Pruning

After visiting the plotI discovered that the hedge at the bottom of my plots was so overgrown that it had bent over on top of my fruit bushes. So armed with a saw, lopper and secateurs I attacked it. I have now got very scratched and sore arms but a neater looking hedge. I did not want to hack it back too much as it serves as a very prickly deterrent to the undesirables that break into the site on a regular basis.

I have also pruned the gooseberry bushes and black currant bushes and put a mulch around all their bases as well as a mulch round the bases of the apple trees. I am not too sure how to prune apple trees, so will need to read up. I have 2 bramleys seedlings so far and plan to add some more apples, plums and greengages. I would like a mini orchard with wild flowers growing around them which will give us somewhere nice to sit and contemplate.

...something like this

Through the undergrowth.....

You can spot a dog --- this is just about the only thing you can spot though!

Where have all my raised beds gone?

Mmmm I think I might have a bit of work to do...... Now where shall I start?

What a scary sight - or site! This was the depressing view that awaited me upon my 'return' to my plot, waist high with weeds, all of which will have seeded themselves everywhere, just ready for the spring -Oh how I hate weeds!

I then took a walk around my little bit of britain and discovered that the beds I had actually managed to cover up last year with plastic sheeting and with cardboard topped with council compost had survived. Underneath the mulch there are hardly any weeds and those that are there are easy to pull out. This cheered me up and gave me the motivation to clean up the greenhouse.

I am going to tackle the strawberry beds next as they really need planting out - they have been stuck in the pots for a year, they do seem to have survived though - luckily strawberries seem to be fairly resiliant.

Oh the shame of it!!!

I have a confession to make - I have not been near the plot for ages now

- I do have excuses though, I have been doing another course (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) which involves me having to write loads of essays, read loads of books so that I can pretend that I know what I am talking about etc etc....

I have decided to collect a load more free compost from the council and put it on all the beds then cover them in thick plastic, this should hopefully then make the soil easier to work and cut out the light to the weeds so they all die off, I only think I will manage to plant a few beds this spring. At least covering them up will keep them in good condition until I can do something with them.

I am going to visit the plot and will take some photos just to show how bad it has got!

Seeds at home..

I finally got round to sowing some seeds at home including tomatoes - sungella, sungold, alicante and moneymaker.

Chillis, melons and cucumber - burpless

The problem I will have though is that they will need to go into a much lighter place than my windowsill and if the weather stays like this it will be too cold in my greenhouse for them - What to do, oh what to do....... any advice?

In the bleak early spring time...

What a difference to last week! bitterly cold with intermittant hail, snow and rain - Why does all the horrible weather come at the weekend? -Despite mini blizzards I did manage to get to the plot for a while and finished digging the bean trenches - filled them with last years compost and topped off with soil. I then mulched the whole bed with newspaper and council compost. Erected the bean frame - somewhat sturdier than my previous attempts, which hopefully will not collapse under the weight of all those beans I am expecting - well I am being optimistic!

I have also planted my very pathetic looking globe atrichokes - they are pitiful specimens compared to my italian plot neigbours but I am hoping that they will compare themselves get jealous and grow like mad!

My outdoor planted broad beans are looking reasonably healthy.
And my rhubarb is finally coming along with lots of buds promising lots of lovely rhubarb crumble.
I am going to dig this lot up once the season has finished and split the root so that more plants can be made - I plan to fill the whole bed with rhubarb as not only can you make rhubarb crumble but rhubarb and fig jam is to die for, and of course the leaves are great for the compost bin.

Warmer weather at last!

This weekend I made the most of the lovely weather (it actually feels like spring!) and managed to complete a bit of construction and did some planting of raspberry canes - So far I have put in early, mid and autumn - the late variety (octavia) came in pots so I repotted them into larger pots and they are in the greenhouse.












I made a sign and have stuck it on the shed - I wonder if anyone will google it from my allotment site?








I have finished painting the shed and have planted lavender either side of the fig tree .









These are the final leeks which I have dug up and made more leek and potato soup with - I pot it up and use it for my lunches at work and college. It tastes particularly lovely with crusty bread and butter! MMmmm...

Bramley's Seedling

At last I've planted something!

Went to B&Q and bought 2 Bramley's Seedling apple trees, 6 lavender plants and some gutter bits. Then went to the plot and planted the trees at the bottom of the plot, planted the lavender either side of the fig tree against the shed and also planted the garlic plants which I had started off in the greenhouse. I now feel like a gardener rather than a construction worker!

I also finished off the guttering on the shed - it now runs into a waterbutt very nicely indeed. Now all I need is some rain - perhaps I should watch what I wish for!

I measured up the bed which will eventually have a fruit cage around it and have started putting up the support posts for the raspberries. I have also dug a trench for one of the lots of raspberries. I have 4 different varieties ready to plant - early, mid and late season and also autumn fruiting, so we should have a long raspberry season with luck.

At the bottom of my plots there are some very old gooseberry pants and some blackcurrant bushes aswell as some smaller gooseberry bushes which I propogated by laying branches - I am going to get rid of the very old ones, try to propogate the blackcurrant bushes and dig up and transplant the younger gooseberry bushes. I plan to plant some more trees in this space after.