LL's Gardening Diary

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lancashire lass
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Good Friday 25th March 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

An amazing, beautiful, sunny and warm spring day (well, in the sun anyway) on Good Friday. I got all my stuff loaded in the car and arrived at about 7.30 am - and I was not the first at the allotment site. I unloaded all the bags including 4 bags of soiled coop bedding and first task of the day was to give the garlic a seaweed and (dried) blood liquid feed. Unfortunately the taps were not fitted to the stand pipes so I had to use the dwindling water from the butts and discovered that dried blood doesn't dissolve too well in water. With the weather forecast for the Easter weekend sounding more dire each time I watched it on the tv, the liquid feed was just a drop rather than a drench round all the garlic beds which the rain should wash in. The garlic had grown another inch since last weekend and were looking nice and healthy >fi<

Next task was to go round the blueberry bed to lift up the now shredded weed suppressant membrane (it's only been down 18 months and for some reason has weathered poorly - yet the same brand membrane round the currant bushes is in much better condition. I wonder if the sun might be responsible as the currant sheet is naturally shaded?) When I was creating the new asparagus bed, all the bits of wood from the broken pallets were dumped on the blueberry bed so I had to clear them off first - some of the lengths were put round the mini asparagus beds and I have to admit that the effect was instantly much tidier. I still need to finish off and peg them up, but once done will be easier to add compost on the top. Then I went round and scattered some of the sulphate of iron round each blueberry bush. Iron sulphate lowers soil pH, and apparently after a little research I discovered that the potash (sulphate of potasssium) I had put down earlier does not. I then scattered the iron sulphate on the 3 potato beds - although I'm sure the lime put down in 2014 for the brassicas is long gone, I didn't want to take any chances as raised pH increases the risk of scab on the potato skins. Also, I'm keen to test the iron theory after last year's success with the dried blood.

I retrieved the wheel barrow from the shed and brought the 3 heavy bags of manure to the potato beds. Despite a test fork in the other week, the dry spell had dried out the soil and it was a bit heavy so I emptied a load of vermiculite into the beds and then the manure and proceeded to fork it in. It was back breaking work but the soil benefited from it. Still, on the last bed I decided to use the borders spade to dig in and turn over the soil which proved to be a better technique before using the fork to break up the clods. Like last weekend, insects from the manure decided to feast on me and I ended up with another 5 bites - I think the warm sunny day must have made them more active than before. I didn't have any insect repellant but I did come prepared with some anti-itch/insect bite cream which calmed the irritation (I react badly to bites) plus a dose of anti-histamine for good measure.

Next, emptying the bags of Ericaceous compost round the blueberries. The soiled coop bedding under the membrane was still fresh and had become a haven for loads of woodlice and slugs and snails. I just emptied the bags of compost on top and spread it round the base by about 2 feet in diameter - I'd have liked another 3 bags to fill in between plants so that the membrane didn't dip between plants ... maybe next week if I have time. With forecast of strong winds especially with Storm Katie sweeping in on Easter Monday, I put the membrane back with the bits of wood and bricks to weight it down again.

As the weekend wet weather was going to stop me going down to the plot, I decided to get on and dig over as much as I could while it was fine. The 2 beds I had already dug over was baked dry and the surface looked like a load of clinkers so although the soiled bedding put down last autumn had helped, turning it over had brought the heavy soil to the top and dried it out. I got on with the third bed down (another I had dug over last autumn) and it didn't seem as workable as last weekend - maybe due to drying out, or I was just getting tired. I decided to rake a bag of soiled bedding in to help break it up better. Then onto the next bed which I had not touched since the autumn 2014 garlic planting (it still had mounds where the garlic had been) This time I felt the spade was needed to break up the soil first and I think the top soil used in the clove planting made it a lot easier than I expected. For good measure, 2 bags of soiled bedding was forked in.

It was by now 3.30 pm and the next bed looked challenging (I could see dried vines which indicated bindweed roots might be in the soil) so I decided to rake the last bag of soiled bedding in the 2nd bed down (in the first bed, last week I had hoed in the grass/wheat which is like a green manure so probably in better condition) After a quick chat with my neighbour, I put the wheel barrow away before packing up for the day. I had achieved everything I had planned to do so was quite happy with the efforts. As I drove away I glanced at the plot and apart from the remaining 5 beds, it was starting to look good and organised (LOL - that's a first for me) I think putting permanent beds in for the fruit trees, bushes and canes has definitely reduced the work load and made it seem less daunting.

Today (Saturday 26th March), I was hoping to get to the allotment in the morning and do a bit more before the rain arrived so I set off early to the diy store to get some more supplies. I debated about whether to get more manure and top soil but instead got 5 bags of sharp sand - I would have preferred top soil but it is much more expensive (twice the price per bag) The sand is for the last beds yet to be dug over which I know will be heavy clay (they've always been a problem) - I think giving all the beds a rough dig now will make it easier for when I get them prepared for planting up later. After my supermarket shop, my enthusiasm to go to the plot rapidly waned especially after I had loaded the heavy bags of sand in the car (they seemed even heavier than normal and my back was aching) At the supermarket there were some plants on stands outside the door - normally I walk by them, but the climbers caught my eye. I picked up a honeysuckle, a (red flowering) jasmine and a red clematis @ £2 each and bought them with money I had won in a friendly sweepstake at work. Now, I just have to find somewhere to plant them, sigh. With the sand left in the car, my plot visit for another day is already partially organised but when will be the next question. The trials of gardening ....
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lancashire lass
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Easter Sunday 27th March 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

Despite my "day of rest" on Saturday, I woke up more stiff and sore than the day before but after a very windy afternoon and evening (I think a mini tornado hit my patio as the crate of washed plant pots had been lifted up and thrown 10 feet across, scattering all the pots), Sunday morning was clear blue sky and sunshine ... I just had to force myself to go to the allotment. Ever watching the weather forecast, it didn't look good after 10 am so I needed an early start - only I'd forgotten the clocks had been moved to BST. Still, I got to the plot for 8.30 am (old time 7.30 am) and got stuck in.

