June in pictures

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Tasty berries

It's been a very frustrating week weather-wise. We have had a little rain but only enough to dampen the top few millimetres of soil. Short showers tend to dry up before they do any good. Our frustration has been compounded by it seeming to rain everywhere but on us. We were driving home along the M1 the other evening when the heavens opened. Visibility was limited and water was standing on the carriageway. We were only three or four miles from home so thought that the rain must be reaching us. As we continued the sky began to brighten and when we arrived home the ground was merely a little damp. Then during the coverage of the British Grand Prix  they had rain on and off for most of Friday and Saturday.

Does anyone know of an effective rain dance?

We've been busy on the allotment weeding, watering and harvesting. The weeding and watering don't lend themselves to any worthwhile photo opportunities but our first lot of peas are beginning to flower and I thought that the flowers of the Kent Blue peas were really pretty.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Parched

We are still in desperate need of some real rain. The situation is being made worse as the warm, sunny weather accompanied by very breezy conditions soon dry out whatever moisture we can deliver to our plants. The grass is beginning to turn yellow and the cracks in an uncultivated bed are widening.

In the garden plants in the pebble gardens are dying.

On Saturday, Yorkshire was forecast to have heavy rain and thunderstorms. Yorkshire is a large county and maybe some parts of it had heavy rain, but not our area.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Was that summer?

What a mixed up week last week was! It is so difficult to know what to wear. One minute we needed to layer up and the next we needed to wear as little as possible whilst keeping within the constraints of decency.

Last week we had two, what I would class as summer days. Friday was hot by UK standards with an accompanying mischievous breeze. All the better for drying out the soil even more. We still haven’t had any proper rain – just spits and spots. Fortunately we had given the plants at the allotment a good watering before our mini summer arrived and so everything survived – although some newly planted French beans look a bit sorry for themselves.

The weekend saw a swift return to cooler temperatures. On Friday evening the thermometer reading dropped off a cliff.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Strawberry Fare

Last week was a bit of a mixed week weather-wise. It’s difficult to remember that we are now in June and the beginning of summer. On some days we have a taste of summer and winter in the same day.

On the allotment we have gone from the stage where we wonder whether we will have enough to fill the beds to concern over whether we will fit everything in.

Last week, legumes took centre stage. We planted out all our climbing beans.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

May in pictures

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

The plot thickens

Any rain that is managing to fall is still in the form of fairly light showers. We had nothing persistent or steady. On top of this the fluctuations in temperature mean that it is not a happy time for the plants. At times it is hard to believe that it is actually June  – summer?

Regardless of the weather things still need to be planted out and the allotment beds are filling up.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Just enough rain to wet us

We did have some rain last week but it was only delivered in short drizzly showers. It was only enough to wet us when we were out and about and to dampen the ground and grass but not enough to have any impact on our dry soil. The strong winds added to the drying effect and so we are still busy with the watering can.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

We're getting there

I didn't manage to make it to the allotment to do any work last week until the weekend. Our new bedroom furniture was being built and so someone needed to be at home whilst that was being done. Martyn managed to get an afternoon in to do some strimming and we also paid an evening visit to check on things and do a bit of filming.

After the fiasco when we updated the bathroom we were a little apprehensive about the work on the bedroom but everything went smoothly. The company was really efficient and the installer made a really good job. Everything went exactly to plan - phew!

During our first full afternoon on the plot at the weekend, we mainly concentrated on some weeding.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Things are moving on

Last week we managed to clear most of the beds and, Martyn went over them with the rotavator. The only bed that hasn't been dug over is the old strawberry bed, where the soil is hard and cracked. It will need a good amount of rain to soften the soil before it can be dug

I planted the last of our seed potatoes. Most of the ones that had been planted previously, are through now and the ones planted in tubs at home are growing strongly.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

The work goes on

There are still beds to clear and dig over on the allotment.  We had a little rain last week but not enough to put watering on hold. The ground was very dry when the beds below were dug over as I hope the photos show.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

April in pictures

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Planting continues apace

The dry weather continued last week, and so we made the most of it by getting lots of planting done.

We now need some rain as, not only have we been back to watering but, we need to prepare more planting areas and the ground is too dry to work.

We were gifted some raspberry canes by Thompson and Morgan as a thank you for a link that they used to our website.  We chose a variety called Sugana which is supposed to crop twice during the season and also be a heavy fruiter.  T & M sent us six plants and although some have made more growth than the others, all have new shoots. They had been temporarily housed in a large pot but have now been planted in their permanent home.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Gardening cycles

Nature works in cycles and we gardeners work along with this. We sow, plant, harvest and store our crops until the growing cycle starts again and the cycle is repeated.

Our stored potatoes are coming to an end. The few that are left are producing shoots which tell us that they are ready to start a new growing cycle. We are listening to nature and have been busily planting potatoes over the last few weeks.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Things heated up

The weather warmed up last week and so did our gardening activities which were more or less confined to the allotment.

It’s now one of the busiest times of the year as far as planting goes.

