7 months ago
Wednesday, October 30
Monday, October 28
Still no let up
The rain just keeps on falling and we are falling well behind with our allotment tasks. Last year was so different and we were well on top of things meaning that we were off to a good start come spring. Last week we only set foot on the allotment on Monday. This was really intended to be a quick visit to harvest some vegetables, but as the rain stopped for a short while we stayed a little longer.
We optimistically removed weed control fabric from a few beds. The general idea was to let air to the soil and maybe dry it out enough for digging. The weather had other ideas and the rain continued unabated.
At least the rain had done us one favour. Do you remember that our old strawberry bed looked like this earlier in the year?
We covered it with weed control fabric and a thick layer of wood chippings before leaving it alone over summer. Last week we removed the covering and the good news was that the cracks had gone but on the down side it was wet and claggy like the rest of the plot. The wood chippings have decomposed and will be dug in as a soil improver, that is unless the worms incorporate it into the soil first.
One job that I did manage was to sow some spinach seeds in a crate in the plot greenhouse. The seed packet stated that the seed could be sown up until October so we decided to give it a go.
We decided that really we would do more harm that good trying to do much more so we harvested a few things and came home.
The first leeks of the season - Oarsman were dug.
We also lifted some carrots but unfortunately many went straight to the compost heap due to the ravages of slugs and the fact that they are sitting in mud!
The dahlias were still hanging on and we managed to cut a bunch to take home.
Other than that we pulled a few spring onions from the crate in the greenhouse and uprooted a Kilaton cabbage. I say uprooted as it was taken home with root intact. This will be stored in a bucket with a little water in order to try and keep it fresher for longer. We use this tactic in winter just in case for some reason we can't get to the plot to gather a harvest.
At home the tubs which were planted with our summer displays have been taken into the greenhouse for some protection.
Although most days we have had some rain there have been some breaks in the weather when we could get out and appreciate the best aspects of autumn.
We regularly dog walk in Rothwell Park and I couldn't resist taking one or two photos with my phone.
The stream that runs through the park has gone from almost dry to being quite lively.
Most weeks we try to have one day or afternoon out. Last week we chose the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Potteric Carr nature reserve which I'll share more photos of on Wednesday. We were lucky as the rain stayed off for the afternoon
No sign of us developing webbed feet yet but if this rain continues there's every chance of that happening soon!
Our complete monthly harvests are listed here.
You can view a video of last week's allotment visit here
also Martyn posted a
Birds' eye view of the allotment here.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
Thanks to those who responded to my invitation to make a comment. I appreciate you taking the trouble to say hello. I know I get lots of visitors who never comment and I'd love to know who you are - unlike the annoying spammers who can't seem to grasp that their comments go straight into my spam folder and never see the light of day. I am getting lots of Anonymous spam comments which go straight into the spam folder and then deleted as there are far too many to check through so I'm afraid that if you comment anonymously this may happen to your comment.
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, October 23
Monday, October 21
Rain, rain go away
There is just no let up to this soggy weather! So far this month we have only had two days that have been rain free. I'm not saying dry, as the conditions can hardly be described as dry. Even days when the sun has made an appearance and we have been able to get out during the day the weather has managed to either send some quick showers or there has been some rain overnight.
Work on the allotment is impossible. We have had a couple of visits, once to harvest some vegetables and once in response to a strange request from Radio Leeds - more of the later.
The ground is far too soggy to do any digging and in the current conditions that is unlikely to change any time soon. Even walking on the paths is in danger of turning them to a quagmire and moisture gradually seeps up trouser legs. I have wellie shoes as I don't like walking or working in full wellies but it looks as though I will need to acquire a pair.
Fungi love these conditions and are popping up in various places.
The row of ocas also seems to prefer these conditions. Leaves that have been furled up earlier are fully open as are the more abundant flowers. We just need to decide when to try harvesting them - obviously not yet.
The slugs and snails are in their element and making up for the earlier dry period. I've sown some cornflowers to try and replace the seedlings that were munched but I'm not holding out much hope.
At least the slimy creatures don't appear to have developed a taste for the over wintering onions.
The crates of spring onions have been moved into the plot greenhouse. I'm not sure how much more growing they will do but at least they shouldn't drowned.
After we had planted up a couple of beds with onion sets in March we had quite a lot of sets left. As onions, in one of the beds, were struggling we decided to plant some of the remaining sets. This was mid-June so we didn't really think that they would produce anything. We left them as long as we could and decided to lift them last week. The resulting onions are small but will be really useful where only a small amount of onion is needed. To be honest the really large onions are too big for us.
Our summerhouse is in winter mode where it doubles up as a storage area for apples, pears, onions, shallots and squash. Although in general it keeps dry in there, when the weather is cold and wet outside the feeling of dampness creeps inside and the produce stored needs checking regularly for mould and rot.
The onions never really had the chance to dry off thoroughly this year. I spent some time this week removing some of the outer skins to try and cut down the chances of rot setting in. The necks are still on the damp side,
We managed one or two jobs in the garden. One of the camellias and the palm were conspiring to stop us using the steps up to the lawn. To regain access we pruned both. The camellia really should have been tackled earlier in the year, so we are going to lose lots of flowers but it had to be done. As the palm becomes taller it should become less of an obstruction. You may notice that the trunk of the palm is thinner at the base. This is down to blackbirds stripping the hairy covering for nesting material.
