Well despite being a bank holiday weekend the rain stayed away and as a result we manged a couple of productive afternoons on the plot. I say productive although I suppose that isn't really the right term as we didn't really produce anything other than tidy beds.
For those of you who keep telling me that we have a tidy plot prepare to be shocked! On Saturday we both set to and removed all the weeds (including self sown poppies and foxgloves from a couple of beds. Below are the before and afters.
A couple of the larger foxgloves were transported to the garden. I used to sow seeds each year but now I content myself with moving self sown plants into the places that I want them rather than where they want to grow. As for poppies - they should come with a health warning although I didn't even plant any in the first place - I must remember to remove the dead flowers this year of plants that escape the weeding process before they pepper their seeds far and wide!
Sunday Martyn tilled these two beds whilst I weeded another one. This bed was a bit harder to deal with even though the worst of the weeds were just confined to a quarter of the bed. We had started clearing here in late autumn and been forced to abandon it as the awful weather set in.
Martyn cleared another couple of beds that only had a sprinkling of weeds and then tilled this area. So now we have one part of our plot looking tidy - all it needs now are some seeds and plants.
I also hoed and weeded around the autumn planted onions and garlic. The spring planted onions could have also benefitted from hoeing but I ran out of time.
Martyn cleared another couple of beds that only had a sprinkling of weeds and then tilled this area. So now we have one part of our plot looking tidy - all it needs now are some seeds and plants.
As Martyn completed the tilling I hoed round the strawberries where the rain had compacted the soil.
The earliest variety of strawberry has less vigorous looking plants which I hadn't expected to make it through the winter. I'm not sure whether this is down to the plants or whether the soil in this quarter of the bed is somehow lacking in some way. There are plenty of flowers but I wonder how many will survive the frosts. The kiwi didn't see Martyn's blog
I also hoed and weeded around the autumn planted onions and garlic. The spring planted onions could have also benefitted from hoeing but I ran out of time.
We even managed to sit outside the shed and have a couple of coffee breaks enjoying the scent of the wallflowers! The bellis were still looking good too.
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Well they are neat now which is more than you can say about mine. Those onions and garlic look fabulous.
ReplyDeleteWe've still quite a bit more to do though Liz
DeleteIt makes such a change to be able to get outside after all the bad weather we've been having. It's no surprise that you get many poppies popping up all over the place, each seed head had so many seeds in it. They're all free plants though, if only they'd sow themselves in more convenient places. It's all looking nice and tidy now, all ready for the sowing to begin.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly does, Jo - I didn't even have a fleece on!
DeleteLooks like the two of you had a very productive weekend! It looks great!
ReplyDeleteWe have to make hay while the sun shines Robin - which at the moment isn't often. It's quite dull at the moment and looking like rain again!
DeleteWell it certainly is looking great..though I'm not convinced you were really taking photos of your allotment sue...lol....At least you got some good weather to get things done though....I hate the fact that weeds thrives so well no matter what the condition of the soil, or the weather!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it a pity that the plants we want to thrive are more fussy about the weather Tanya?
DeleteThe transformation of those beds from weedy to weed-free must have been very satisfying.
ReplyDeleteI see you also had some multi-coloured Wallflowers. I like them. They are very under-rated these days - perhaps seen as a bit old-fashioned.
It was satisfying Mark. As for wallflowers - I do find it incredible that flowers/plants are subject to fashion. Unfortunately they often they need removing before they are over in order to replace them with summer flowering plants. I often see council parks peoples pulling up lovely displays of wallflowers to plant young flowerless bedding plants. Anyway on the plot as long as they are not grown in the same area as brassicas they add some welcome early colour.
DeleteBlimey you have been busy - have you got the bank holiday tingly hands from too many nettles! You'r strawbs look great by the way, much healthier than mine x
ReplyDeleteI did have a tingly finger end on Saturday FRG as I never thought about the hole in the finger of my glove. Better gloves for Sunday.
DeleteFoxgloves and poppies as weeds? There are welcomed in my garden! hahhahaa...
ReplyDeleteGreat weekend activity!
Coffee by the garden site is lovely combination ;)
One or two would be welcome Malar but they seed in their hundreds!
DeleteI'm always amazed at how you care for such a large area. I did quite a bit of weeding at the weekend too. It's great afterwards until a week or so later when more weeds seem to appear (at least in my garden!). The wallflowers are really pretty, the other ones look like zinias?
ReplyDeleteI find regular hoeing on the plot is pretty effective at keeping the weeds manageable but this is mainly between fruit bushes which are permanently planted. The other flowers are bellis Pomponette, Kelli which we grew from seed last year. They are supposed to be spring flowering but they had their first flowers in January so are really good value - we'll definitely sow some again this year. They are related to our common daisy - the sort that grows in lawns etc just a bit taller see here
DeleteThis is the bit that the current 'fad' for allotments misses out. Ground needs maintenance. Maintenance is hard work. Well done to you both, looks like you had better bank holiday weather than us.
ReplyDelete(and if you need a home for all those self-sown poppies & foxgloves, tell them to pack their little spotted handkerchiefs and get over here!)
And probably why so many people take on an allotment spend a few days tickling about and are seen no more BW!
DeleteI'll try and remember to take some seeds - if any still get past the defences if you are interested - the poppies aren't the red ones though.
its been far to wet down here to do weeding the plot is very muddy i tried to earth up my potatoes yesterday with not much luck. your plot is looking good now though after all that weeding.
ReplyDeleteThat's just part of it Stacy
DeleteSue, thanks for the offer of seeds, but I have both, thank you. Just waiting for me to put a few more plants in the Coppice* and then I shall chuck a few handfuls around and see what happens.
ReplyDelete* bad case of blog-lag, you haven't missed a post :}
Hope it ends up looking good the foxgloves wil be ideal.
DeleteGood job done Sue - I have a bed that is covered in weed - trouble is it is the raspberry patch with strawberries sown underneath plus any spare bulbs. Consequently I can't dig it over easily. It looks a right old mess (I will just have to call it my wild garden).
ReplyDeleteThat would be an area that proved tricky Elaine - as long as I was getting fruit I'd leave well alone!
DeleteHoly cow...those weeds certainly did take over didn't they? Nice job on the clean-up :)
ReplyDeleteI have tons of self-sown Opium Poppies and Borage at my own plot and am moving them like you're doing to some of your foxgloves. The bees love both of them but they take up so much space that I could be growing food in. Fortunately there's still a bit of scrap land at the bottom of our site so I've dug a little refugee camp for them there ;)
We have some sprinklings of borage too Tanya but fortunately at the moment where we want it so I'll just weed a few out once they ae a bit bigger.
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