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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
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
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
It's time to do some maintenance on the plot, so I replaced the edges of one of the rotten edged raised beds.
Top left: Old wood removed and soil drawn up away from edges.
Top right: New edges in place and corners screwed.
Bottom left: Soil raked level and as much of the Ground Elder roots & weeds removed!
Bottom right: I might increase the hight by adding an extra 4" making it a 10" deep bed.
Now that the pallet fence is finished, the Blackberry needed attaching, so using netting staples & wire it was a quick job to secure the runners to the fence.
So a few important jobs done today & I still have 2 more raised bed edges to replace.
As I walked home, the rain started, so lucky I went this morning and not later as I thought would happen.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian
I took this photo on the 25th Jan and said it was the next construction project.
Well almost a month later I have finally started building the last section of fence, made from pallets.
The first panel, made from 2x 1mtr Pallets nailed together.
Then nailed into posts sunk 50% deeper into the ground, the pallets are 1mtr high so the posts are 1.5mtrs.
So before the rain & hail set in I managed to get a second panel in place.
Luckily I got 6 of these pallets free, from a house renovation nearby, the posts came from a neighbour who was replacing his fence last year, only cost was £3 for nails.
So when the fence is finished, next job is to renew the edge of this raised bed, as the old edges have rotted away.
Not done too badly lasting about 10yrs, also got from a house sadly one that was being demolished & the roof joists made great raised beds, I made 6 in all.
It's now Sunday and despite the forecast of rain today, I still returned to my plot to finish the pallet fence.
I did get rather damp, but us Allotmenteers are a hardy bunch come rain or shine we get the job done.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian.
The Garlic is in stock in the shop, so I bought 2 bulbs of 'Pink Carousel' can't wait to get it planted, looks lovely.
Still harvesting Parsnips & Sprouts.
Will have these with our dinner tonight, the Sprouts are quite small, but will be sweeter, can't get fresher than that.
A little corner of the shed set aside to brew a much needed cuppa, after a mornings digging we certainly need one!
Not much left to burn now that I've had 2 big bonfires, so using the incinerator bin now, takes less space and burns quickly with the lid on.
Mine is a bit rusty around the base and it wont last much longer, got it propped up on a couple of breeze blocks, think I've had this one a few years now, so time for a replacement soon!
Really did feel like spring today, not warm, but not as cold as it has been, working the soil was easy, luckily not had frozen soil (yet). Finally got around to pruning the Apple trees, just in time too!
Got a few construction jobs lined up, so watch this space.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian.
I've had my seed Potatoes for 2 weeks now so here is my short lesson on 'chitting'.
Look all over each spud, you are looking for a 'dimple' that is where it was attached to the parent plant, you need to set your spuds in an egg tray with this dimple down.
So only after two weeks I have already got some short green shoots showing.
These are the 1st early 'Rocket' I have grown them before and found them to be very early as the name suggests.
So here again is my 'chitting station' and old pine shelf unit I adapted by adding a few extra shelves. The Potatoes I'm growing this year, from top to bottom:
Rocket
Charlotte
Keers Pink
and Cara
194 in total, hope I have room for them all!
Chicken News:
Our 7 hungry Chickens are doing well, the 3 Ex-Battery have retired and don't lay eggs anymore.
The 4 Light Sussex have been laying since Jan 6th so just over a month now and so far we have had 88 eggs!
As you can see they are fully grown Hens now and I love their plumage.
The bright red comb & wattle is a good sign of health.
Their diet of chicken feed, corn & allotment greens shows in the eggs they produce, with deep yellow yolks.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian
