Happy New Year

Christmas has now been and gone and we are now all waiting to see what the New Year will bring.

It's been a very soggy Christmas with almost wall-to-wall rain and strong winds. 

We didn't manage to get to the allotment but fortunately, we had enough vegetables stored at home to fulfill our needs. We are hoping that the allotment hasn't been battered too badly by the constant storms.

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

Merry Christmas

We had a very different walk with Ruby last week. A street near where my sister lives goes to town on Christmas lights. The display is in aid of local charities. We decided to take, Ruby along for an evening's walk.

More photos here

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

Cascades

We made one visit to the allotment last week. 

We needed some fresh parsnips and leeks and found a couple of tiny cabbages. A video is posted here.

We were really pleased with the parsnips. You may remember that we started the parsnips on damp kitchen roll and 'sowed' the seeds once the tiny roots had sprouted, Some of the roots grew longer than we would have liked before we could get them in the ground, so we were concerned that they would develop multiple roots. This doesn't appear to have happened as all the roots lifted last week had just the single tap root. For some reason, the row along the edge of the bed seemed to suffer from canker. Other than being sown earlier and the position of the row there had been no difference in how they have been treated. It will be interesting to see whether the parsnips growing along the other edge of the bed are similarly affected.

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

Contrasting weather

Last week, we had everything that the weather gods could find to throw at us, except warmth. Most days were wet and miserable days when it hardly managed to get light. On other days, we had bright sunshine and a little snow which froze and was crunchy underfoot. Then at the weekend, we had persistent rain and strong winds.

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

November in pictures

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

Wintry

There were no visits to the allotment last week and it wasn't all due to the weather.

Monday we all - Martyn, my sister, and I - had a visit from our hairdresser. At this point, I was already feeling snuffly and below par. Then on Tuesday, the sniffles developed into the worst cold that I can remember having for years. The unheard of happened and I spent most of the day in bed.

Wednesday, I was up and about again but couldn't stray far from my box of tissues.

Thursday I was still wedded to the box of tissues, on top of which the weather had turned cold and we had a sprinkling of snow. Martyn popped out and took a few photos for me.

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

Then there were two

..

Just one visit again to the allotment last week. We chose the brightest day but it was also one of the coldest days of autumn so far. The temperature plummeted and although it was a sunny afternoon, our plot was in shade. At this time of year, only plots along one edge of the site enjoy the benefit of any sunshine. The rest of the plots are in the shade of a row of enormous leylandii growing in a neighbouring garden. This means that we don't benefit from any small amount of warmth that the sun provides and work on the plot is unpleasant, even when wrapped up in multiple layers of clothing.

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

Colours are fading

We made a quick dash to the allotment last week. It had been mostly a dull and miserable week and the allotment echoed that description. At this time of year, it is hard to imagine working on a sunny plot full of growing crops and the need to haul cans of water around. The allotment is bleak, most beds are empty and the ground is muddy and slippery under foot. 

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

Autumn leaves are falling

After an absence of over a fortnight, we actually managed to visit the allotment last week.

As always, after unloading the car, we checked on any plants that were still growing. That didn't take very long as, at this time of year most of the beds are empty. We were pleased to see that the winter onions, shallots and garlic were growing away well. We were especially pleased to see that the shallots have started to grow as there was no sign of this the last time that we checked. I don't expect much more growth to be put on now until next spring when hopefully they will grow away quickly.

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

October in pictures

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

Water, water everywhere

Another week has gone by with no gardening taking place.

We are so glad to have got all our digging and bed preparation done before all the rain set in. After all the exceptional rainfall the soil will most certainly be soaked and too wet to do anything with. We have fruit bushed to prune or cut back but we are guessing the paths will be too soggy to walk on as we don't want to turn them into mud.

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

Second Fiddle

We didn't venture to the allotment at all last week. To start with the weather has been miseralble, gloomy, wet and misty. When the weather has been reasonable enough for us to venture out, the priority has been to take Ruby out for some exercise and the allotment has had to play second fiddle.

Most of the tasks that we had to complete before the ground became too wet have been complete. Any still to do will have to wait and tidying up neglected areas will be done bit by bit until we once again are busy sowing and planting. That seems a long way off at the moment but it will come round all too soon.

We may be able to put activity at the allotment on hold but we have to take Ruby for her walks whatever the weather. We've stocked up on wet weather clothing for all three of us.

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

Phew - Just made it

.What a week it has been! Fortunately, we haven't had weather as bad as in some areas. For us, it has delivered lots of rain and strong winds.  Happily, when the weather is too bad we can hunker down and sit it out in comfort unlike many who still have to go about their business or, even worse, actually sleep out on the streets.

Early in the week, we did manage an afternoon working at the allotment. Martyn took down the remaining climbing bean frame and dug over the bed. This meant that all of the vacant beds were now cleared and dug with many of them covered in weed control fabric. This was just done in time before all the heavy, persistent rain.

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

We can no longer deny it - autumn is here/

It's been a very mixed week weatherwise. We have gone from summery and warm one day to rather wintery the day after. We have also had quite a bit of rain, in fact, we were rained off again when working at the allotment.

We've managed more clearing and digging over beds, although the rain has meant that the soil is fast approaching the too wet to dig stage. At the moment it is just on the very edge so we are trying to get as much done as possible. We've done well and I think we have actually managed to get more done than usual due to having an early start. There are only a handful of beds still to be tackled. The advantage of setting out separate beds means that you can target a specific bed and then feel that you have made progress.

As well as preparing beds for next year, I actually did a little planting. We had some small sweet William plants languishing in modules which we should really have planted out earlier.

The plan was to remove this year's sweet William plants and replace them with new ones. This plan changed for a couple of reasons. Firstly this year's plants seemed as though they would last for another year and secondly not enough seeds had germinated to produce enough plants to fill the bed.

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

Everything's coming up carrots

We managed a couple of afternoons at the allotment, although once again on one occasion we were rained off. In stark contrast on the second visit, it was warm and sunny.

We are still clearing and digging over beds. We have about another eight left although two of these house dahlias and they won't be dug until the first frosts kill off the top growth.

That doesn't mean that, once the beds are cleared, our work on the plot will come to an end. We will then have to tackle all the areas that are waiting for some renovation. We just need the weather to cooperate.

Last week, we removed nets from our raspberries and blueberries. It sounds like a simple job but isn't. Some of the new growth had to be teased out of the netting or failing that snipped off. Then there are the brambles that pop up in unwelcome places and entangle their thorny stems in the netting. Once the netting is off pieces of bramble have to be carefully removed before the net can be stored away.

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

September 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 big clear out begins

We only paid two visits to the allotment last week and one of those was only fleeting. 

Early in the week, we had been kept busy. Our fruit growing area has been somewhat neglected so we are hoping to give it a really good tidy up now that things have slowed down as far as planting and - hopefully - digging and weeding goes. There are still a few beds to clear and cover with weed control fabric and I was concentrating on these jobs whilst, Martyn made a start on the big clear up.

He started in the area alongside the greenhouse where we had a very overgrown patch of redcurrants. The bushes are very old, in fact, we inherited them when we took on this area of the plot. 

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

(Weed, Dig, Cover) Repeat

Activity is rather repetitive at the allotment at the moment and I won’t bore you with photos of the beds that we cleared, weeded and dug last week. The plot is becoming a patchwork of beds in various stages of preparation for next season. More and more are becoming black as we cover them with weed control fabric. Any beds left uncovered would quickly be reinfested with weeds.

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

Clearing up

Nights are beginning to draw in, which is a sign that our allotment season is winding down. There are still some crops to harvest. Some such as parsnips, cabbages and leeks will stay in the ground until needed and others will be brought home to store.

Planting will be put on hold and our attentions have turned to tidying areas of the plot that have become overgrown and unkempt whilst our time was dominated by harvesting.

Last week, Martyn intended to strim areas where the grass paths had become overgrown but his strimmer broke so that didn't get done.

We spent time clearing the bed that had housed the Crown Prince squashes. It's quite a large bed that suffers from bindweed infestation. I've dug out as much as I could but no doubt some tiny roots will have been missed which will grow and quickly reinfest the bed.

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

A belated summer spell

Summer put in a somewhat belated appearance last week. Trying to make up for lost time the thermometers soared.

The result of this sudden onslaught was that we spent very little time at the allotment and confined our visits later in the week to the mornings.

We decided to bring the onions home. They had been drying out on the allotment and we didn't want them to get wet if we had a downpour. I've started to tidy them up ready to store over winter.

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

August in picture

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

It's all about onions

Onions seem to be featuring heavily at the moment. We have them at every stage in their life cycle.

At home, sheltering in a cold frame are what are left of the onions planted last autumn.

Drying off at the allotment are the spring planted onions. It has been sunny and warm for a couple of days which is supposed to continue into this week. If the forecast is correct, it would mean that the onions could probably be tidied up and brought home at the end of the week.

Then, last week we planted more onions and garlic which will overwinter and provide a harvest once the onions that will have been stored are either used up or begin to shoot. 

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

Still no real summer

It’s round to that stage in the allotmenting year when the focus is more on preparing for next year. It seems to have come along earlier than in previous years maybe due to a lack of any real summer.

I did plant some cabbage plants that we had left over which may or may not produce anything harvestable but they certainly won’t produce anything languishing in the module cells.

We have decided not to plant winter brassicas as they really don’t do well for us. It’s a lot of effort for what amounts to almost nil return.

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

Time is running out

In my last post, I wrote that I had lifted the onions as the forecast was for a warm dry period. Of course, the forecast was wrong and we had rain. The onions were not going to dry out sitting on wet soil so, last week, I moved them. We put together a makeshift drying rack using sides from an old bird cage, some chicken wire, empty water butts and bits of wood. At least now the onions and shallots are raised off the ground and when the inevitable rain falls it should drain away. Ironically, after I had moved the onions, we had a couple of warm dry afternoons.  The weather is playing games with me!

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

A glimpse of summer

I think that the weather gods must have read my previous post and taken pity on us. Last week we actually had some glimpses of summer.

The weather forecast sounded promising, so I decided to lift the onions and shallots hoping that they could have a few days in the sunshine drying off.

I was pleased to find that only about four onions were spoiled but that may change when I start to use them. I'll be on the lookout for any allium leaf miner pupae.

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

That's enough now

We really have had more than enough rain now! Back when we were spending our days lugging watering cans, we should have been more careful with what we were wishing for.

The rain alternates from just being wet and drizzly to a torrential downpour. We were caught in a storm whilst travelling along the motorway. The rain was so heavy that we couldn't see for more than a few yards. We had to drive at about 35mph. It was scary and I was glad that I wasn't driving. We were going to my sister's and coming back later in the evening we had thunder and lightning and more rain. Fortunately, the rain was less heavy but there was lots of standing water to be negotiated. This wasn't helped by heavy lorries taking no account of the conditions and thundering past leaving thick spray in their wake which cut visibility.

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

July 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 reached a turnong point

It seems that no sooner have we planted up all our allotment beds than we start to clear them.  The period of time during which the plot looks its best is short-lived. 

We may not have enjoyed the weather during July but the weeds certainly have. We spent much of last week when we were not harvesting, clearing weeds. Several barrow loads were popped on the compost heap. We have separate bays in our compost area. One part is where we compost weeds and another for more desirable composting material. Guess which heap is the larger! The weedy compost is usually left for longer before adding it to the beds, Many advocate not composting weeds, but that would leave us with the problem of what to do with the vast amount of weed growth and also we reckon that weeds will continue to appear regardless of whether or not we spread weed generated compost. On an allotment site, there are plenty of weed seeds travelling from other plots.

To try and control the weed growth, once beds have been cleared and dug over, they will be covered with weed control fabric. This will be removed over winter when weed growth has more or less stopped and the beds will be recovered once the weeds start to reappear. We have found that leaving the fabric on overwinter can adversely affect our soil.

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

Is this really summer?

At the moment, there never seems to be a happy medium where our weather is concerned. June saw us lugging watering cans in the level of heat not ideal for that type of work. Now in July, which should be the height of summer, it doesn't seem to want to stop raining and the temperatures have dropped considerably. No heatwaves in our corner of Europe! Some evenings our heating has even come on. I am sitting writing this with a thick cardigan over the tee shirt which, without the cardigan, is my more usual summer wear.

Our only trips to the allotment have been to harvest and then it has been a case of dodging the rain.

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

Great weather ... for ducks

There is never a happy medium where our weather is concerned. Only a couple of week's ago we were struggling to keep our plants watered. The soil was dry and we were lugging watering cans around in conditions that really were too hot for any kind of strenuous activity.