I managed to plant up tubs with spring bulbs, namely lots of tulips, narcissi hyacinths and crocuses. Some tulips, narcissi, camassia, and fritillaries have been planted in the newly renovated area under one of the crab apple trees. I've also planted some tete a tete narcissi and crocuses in the bird bath bed. The impatiens, or if you prefer busy lizzies, had succumbed to the weather and so were cleared. Earlier, I'd potted the tete a tetes into pots and so, as an experiment, I've left them in pots and buried them in the soil. The idea is that i can remove them when they fade and replant with annuals without disturbing the bulbs too much.
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| 14 October |
We managed a reasonable harvest last week. The Safari French beans still had a few beans that were worth picking. We gathered a good helping of Rudolph broccoli, a Sabrosa - savoy cabbage, a Kilaton cabbage and some Flakee carrots.
The dahlias hadn't yet been cut down by frosts and so I picked another bunch for the house.
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| 14 October |
I mentioned at the beginning of the post that we had a strange request from Radio Leeds, our local radio station. We're used to calls from them, which usually, involve heading to the allotment at silly o' clock for live interviews on the Breakfast show but this request was rather different. They wanted to send the show's presenter, Richard Stead, to the plot to look for worms. It was as a finale to a quiz that they were doing called Birds and Worm, (or was that Worms and Birds?). I'm not sure what it's about, as we don't actually listen to the radio much. Anyway, it was recorded, so we didn't have to be at the plot too early. Fortunately the worms made an appearance and the piece will be aired one day next week when the quiz comes to an end. I wonder what they will come up with next?
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
Thanks to those who responded to my invitation to make a comment. I appreciate you taking the trouble to say hello. I know I get lots of visitors who never comment and I'd love to know who you are - unlike the annoying spammers who can't seem to grasp that their comments go straight into my spam folder and never see the light of day. I am getting lots of Anonymous spam comments which go straight into the spam folder and then deleted as there are far too many to check through so I'm afraid that if you comment anonymously this may happen to your comment.
Wednesday, October 16
Monday, October 14
Just a handful of beans
There's not really much to tell you about last week. The rain is still preventing us from making any progress at the allotment. When it isn't actually raining or drizzling, everything is just too wet and soggy to do any gardening.
On Saturday we headed into Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales for the day.
At least plenty of rain is keeping the grass lovely and green so the sheep aren't complaining.
Although there were several light showers and the constant threat of a downpour we managed to stay mostly dry.
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| Ribblehead viaduct without steam train |
The sun even managed some brief appearances although the dark clouds were never far away.
The wetness may have curtailed our activity on the plot, but the slugs and snails are having a party. The hardy annual seedlings, that were doing so well, have been mowed down meaning my vision of lots of early flowers next year will no longer become a reality. There's lots of other things that these molluscs could feed on so why choose my little seedlings? It's all very disappointing.
We did manage an afternoon at the allotment on Tuesday when, Martyn started on our main 'project' for this autumn/winter. We have an overgrown bed containing a couple of cobnuts and four honeyberries. Really the bed has been neglected for a while as the honeyberries have never even provided us with a taster crop.
The decision has been made to clear the bed and put it to more productive use.
Mini chainsaw in hand, Martyn 'pruned' the cobnuts.
The stems in the background are what are what are left after Martyn's 'pruning'. Put a chain saw in his hands and he becomes Attila the Hun. The squirrels will not be happy. Video here.
Instead of two large cobnuts we now have a large pile of debris to deal with. One of the grapevines had woven its way in amongst the upper branches of the cobnuts. The outdoor grapes never really produce grapes of dessert quality. I guess that they could be used for wine making but we don't make wine.
Whilst, Martyn was playing with his chainsaw, I cleared the remains of the sweet corn, sweet peas and squash, all of which have had a disappointing year.
One surprise of the afternoon was to find a pair of loppers that we lost on the plot a couple of months or so ago. They were rather rusty but some squirts of WD40 and they were back into use.
Each year the quince tree sends long branches skywards and each year we trim them back in order to restrain it. The discovery of the loppers meant that this task could be completed.
There's no harvest group photo this week as all that we actually harvested was a punnet of dwarf French beans.
It wasn't that we had run out of things to harvest, it was just that for last week's meals that was all that I needed. I had everything else that I needed stored at home. Even our summerhouse is full - video here.
I hope that is enough to qualify me to join in again with
By the way if, like me, you find spiders fascinating you may like to view the slowed down video, Martyn posted here of a garden spider spinning a web.
Thanks to those who responded to my invitation to make a comment. I appreciate you taking the trouble to say hello. I know I get lots of visitors who never comment and I'd love to know who you are - unlike the annoying spammers who can't seem to grasp that their comments go straight into my spam folder and never see the light of day. I am getting lots of Anonymous spam comments which go straight into the spam folder and then deleted as there are far too many to check through so I'm afraid that if you comment anonymously this may happen to your comment.
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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