At the beginning of the week, we planted out our first batch of broad beans. For some reason it always seems to be windy when these are planted, and last week was no exception, so I tried to offer the young plants a little protection in the shape of a makeshift windbreak. The beans had been sown two to a small plant pot. Gardening wisdom tells us that if two seeds germinate we should discard one, but we plant both young plants out as if they were just a single plant and we have never had a problem with this.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

A very oniony week

Last week the weather, once again, influenced how we spent the week.

It was showery and cold so for some of the week we spent time carrying out indoor tasks.

We have a growing light set up in one of our upstairs rooms and seed sowing is now gathering pace. Seeds that do not require warmth to encourage germination are sown in our garden greenhouse whereas the more fussy subjects are sown indoors. The growing light helps stop the young seedlings from becoming leggy whilst waiting for the conditions to be favourable enough for them to be transferred to the greenhouse. Details of the seeds that we have planted  each month are listed here under the sowing and planting section

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

March in Pictures

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Winter is back

After a brief spell of lovely weather, we are back to layering up again. We even had a flurry of snow which thankfully didn't last for very long.

We haven't been to the allotment this week, partly due to the weather and partly due to having other things to do. We had some electrical work done one day when the conditions weren't the best for having no heating for most of the day. Maybe it was a taste of things to come when our electricity supply runs out!

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

A busy week

I think that we may have been lulled into thinking that we can discard some layers of clothing as the weather last week was warm and sunny. I have the feeling, however, that we could soon be reaching again for our fleeces  as the warm spell is forecast to end this week. We enjoyed it while it lasted and managed to get quite a lot done outdoors both on the allotment and in the garden.

On our first afternoon on the plot, Martyn strimmed the rest of the grass paths whilst I continued doing some tidying.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Almost back in track

All the conditions aligned last week to enable us to get back to some semblance of normality.

The weather was fine and Martyn's aches had improved. Not only did Ruby enjoy a longer walk during our visit to Nostell but, we spent an afternoon at the allotment doing some actual work.

Martyn, was still gently easing himself back into the swing of things so, instead of going all out and strimming all the grass paths, he concentrated on the paths around the beds that will be the first to be plated up. Fortunately, all of these had been dug over last autumn and so should be ready to go after a spot of hoeing.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Some actual gardening

Last week was a much drier week and not before time. We even saw a little sunshine.

We are still not firing on all cylinders. I am more or less back to normal but Martyn is still struggling. On a positive note when he saw the consultant last week he was told that things were looking OK with his nose and he doesn't need another appointment for three months.

We managed our weekly visit to Nostell, but yet again had an abridged version of our usual walk.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

A tentative start to the new season

It's been another of those weeks when we seem to have had a diary full of appointments.

Monday I had my follow-up appointment with the dermatologist when I thought I would find out whet my mysterious rash was. This was not to be. Apparently the biopsy results reported things that my rash definitely wasn't but not what it actually was! I was told that it had ruled out anything to be concerned about so I suppose that's something. I didn't have a single patch of rash to show and so I have been given an open appointment which will last 12 months during which time I can contact the clinic directly rather than needing a GPs referral. Of course the day after a couple of small patches of rash suddenly appeared. The cream that I have seems to knock it back and so for now I will see how things go.

Martyn has another hospital appointment and the dressing on his nose has, at last, been removed. He is happy not to see a patch of white in his peripheral vision.

Our other appointment was a visit from the hairdresser to sort out everyone's hair. Ruby enjoys the visit as the hairdresser comes bearing doggy treats.

Although my shoulder is now fully recovered, Martyn still has trouble with his back and so we still haven't made it to the allotment. It's fortunate that we managed to prepare quite a lot of beds in autumn so at least when we want to start planting we will have beds ready to 

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

February in pictures

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

We’ve made a small start

The rain finally stopped and the sun made an appearance. This, and the emergence of more spring flowers, encouraged us to venture outdoors although not as far as the allotment. The good news is though that a friend, with a plot near ours, rang to tell us that we had survived the recent gales without any damage to our shed or greenhouse.

Although my shoulder is almost back to normal, Martyn's back is still at the tender stage so only fit for light duties.  At his check up at the hospital, he was also told that the dressing on his nose has to stay on. 

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Storms, rain, snow

It will come as no surprise to learn that another week has passed and we still haven’t made it to the allotment.

Last week the weather gods threw everything they had at us. We had gales, heavy and persistent rain and even a sprinkling of snow. Martyn posted about the weather here.

Even had the weather been reasonable, it is doubtful that we would have been gardening. Martyn still has to be careful with his skin graft and although my shoulder has improved, it still keeps reminding me that it is not yet ready for anything too strenuous. On top of this, Martyn has tweaked something which has caused him some pain in his hip and leg. In short, we are falling apart.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Late post

I usually post an update of the previous week’s activities on a Monday but this week  I haven’t managed to stick to my routine. I had a couple of days when my shoulder was very painful. In fact the aches extended down my arm. It wasn’t too bad when I was either on my feet or sitting back on the sofa but there was no way that I could sit at my computer downloading photos. To be honest I haven’t much to report as the weather has been foul and we didn’t really get out so I haven’t really much to report.

