Bed with Unwins first early onions at the rear and comfrey with mulch on at the front 

Greenhouse with glass view 2 

Greenhouse - with glass view 1 

View down the plot - still very weedy and lots of black ground cover fabric to be seen 

Leeks growing but are very small 

Spring cabbage - which likes the mini sweet jar greenhouses 

Purple sprouting broccoli under the newly constructed anti bird cage 

Rhubarb - mulched and garlic growing nicely 

The Compost bin 

The leaf mould bin as you can see 1/2 full of leaves 

Rain rain go away...

With the Weather forcast threatening impending doom and lots of rain I got up early and went to the plot. The ground was very sticky (the soil round here is clay with a hint of dirt). I took out most of the squash plants and dug over the bed. It was very noticable where I had dug previously as it was like putting the fork into butter(another very good reason for using the bed system). I slapped some compost on it and planted some 'Unwins early' onions - only a month too late!

I am still harvesting courgettes but I imagine that this won't last very much longer. The garlic is growing very well - even the Tescos variety, I am using this as a little experiment to see whether they are any good compared to the proper bulbs I bought.

Leeks and spring cabbage are growing well, but I'm not sure acout the other cabbages (Arctic King, Minicole) they seem to be very small in comparison to other peoples as do my brussels sprouts. Maybe I will give them a feed to see if they perk up a bit otherwise we will have pea sized brussels for christmas dinner!

Other Jobs done - cleared away old runner bean plants, put board edging round another long bed, added more leaves to leaf mould bin, built a nicer looking anti bird cover for the sprouting broccoli - which is growing very nicely (the broccoli not the cover!).

Dear Weather man
I am only able to get to the plot at weekends now due to the dark evenings so I need it to be fine please!

Leaf mould bin

Rebuilt my leafmould bin today - much more sturdy than the last effort - now all I need to do is fill it up with leaves - mind you the leaves that the children & I collected this week will go a long way to doing that. I haven't mown them as Monty Don sugests as I haven't got a decent mower so I suppose I will have to wait ages for some lovely leaf mould.

I also worked out how many new pieces of glass it will take to re-glaze the green house (too many!) I think it will cost me more than the greenhouse to finish it.

Mother's 'little helper'

Chloe digging her bed - I had already done most of it, and in fact ended up finishing it off for her.

This weekend I managed to put cloches (old sweet jars) around the newly planted spring cabbage, although have lost 3 to slugs. The leeks have grown noticably since I fed them with nettle tea (smells vile). I am still picking courgettes but my butternut squash is only 2 inches long - don't think it will make a meal somehow. I dug in the green manure thet had been previously cut, mulched with some manure and covered with fabric in readiness for strawberries. I also dug over the asparagus bed, mulched with farmyard manure and covered it with fabric ready to receive the asparagus in the spring.

As you can see I am changing the surrounds of the beds to wood because when I am digging the slates come up, also they are very sharp so wood will be safer if the little cherubs should trip up when running about the plot.

Garlic

Garlic 'Thermidrome' growing very well

Greenhouse - Taking shape!

Nearly there - the greenhouse just needs the glazing put in now, although I will need to replace alot of it as I broke loads in transit. I am planning to put weed supressing fabric on the floor with gravel on top to stop the slugs.

Plot plan

The first plan of the plot, although the layout of the beds has not changed, at the top ther is now the half built greenhouse, and the shed will go on my next door plot with some grass (for relaxing) in between!

Brussels sprouts with very small sprouts sprouting! 

Spring cabbage at the rear and leeks at the front - I think we might be having baby leeks this year!! 

A bed full of garlic - 'Tescos', 'Thermidrome', 'Marco', and 'Cristo'. So far all but tescos appear to sending out little shoots. 

The beginnings of a greenhouse 

Better things to do!

Was meant to be doing my dissertation but ended down at the plot - oops! I have planted some more garlic - I now have nearly a whole bed of it! Planted Cristo and something I can't remember the name of. I also planted the spring greens that I was given by a work collegue.

The great greenhouse rebuild has started. I have dug the trench and bolted the base together and have started to fill the trench in. more photos to follow!

Got a greenhouse!

Having been looking avidly on Ebay for a greenhouse for what seems like ages and being out bid every time I am now the proud owner of a lot of bits of aluminum and glass which hopefully will go back together into a 10' x 8' greenhouse, purchased via an ad in the local free ads. I have just spent most of the weekend taking it apart & transporting it to the plot. I need to thank it's previous owners for the constant supply of cups of coffee and words of encouragement, needless to say I am now on the hard stuff as a reward for getting the thing down without completely losing the plot.

I also cut the green manure ready to dig in and planted lots of garlic - ' Thermidrome' and 'Tescos' and have 'Marco' and 'Cristo' to plant - we like garlic!! There seems so much to do on the plot at the moment but I am also writing a dissertation at the moment (hard going) Although I do keep on finding myself with a fork in my hand instead of a pen and paper & I have no idea how that happens.

Unwanted wildlife

Last Sunday I went to the plot to pick some beans and tomatoes and I was just checking how my poor cabbage plants were after their inauspicious start and I was dismayed to discover that there were some caterpillars on them, my children had come to the plot along with my daughter's friend, I am not very good with creepy crawlies of the caterpillar type so I thought it would be a good idea to get them to collect the caterpillars so in my wisdom I told Francis that I would pay him 5p per caterpillar (there didn't seem to be too many there) - I am now £7.50 poorer!!

I managed to persuade Francis to drown his caterpillars but Chole & her friend were adamant that this was not on so you can imagine her mum's face when she was delivered home with 52 caterpillars as pets!

Prize winning vegetables!

Look I won a prize!!
I entered some of my veggies into the local flower show and I didn't come last - in fact my lettuce won a first prize, I came third in the longest runner bean (It only got that long because the under gardener didn't bother going to the lottie to pick anything whilst I was away with the children), 2nd with my round courgettes, highly commended with my baby courgettes and third with my '6 runner beans' - the weeds have not got the power to destroy me - I will conquer!!!

Food glorous food

Even though the plot has been taken over by killer weeds I did still manage to find some edible stuff in amongst the undergrowth, and very nice it tasted too!

Invasion from outer space

Help! - I was right the triffids have landed - it appears that the weeds also like hot, sunny and wet weather - perfect growing conditions for them apparently - my only consolation is that it will soon be winter and all these weeds will die! - will I be sorry?

Surveying the view

This is the whole of the allotment from the top end - this photo was taken in mid July, I have been away for a couple of weeks and before that very busy at work and although my Husband did go down to water he said it looked like the revenge of the triffids - I am dreading going because I know that the bindweed will have attempted to divide and conquer - I am planning to spend a couple of days there over the weekend so I will take some photos of the damage.

Sweetcorn & courgettes

Sweetcorn - growing nicely, and at the rear courgettes producing very well indeed

Runner beans

Here we have runner beans and behind the orange netting there is purple sprouting broccoli and brussels sprouts - yes the ones that the creepy crawlies were eating almost as soon as I had put them in!

tomatoe picture