Tidying up

Had a day off on Tuesday so went to the allotment in the morning for various bits of tidying up. The first job was to dig over the area at the front of the old plot, where the potatoes had been. I removed a few weeds and a few potatoes that I'd missed, and then covered it over with black plastic for the winter (see above). This will stop the weeds growing there until I'm ready to plant in it next year. I'll probably also be using this area to have a tractor load of manure dumped on it later in the year.

I also bagged up a load of weeds that I had been piling up and took them to the dump. There were also a couple of bags of junk to get rid of from the new plot that the previous owners had left behind. I then pruned out the raspberry canes that had fruited this year, and they went to the dump as well.


The second cropping potatoes that I planted a month ago have been growing very well and I decided to earth them up, which is supposed to encourage growth, protect the potatoes from daylight (which makes them go green) and keep the frost off them (not that there is a danger of that in August!). They'd grown a bit too high to properly cover them in earth, but I raked up the soil around them as best I could (see before and after above).

August update

Time to write an update on what's been happening at the allotment over the past few weeks. The 'new' plot is completely over-run by the squash plants (see above). I've removed a few trailing off-shoots to try and keep it under control, but it's still a jungle. We are going to end up with so many squashes! A few weeks back I sowed Winter Cabbages (Regency) in seed trays at home in the plastic-greenhouse and this weekend I planted them out at the allotment. I've planted about 20 of them and then used hoops and netting to protect them from the birds (see below).


I also this weekend planted a Rhubarb plant (Champagne) on the 'new' plot (see below left). I've put it in one corner of the plot, which required me to dig over the area and add a load of manure.


The Butternut squashes (above right) are starting to ripen now and the Sweet Dumpling squashes (below left) of which there are hundreds are also either ripe or ripening. I have over 10 pumpkins (from 4 plants) with some being completely orange and others still green (see below right).


The Asparagus bed on the 'new' plot is doing really well, with about 3 shoots from each crown. Another job I've done this month is to start training the runners from the Strawberry plants into pots of compost (see below right) - ready for transplanting them. I plan to start a new Strawberry bed on the 'new' plot once the tomato plants have finished.


I recently pulled the fleece tunnels off the carrots to weed them (see below left) - they're doing exceptionally well and the thinings we've had so far have been very good quality. The leeks (below right) are also starting to grow quite well, although I must try and sow them earlier next year.


After thinking that the Parsnips had been a complete disaster, I now have about 10 of them (below left) - poor compared to the normal quantity but better than I expected a couple of months back. They've been incredibly slow, with just a few germinating long after I'd given up hope. The second-cropping potatoes that I planted out 3 weeks ago have now started showing through the surface (see below right) which is encouraging. So overall, it's looking good and been a busy few weeks.


I managed to pick up some black weed matts (1.5m x 10m) from Tesco at the weekend, reduced to just £1.22 each - so I bought 8 of them! That, combined with my existing ones, should allow me to cover all unused parts of both plots over the winter, stopping any weeds growing and saving time next Spring.

Currently picking...

(From left to right)
Top Row: Cucumber, Carrots, Radishes and Spring Onions
Middle Row: Sweet Pepper (black), Tomatoes, Aubergene (still growing)
Bottom Row: Sweercorn, Brocoli, Red Cabbage
It's been three weeks since I've had a chance to update this blog, so I'll give a run down on all the things that are currently being picked. Loads of salad items: Lettuce, Spinach, Spring Onions, Radishes, Cucumbers, Tomatoes. Started thining out the carrots, and they're looking very good. On the patio at home we have picked several peppers, the chillis are just about ready and the first aubergene is forming nicely. We've had a few sweetcorn cobs and they look fantastic. Also picked a few heads of brocoli which are probably the best I've ever grown, although not huge. We've also picked both white and red cabbage - the white was used for coleslaw and the red has been pickeld. We've had several of the Sweet Dumpling squashes. French Beans are producing huge amounts - picking those every other day, and the Runner Beans are starting to catch up after their slow start. There are still a few peas being picked, and the late ones are still to come. There are still the odd few Strawberrys appearing, but the Raspberrys seem to have finished now. (Although I've just ordered some Autumn fruiting canes for next year).