but with threat of more restrictions, due to some people flouting the lockdown rules, we decided to bring the troughs home as we may be unable to look after them.
We managed to fit three of the four crates in the car- one containing International Kidney, one containing the carrots and radishes and a crate containing spinach. These are now relocated in our garden greenhouse.
We also brought home the gooseberry and lavender cuttings as if we can't get to the plot to do some watering they wouldn't survive.
In our home greenhouse we already had some potted strawberry taken from runners last year. These were destined to be planted at the allotment but will now probably stay put.
Our harvest was very similar to previous weeks with the purple sprouting broccoli still ticking over. The rhubarb was cooked and frozen and the looks were also frozen. I feel like a squirrel preparing for leaner times.
The natural world continues its seasonal routine oblivious to the problems being faced by mere humans.
The tulips are popping open and the fruit blossom is unfurling.
Wednesday, April 1
Monday, March 30
Is this real life?
At the moment I feel that I am living on the set of one of those films that forecast catastrophic events that befall the earth. It isn't a film that I am enjoying being part of and has no business infiltrating into the real world. The worst of it is that whereas a film has a definite ending, this surreal situation has no end in sight. This is usually my favourite time of the year but this year I can't enjoy it.
At present we are being allowed to visit our allotment but with threats of more stringent measures to come for how long will this continue?
We travel to the allotment site by car in our own isolation bubble. (I read that cars couldn't be used to drive to your place of exercise and so I emailed the police to check. The response was that it should be OK as not only was going to the allotment permitted but it also was a means of collecting food). I wear vinyl gloves to unlock, open, close and relock the gate. After the gloves are pulled of I sanitise my hands. On our large plot it is easy to maintain more than the required safe distance from our neighbours. There's no more getting together for a coffee. We 'shared' one coffee break with a plot neighbour. We sat well into our plot, he was on his plot, each had a coffee made by themselves and we had a long distance conversation courtesy of raised voices.
We're trying to get as much done on the allotment before things change again.
There's still lots of tidying and preparation work to be done courtesy of the miserable weather that plagued us from September onwards.
The son of our plot neighbour erects fencing and, (prior to lockdown), he brought some old fencing panels for us to use to renovate our compost bays. Martyn worked on these and also emptied the contents of one bay to spread as mulch on various beds that we were preparing for the next crops.
I managed to finish pruning the gooseberries, some of which grow up a fence, The area around the bushes was tidied and mulched with well rotted wood chippings.
As I was pruning the gooseberries, it struck me that some of the clippings would make good cuttings and so I have taken some from each of the two plants growing on the fence. One is a red variety called Pax and the other a green variety Hinnonmaki Yellow. The cuttings have been placed in our plot greenhouse along with some lavender cuttings which were taken earlier. In the current climate we will probably bring them home.
I tidied one of the fruit beds and finished tidying the flower bed along one edge of our plot, although I had to wait for some of our plot neighbours to leave before I could do this, as they were working nearby.
Martyn, tilled some of the smaller beds and under normal circumstances we would feel that we were getting somewhere in our attempts to catch up but who knows what's to come in the future?
One onion bed is prepared for planting although we could do with it to warm up a little before we do this.
Despite the forecast frosty weather we decided to risk planting a row of early potatoes - just in case- we rationalised that the potatoes wouldn't come through too quickly and would hopefully avoid any frosty weather. We really felt that we needed to get something in the ground. Half the row was planted with Casablanca and half with International Kidney. We'd like to plant more potatoes in tubs but compost is really at a premium.
After each plot visit we managed to bring back some small harvests.
The purple sprouting broccoli had been the best we have ever had this year and has just kept on producing.
One of the punnets of broccoli and a bunch of rhubarb was intended for my sister but we are not permitted to visit her to take this.
Anyway until next time STAY SAFE and lets hope that we come out at the other end sooner rather than later.
One of the punnets of broccoli and a bunch of rhubarb was intended for my sister but we are not permitted to visit her to take this.
Anyway until next time STAY SAFE and lets hope that we come out at the other end sooner rather than later.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
You don't have to have your own blog in order to join in conversations. It may seem that everyone who comments knows one another but bloggers always welcome new commenters, after all that is how we all started.
Wednesday, March 25
Monday, March 23
Will we be able to get to the plot?
One of the possible disadvantages of growing vegetables three miles from your home is that in the event of a lockdown we may not be allowed access to our plot. We had thought that getting into the car on our driveway and not getting out until we reached the site, where we could garden with far more than the required distance of 2 metres away from anyone else, was taking adequate precautions in line with government advice. The problem is that the scenes at the weekend showing crowds massing at tourist locations are likely to cause more stringent measures to be taken from which we will all suffer.
All this comes on top of a season where our allotment activity is already well behind where it should be. You would think in times of empty supermarket shelves that growing your own food was to be encouraged wouldn't you? No doubt later today we will find out where we stand. I do hope those who enjoyed a day at the seaside at the weekend will feel that it was worth it in the days to come!
We managed to get to the plot for a couple of afternoons last week and until the soil dries a little more we concentrated on tidying up.
I cut back autumn fruiting, All Gold raspberries that had begun to grow new shoots.
If you want your autumn raspberries to provide two crops of fruit, you can cut down just half of the old canes. If you do this the old canes will bear fruit earlier in the season and the new canes will fruit later. As we have a separate area for summer fruiting raspberries we cut down all the old canes to ground level.
We made a start on tidying the flower beds.
I know that the bed below doesn't look as though it's tidy but that was the state that it was in after a full afternoon's work. All the dead top growth and weeds were removed and all that remains is for the grass paths to be tidied.
The area under the cobnut trees has been mulched with wood chippings.
The rest of the old honeyberry bed, however, is in no fit state to be worked on. I reckon that it is going to be quite a while before we will be planting in this bed.
On a more positive note, the gloom that we find ourselves experiencing had not been transmitted to the fruit trees and bushes,
The first blueberry flowers are opening ...
... the greengage is sporting more blossom daily ...
... quince leaves are unfurling
... and native primroses are doing there best to lighten the mood.
We did collect a small harvest last week.
The sprouting broccoli is still sprouting, we dug more leeks - this time for my sister's freezer - more rhubarb and a cabbage.
The cabbages have been disappointing as the leaves are tinged with black almost to the centre which mean lots of the cabbage is unusable, Has anyone else had this problem this year? I'm guessing it is the result of the very wet conditions the cabbages endured throughout their growing season.
As well as working on the allotment we have been busy in the garden but I'm guessing that I could have some time on my hands to catch you up on that in a later post.
Stay safe!
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
You don't have to have your own blog in order to join in conversations. It may seem that everyone who comments knows one another but bloggers always welcome new commenters, after all that is how we all started.
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