Thursday 1 December 2016

Too cold to dig!

But our 2017 seeds have arrived.

Lots of new veg to grow.
Flowers too.

We are trying Hops for the 1st time, so keep checking to see how we get on.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.

Monday 21 November 2016

A quick look & harvest of goodies

Such a cold damp day, so just a quick visit to check it over & harvest some more veg. 

Finished digging this row of Cara potatoes, plenty came up, good size too, still 2 rows left, so plenty for winter meals. 

Will make lovely roasties for dinner & chips on Monday.
The garlic I planted ages ago have taken well, also the broad beans I put in over the last few weeks look healthy. 

All these were started off at home in cells to get a root structure started, will also give them a head start in the cold weather.
Sunday Harvest: 
Pumpkin,
Leeks,
Kale,
Squash,
Butternut Squash,
Cara Potatoes too.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.

Monday 31 October 2016

Monday on the plot

First job, to extend this patch next to the Garlic I put in a few weeks ago. 
Then plant out some Broad Beans I started off in cells at home. 
I found quite a few Lady Christl potatoes too while digging over this patch.
Another job that needed doing, cutting down the sweetcorn as it had finished. 
So a good excuse for a bonfire, there was a pile of weeds to burn too!
So while I was down on the plot, I did a spot of harvesting: 
Leeks, 
Parsnips, 
Last of the Cox's apples 
& some Cara potatoes, for chips tonight.
Was such a lovely day today, so I took a pic-nic lunch there too, was lovely just listening to the birds.

If you were wondering why I didn't go on Sunday, well I went to Brick Live at the N.E.C in Birmingham a Lego show organised by Lego fans and it was great (my other hobby). 

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

Sunday 23 October 2016

More Onions planted

 Before I show you the Onions, take a look at this lovely red Cox's apple. 
Almost ready to pick, we've had some great apples this year and with some careful pruning this winter, crops will be better next year.
This Pumpkin growing amongst the Rhubarb (no we didn't plant it there, it trailed its way there) will make a lovely soup for winter. 
I just love this vivid red Chard growing amongst all the green, we have it growing in a few places.

And finally the Onions, these are the 'Red Winter' that I started off in cells just like the ones I planted last weekend and have done them just the same way.
So that's all the Onions in now about 100 whites & now 90 reds, we will have plenty come harvest time next year!

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Sunday 16 October 2016

One crop out another in

The Senshyu onions have been growing well in cell trays. 
I started them off about a month ago and they are now ready to go in. 

I prepared the patch last weekend, its where a few rows of Cara spuds were growing & now dug up.
As you can see the Onions have a good root structure, starting them off this way gives them an early start and also stops the birds pulling them out.
That's 95 put in and watered well. 

I will put a similar number of Red Winter onions in next time I'm down. 
Today's Harvest:
Tomatoes,
Raspberries, 
Chilean Guavas,
Courgette. 
Chicken greens too.
The weather today was a bit mixed, rain all morning, then a few hours of sun in the afternoon, as we walked home rain was returning.

Thanks for reading/returning, Ian & Jo

Sunday 9 October 2016

Working hard on the plot today

Now that we have cleared this patch of Potatoes, there are still some in the ground (just out of shot). 
So I turned the soil, got all the weeds & roots out and raked it flat, ready for Onion planting. 
Couldn't move the bin as I was burning the weeds & it was hot!
Jo weeded all around the Parsnips, Carrots, Lettuce & Chard, it looks much better for it. 

The weeds will be drying ready for burning next time.
In the greenhouse:

These Hungarian Hot Wax peppers are as red as they will go. 

They start off green and mild, change to orange mid hot and now they are red are very hot!
Today's bumper harvest: 
Tomatoes, 
Peppers, 
Squashes, 
Purple Beans, 
Apples, 
Potatoes, 
Raspberries.
I keep hearing its autumn, well today was like summer, was warm & very pleasant. 

The birds & bees were very busy too. 

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Sunday 2 October 2016

Sunny Sunday at the start of October

Well the sun is shining, and the Cox's Orange Pippin apples are ready. 

Monty Don advised last week on Gardeners World, to just gave each apple a little twist and if it comes away its ready, if not leave another few days and re-twist.


So we had apple & raspberry crumble with our dinner, lovely too. 
The Rainbow Chard makes a lovely splash of colour amongst all the green. 
You may not be able to see them, but these Cosmos are attracting the Bees, they love the flowers for the nectar, as well as all the other flowers we grow for the Bees.
I dug up some more Harlequin spuds today from this patch. 

