Mid week growing update.

Early Nantes carrots just showing.

Over half of the Rocket early potatoes now broken through. 

Peas!

Another harvest of Parsnips, leaving them in the ground hasn't harmed them. 

First harvest of the Stockbridge Arrow rhubarb.

Another 60 onions planted, the Red Baron this time, so we now have 128 onions!

Chopped a bit more of the Laylandii and burned the cuttings on the bonfire. We are keeping the thicker branches to cut into logs for seasoning.


Thanks for reading/returning. Ian.

Its that time of the year, for planting & things are growing.

Due to work commitments this week we only managed to get to our Allotment today, but wow we did pack a lot in.

First we planted the 2nd early 'Charlotte' potatoes, two weeks after the 'Rocket' (1st early) were planted.

Next job was to plant out some Broad Beans that we started of in a cell tray. 

Also planted some Shallot Onions that were also started of in a cell tray. 
To the right I planted out 68 'Sturon' white onions, these were also started off in cell trays and had good roots, so ready to plant out. I have 60 'Red Baron' onions to plant out next, started off in the same way.

Next job, weeded between the Garlic in this raised bed and sowed some Rocket and Carrot seed in between the Garlic rows.

While I was having a Tea break, this cheeky Robin was picking up grubs from the soil I had turned while planting the Potatoes, I hoped it would do the classic sitting on the spade handle pose, but this was the best it could do!

Now that things are warming up, lots of things are growing:
Top left: 'Stuarts Purple' Asparagus. 
Top right: Rows of Radish, Lettuce, Rocket, Spring Onions & Peas. 
Bottom left: The Rhubarb almost ready for 1st harvest. 
Bottom right: The 'Honeoye' Strawberries already in flower so soon after planting out. 

My recycling tip: If you use those Pro-biotic Yoghurt drinks in little bottles, they make great cane toppers, they clatter so frighten birds, also vibrates the soil that moles don't like and stops you stabbing your eye when bending down (see Broad Bean photo above).

So we did pack a lot into today, the weather was kind too. 
Had to have a bonfire to burn the weeds and branches chopped off the Leylandii tree I'm having to cut down, its going well, bit by bit.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian  

Bank Holiday Monday

Spent a few extra hours today, on this extended Bank Holiday weekend, at the Allotment. 

In this raised bed we have Radish, Lettuce & a few rows of Spring Onions, in the back (behind the criss/cross sticks) we have some Peas growing up the netting.

We mixed in the last of the well rotted manure in this raised bed & made 3 ridges, covered it with black mulch fabric. 
Then planted Strawberry runners 'Elstanta' and 'Alice' that we have growing elsewhere on the plot.

In this raised bed, it was an overgrown herb bed, we did the same as above but in here we planted Strawberry 'Honeoye' a new one we are trying for the first time. 
So now we have an extra 34 Strawberry plants!

The sunken pot has Mint in it, the pot stops it spreading everywhere.

Can't believe how fast the Rhubarb is growing, on Saturday the leaves were just uncurling, today we have stalks and more buds are popping up all over this raised bed.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

Busy weekend with the Rotavator and an Easter surprise

First job of the weekend was to rotavate this patch where the early spuds are going in. 

I love my Rotavator, it can turn over this patch in about 15 mins. It's bigger than a Mantis, but still folds down to fit in my car boot. 

As you can see here, the 'Rocket' First Early spuds have 'chitted' well. 

They have perfect short stubby dark green shoots, just ready for planting

Using a line, to keep it straight, I dug a trench about 6" (15cm) deep, then placed each seed spud 12" (30cm) apart along the base of the trench. I then added to the soil removed a few handfuls of Chicken manure pellets. 
I had 38 seed spuds so I had to dig 3 1/2 trenches, each trench 24" (60cm) apart. 
I will add the 2nd early 'Charlotte' in two weeks to stagger the harvest. 

While I had the Rotavator there (as I have to bring it down in the car) I thought I would turn over this patch too. 
But I removed the perennial weeds first, like Nettles, Dandelions and Ground Elder to name a few! Don't want those chopped up in the soil!

