We weeded, planted and harvested until it rained, again.

First job of the day, was to weed this patch where the Leeks, Sweetcorn, Onions & Brassicas are. 
Looks a lot better for it. 
We need to get the weeding done, see why below.

We did have a pile of weeds here, so we got them burnt in the new incinerator bin. 
The space got filled with yet another Squash! 
Should do well here as I put a bucket of manure in the hole first.

The foliage on the Charlotte 2nd early potatoes looked a bit wilted, so I did a test dig and look how many came up from just one plant! 
There were more under the soil, see next picture.

Here is what I dug up from just two Charlotte potato plants. 
There is almost 4lb (1.8kg), we planted 36 so that means a possible yield of 72lb (32.4kg) from an initial 3kg purchase, a very good return on that investment.

The early Raspberries are ready to pick now, we have had a few already and harvesting daily now.

The Strawberries are being harvested daily too, see below. 

Jo has been very busy too and weeded this patch, where the Peas, Kale and French beans are. 
We need to get our plot looking good because we have entered it into the Wirral Allotments competition. Judges will be visiting on July 5th and we still have lots to do!

Today's Harvest: 
Strawberries, 
Raspberries, 
Broad Beans, 
Charlotte Potatoes, 
Rhubarb (see below), 
and Sweetpeas.

Victoria Rhubarb:
There is 7lb here and only 6 stalks, it's a beast!
Just one stalk & leaf measured 54" (135cm) from tip to root!

As the title says 'it rained, again' we arrived at 9:30, but had to leave around 1pm as we could feel rain in the air and sure enough the rain started as we walked home.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.

Rain stopped play, but we did harvest

Well lets talk harvests. 
Today as you can see we picked: 
Strawberries, 
Raspberries, 
Peas, 
a Courgette 
& Sweetpeas. 

What a nice present on Fathers Day, 3 Eggs. 

One even has bumfluff on it, I hear you say 'Bumfluff' well its a true fact the soft downy feathers on a chickens rear are called 'Bumfluff' 

You probably cant tell, but its raining! 

We only managed to harvest (as above) but we have already had some good pickings this week, see below.

Friday:
Rhubarb, 
Potatoes, 
Strawberries, 
Courgettes, 
Asparagus.

Wednesday: 
Rhubarb, 
Potatoes, 
Strawberries. 

A Courgette plant too (for my Sister in Law)

The first potato harvest on the 11th of June. 
I can tell you Lady Christl potatoes are very tasty.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Working between the showers

The Squashes we put into the tyres are doing well, we have been watering them almost daily as they will dry out quick in a small container.

Planted out more Sweetcorn, 16 this time in a block 4x4. 
Will make a good follow on crop.

One job I've been meaning to do for a while, was to dig out the weedy/grass path that runs behind the pond and leads to where the Apple trees and the new raised beds with Gooseberries in are. 
So I made a new path using weed suppressant fabric topped with woodchips, will need some more to complete the job.

The Charlotte 2nd early potatoes, looks like they are all in flower now, so we will have to do a test dig soon.

We have already had some of the Lady Christl 1st early and they were lovely just with melted butter.

Can you spot the Squirrel? 
It ran in front of me and went into the tree on the lane, so fast I nearly missed it with my camera!

Todays Harvest: 
More Strawberries
More Asparagus
More Rhubarb (not in photo).
Gooseberry thinnings, only about a third taken to allow the rest to swell & ripen better.     

On the lane down to our Allotments, there are a few Elderflower trees, so we thought we would try making cordial from the flowers. 
Will report on the results soon.

So after 7 hours on the plot today, we got lots done and weeding (of course) too. 

There was a brief heavy rain shower mid afternoon, was a good opportunity to shelter and have a cuppa.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

First weekend of June

 We still had some Purple podded mange tout Peas 'Shiraz' to put in, so I made a frame from bamboo canes & some mesh I found in the shed, also put cardboard down the middle to stop the weeds! I planted 25 each side. 

The Purple podded climbing French Beans are working their way up the wig-wam I put up a few weeks ago.  

The Borlotti Beans are winding their way up the bamboo wig-wam too.

In the Greenhouse we have started using cut bottles with a drip feed spike. We have 4 Tomatoes, 3 Peppers, 2 Cucumbers and a Courgette.

Now that the plot is almost full, we won't need any more horse manure, so Jo planted a couple of Squashes into the remaining muck, that's now well rotted.