We are planning to plant out the Onions here, that are rooting well at home in cell trays. 
I also dug up more Charlotte (on the left) and the Harlequin spuds are on the right, we will have them as chips, the long tubers will make perfect fries.
Here is the Garlic I started off in cell trays and kept under cover. We will plant them out soon in one of the cleared raised beds.
Today's Harvest:
Tomatoes,
Raspberries, 
Apples, 
Peppers 
& Lavender.
We also picked a couple of round Courgettes!
In the bag is lots of greens for our Chickens, they love fresh veg and is good for them and their eggs too.

So as I said, a sunny day you can see the lovely blue sky and it was warm too, the forecast is for a dry week to come, lets hope so.



Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Sunday 25 September 2016

Something has been feasting on our Corn

Been a few weeks since I last went to our Allotment. 

We went to the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show last Sunday & it was a great day out. 

Dug up some Charlotte spuds to have for dinner with a quiche. 
Something has stripped our Sweetcorn! 

Quite a few have gone, the leftovers are all over the soil.
The evidence is clear on the path, I suspect Squirrels are the culprits. 
We have seen them running off with a few cobs before. 
Today's Harvest:
Charlotte potatoes,
Lady Christl potatoes,
Autumn Raspberries,
Cucumbers too.
I also tried a windfall Apple and it was lovely and sweet. 
Only spent an hour today, watered the greenhouse, harvesting & a bit of clearing. 
Its getting colder now, you can tell by the shadow that the sun is lower in the sky now.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Sunday 11 September 2016

Two weeks of harvesting ! Garlic planting too.

The autumn Raspberries are still producing large plump fruits.

The warm sunny days, with occasional rain, has certainly helped.

We also noticed a Broad Bean that must have self seeded was in flower!
We've been digging up some potatoes, these are the 'Cara' main crop. 
We have also dug up a few 'Harlequin' I planted about 40 of these, so today I dug up 3 of them and we got about 3kg, so if the yield is constant we expect to get over 40kg, not bad from an initial purchase of 3kg.
The extended summer seems to be fooling some of our crops into still producing, these Runner Beans are fantastic.
We managed to get some Garlic from a local fair, don't know the variety, but we got 32 cloves from them.....
So to give them a good start, I've started them off in cells with mp compost. 
I will plant out when they start rooting.
Produce in the Greenhouse still going strong, these peppers are lovely, the tomatoes still producing and cucumbers too.
Today's Harvest: Apples, Borlotti Beans, Courgettes, Squashes, Peppers, Tomatoes, Runner Beans, Purple Beans, Kale, Chard, Raspberries & Potatoes.
So all that harvesting today took two trips, Potatoes this morning the rest in the afternoon.

Was lovely in the sun, shelling beans! The forecast is for more fine weather, so expect to harvest lots more next week.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Sunday 28 August 2016

Summer Allotment news and Chicken news too.

In the greenhouse our Peppers are doing well, these Hungarian Hot Wax ones are cropping well, we entered one in a local 'Show your own' show and came 3rd in the 'any other veg' category.
This end of the plot looks overgrown, but in fact its the pond, where we have lots of Frogs living, so we don't want to disturb them. 
But the Purple Bean tower is still producing lots of beans. 
Our Cox's Orange Pippin apples are looking so good, the trees are laden with fruit. 
We wont harvest just yet, as they need to get bigger & sweeter.
1st test dig of the Cara potatoes and they are fine, no sign of any damage/disease, well they are quite resistant to most things. 
They are very tasty too as jackets & chips. 
The Sweetcorn is ripening well, the dwarf variety we grew has been attacked, by Squirrels we think,  see below to see what we did harvest. 
I'm calling this our award winning bean tower, the Borlotti Beans. 
I entered 6 beans into the 'Show your own' show and we got 1st, we also got 2nd place for our Raspberries, a Vase of Flowers & Blackcurrant Jelly, a good result all round.
As I've now dug up a row of Charlotte potatoes, we have sown a row of Lettuce as the weather is still warm, they will grow quick and it fills up an empty space too.
Today's Harvest: 
Cucumber, 
Courgette,
Tomatoes, 
Chives, 
Raspberries, 
Sweetcorn 
& Sweet Peas too. 
Oh and a bag full of mixed beans: 
Runners, 
Yellow & Green Climbing French Beans 
& Purple Beans.

There is some rainbow Chard in there too


So after a dull start the sun came out and it was a lovely day to do all that harvesting, digging & weeding. We also pruned back the early Raspberries and tidied them up. 


Oh and the Chicken news, click on the video below: 


Thanks for reading/returning. Jo & Ian