I swear blind the garlic had grown another inch since Friday! With rain expected later, I went round all the beds and sprinkled a few chicken manure pellets around which will break down and eventually wash into the soil. I also sprinkled them round the raspberry beds, strawberry, potato beds, blueberry bushes, lavender and the last went on the 3 beds dug over. Life was definitely stirring on the plot ... buds on the blueberry were swelling as on the plum tree and even on the new fruit trees. Some leaves on the lavender were showing so not dead after all, and one of the gooseberries was bursting into leaf too. Even the winter cabbages were starting to bulk up and the purple sprouting broccoli were producing new shoots - with slugs and snails active, I decided to put some slug pellets under the netting before they did any more damage.

Then it was straight in with the digging. The bed with the dried bindweed vines had been a garlic bed which still had some bulbs in that were growing again - they wouldn't amount to much because all the cloves were clustered together, so out they came. Perhaps last year's weed killer treatment had been more effective than I realised because surprisingly I didn't find much bindweed root (just a small cluster which I pulled out) and the soil was a lot easier to dig over than it originally looked. I had a small bag of soiled bedding which I tried to spread across the bed but the wind was rather gusty and carried some of it away, and then I emptied a bag of sharp sand on the bed before digging it in. The next 2 beds had been under black plastic sheeting since autumn 2014 - the sheets were long ago shredded leaving the beds wide open to the weather and they looked terribly compacted where water had puddled down. After removing the last of the plastic sheet and rearranging the wooden surround, I gave them a rough dig and put a bag of sand in each. The last one needed 2 bags as the soil was a lot heavier. It also had a lot of horsetail root, most of it dead but some were not ... I think I might have problems later this year but I'm going to try and keep on top of it with the weed killer treatment.

Meanwhile that beautiful blue sky rapidly filled with clouds which got more and more menacing by the minute. Still, by 12 pm the rain didn't come but I was not taking any chances and packed up for the day. The rain never came but carrying the heavy bags of sand had taken it out of me so time to leave. Another good day at the plot and coming along nicely. Loads more to do yet but getting there )t' Must dust off the camera and take some piccies soon
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lancashire lass
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Progress

Post by lancashire lass »

After watching the early news about the peak gust of winds from Storm Katie on Easter Monday, here it was ... calm. Then the winds and rain arrived and maybe not such a good idea to go to the plot after all. So after a rest day, I was up early to get to the allotment by 8.00 am yesterday. It started off cold and sunny with a keen wind - when I arrived at the plot, the footpaths were once again wet and full of puddles. I'd set myself 2 tasks - to trim the lavender bed, and to clear the Jerusalem Artichoke bed behind the shed.

Trimming didn't take that long - some plants had started to burst into leaf but there was a lot of woody growth and I might have given the lavender bed quite a harsh cut back and sides. Hopefully the plants will recover, fingers crossed.

Then off to tackle the JAs ... behind the shed, the soil hasn't had any sunlight since last year so it was very cold and so different from the rest of the plot. As most of the digging involved my handling the soil to find all the tubers, my hands got cold very quick. There was a surprising lot of tubers but the vast majority were small but I wanted to get the bed completely cleared this time round and just plant big tubers. The soil was surprisingly not too bad - it used to be heavy clay and so difficult to dig but I've added a lot of compost to it in the past couple of years and it has made such a big difference. Still, it was hard work picking out the tubers and also any horsetail and other weeds. My back felt tender so I had to keep having breaks to rest up ... by 11.30 pm I was only 3/4 way clearing the bed when it started to rain. No sooner had I slithered and slid my way back to the car for shelter when it stopped and the sun came out.

I had brought a small bag of soiled coop bedding and didn't fancy taking it back with me so decided to dig it into one of the cleared beds before going back to the JA bed. Not long after I had started when I looked up and saw the blackest clouds heading my way - this was no light shower! Once again, a treacherous trek back to the car and mad panic to change my now soggy wet boots for shoes - I wanted to get home before it arrived and didn't fancy being caught in it when trying to unlock the gates to the site. Too late, it arrived along with sleet and some hail. When it eased up, I left and arrived home to glorious sunshine for the rest of the afternoon ... typical. It wasn't wasted as I decided to bag up the old compost from last year's chilli experiment - this will be dug into the beds to help break up the soil further.

Last night we had more heavy rain so I was not surprised to find the plot was once again waterlogged, and cold but at least we had beautiful blue skies and the sun seemed particularly bright. I got to the plot for 8.00 am and got stuck in on the proposed onion bed at the front of the plot. I still had a bag of sharp sand in the car and a bag of top soil which I wanted to fork in, and then hoed it all to break up any clods. The old pallets along the back were falling over (after such a wet winter, the wood was rotted and I think Storm Katie had decided to finish them off) so out they came. I broke up a couple of pallets for wood and used them to make a wooden surround and raise the bed before raking the soil across. Must say it looks alright but I'm seriously wondering if I'll be able to plant all 150 onion sets in it.

I had just one more task to do and that was to finish off the JA bed and to dig in 2 bags of old compost. The foot path up to the shed was worse than ever and then I realised why 2 sections of the path were always wet - I just happen to look at the neighbour's plot and noticed a distinctive trench leading straight towards my plot, and the other was a raised bed close by with a ditch in it where there was what can only be described as a pond seeping water onto the path and turning it into a very wet muddy path ... my poor boots already falling apart had to wade through it.