Jo weeded the Onions, watered the Courgettes and planted a row of Rainbow Chard.

Pond update: We have now spotted 8 Frogs, of different sizes. 
Here you can see one of the bigger ones. 

The Tadpoles are much bigger too, we should see legs forming soon.

Lots of lovely flowers, California Poppies, Chives & Sage, the Bees love these. 

We also have Cornflowers, Scabious, Cosmos, Sunflowers, Calendulas, Poppies, Nasturtiums, Foxgloves, Verbena, Teasels, Echinops, Sweetpeas and a wild flower patch too, all liked by the Bees. 

Peas are climbing up the frames I made, these have even got pea pods forming, wont be long before we can try some. 

I love this patch at the gate end of our plot, now that we have finished the planting with a Courgette in the small raised bed (behind the dry brick wall). 

So we did alot today, weeding, planting, watering and even a bit of a bonfire, we still have lots of weeds to burn after drying. 

But it was such a hot day, luckily we have a parasol to get some shade under and a small table too to have our pic-nic on.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo 

Sunny May Bank Holiday weekend.

I've had these tyres a while, been deciding what to do with them, so I painted them, lined them with old compost bags, as you don't want rubber solvents leaking into the soil. 
Then I filled the bags with a mix of compost, manure & soil. 
Then planted in each one 2 Yellow Scallop Squashes. 

Planted out a row of Sprouts, a row and a half of Broccoli & half a row of Cauliflower, all under mesh to protect from the birds! 
I added lime to the soil 1st as Brassicas like that. 

Crop updates: 
Broad Beans, on the right, doing well

A row of Carrots (on the left). 

In the middle, a row of Parsnips. 
All planted by Jo, my clever wife.

Main crop potatoes, Cara doing well, and a few rows of Harlequin also doing well. Have earthed up quite a few times now.

Time to plant Leeks. 
Got my measure, Dibber (home-made) and string line.
And of course a tray of Leeks, these are Mammoth type;

I pushed my Dibber into firmed soil about 4" deep, popped a leek with roots trimmed into each hole 6" apart. 
I planted 48 Mammoth.  

I also had a tray of 'Oarsman' Leeks, so planted 80 of these the same way as above. 
I then watered them well, doing this helps the holes to fill back up with soil, so the leeks stay long and straight (hopefully).

Other jobs done this weekend: 

Jo put straw under the Strawberries

She used crushed egg shells, in the hope it will stop the slugs/snails munching her Sunflowers! 
This should work with other crops slugs & snails like.

We now have Peas podding.

Round yellow Courgettes forming.

Gooseberry bush laden with fruit, we've been waiting 2 years for a good crop. 

Rhubarb update:
We have so far harvested 28lb (12.7 kg) of Stockbridge Arrow. 
In this picture is the first harvest of Victoria, 6.5lb (2.9kg) I plan to make a batch of wine with this, already started a batch with the Stockbridge Arrow. Jo has made many Rhubarb crumbles, cakes & pies and has just made some jam too

So what a busy, productive Bank Holiday weekend we've had, lots of weeding & watering done too, our rain barrels are now empty, so using the well. 
Hope it rains soon!

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.

What a busy day once the rain stopped

First, the beans put in last week have taken & doing well. 
On the left the Climbing Purple and on the right the Borlotti Beans.

This patch is the last space to be cultivated, so I got my Rotavator running, see below to see the results. 



So this is the first Courgette to go in, wont be the last LoL

In this patch I dug in plenty of our compost then planted 2 rows of Kale, a row of Dwarf Curly Green & a row of Tosca Di Nero. 

Planted under netting as the young plants would be devoured by the birds!

I mentioned last week that we planted the Runner Beans, they have taken and are growing, well I did put plenty of muck into the ground first. 

The first & second early spuds still growing daily, I think 100% have come through now too.

But now the Main crop 'Cara' & 'Harlequin' have started to break through, so I've earthed them up.

Back to the last patch to be cultivated. 
We had many bonfires and it was so compacted from walking all over, so now I've used the Rotavator its made such a difference, we can start planting on here now, as shown above a Courgette and some Beetroot too has already gone in, wont be long before its full!  

So as the title says, we did have rain today, 2 hours before the forecast said, but it didn't stop us doing 6 hours on the plot today and the sun finally came out in the afternoon.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian