Harvest time begins

As we were treated to some much needed rain, we had a reprieve from watering duties. This freed up time for us to start catching up on some jobs on the allotment that had been put on hold or unavoidably neglected due to the time taken watering.

I planted more calabrese, some sprouts and savoy cabbage. Our brassica bed is filling up nicely. Despite the rain, in anticipation of more hot dry weather, I still filled planting holes with water prior to planting. I also added lime when planting to try and cut down the chance of club root. As we have had club root affecting our brassicas, we also try to stick to club root resistant varieties. A list of the varieties that we grow is posted here.

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

Vampires beware

There's not a lot of interest to share about last week. We were still having to water on every visit to the allotment but we did manage to fit in a bit of weeding and general housekeeping.

Our greengages were dripping with greenfly, which was also affecting the tayberry that grows beneath it. Last year we didn't pick any tayberries as we didn't fancy harvesting berries covered with greenfly. Our coffee break area is also close by so it was an unpleasant place to sit. It called for desperate measures so, Martyn treated the greenfly to a jet wash. The process will be repeated to try and keep any infestation at bay.

 I did manage a tiny bit of planting. I planted a few cauliflowers and calabrese that just couldn't hang on in the cold frame for longer. Each planting hole was filled with water before planting and then the plants were watered in well.

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

A case of deja vu

We seem to be repeating last year. The allotment is now almost fully planted and the weather gods seem to have forgotten how to produce rain. Thunderstorms have been promised but seemingly not for us. What is worse, from a gardening perspective, is that we have lots of sunshine and the sort of temperatures that dry out the soil.

Once again this year we are hauling watering cans in an attempt to keep everything alive and growing. I've spent two afternoons just watering everything. I know that the afternoon isn't the ideal time to water but it's the only time when few other gardeners are on site and we have the water more or less to ourselves. Although we have a tap for every four or five plots, if more than one person is trying to fill cans, or even worse is using a hosepipe, pressure drops to a trickle and it can take ages just to fill one can with water. This would mean we would have no chance of watering everything.

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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

We spent four afternoons at the allotment last week but to be honest there is little to show for it. It's not that we weren't busy, it's just that time of year when most things are planted and we enter the housekeeping stage. Paths need to be strimmed, beds need weeding and plants need watering. We still have had no rain and so watering is a major task.

It didn't help that I strained my back. I'm not sure how but it's been very painful. That meant that I had to be careful and couldn't lug cans of water about so I spent one afternoon watering with a hosepipe.

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