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
Posts
I think you,ve done really well getting your potatoes in . I,ve done about half of mine , I wish I had ordered more now . I might try planting some that are at the bottom of my potato basket in my kitchen . Hope the weather warms up a bit more so you can get in some onions . Worrying times take great care of yourselves xxx
ReplyDeleteWe have only planted one row Debs. Loads more to go in yet
DeleteI read that seed companies are inundated with internet orders as people hit upon the idea of growing their own. As for compost, provided you are up to visiting them, the big food stores do offer multi purpose compost and some even have three for £10 offers currently. Every growing season has its unique challenges but 2020 will be exceptional, even if the weather is benign!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly will be exceptional, Mal
DeleteThese are indeed trying times, ones I never quite expected to see. Seeds and supplies are in short supply here. Thankfully I already had most everything I need except a bit of fertilizer which I did finally find. I do have lots of homemade compost though. I am thankful for the food we have now like the PSB, and the asparagus should be poking up soon as well. Your potatoes are always lovely and I do hope your planting pays off.
ReplyDeleteWe will be struggling with compost. Dave we will need to ration it.
DeleteSounds like you are doing the only sensible thing, Sue. "Keep calm and carry on" seems to be relevant again! I think we are in this for the long haul. We may have "lockdown" of various forms for several more months, but no-one knows.
ReplyDeleteI think that is one of the worst aspects, Mark the not knowing how long this is like;y to last
DeleteI think it's the uncertainty which is the worst thing. If we knew how long we had to be on lockdown or when this would all be over, we'd be able to manage things accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI’ve just said the same think to Mark. Jo
DeleteI'm so glad our veg plot is our back garden! We've at least been able to get out and do some digging, even though we can't actually get any supplies (mulch, plugs, etc as our garden is new to us and therefore no homemade compost yet!).
ReplyDeleteHoping to finish off planting out our fruit bushes this weekend in the bed that collapsed this winter, maybe we should take some gooseberry cuttings as well, as ours seems to grow outwards rather than upwards!
That is certainly an advantage at the moment DQ
DeleteYour allotment is looking very good considering the weather troubles. Wouldn't it be nice if we had a summer of just the right amount of sun and rain needed to require fewer allotment visits. We can dream.
ReplyDeleteWe can indeed dream tpals but at the moment it is more like a nightmare
DeleteI have the same feeling of catastrophic film where I take a part, Sue. Month ago I started seedlings and now they are growing fast. What to do with them if we are in hard quarantine, I don't know.
ReplyDeleteYour plots look good and I hope you will be able to collect harvest at time.
Take care you both.
You take care too Nadezda. I guess we have no choice other than to sit tight and wait
DeleteLike you, I am waking every morning then suddenly realise I am a cast member in a B Class sci fi movie. How our lives have changed in a few short weeks.
ReplyDeleteMy plans to start my new raised beds are scuppered as I missed getting the necessary top soil delivered by hours.
Glad you can get to your allotment, I am sure it helps enormously.
It looks as though most of summer will be a right off, Deborah
DeleteThis is a difficult situation for all of us!
ReplyDeleteDear friend, take care of yourself and stay safe!
Greetings
You too, Ela
DeleteAfter seeing all the work you have done in not so good conditions under stressful circumstances it makes me want to get outside to do something. It is very cool here this morning. I might have to wait until it warms up a bit.
ReplyDeleteIt’s been cool here too, Lisa
DeleteYes as you suggest Sue this is like living through a horror film although I try to keep it in perspective by thinking of my parent's generation who lived through a world war 😢 Glad that you were able to visit the plot. I'm sure that being there will have provided a welcome and therapeutic break. I'm in a quandry about the allotment which has been neglected since my fall. My right hand is now somewhat stronger but various health issues including asthma make me reluctant to visit the plot. I'm sure that social distancing would be ok but issues like using a shared toilet make me wonder. On the other hand I feel guilty about not using that room for growing and don't want the plot to become overgrown. Decisions, decisions!
ReplyDeleteAt least we don’t have a communal toilet to worry about, Anna. Maybe a bucket in your shed?
DeleteIt is such a weird, strange time with no obvious outcome in sight. I'm pleased to hear you can still visit the plot, long may that continue. Good to know you got some potatoes in. Take care Sue.xxx
ReplyDeleteI think one if the worse things about the social distancing is that there is no observable ending, Dina.
DeleteIt certainly is surreal. Your plot sure looks good. I can't believe you have broccoli already and it is purple. That is also a little surreal. Please be safe. Thanks for sharing. It is interesting how the rest of the world is handling this. I guess we are all in the same boat.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve been picking broccoli for a while, Bonnie it is really beyond belief how something started in one country has had such a devastating effect. Maybe it could have been contained had we known about it sooner.
Delete