We have lots of Onions to go in that have been started in cell trays, this patch will do just fine, in the middle are the Winter Red Onions I put in last year.

We are still digging up winter Parsnips, don't they look good. 
Still have a full row in the ground, but will have to dig them up soon as the main crop spuds, 'Kerrs Pink' and 'Cara' are going in that patch. 
The bonfire is on that patch too, so lots of potash to dig in.

Here you can see the 'Stockbridge Arrow Rhubarb' now its getting warmer it's broken through and leaves are uncurling, I took this photo on Saturday and today I noticed lots more buds had leaves uncurling. So it wont be long before I can take the first harvest

The 'Solent Wight Garlic' that has been under fleece since planting at the end of January, has put on good growth, so its time to take the fleece off.

 So as I said a busy weekend, I also started to cut down that huge Laylandii you can see in the background, it has been casting a large shadow over the plot diagonally behind mine, so it has to go. 
I'm taking it down branch by branch, up a ladder with a hand saw. So watch this space to see how I get on.

Lovely Easter surprise this morning when I let the Hens out, I found this massive egg on the henhouse floor, the one far right weighs 70g the massive one is almost 50% heavier at 102g, I wonder if it will have a double yolk ? I will report on this when we crack it. 

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

First busy weekend of spring

First job of the weekend: 
On Saturday I rebuilt the Rhubarb bed edge using reclaimed wood. Looks a lot better and should last a long time too, as the old edging was almost completely rotted away.  

 Earlier in the week I started digging over this patch, where the early spuds are going. 


Continued on Saturday and today I extended the patch by removing 2 cold frames and some Cabbages that had finished. 


So the final patch measures about 13ft wide, so I will be able to plant both early (Rocket) & 2nd early (Charlotte) Spuds.

Today I decided to empty one of the compost bins, been left for about 18 months and was lovely and crumbly. 

My no turn method seems to work and is really good stuff, see below to see what we used it for.

Great news: 
Our pond, we haven't seen any life in it for months, but this week we spotted a massive lump of Frog Spawn, still not seen any Frogs, but they must be there somewhere. 

But the pond is covered with pond weed at the moment, which we will clear away soon.

Anyway this is where the compost bin contents ended up, topping up the raised bed I finished last week. 

We then planted out the first lot of Pink Carousel Garlic. 

We have started another lot in cells, so we will have so much Garlic this year!

Been a lovely weekend, even the sun came out today, maybe the first sign of spring and the clocks go forward (in UK) next weekend, so longer days. 

So now all the major construction is done, this end of the plot is looking neat with new raised bed edges. 

I can concentrate on planting, now.
The only harvesting done this weekend was to dig up the last of the Beetroot, to make way for main spud patch preparation (and the bonfire), 

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian 

Chicken News, eggs too !

Our hens were making a lot of noise today, so I looked in the hen house. Despite having 2 nest boxes, as you can see 2 Light Sussex are squashed into just one, they do favour the right nest box.

I checked 15 mins later and 2 eggs had been laid and one of the Ex-Battery hens was taking an interest.

When I checked later on I could see a few more eggs, and the ex-battery hen was pushing underneath the Lt Sussex!

So when all the commotion had settled down I looked into the hen house to find 5 eggs in the right nest box, we have had 5 twice before. 
So far this year we have had: 69 in Jan, 61 in Feb and 54 so far this month, 184 in total!

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

More rebuilding of raised beds & signs of life

A busy weekend of reconstruction. 
I finished the raised bed (in the foreground) by adding another 4" of recycled timber and made a new edge for the Herb bed (top left of pic). 
We will need to use some of the space for extra Strawberry runners!

You can tell Spring is upon us, signs of life all over the plot. 
The Pink Carousel Garlic (top left) has sprouted, so has the Red Baron Onions (top right). 


The red buds of the Stockbridge Arrow Rhubarb are poking through the winter mulch of horse manure, wont be long before we take the 1st harvest.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian