June 5th

Strawberries

A quick visit this morning to plant out some beetroot and salad crops that I had growing in seed trays to protect from any late frosts, everything is growing so fast now .

The recent rains and warm sunshine has helped not only the crops but the weeds as well ! The Strawberries have started to show the pending fruit load (Time to consider getting some yummy Cornish cream soon)

Peas

The potatoes have really shot up, this year I had put quite a lot of compost and fertilizer in the troughs lined with old newspapers seems to have had an effect, fingers crossed on what the spuds turn out to be !

The Peas have also started to climb up the cheap netting frame I put in this year.

I also took adv advantage of the early morning to take a load of photos of the rest of the allotment plots down at heath road allotment, to this end I updated the gallery blog - http://heathroad.blogspot.co.uk/

Potatoes

Why not take a look at all the lovely growing thats going on the rest of the allotments.

Well I think that's all for now, thanks for following by rambling, have a great last day of the long bank holiday weekend !

Strawberrys

Having spent a few hours today down at the plot, I worked up a nice hunger for some "chips" . I have only one more section to dig over this year behind the strawberries, leaving everything else ready for planting! Whoop.

Now to head of to the local fish and chip shop !

Back !

Hey, At last I can log back into my blog ! Thank you Google for finally fixing this !

Saturday Sillyness

Hi all,
        Sorry for the lack of updates , today however I spent clearing and digging up the allotment getting ready for winter to make it a litle more easier in the newyear. It was a nice day and I managed to get over half of the plot done ! whoo hoo.

Urk, Calander 2012

Hi all, I really hoped the trip to the GP would sort out my recent problems , however the tests came back and the results were a little on the bad side, so more tests on Monday and a trip to the hospital for further examination and a endoscopy planned .  I wanted to get a lot done down the plot this weekend, however I think I will contend my self with just planting seeds at home and the like !

Twentyfifth.

Greetings,
Been under the weather today , booking made for blood samples and I took a breath test at the pharmacy to check for Helicobacter pylori. 

The GP has given me some leaflets to read and indicated that it was treatable.

In any event with the crippling stomach cramps that happen as well , I couldn't do much today so I covered the seed beds to warm them up before I make use of them later.

I have started on the greenhouse,(only the base) and moved some of the roof tiles to be a path in the center. Did not have any tools to carry on building the rest , I guess that's a job for later!

Around the allotments, there are a few people starting to appear and make a start for the new year clearing and digging, hard to believe that March is on our doorstep already.

Tatties

Greetings, This year I have decided to concentrate on just two types of well known potato's  - Maris Peer and King Edwards.

As you can see the Maris are ready to be planted this weekend, so fingers crossed for some semi OK weather ! Plus if it is good I am going to chance putting in a short row of Marrowfat peas as Mrs Seven adores them in mash !

Poop !

Poop!, horse shite, Manure.
Call it what you will there is nothing better than it been FREE !

Free yes indeed. I and like many others dropped in to the allotment site yesterday morning to find a very helpful local chap who had some horses sitting in a small tipper truck wondering if we wanted his muck!

Well , after been dumped I think it took less than an hour to two whole loads of golden muck to be hefted away by everybody.

The community spirit as people filled barrows,bags and buckets was great , the sun was shining and soon the cold drinks were also out. What a great day.

Feb Fun.

Seed bed. Not quite the bed I was hoping for on a cold morning, however out comes the spade,fork and rake and the start of the prep work for the spring months ahead.

This patch area pictured , had green manure last year that was cut down at the end of summer and covered over the winter. Dug over and left to break up for a few weeks and now had a final dig over and rake. It's a bit to early to get the seeds in as there is still frost and the ground is still cold and very wet.

I took a walk around the site and took some pictures and uploaded them on the Heath Road Caterham Allotment Blog. Why not take a look !

Digg it.

I had gone out in the hopes of catching a look at the eclipse 2011, but sadly the cloud cover prevented that , so two hours later, and the first beds for 2011 are taking shape for sowing and planting.

I got an awful lower leg cramp when taking of my wellies and despite working the muscle I still feel a lot of tightness and pain , that will teach me not to take it easy when getting back into the flow. Anyone "warm up" before working the plot ? I think I will have to consider it in the future , ha !

I also noticed the plant bulbs I planted last year starting to peek out from the soil all along the bank in front of the communal compost heaps, fingers crossed for a nice display along there as apposed to the ugly wire I normally have to start at.

Next plans are to hit free cycle and the local trades to source some wooden pallets to build a larger compost bin.

Whats that coming over the hill? Is it an Onion?

Hi all, and I hope you all had a fantastic start to the new year.

With the snow just melted away I wanted to see what state the allotment was, Imagine my delight to find that the garlic & onions are already poking their heads up despite the frozen ground and smothering of snow they had.

Returning home to a warm cup of soup I have taken a look at last years plans and started to draw up this years planting !

Snow 2010. Again !

Snow !
Some quick shots of the recent snow, over a foot fell in 24 hours and coated everything in a nice blanket of white !

 

Birr Vember !

Down the plot yesterday and I note that the first frosts have hit here in Caterham, quite late in the year I though until I was corrected by the old hats on the plot.

The green manure has spurted up and appears to give a decent cover to the empty spaces, fingers crossed this will mean less weeds come spring !

The onions and garlic have all ready started to sprout, and the leeks are well underway developing nice thick stalks.

I have finished moving the strawberries and raspberry canes, and a number of flower bulbs have been set in the borders to brighten up the plot for next year.  A further job completed was the cutting down of the artichoke stalks so the winter winds don't pull up the tubers like last year. All in all not a bad days work.

Berry berry much.

A quick update and early look at the new strawberry bed under development, there simply was to much grass to deal with this season around the plants so I hope this will help keep the weeds & grass down.

Brrrrr October !

October 2010

What a load of...

Manure! After having the whole plot dug over and weeded in the last few afternoons, I have sowed green manure ( rye grass & trefoil/Clover) in all the empty space left after harvest to improve and maintain plot seven's soil.

I hope that they will be forming a green carpet that stops weeds colonising and prevent nutrients from being washed away.

Last season I had cast some green manure in the vacant bed and I am well impressed in the improvement in soil quality.  So fingers crossed.

Blubs & holes

Well,  I had a spare hour today before the boss got home so I ducked down to the plot and got 50 garlic cloves in. They came from this years harvest , so fingers crossed. I hope they do well with the 50 red onion and 50 shallots that are neighbours. I plan to have rows of marigolds between them in the new year. I really like all the plots I have seen with them this year and they can't harm keeping the bugs and weeds down! I also removed the last if the sweetcorn and I placed the shafts in next years bean trench for added composting, hopefully this should give an added boost that the beans didn't have this time. On Sunday I finished putting down a small decked area at the front of the shed. I plan to have the boss sit here during the summer months to supervise, I was told to make it nice with a chair and pimms on tap !!!

Lots of digging...

Bounty

Harvest time is by far the most rewarding of times at the allotment. The boss and I have spent the day picking another load of the fruits of our labour . Marrow,beans,potatoes,carrots,spring onions and lettuce has been our targets for today. With the weeks "shopping" at the allotment collected we retired home to a lovely bottle of red wine while putting away and storing the food. I have already started to plan where next years garlic, etc are to go and I have learned a lot this year. Tomorrow we will be harvesting half the sweetcorn ! Yum.

Garlic

 

Marrows

 

Beans

 

Lifted the garlic yesterday and they have spent the day drying in the brilliant sunshine, I have taken them home today to string up and dry further, the Marrows have started to "fatten" and the Beans are still climbing and I have taken some harvest all ready from them. Yum !