Now we are dodging the frequent, sometimes heavy, showers. At least we have had a break from watering.

On the allotment, we have managed to get a bit of weeding done. It's not only the desirable plants that have welcomed the rain.

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

A break from watering

At the beginning of last week, although we had some light rain, we were still watering, The heavy rain that was forecast seemed to be determined to miss us. 

We had to follow a different watering regime as we needed to allow more time for harvesting. We decided to concentrate on watering one section of the allotment each time we visited.

There is little to show as far as work on the plot went as, other than watering, we spent time weeding which doesn't make for interesting photos.

Harvesting is taking up more of our time. Picking berries is very time consuming especially when there are nets to negotiate.

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

June in pictures

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I have a new way of displaying my monthly photos - on my actual web page nor here -- now if you click on an image you will access a full size photo. Hope you like it.

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

Everything is being battered

It seems to happen every year at this time. Everything in the garden and on the plot is planted out and settled in and looking lovely.  Then as soon as the cardoons have developed flower spikes we know what comes next - gale force winds.

Everything now, both in the garden and at the allotment is being battered. Our allotment site is like a wind tunnel. It has been known for sheds to be upended which is why our shed is fastened to fence posts set firmly in the ground.

Anyone who, like me, wears contact lenses will know that the wind is not a friend.

We just hope that once the winds die down - as surely they must - things will recover.

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

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

Busy watering again

It was a lovely week last week. No rain and temperatures that meant sweaters were discarded and shade was sought.

The downside  - of course there always is a downide - was that we had to spend much of our time hauling watering cans around the plot. According to an app on my phone, on Sunday  I walked 2.7 km, (just over one and a half miles), whilst at the allotment and most of that was spent watering.

We put off most of our planting as we thought it was easier to look after the plants at home  but we needed to plant out our second batch of sweet corn. At least the soil wasn't too dry to make digging a hole difficult and to give the plants the best chance of settling in, I filled the planting holes with water before planting. Th plants were also given a good water after planting and so far they have survived.

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

It feels like spring - or even summer

The weather was very kind last week. We seemed to have skipped spring and jumped straight into summer. 

We have had four very productive afternoons at the allotment as well as some long walks with Ruby. This means this post is longer than usual but if you want to read it in two parts, there is a natural break which I will indicate when you arrive there.

One down side of sunny, dry weather is that the watering can is busy again but I mustn't complain. 

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

Beds are starting to fill up but steadily

We spent three busy afternoons at the allotment. Martyn, spent time strimming as the grass is growing at an alarming rate. The conditions are ideal for both grass and weed growth so Martyn strimmed and I weeded.

We did, however, fit in quite a lot of other things too.  

 

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

Swan Lake

We spent much of the time tidying and strimming the grass  - nothing that really lends itself to interesting photos. The conditions are ideal for grass growth and it almost seems as though the grass immediately grows back again after it has been strimmed.

We did some planting too.

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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

A double dose of bluebells

Last week we managed to do quite a bit of work on the allotment, as well as fitting in plenty of walks with Ruby.

First, let's catch up with work on the plot. We still have a few beds to clear and till so we have a production line going; I dig out and clear any weeds and as beds are cleared, Martyn moves in with the tiller.

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

Above ground planting

Last week was very mixed weather-wise so we just visited the allotment when we could.

We still have plenty of tidying up to do, including weeding. It never stops does it? Some empty beds needed clearing of weeds ready for tilling but I also weeded the bed of sweet Williams that are growing well.

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

One potato, two potato

One of the main tasks at the allotment last week was to plant potatoes.

Firstly, Martyn tilled some of the beds whilst I weeded and cleared more beds.

Three long beds were tilled, two of which - or rather one and a half - were earmarked for potatoes.

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

At last some planting

Last week the rain abated and at times the sun shone, so we took the plunge and started planting. Fortunately, beds had been dug over earlier in the year so we could start planting straight away.

The first to be planted were the early potatoes. Some compost and fertiliser were added to the soil and two rows of potatoes were planted using the trowel method which seems to provide us with as good a yield as going through the backbreaking task of digging deep trenches. Once the seed potatoes were planted, mounds of earth were drawn up over the rows and more earthing up will be done as the tops emerge.

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