I packed up at 1.00 pm. With just a few days of my leave left, I am starting to panic a bit. I had set myself a lot to do and to be more organised this year - most of the main beds are dug over and just need some compost (using the old stuff like in the JA bed) but I really wanted to get done was the pond bed - I so wanted to get the pond liner down and the rest of the bed under plastic to try and kill off some of the horsetail, as well as sort out the footpaths (level off especially where I have widened it alongside the currant bush bed, cover with plastic/weed suppressant and bark chippings) And to add to the pressure, the onion sets have started to sprout - I had hoped to plant them mid-April when it was warmer ... having saying that, I've just seen the weather forecast and it looks like temperatures might start to rise this weekend with warm air coming up from the south, so I might get them into the ground a bit sooner than planned.

On the plus side, I noticed a little stirring in the new raspberry canes and lots more buds appearing on the newly planted pear trees.
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lancashire lass
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Thursday 31st March 2016 - the Pond bed

Post by lancashire lass »

)c( I've done it - the pond has a new liner, filled and the bed is now under plastic (we need a silly dancing emoticon here ... this a celebrated achievement that was long overdue) The pond had become a cesspool - barely 6 inches deep of stinking sludge and rubbish collected in the bottom, the liner possibly damp proof membrane, was already falling apart when I took the plot on in 2007 had gradually deteriorated over the years and the winter winds had more or less ripped the rest off. I bought a proper liner about 2 years ago but never seemed to have the time or left it too late and frogs had already visited the pond by the time I had thought about it and was full of tadpoles.

Have to confess that I was slow getting going yesterday despite getting up early and sorting the chickens out - it had been a cold night and I really did not fancy going down to the plot until it had warmed up. This gave me time to think and plan how to go about sorting the pond. The taps on the stand pipes had not been put on and this had been a stumbling block on the planning but then I remembered I had a full water butt behind the shed - I had wedged it against the back wall to stop the shed leaning further back as the back end of the base was subsiding, twisting the shed (the door does not fit well now) and so had filled the butt with water for added weight. I could use that water to partially fill the pond and weight the liner down until the taps were fitted.

I was a bit concerned about putting the liner directly onto the soil and last year had planned on using a tatty blue tarpaulin that had been dumped on my plot but when the new neighbours moved in, had offered it to them to start covering their plot. Wish I hadn't because they have never been back since summer ... I don't know if they still have the plot or not. But, I remembered the plastic dust sheet I had got last year to line the new pasting table I had set up in the back bedroom to raise seedlings .... it was about 4 x 5 metres big so was ideal.

I got to the site for 10 am and the first task was to empty the pond. I had brought along a bit of tubing to siphon it out then realised it was not possible ... this was a bucket scoop job. And that's when I came across the frog spawn (the size of a football) which I rescued. Once satisfied, I spread the sheets across and pinned one side down with bricks, then used the new hose to siphon water from the butt to the liner - as it gradually filled, the weight pulled it down. Next, sort out the frog spawn (a filthy blob of detritus and sludge) and used water from the other water butts ... and discovered one of them was full to the top! I thought I hadn't filled the butts last autumn so was a pleasant surprise - and now I had more water so dumped the spawn in the pond and used the bucket to fill it. I spent a lot of time just watching the pond gradually fill but I still had to cover the rest of the bed - when planting the fruit trees I realized the weedkiller had not worked so well on the horsetail as on the rest of the plot, and covering with plastic was the only way to go.

There was plenty of liners left that covered about half the plot so the hunt was on to find more. I had some plastic bags but still not enough and decided to pull up some of the shredded plastic I had on the paths, and then used weed suppressant membrane to cover the rest. I used the proper plastic pins to anchor it down.

I left the site at 5.45 pm with a big smile on my face - 2 jobs done and looking smart. As I loaded the car, I saw a fellow allotmenteer washing something at one of the standpipe butts and then realized the tap was on! I asked when had they been fitted and apparently lunch time that day while I was siphoning water from my butts. Isn't that typical but at least I can fill the rest of the pond now. All I need to do now is finish the bed edging off proper and get some bark chippings down over the bed, but I could do with some pebbles for the edge of the pond. However, when will be the next question ... I think I overdid it yesterday and my back is particularly tender and sore. Still, I am really happy it is done .... I could do with some pond plants (I'll have to read up on those as this is all new to me)
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lancashire lass
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Pond plants

Post by lancashire lass »

I think I may have overdone it on Thursday - not just my usual aches and pains after a big session on the plot, but totally washed out and generally not feeling well (maybe I had picked a bug up somewhere before then?) I got an e-mail from work on Friday to say my debris netting had arrived (as part of the fencing/wind break I had hoped to do, especially round the asparagus bed) so I decided to do a little shopping trip - first to Derby to the farm shop for layers pellets and bedding for the chickens, then to work to pick up the netting. By the time I got home I was totally shattered.

Saturday was a wash out ... a horrible wet morning. I called in at the garden centre which also specializes in aquarium and pond plants and fish (the outside tanks to see the koi carp was really something - absolutely massive fish, expensive too!) I had a look at pond plants but I had no idea what was suitable. I saw some ready packed water lilies - prices ranged from £8 - £15. The ones I liked (pretty photos on the bag) were the most expensive. I decided I needed to do some more research before purchasing. Besides which, I hadn't taken a brolly and was getting wet outside LOL

After a little online research, I learned I needed some plants to oxygenate the water and some plants to provide shade (either submerged plants that grow leaves on the surface like water lilies, or floating plants) Such a large range of plants available, I needed to visit the garden centre again to see what stock they had. I still felt out of sorts and although I would have liked to have planted the onion sets, I decided to forego any gardening. I called in at the allotment shop to pick up some potato fertilizer (£2.70p/3kg) for a comparable experiment against the successful dried blood treatment I tried last year, then off to the garden centre again.

This time there seemed to be some more stock in - I recognized Elodea used in aquariums although I think this is an outdoor type so bought 5 little bunches. Still undecided about the water lilies, I picked up an Aponogeton distachyos - water hyacinth (more information from wikipedia) as it could be grown in variable depths and didn't look invasive. I debated about whether I ought to buy a bigger basket and pond compost and maybe also gravel - when you buy plants from the nursery, you know it is only a temporary pot - but for the moment, thought it should be alright. I just wanted an idea of how it would look in my pond.

Confession, a potted raspberry plant also fell in the basket ... a distinctive yellow fruit called All Gold :oops: Even when putting it in the basket I was wondering where to plant it - it could go in the middle of the triangle bed on the plot ... As it is in a pot, there was no rush to plant it immediately.

At the pond, I unpacked my purchases and dropped the Elodea in - okay, maybe 5 bunches was not enough but hopefully they'll grow like weeds. As for the Aponogeton distachyos, the basket had a handle so I just needed a cane to suspend it in the middle of the pond and gently lowered it in. Perhaps the pond looks deeper than it really is as the top of the handle was barely under the surface - a little more water could be added to the pond but thought I'd leave it until the warmer dry weather in case we got a lot more rain. At least the flowering stem with a pretty white flower cluster just broke through the surface but it looked very lonely {rofwl} Definitely room for a lot more plants especially on the upper level which is perhaps 9-12 inches deep. Also, I want to put some rocks/slabs on the pond edge to protect the liner from the sun and there are plants that can grow on and around them. This is turning into an interesting project. Must do more research .....
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 10th April 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

All last week I felt completely drained and washed out similar to flu- I didn't have any other symptoms so felt obliged to struggle into work thinking it was my own fault. It appears I was not alone and apparently there was a bug going round with the same tired feeling.

By Sunday I did feel much better after a proper Saturday rest day (tv catch up) but decided not to overdo it .... ha! After watching the weather forecast, temperatures seem to be on the rise with "mild" nights, ie no frost, so seemed a good time to plant the onion sets. The JAs I had dug up over Easter were sprouting like mad so also needed to be planted as soon as possible. Doesn't sound like much to do.

It took me a little while to get going, but finally the car was loaded with tools, soiled chicken coop bedding, fertilizers, top soil, JAs and the onion sets. I arrived about 10.45 am and the first task was to start soaking the sets and JAs in a solution of bleach - the sets in particular as I have been applying the same treatments as the garlic to reduce risk of introducing pests and diseases. As for the JAs, maybe not so critical but I was keen to clean the tubers before planting. While they soaked, I got on with the onion bed.

Over Easter I had prepared the bed and already made 3 rows as mounds but afterwards realized that I would not be able to plant 50 sets per row (total 150) so had to rake over and start again. And just as well because I had forgot to add fertilizers - a general purpose Growmore but also some bonemeal (slow release, source of phosphorous and calcium) and some lime just to knock the soil pH down a bit. After levelling off, 4 rows marked out using the hoe to lift soil up from the "trench" to create mini mounds (barely an inch above the trench depth) After last year's successful dried blood trial, I sprinkled a layer of dried blood on top of the mounds, and then covered them with a layer of top soil.

After soaking in bleach, both sets and tubers were rinsed and then given a weak alcoholic solution wash (kills off small pests like mites which can cause most rot problems especially on onions and garlic) before leaving to soak in a seaweed and hydrogen peroxide solution to encourage growth especially the roots. Then it was off to the JA bed.

Armed with 2 bags of coop bedding, I dug it into the soil which was much improved after the holiday work out and the bedding helped to break up any clods. I'd say the JA bed is one of my success stories on the plot - it used to be a horrible weedy gully but once I levelled it off with a paved foot path behind the shed and made a pallet fence/raised bed, it has come along nicely. Digging in lots of used compost and coop bedding has been a big help. I prepared 16 planting holes with the last of the compost I'd used the week before for the fruit trees, then realized I'd forgotten the fertilizer so just lightly sprinkled some Growmore round the hole and added a good handful of chicken manure pellets.

After a break, time to plant the sets - they had been soaking in the seaweed solution for about 2 hours. After dividing them up into 4 groups, I started to nestle the sets into the top soil every 4-5 inches apart (ideally 6 inches but my bed wasn't big enough) and then used the top soil to cover over. There is a big debate about whether to sit the sets on top or "bury" them, but I prefer burying them - the rain will knock the soil down, the bulbs will eventually sit on the top and the roots should be better established. There was a mix of set sizes - perhaps too many were on the small side so I'm not hopeful they will develop into decent sized onions. Then I put a fleece blanket on the top - to protect from any frosts (this can trigger sets to go into flower/seed production rather than bulb development), and to keep the pesky birds from pulling the sets up before they have had time to start growing. The problem with the fleece is that it was exactly the width of the bed and with a few well placed bricks and pieces of wood to weight it down, no room for the sprouting onions to push up ... hopefully the sets will grow roots first but unlikely.

After another break, off to plant the JAs which didn't take that long and then to fork in the remaining 2 bags of soiled bedding into one of the beds I'd dug over Easter Sunday. Despite the 2 bags of sand dug in, the soil was still "cloddy" and still needs a lot more work on it. Forking the bedding in has helped a lot.

I had a look round the plot - the garlic have grown another couple of inches, and ooooh, exciting - baby asparagus spears are poking up in the Arienne and Mondeo beds (makes sense as these are early varieties) The plum tree has burst into blossom, the new Braeburn apple trees had leaves while the Jonagold next to the shed was still "dormant". The rhubarb are well ahead so time to start picking. In the raspberry bed, the Joan and Polka are coming along and maybe the Malling Minerva just starting to show signs of life. In the gooseberry bed, the green Invicta was well established with greenery, next to it the red Xenia was starting to burst into leaf but the Hinnonmaki Yellow was barely stirring (I think the leaf buds are pushing through but I can't be sure ... they look a bit dead but maybe it's a late developer?) Most of the blueberries are producing leaves/flower buds, the currant bushes only just starting to bud up.

As for the pond, I got a compliment of how well the bed was looking - it did look smart. The water hyacinth looked very lonely and pathetic on its own so I must make an effort to get more water plants soon. I've been giving the pond bed a lot of thought after more research, and I'm considering getting some deep trays/crates/tank (haven't worked out how yet - I've been looking on Gumtree/Freecycle) and thought about creating mini ponds with plants. These should occupy more space on that bed so need less bark chippings, but also if I rigged up a "waterfall" effect using a solar powered fountain pulling water from the main pool up to the tanks, I could have one tank with oxygenating plants (like Elodea which I've read up as being unsuitable for a mixed pond) to feed into the other tanks and eventually into the main pond. I still have to work out the details yet but I'm quite excited by this project.

I should have packed up after that but while inspecting the plot, I noticed the purple sprouting broccoli had produced another crop of good sized sprouts (one lot just about to break into blossom so would be too late to pick next week) Also the kale was throwing up flower spears so needed to be cut back, and all the cabbages were heading up nicely. I decided to take the biggest one. Some of the kale and broccoli went into a soup for supper and the girls have had a good breakfast of broccoli leaves and kale flower heads today. I left the site at about 3.30 pm feeling satisfied with my day's work.
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lancashire lass
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Frustrated

Post by lancashire lass »

My weekend plans did not go at all well - I wanted to get some sand for the potato beds as I'm not convinced my other efforts will be enough to break up the clods (images of digging spuds out of concrete in late summer spring to mind), but the thought of heaving heavy loads in and out of the car put me off. I also need some more plants for the pond but the shop didn't open until 9.00 am on a Saturday when I had set off on an early morning supermarket shop ... I didn't feel like a second trip out once I'd got home and unpacked the groceries. Oh well, plenty still left to do on the plot so maybe next weekend.

Alas, Sunday was even worse. After getting the chickens sorted and 3 bags of chicken bedding and poop ready to go, I went back into the house to warm up. We had had a harsh frost and my hands were freezing cold. I made the mistake of going on the computer (earlier in the week I had got a good lead on my family history searches (genealogy) and was keen to follow it up .... big mistake) Never mind, the gates will be opened at 10 am so I can drive straight in and pop in at the allotment shop to get some more dried blood for the potato planting (I had used up my autumn purchases on the fruit, asparagus and onion planting) Once there, I'm sure I'll find things to do ....

Suffice to say, I never left the house. I ended up huddled on the settee wrapped in a duvet while hugging a hot water bottle to warm up and having a kip instead. Okay, plan B - I'll pop in early during a week day morning, and in particular, I really need to lift the fleece off the onion bed as I'm sure the sets will be pushing shoots up and with pinning it down to prevent it lifting off in the wind, there will be no room. But at the same time, now we seem to be having a period of frosts - even more frustrating considering how mild the winter has been and NOW we have frosts when things are tender and vulnerable (?!) So lifting the fleece off would be a bad idea. Aaaargh }hairout{ As for the early morning trips - my body clock has gone back into winter mode and not that eager to get up early ....

However, I have had some ideas for my pond bed. I have tried to find some large containers to make mini ponds but it hasn't gone too well. Either too big, too small, too far away to collect or (new) too expensive. The bath tub under the shed window is looking more and more like a good candidate so I've decided to empty out the compost (and the bricks in the base for drainage) and use that instead. It is old and a bit fragile but I think will be fine but to be on the safe side, I bought a smaller pond liner off ebay just in case there are cracks/fractures and especially the plug hole. I can make a wooden frame for the outside (hope I've got enough wood) and staple weed suppressant round the base for the moment but could disguise it later with maybe reed fencing. What do you think? Sounds like a plan.

And where the bath tub used to be .... I could create a bed (the soil has been under plastic cover for 9 years so I'm sure should be horsetail free by now?) I'm thinking flowers rather than veggies - and I still have those impulse buy climbers to plant (the clematis is surging ahead so needs a new home soon)

Now I just need to get some enthusiasm going - what's wrong with me >dum<
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by Mo »

Listen to your body.
If it says you need a rest you are probably fighting off a cold or something.

Interesting that you are adding sand to your spud bed. In Cheshire (as every evening class I've ever attended tells us in the first lesson - nature, history, whatever) we are glacial. Bands of heavy clay, or pure sand in the same plot. So I heard on gardeners QT years ago that sandy soil gives rise to potato scab but the way to improve it was to put green stuff in the trench. Now that I have my grass strimmed (and it's not long enough yet to pay someone) I can't line the bottom with so much grass - but my SIL did a bit in the field (near the arena) so I've been raking that up. Earlier trenches had to make do with rhubarb leaves. A good layer of grass rots down nicely and tells my that I've found the bottom of the trench and there won't be any more so stop digging. If I have any I add more grass as I earth up too.
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Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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lancashire lass
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More Pond Plants

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I've been shopping ... bought some plants for the pond:

Juncus effusus f. spiralis aka corkscrew rush

Typha Minima aka Dwarf Japanese bull rush

Scirpus cernuus aka Fibre Optic Plant or Slender Club Rush

Acorus gramineus aka Japanese Sweet Flag

Myriophyllum Brasiliensis aka Red Stemmed Parrots Feather

Eichornia Crassipes aka Water Hyacinth

Nymphaea alba - a white flower

Iris pseudacorus aka Yellow Iris

So many to choose but decided to get mainly grassy looking ones for now (and the Water Lily of course!)