We still haven’t made it to the allotment and it has been far too wet to work in the garden. Luckily we brought plenty of parsnips and leeks home with us which are stored in the garage and freezers.

Martyn attended another out patients appointment at the hospital, where they were happy that the healing process is progressing as it should.

I did still manage to do some cooking as for some reason  this didn’t affect my shoulder.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

A quick update

I don’t have much to write about this week as we have more or less been confined indoors. 

Martyn had another  appointment at the hospital to have the dressing on his nose changed. Everything is going well, so now we have to change the dressings ourselves.  I wasn’t allowed to accompany, Martyn so he had to teach me how to fix the dressing as it’s impossible to dress your own nose. They have booked him another appointment for next week which he can cancel if he feels that he doesn’t need it.

I  had the results of my biopsies, well I say results but I still don’t know exactly what has caused my rash. My letter just said that no other treatment is needed and that a follow up appointment will be made in due course.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Our unofficial January garden bird count.

As I mentioned in my previous post, w completely forgot about the RSPB Garden Bird Count at the end of last month.

We didn't completely forget  but our memory didn't kick in until late Sunday. We thought that the count carried on until Monday 31 January as we were sure that in previous year's the count carried through to the Monday bit it seems we were wrong. To be honest the official count weekend  probably won't record typical bird activity as the birds seemed to have been hunkering down during the gales.

As we have taken part in the Birdwatch since 2012 and I have kept my own records since then, we decided to carry our an unofficial count. I can't submit our results but at least I can record them.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

January in pictures

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

What a week!

Last week was one of those weeks that you don't want to repeat . We have been more or less confined to the house.

I did go out into the garden where there were some uplifting aspects to the week. Our first snowdrops are flowering. This is always a cause for celebration as , although we are still in the middle of winter, it feels as though spring is just around the corner.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

A busy week

Last week was a busy week in more ways than one.

We actually paid a couple of visits to the allotment. The first visit was to harvest some parsnips as I needed some for some meals that were on the week's menu.

We lifted more than we needed as we decided to store some at home. Often when I need a parsnip we can't, for some reason or other make it to the plot. We've been pleased with the crop. Most are 'proper' parsnip shaped rather than looking like fat deformed spiders. They must have continued developing as many were larger than those lifted earlier.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

A mixed week

Last week was a really mixed week weather-wise. We never knew what we were going to end up waking up to.

We managed some walks in the sunshine. It was really lovely and sunny when we went for our regular walk around the grounds of Nostell Priory. Ruby loves it there and becomes very excited as soon as we are in the vicinity. The excitement reaches a crescendo  as the car indicator signals that we are turning into the gates.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

A cold and frosty morning,

Last week was quite eventful with two birthdays to celebrate, Ruby was two years old on Saturday and Martyn was a lot older than that on Friday. Normally we would go out for a meal for Martyn's birthday but we don't yet feel up to venturing to restaurants. The last time we ate out was when we went to pick up Ruby from the breeder. She came from Bristol so we booked into a hotel the night before we were due to collect her.

We did all have our hair cut which in current circumstances is a cause for celebration. The hairdresser comes to our house and cuts, Martyn's, my sister's and my hair on the same sfternoon.

The only gardening that we did last week was to pot up some new raspberry canes. They were a gift from Thompson and Morgan as a thank you for linking to a page I wrote on growing raspberries.

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Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

All Change

Regular visitors will be aware that Martyn and I each have a blog. In addition to this we have a video vlog. We also have a website. There are links at the top of my blog that lead to pages on this site. I can no longer update the website pages as the software that I used to build the site is no longer available. I have had to rewrite the site about three times due to companies withdrawing the means for updating this site but much of the material is still valid.

We wanted to try to bring together all these online elements so we decided to link everything using WordPress.

The problem in switching platforms is that regular readers are used to finding and following blogs from particular links. For this reason, Martyn and I will keep our Blogger blogs active but posts will act as a bridge. Here there will be posted a brief summary and a Read more link that will take visitors to the full version of the post on WordPress. Visitors can choose to place comments on whichever platform they prefer.

At the moment the transition is a work in progress so if you come across anything that doesn't work please let us know.

I do hope that the changes will not put you off and that you will continue to visit and comment as we really do appreciate your support.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

December in pictures

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

When you can’t garden

We weren’t really tempted into the garden or onto the allotment last week.  When the weather was reasonable the condition of the ground wasn’t really conducive to any gardening activity.

We decided to have a couple of afternoons at Nostell which pleased Ruby as it’s one of her favourite places and the entrance staff now recognise her. I’m not sure that they would remember us if she wasn’t with us.

We weren’t the only ones to decide to visit as Nostell was the busiest that we have seen it. Until we left the popular areas we had to keep our wits about us in order not to come into conflict with riders of bikes and scooters which have the habit of approaching silently from behind us.

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You will notice that some changes have taken place with respect to our blogs which I will explain in a later post

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett