Easter weekend tradition

It's my tradition to plant my 1st early Potatoes at Easter time. 
These 'Lady Christl' have been chitting for a while and are ready to go in, so Good Friday was the day.

Two rows already planted and as you can see the third is ready for covering. 

First I dug a trench, watered it well and put potato fertiliser in the trench & on the soil I'm putting back into the trench to cover the seed potatoes. 

Each potato is 12" (30cm) apart, in trenches 24" (60cm) between.

We also planted out some Broad Beans I started off at home in root trainers. 

There are 2 rows with 14 plants in each. 

I will have to protect these young plants, from frost and cold nights, see below.

Easter Sunday:
Another important job to do this weekend was to tidy up these beds and plant some new Strawberry runners, taken from last years 'Honeoye' plants. 

We had this 'Merryweather' Damson tree growing in a large pot at home, so we decided to move it to the Allotment in this sheltered corner. 
I made sure the hole I dug had plenty of well rotted manure in it first and watered it in well, hope it likes its new sunny spot.

Next job was to finish clearing this patch, I had to move some Spinach first though. 

I need this for the 2nd early 'Charlotte' potatoes, still chitting at home. 
I will put these in soon, using the same method as above with the 1st earlies. 

So a lovely long weekend of clearing & planting, I also covered the Broad Beans with fleece (you can see the white fleece tunnel in this picture) just to protect the young plants as they establish. 

Weather was mixed, Good Friday was dry and mostly sunny, but Sunday we had rain, wind, sun & even hail!

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

Digging & Planting on such a lovely day.

If you remember a few weeks ago we started off some Garlic 'Pink' and 'Vigour' 

Well as you can see its come on fine and ready to plant out. See below

I have finally finished digging over this patch where I plan to put in the main crop Potatoes 'Cara' and 'Harlequin' that are 'chitting' at home. 

I will mix in some well rotted manure ready for planting time end of next month.

All that digging produced not only aerated soil but a lot of weeds and some ground elder roots, that we will never get rid of! 

So another bonfire was lit.

We also cleared this raised bed added some chicken manure pellets and planted out the Garlic, as shown above.

So that was a busy day and what a nice day it was. 

The sun was shining and warm too. 

I noticed the temp in the greenhouse was at 24 degrees.

But sadly no Frog Spawn yet, despite the fact we had loads this time last year and there is lots in the ditch surrounding our site.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian 

Signs of life

Signs of life indeed, here is a bud of Victoria Rhubarb, wont be long before stalks & leaves form.

Still no frog spawn in the pond, we look regularly, but hope it wont be long before we see some.

More signs of life, the Gooseberry bush has hundreds of little buds all over it now.

I forgot I had left some Charlotte potatoes in the ground, so finished digging up the row. We had them with our dinner and tasted lovely.

So just a quick visit today (Saturday) we cant do our usual Sunday of digging etc because we are going to the Edible Garden Show, hope to see some of you there.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

Busy, Busy at home & plot again.

So March already and seed planting/preparation to do at home, so using saved toilet roll tubes I planted 45 Pea seeds 'Hurst Green Shaft' they don't like their roots to be disturbed at transplanting so tubes are perfect as they can be planted too.

News on the Broad Beans & Garlic I started a few weeks ago, well as you can see they are doing well. 
Some of the Garlic have put on strong roots the cloves have been pushed out of the soil! 

Chicken News
While I was planting the Peas I heard a noise from the Hen House, that tell tale noise that an egg is being laid, so I opened the door & I was right.

Just managed a couple of hours on the plot this afternoon. 

More clearing up done and another bonfire too.

You cant tell from this photo but it started to rain, a bit of hail mixed in too, it was cold so should have expected something frozen ! Time to head back home. 

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

Start of Spring maybe ?

While at the Allotment today I realised we still had a row of Kerrs Pink potatoes in the ground, they were planted exactly 8 months ago on 21st June 2015! 

But still firm and we are having them roasted for Sunday dinner along with Parsnips too. Had dinner and the roasties were lovely.

Remember we cut down that Laylandii tree, well I cleared a space and made a log pile as they need to be seasoned/dried for at least 2 years before burning in a log burner stove. 

It will become a wildlife haven in the mean time.

As I said could it be the start of Spring? Well its been mild and sunny, even the rain kept off, so we got lots done. 
Made a start on clearing a raised bed ready for more Strawberries & cleared the Greenhouse.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian

On Valentines Day I love a Bonfire

Yes it's Valentines Day so I decided to have a big bonfire, to burn all the Laylandii that was cut down over the last few weeks. 
Check out my video below.

We had overnight frost which should benefit some of our crops, here is the Garlic, looking good too.

The Leeks will also like the cold snap and the sun came out this afternoon, it was lovely. 

And the Onions also looking good, I hope they don't mind the heat from the bonfire, just a few feet away to the left!

So as you can see, blue sky today and it was lovely, but as the sun went down it did go very cold again, but spring is on its way.


Check out the Bonfire video below and thanks for reading/returning/viewing. Ian

Busy day on the plot & at home

Well a good start to the day we, with the help of more plot holders and especially Dave & his chainsaw, we got more of the Laylandii tree down, not much to go now. 

I have a plan for the stump, so watch this space.

Bought some Garlic today, 2 bulbs of 'Pink' and I got 20 cloves out of it, so started them off in cells with MP compost.

Also got 2 bulbs of 'Vigour' Garlic, also got 20 cloves and started off the same as above. 

The 4 Garlic bulbs only cost me £1.60, so if we get 10 cloves from each when they mature, that's 400, not a bad investment.  

Although you can't see them yet I also planted some Broad Beans in root trainers with MP compost and then well watered, I will report on these as they grow.

 

Also got my early potatoes started for 'chitting' I have Lady Christl & Charlotte this year. 

Lots of folk aren't sure about 'chitting' I always put them in a cool but light place so short shoots develop, an un-heated greenhouse is ideal. I will post more pics as they sprout.

So the view from the gate is different now with that tree gone, I'm glad really as it was getting a bit big.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian