Good intentions thwarted by rain

Had lots of weeding to do today, but due to another commitment didn't get down to the Allotment until 10:30. So started weeding the Brassica extension patch, all went well and managed to hand weed the remaining patch plus set aside pulled up Nettles, more on that later. Then It rained :(

The good weather this week, mostly Sunny with a little rain, has made everything put on a growing spurt, lots of the early Potatoes are now in flower, so will be lifting them soon.



The Peas & climbing Beans are also growing well, Brassicas too are growing so fast they are pushing the netting off!

Our Fruit Cage is so full of fruit we are expecting our biggest harvest, Strawberries, Raspberries, Black & Red Currents too. I think the top dressing of well rotted Manure early in the year did help.




This is our first ripe Strawberry, the 1st of many:)

We shared it (half each) on top of Vanilla ice cream in a meringue nest, it was the tastiest we have ever had, supermarket strawberries are no match!





The Runner Beans are starting to climb up this permanent wire mesh as usual we are expecting a bumper crop and expect to give lots away, as usual we gave a good dose of Manure :)

The Yellow & Orange flowers are Calendula (self seeded) but the Bees love them so we don't mind some growing but we do have to weed some of them out as thy can take over.



Anyway I said earlier I harvested Nettles, well I am considering making Nettle Beer from the top few leaves of each stem and liquid fertilizer from the rest ('Tea').

It's very simple to make FREE liquid fertilizer from Nettles or Comfrey:
Harvest the Nettles and/or Comfrey, stems & leaves, place in a large bucket or bin, place a weight on top.
Then fill bucket/bin with water to cover the leaves, wait a few weeks (it may pong a bit so keep away from house etc) then remove the rotted leaves etc (these can be put in the compost bin).
Then decant the liquid off, never use neat always dilute the 'Tea' before use to about 10 parts water to 1 part 'Tea'.
As I like to recycle things I made a Comfrey Bin out of an old Wheelie Bin (one that was damaged and council forgot to collect when it was replaced).
First I made a base to stand the bin on, I used 2 breeze blocks and a paving slab.
I put a water butt tap close to the base, used wire mesh (chicken wire is ideal) inside placed on top of 3 bricks standing on end inside the bin, this makes a sump for the liquid that is collected.
Then I fill the bin up with Comfrery (Nettles too if you have any) and fill with water to cover the Comfrey/Nettles, after a few weeks the 'Tea' should be a dark brown colour.
I then, using empty 500ml water bottles, fill the bottles via the tap and store for future use, approx a third of a bottle per watering can is about the best mix.
This free liquid fertilizer can be used on any of your growing crops especially Tomatoes, Peppers etc.

Thanks for reading/returning.
Ian.

We grow flowers too.

Just for a change I thought you would like to see some of the Flowers we grow, some self seeded but most are cultivated by us.

These are Foxgloves 'Digitalis Purpurea' we just love the vertical structure of these (self seeded) plants and the Bees love them.

http://tinyurl.com/yg3mlhq





We also grow Sweet Peas 'Lathyrus Odoratus' every year, they are lovely as cut flowers, in fact the more you cut them the more flowers they produce, a win win situation.

http://tinyurl.com/36onrgy

We grow lots of different colours each year, this is just one of them but they do come in 100's of colour combinations.





These California Poppies 'Eschscholzia Californica' also self seeded from last years growth.

http://tinyurl.com/273cgfp






Another Poppy type sowed for the 1st time this year:
'Ladybird Poppy'

http://tinyurl.com/383n65k

We are so glad they came out and the colours are magic.

The principal reason we grow Flowers is that they attract beneficial insects and Bees of course.
Without Bees very little pollination would take place which would mean lots of the fruit and vegetables we grow would fail and then what would we eat?


Thanks for reading/returning, look out for main up-date on Sunday.
Ian.

A wet Sunday so not much done

As the weather was not good today I thought looking back to see how the plot has grown in 2 months might be fun.

This picture taken April 18th






This picture taken today June 6th.
As you can see its much greener and lush.
In the foreground, left, the Garlic bed & right, the Mange Tout frame.
Beyond the frame is the Comfrey patch.
The tall pale green plant on left is Spinach, and beyond that the new Potato patch.


But look how big our Strawberries are, a week of sun should turn them red, can't wait as we have so many this year, Jam making is a certainty.


Thanks for reading/returning, I hope to do a full update next week.

Nice survey for you to do

Was sent this link to a 'Grow your own' survey, via my Twitter feed, thought it was a good one for you all to fill in.

So if you only have a windowsill, a balcony, back yard or full blown Allotment this survey is for everyone who grows for themselves. Enjoy.

http://lourish.wufoo.com/forms/lourish-grow-your-own-survey/

Bank holiday weekend

It was such a lovely day on Sunday, so made an early start on 'Weeding' and 'Planting'








But first:
Look how well the 'Cara' main Potatoes are growing.








And:
The 'Charlotte' & 'Pentland Javelin' (1st & 2nd early) Potatoes are also doing well, despite earlier frost damage.







So to the weeding & planting. More Brassicas planted after a bit of weeding, here we have put in 'Borecole Kale' & 'Igloo Cauliflower' both dwarf varieties.

But had to call it a day, because had another pressing task to do at home.

But thanks for reading/returning, look out for next update soon. Thanks again, Ian.

That's the Brassica bed weeded :)

Another mid-week Allotment Blog.

I did start weeding the Brassica bed Sunday afternoon and it was covered in weeds, but had to leave it half done. So another 2 hours weeding done today before the rain started.



The 'after' shot (I know you like them) now weed free, there was every type of weed growing here including Nettles and all done by hand too, didn't get stung once either, honest.
Although I call it the 'Brassica Bed' there is a row of Pak-Choi (far right) also growing there and doing rather well, will be harvesting some soon to go in Stir-Fry meals.

Thanks for reading/visiting, look out for Sunday's full up-date.
Ian.

Another scorching Sunday on the plot

It was 28 degrees air temp & 94 degrees in the Greenhouse today. Hottest day this year I think.

Crops put in today:
'Pink Banana Skin' Pumpkin
Courgette 'Zuccini'
Courgette 'Round'
Butternut Squash
More Lettuce too


As Strawberries are forming I put Straw around each plant, to act as cushioning so the fruit doesn't get bruised and rot.











In the Greenhouse, the Tomato plant is growing well, have nipped out side shoots already. We do have more Tomatoes growing but this pic shows the first planted.
Peppers & Cucumber are growing well too.







Plenty of weeding done too, as you can see from this picture everything's looking lush & green.

All the Potatoes are growing well and have been earthed up again!

Also planted more 'Cosmos' flowers around the edges, as they grow quite tall & bees love them.


Thanks for reading/returning, hope you like the new small format, had to do it because I was running the risk of running out of space to complete a year of weekly up-dates.
If you need to see a full screen shot of any picture simply click on it.
Ian.