Will post more about them later .....
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Friday 22nd April 2016

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Sorry I did not post more on Friday - my stupid laptop is not working properly (the keys "w", "s", "x", "z" have stopped working, and on top of that, broadband just seemed so slow and everything was an effort copying and pasting especially the letters }hairout{ ) A bit more about Friday's tasks ...

I had booked the day off to take the car to the garage for repair - the journey to and from work involves 2 different bus companies and would cost too much (couldn't go by tram because there isn't a bus to take me to the station ...) Anyway, not wasted time off as I planned to sow seeds. Until I saw the weather forecast - winter is returning. This is beginning to feel a lot like last year with winter hanging on a little longer and delaying things. Not to worry, I did get on with some planting up and repotting.

First of all, the supermarket bought climbers needed repotting while I deliberate where to plant them. Clearly this was an impulse buy as I haven't really thought this through properly LOL. Next, the yellow raspberries - I read somewhere that someone had bought several pots of raspberry plants from a garden centre only to realize after that each pot contained 5 canes. Hmmm, there are 5 canes in my pot tied with plastic ties. I decided to see if I could gently tease them apart and repot into bigger pots while I decide where to plant them on the plot. There were in fact 3 plants but I accidentally broke a couple of pieces off - still, they had a little root on them so decided to pot them up anyway and after a good watering, all the plants don't seem any worse for being disturbed, including the little pieces.

The oca (New Zealand yams) that I dug up last month were still chitting on the windowsill but many of the small (pea sized) ones were shrivelled and dried up so it was looking like I needed to plant them as soon as possible. I selected the biggest 10 tubers (3 white, 3 crimson/white, 4 orange) and planted them in pots, then decided to see if I could perhaps plant some of the others with a view to sell them so they went into polythene plastic pots (like the ones you find at the garden centre) - 18 pots in total.

A telephone call from the garage to say the car was ready so after collecting it, I drove on to the garden centre to buy a few pond plants. I was looking for marginal plants (that sit just under the water surface) - I particularly wanted a bulrush (I think the "flower" looks amazing) but perhaps might be a bit ambitious for my small pond so I opted for some dwarf type that look similar. I recognized some of the plants at the garden centre from my research including some flowering ones (I like the idea of Monkey Musk - the garden centre had the yellow flowering ones with dark maroon splodges) but opted for "grassy" plants instead for the moment and let these establish. But of course, I still had to get my water lily as I wasn't sure if there was a "season" of when to buy them so didn't want to miss out, and it is a "deep" water plant unlike the others. The plants cost £2.99p each (the lily £7.99p) which was a lot cheaper than if I'd gone online and of course, I could select my own so I'm quite pleased with my purchases. I did wonder if I should have got more than one yellow flag iris though but I'm not sure how prolific they are - one on its own does seem a bit pathetic ... I'll leave it for now and see how it goes.
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by lancashire lass »

Mo wrote:Interesting that you are adding sand to your spud bed. In Cheshire (as every evening class I've ever attended tells us in the first lesson - nature, history, whatever) we are glacial. Bands of heavy clay, or pure sand in the same plot. So I heard on gardeners QT years ago that sandy soil gives rise to potato scab but the way to improve it was to put green stuff in the trench.


Interesting. I think it might have something to do with soil pH as scab tends to be worse when the pH is higher (especially if you follow on from growing brassicas and adding lime to the soil) so makes sense. The amount of sand added to the beds would not have been enough to make that much difference plus I had added some sulphate of iron to lower the soil pH.

The truth is, the thought of moving heavy bags of sand at the moment has put me off so I've decided to use up the old/used compost from last year's chilli project to break up the soil, but also add fresh compost to the planting holes/trench as well as the usual fertilizers (I'm comparing potato fertilizer against the dried blood this year to see if one or the other is better. The dried blood experiment last year against my usual supplements was a clear winner, but everyone seem really into the new potato fertilizer at the moment so worth checking out)
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Sunday 24th April 2016 - 1st earlies are in!

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I was determined to get my first early potatoes in the ground on Sunday, and to rescue my onion sets planted 2 weeks earlier especially after the warm weather and they were trapped under fleece that had been pinned down. With clearing out the car to look respectable while in the garage for repairs, I had to reload everything back including 2 bags of old compost, 5 bags of soiled bedding, as well as the bag of alfalfa from the farm stores. I arrived at the site for 8.30 am and to a very chilly northerly wind - I could have done with taking my allotment jacket as the fleece jacket wasn't warm enough!

As my earlier post suggests, I decided to forego the sand because of the weight issue, and instead use the old compost to help break up the clay soil. I have added loads of stuff (coop bedding and poop) in recent months, including horse manure and vermiculite, but the clods are still there and everything seems to have rotted down and added to the clay mix but to be fair, there are pockets were the soil was nice to work with. I also decided to try the alfalfa feed - when researching the garlic, I read quite a number of people singing praises of using alfalfa in the garden and I tested some on the garlic beds. Touch wood, they do seem to be doing very well at the moment. So I thought I'd try some in the potato beds to help improve the soil.

So 2 bags of soiled bedding, a big bucket of alfalfa and 2 bags of used compost was spread on the far bed next to the blackcurrants and I used the spade to turn it in, then the fork to break it all up. I put 2 bags of soiled bedding and alfalfa on the next bed down and did the same (I'll have to come another day with the used compost) and the final bag of soiled bedding was spread on the raspberry bed next to the lavender bed (like a sort of mulch as the soil surface is very dry - hard to believe this bed had 2 bags of horse manure dug into the soil last autumn)

After a break, I sorted the Arran Pilots into 2 groups with similar sized tubers (big ones and small ones) for the comparison test, and as I know the dried blood works, there were 9 tubers and 8 tubers for the potato fertilizer experiment. I dug out planting holes and added 2 handfuls of good compost, nestled the tuber in, covered with another couple of handfuls of compost, sprinkled the fertilizer on top and especially the edges before back filling with the bed soil. First earlies are in at last.

The onion bed - well, so much for panicking about them sprouting under the fleece. First the birds had been in and pecked holes through the fleece and pulled up and tossed a few sets around }hairout{ But even after lifting the fleece and putting them back, none of the others have done anything. This is rather worrying .... my pre-treatment and top soil/dried blood worked fine last year so I know it can't be that, and we had enough warm sunny days over the past 2 weeks for them to have started sprouting. The nights have been on the cool side, but still, very disappointing. I would have liked to have built a net cage but after the efforts of the potato bed preparation and planting, I decided to re-use the fleece but cut the length so that it covered the width of the bed and could be pinned down by the bed boundary, and be loose in the middle.

The good news is that all 3 gooseberries are breaking out into leaf so I'm pleased about that. Raspberries on both beds on the other hand are very hit and miss. Still early days so I'm not panicking yet. However, one of the fruit trees has definitely not shown any signs of growing - the 3 pear trees and 2 apple trees on the pond bed have all burst into leaf, but the Jonagold by the side of the shed looks dead except for the main trunk which still looks green so maybe it's a late one? Still worrying.

The garlic are romping away and now a healthy 12-15 inch tall. The Ornak garlic is really looking particularly good with strong growth and indicative of a big plant (the individual cloves were as big as my thumb so you can imagine what the size of the bulb should be) and looking so much better than last year's last minute effort. I'm hoping the soil preparation is the reason - certainly had a lot of thought put into it. Still, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and won't feel relaxed until the day they are harvested.

Despite the excitement of seeing the asparagus sprouting 2 weeks ago, there were no fronds or tall spears. It's as if they all stopped growing, much like the onion sets. Again I'm not quite sure why other than last Sunday we did have a frost and it was a cold day. I hope it is just a temporary delay rather than permanent damage. On the other hand, there are signs of life stirring amongst the Purple Pacific crowns. Of course, the return of winter in the next 2 weeks is not going to help things along.

Weeds are definitely starting to sprout everywhere but for the moment, the plot still looks remarkably fine. As for the pond, the water level has dropped by about an inch leaving little tidal marks. I can't see any tadpoles but doesn't really mean anything yet but my neighbour has offered me some from his pond. I'll leave it a bit longer before deciding the frog spawn I returned to the pond had died. I put the water lily down in the deep end, and tossed the 2 water hyacinth (floating plants) on the surface. When reading up about the hyacinth, apparently they are sensitive to low temperatures and frost but I'm hoping they will be fine (a large body of water after all usually prevents frost unlike open ground especially at this time of year when the soil and water have warmed up a bit in the sun)

As for the other pond plants, they are currently sitting in an inch of water at home on the back patio, in a plastic dog basket. I was trying to find a big deep tray but my old bread tray is old and got a big crack in it and the dog basket looked ideal. I do have 2 baskets - a smaller one when I used to have a Jack Russell, and the big one was given to me when I had my old dog Pepper (she on the other hand preferred to stretch out on the carpet so never used it) It did give me an idea ... if I put a piece of wood or something across the low bit from inside, then covered the basket with pond liner, as it filled with water, the pressure would press against the lined wood so I'd have a couple of kidney shaped ponds with potential of a waterfall/overspill? Might look much more natural than say the bath tub. The idea is appealing, and the sooner I get them set up the better. When I arrived at the plot on Sunday, somebody had cut across my plot and walked right across the pond bed leaving their foot prints across the weed membrane {mr.angry} So a few well placed ponds in the way should stop that, plus I need to get my debris fencing put up as well.

All in all, not a bad weekend but could have been more productive. I left the site at 1.30 pm.
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by Mo »

I planted Rasps last winter. They are disappointing too. At most 2 canes /plant and a couple of those have no leaves this year. But plenty of growth from the base.

Don't give up on your apple tree yet. My Worcester always looks dead when the others get going. Nothing on it yet.

I should complain to the allotment police about the trespassers.

Well done for all your hard work.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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May Bank Holiday weekend = potatoes + broad beans

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Typical British weather - last week was a return to winter with sleet, hail and snow (admittedly I saw none where I live or work but early one morning when driving to work, I did see a car driving by with about an inch of snow on top), and this week – we can now expect a heatwave by the weekend! LOL

On Saturday, it was still very cold with a very mixed bag of weather for the bank holiday weekend - every day, showers were forecast from about midday onwards. As I watched the forecast on tv, I was trying to work out exactly when the rain would arrive so I could plan but sometimes, even within just a few hours of the last one, the forecast would change again. On Sunday 1st May, I was late getting going so I arrived at the allotment site for just after 11.00 am. Task this weekend - plant potatoes!

Of course, if only it was a case of digging a trench and planting ... with my horrible clay soil, by summer the tubers would be encased in concrete. So more soiled coop bedding and alfalfa were dug into the beds, and I also had to dig out any horsetail roots. Unlike the other beds, there were still quite a few viable roots but compared to other times, maybe not as bad - crosses fingers and hopes this is the case. I did not bring old compost this time round but have decided to use some of it to "earth up" once the potatoes start growing. After a break, time for planting.

