I thought things on the plot were really behind this year so I took a look at the photos taken around the same time last year. Surprisingly things didn't seem to be that different. Maybe the weather early in spring has made me think that we are further on in the year than we are!
Last weekend I decided to have a wander around the plot taking lots of photographs - no tatty areas have been spared. The album below gives a general idea of how things are looking at the moment.
As you will have seen if you managed to watch the album all the way through - there are quite a lot of photos so you could be forgiven for giving up - there are still areas that need attention.
The old strawberry beds, that were left for just another year just in case our new plants didn't produce, will need digging out completely. There is absolutely no point trying to weed around the plants as weeds and plants are too closely entwined. Also the clay soil is rock hard due to lack of rain. The plants were really planted too closely together to allow for hoeing which at least would have kept the soil workable.
We have a flower bed which acts as a sort of boundary fence along one edge of out plot. Now the poached egg plants, that were acting as ground cover, have died down this needs a general tidy up. I have started by cutting back the dead stems of the centaureas (cornflowers) as they are producing new growth from the centres and will flower again.
We have another couple of beds that have become overgrown that also need dealing with. One will become our winter brassica bed and the other is meant to house cut flowers but has become very wild and unruly!
And did you notice our poor forlorn rhubarb which has certainly suffered in the lengthy dry conditions - just hope it recovers!
We'll get round to tackling these soon but at the moment we are kept busy picking fruit, weeding where it is needed, cutting grass and most importantly having a chat and a cup of coffee with plot neighbours. After all there is always tomorrow!
By the way I have kept a fill diary of our June activities here
Can you identify this creature?
This was found on my plot neighbours sweet corn - some sweetcorn leaves had been shredded but we don't know whether this was the culprit. I think it may be a green sawfly but that's just a guess.
The old strawberry beds, that were left for just another year just in case our new plants didn't produce, will need digging out completely. There is absolutely no point trying to weed around the plants as weeds and plants are too closely entwined. Also the clay soil is rock hard due to lack of rain. The plants were really planted too closely together to allow for hoeing which at least would have kept the soil workable.
We have a flower bed which acts as a sort of boundary fence along one edge of out plot. Now the poached egg plants, that were acting as ground cover, have died down this needs a general tidy up. I have started by cutting back the dead stems of the centaureas (cornflowers) as they are producing new growth from the centres and will flower again.
We have another couple of beds that have become overgrown that also need dealing with. One will become our winter brassica bed and the other is meant to house cut flowers but has become very wild and unruly!
And did you notice our poor forlorn rhubarb which has certainly suffered in the lengthy dry conditions - just hope it recovers!
We'll get round to tackling these soon but at the moment we are kept busy picking fruit, weeding where it is needed, cutting grass and most importantly having a chat and a cup of coffee with plot neighbours. After all there is always tomorrow!
By the way I have kept a fill diary of our June activities here
Can you identify this creature?
This was found on my plot neighbours sweet corn - some sweetcorn leaves had been shredded but we don't know whether this was the culprit. I think it may be a green sawfly but that's just a guess.
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Well, I think it all looks great, you put the rest of us to shame. I'm sure you'd soon get bored if everything was ship shape and there was nothing left to do, though there's always something which needs doing on an allotment.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the tour very much. How big is your allotment? It must be at least more than half an acre.
ReplyDeleteIt's great seeing all your plants, I enjoyed your slide show. Your plot is so big and in very good order - so many plants! That little green insect looks like it could feature in a Disney film (not sure what he is). Kelli
ReplyDeleteSue, is there anything you DON'T grow? Until I discovered your blog I thought I was pretty fanatical about growing things, but your energy and skill level far surpasses mine, and the results bear this out.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen an insect like the one you show. It looks vaguely like a dragonfly, though I know it isn't one.
Remember we don't have to work or look after children Jo. No chance of getting bored as we have now started to pull the garden to pieces too.
ReplyDeleteI think in all it's about a third of an acre Diana
Or even Dr Who Kelli with those claws on it's legs
We don't grow chillies Mark :) and I think you are putting yourself down your gardening skill is up there. The insect was 150mm long - the photo doesn't give a sense of size. To be honest I took it just to help identify it - my plot neighbour insisted!
Oops did I really put 150mm long? - I meant 15mm. We were into the realms of horror films there!
ReplyDeleteGreat tour Sue. You know what you're doing and the results speak for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThat rhubarb is pretty shocking.
Curious to find you are a dahlia fan. (I'm growing some this year, for the first time for about 30 years). Now tell me why you felt the need to grow potatoes in bags???
p.s. That's a positive ID on the green sawfly. According to Natural England it feeds on "a very wide range of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants."
ReplyDeleteThe dahlias just make good cut flowers Mal although I put a bit of bleach in the water as they can go smelly. It's the first year we have grown them from seed. Just hoping the rhubarb recovers as we can't water everything. As for potatoes in bags it was to get some early new potatoes. As they start off in the cold greenhouse they are streets ahead of the ones grown outside. We've been cropping since 30 May and haven't dug any outside yet. It also makes use of the greenhouse until we need it for tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether sweet corn counts as herbaceous
Your plot looks great! It is so big with such a vast variety of fruit and veggies! I have no idea what that insect is. It is very interesting looking though.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Hi Sue, walking through your slide show was amazing. I knew you had a large plot, but wow!! I really like your lavender borders. So glad to have found your blog this year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue. The potato scheme is fiendishly good. I'm suffering crop failure for early potatoes for the first time ever. The later varieties have surpassed the earlies - all down to the dry weather in April and May. Curiously the (also unwatered) rhubarb is doing well enough.
ReplyDeleteThe lavender is now flowering fully, Jenni so hopefully the butterflies and bees will soon descend - I also need to take more cuttings.
ReplyDeleteI hope our floppy rhubarb isn't a sign of something more sinister then Mark
As always everything is looking great....so much better than my weedy plot at the minute...I really need to have a good couple of sessions down the allotment to catch up with myself.
ReplyDeleteNo idea on the bug...we have a bug book upstairs though so i may take a look through it....it's a lovely shot of it!
Our weeds are regrowing so lots of weeding for us too Tanya.
ReplyDelete