I had brought the Vivaldi potatoes (my fave for flavour as you know, aka "slimming potatoes") - there were 28 seed potatoes, 50:50 medium and small ones. The bed I decided to plant them in was slightly bigger than the other due to the angled footpath next to the triangle bed with the new raspberries - so 13 planted next to the communal footpath side and 15 on the white currant bush side. I dug a trench and lined it with commercial compost, nestled the tubers in the compost before putting a couple of handfuls of compost on top and then added the fertilizers. The 13 were treated with the potato fertilizer while the 15 with dried blood.

Last year when trialling dried blood against my usual nitrogen feed boost of chicken manure (commercial pellets, not from my chickens), I had given both rows a dose of pellets and as dried blood is high in nitrogen, it was only fair to treat the chicken manure row with extra pellets so that the only comparison was in the other nutrients found in dried blood (that is, the haem/iron) and if this had an effect on growth and yield - the answer was yes. Plants had darker leaves, were slightly taller and kept on growing a further 2 weeks than the control thereby allowing tubers to grow bigger before the plants finally died back. However, so keen to test potato fertilizer against the dried blood, I had kind of forgotten about the chicken manure (especially as the potato fertilizer was a complete fertilizer) So as an after thought, I sprinkled some pellets on the surface of both rows in the 2 beds already done.

Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May 2016

I wanted to get the last potatoes planted, so basically a repeat of Sunday but this time I was at the site for 8.00 am - then it was down to digging in some soiled coop bedding and alfalfa, and pulling out horsetail roots from the last bed. There were only 16 seed potatoes of Isle of Jura so an even split of 8 potatoes each for the experiment. I decided to forego a trench and made individual planting holes - the potato fertilizer treated potatoes next to the communal footpath with the dried blood next to the red currant bed, and a sprinkle of chicken manure pellets on top just like the others.

My other tasks for the day did not go as planned. Despite the dreadful weather last week, the soil on the plot was very dry. I know there had been rain because the pond had filled up again and covered the water marks when it had evaporated off before, but the wind over the weekend was making it dry again. The garlic was looking a little sad too - with all my efforts to make sure they didn't drown over winter, it can also mean the beds would dry out a lot quicker. Also, I had hoped to do one more (small) feed as this is the time when the garlic will be putting all its energy into the leaves - the bigger the leaves, the more productive they will be in making food stores to bulk up the cloves. It's a bit of a balancing act too - feed the plants too much or too late and it has an opposite effect.

So on Sunday I had gone round and put a light sprinkle of dried blood on the soil surface, then the plan was for the rain to wash it in. Snag number one – it didn’t rain. Snag number two - someone had removed the tap fitting on the nearby stand pipe so I could not hook up my hose pipe. Snag number three - I had forgotten to bring along my watering can. Oh well, I had my flexi bucket that I used to carry compost, so that had to become a make shift watering can but it was far from ideal especially as it involved walking back and forth to and from the tap to all the beds umpteen times, and each plant barely got enough water to moisten the soil surface. I also put a little dose of Phostrogen all purpose fertilizer in the water - unlike Growmore which is very much a NPK fertilizer, all purpose fertilizers also contain micronutrients (such as calcium, iron, boron, magnesium and so on) which are essential for healthy leaves and roots.

Next, the asparagus – I used some of the alfalfa and spread it out like a circle round each plant, then covered it and the rest of the soil surface with the last of the commercial compost. This time I put a little seaweed solution in the water with the Phostrogen and again, just a cup full per plant. Not nearly enough and I really hoped the forecast rain would be more significant than that forecast on Sunday night. I wasn’t disappointed – everything on the plot should have got a good soaking.

One final task – sow seeds! Easy ones – broad bean. And then I took some photos of the plot before finishing for the day @ 1.30 pm. I’ll try to post some of them up soon (my photobucket account is full … I need a new freebie site)

EDIT - the fleece over the onions was still there and doing its job, and through the gaps I could see fresh green shoots so maybe took a bit longer to start growing. As for asparagus, I think some of the earlier new shoots were damaged by the cold snap but (!), new shoots were pushing up so all is not lost. More raspberries are growing so all looking very hopeful, and the strawberries seemed to really perk up after popping some compost on top of them. I also think the Jerusalem Artichokes are pushing their way up too. The new apple tree Jonagold planted by the shed on the other hand, still not doing anything at all ....
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Chitting sweetcorn

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As forecast, warm sunny weather (phew, when will they switch the heating off at work :? It's already 25oC in the office ....)

Anyway, car propagating 2016 - I put the Lark F1 sweetcorn seeds on wet paper towelling in a tray, covered and bagged up. Now sitting in the car and toasting :-D (or is that broiling?) Tomorrow I will get my winter squashes germinating in the car, also the courgette seeds when they arrive (they were despatched today, so hopefully come tomorrow or Saturday)

DT Brown Seeds were having a free p&p weekend over the bank holiday so I had ordered:

Beetroot Burpees Golden
Parsnip TZ9043
Courgette Floridor F1
Swede Tweed F1
Cucumber (Outdoor) Marketmore 76

I love golden beetroot but not tried Burpees before so should be interesting. May is a time to sow swede and I'm going to try Tweed F1 which is a new one for me (I read up somewhere that it is clubroot resistant though no mention on the DT Brown site ...) Also the odd named parsnip "TZ9043" - high resistance to canker and supposedly did well in trials. The Floridor F1 courgette - a ball shaped yellow courgette - were lovely compact plants, and maybe my imagination, but they seemed nicer than the standard shape. Finally, good reliable Marketmore cucumbers - I needed fresh seed.
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