LL's Gardening Diary

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lancashire lass
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Tuesday 21st June 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

Monday was wet as forecast so I had planned the day to do some tasks at home. It was bin collection day so I did an extra clear out to fill the bin including emptying the hoovers. Yes, plural - I've had a Dyson for years but it has been giving me problems and had got a cheap one to replace it ... I have not been impressed with it so I decided to see if I could fix the Dyson. I pulled it apart and cleaned the filters, replaced the belt (is there an easier way to do that - it took me ages to fit it!) I still have to test it. Meanwhile, the washing machine has been busy as I decided to wash the curtains and give the house a good spring clean. By afternoon, the rain stopped and the weather for the rest of the week looks promising.

So on Tuesday I went to the allotment with the cucumber, swede and tomato plants. I arrived about 8.00 am and got stuck in on the remaining brassica cage - I moved the canes and netting down the plot and then dug up the seeded kale and broccoli. Like the cabbage bed, there were not that many weeds and the soil was gritty and easier to turn over than expected. I only had one bag of soiled bedding so tried to fork it more or less along the length of the bed down the middle. I erected some canes with a few extra to brace them, then tied a piece of pea and bean netting to it. There were 6 cucumber plants - perhaps more than I need but I know the chickens will enjoy them too. Like the courgettes, each planting hole got a good handful of compost plus chicken pellets and fish blood and bone, and a sprinkling of slug pellets for good measure. The slug population seems to be on a high at the moment - big fat ones everywhere.

I then got on with the swede bed - I had forked it over on Sunday so was ready for planting. I sprinkled fish blood and bone over the bed before planting. The bed was smaller than I thought so I didn't plant all the seedlings and offered the rest to my neighbour. While taking a break, I spied a white butterfly fluttering by - aaaargh, better get the cage finished! It went up quite quickly and before I put the net over, sprinkled lime round the plants (okay, I forgot to dig in but it will still be effective and wash in - I use lime to raise the soil pH to prevent clubroot which to the best of my knowledge I don't have on the plot, but better to prevent it than have to deal with it later) and then much needed slug pellets - oh yes, slugs and snails just love tender brassica plants! I then got on with planting the tomatoes. I was going to use the last bed for the climbing french beans but the tomato plants had grown quickly since I potted the freebies on the week before. I decided they were probably better off at the allotment than at home, and they conveniently filled a bed. I had to dig out a few horsetail up first.

The sun was really hot and the heat was rising - I seem to be sweating a lot recently from the high humidity. But then thinking about it, it was summer solstice (20th-21st June) so I shouldn't have been too surprised LOL. After a break, I got on with erecting the pea and bean netting along the rows of peas ... after worrying about a no-show, the seedlings were emerging so the sooner I got the netting up, the better. I used a new one and was able to split it between the 2 rows.

Finally, the broad beans - now 12 inch+ high, some were flopping over so I thought I'd try tying string between canes to help support them. I've never bothered in the past but more likely because by the time I thought about it the plants had already got too big and flopped over. I'm not sure my effort looks effective enough. Finally I went round and put a sprinkle of fish blood and bone round the broad beans - with all the rain, I noticed the soil from the raised bed had been washed out. I think the storm last Friday had been so intense that the plot must have looked like a river as water marks could be seen on the foot paths where compost had been shifted.

One more task to do - water in the newly planted seedlings. I made up a seaweed solution to give them all a boost and just a little bit on each plant to help settle the roots. The soil in all the beds were very wet so didn't need much more!

Before I packed up to go at 2.00pm, I paused to look at the plot. I think it was too soon to think the potash had worked on the garlic bed, but I couldn't help notice the early maturing garlic (Illico, Iberian Wight and Albigensian Wight) looked more yellow than the others which I had put down to rust, and the raised shoulders on some bulbs looked advanced - I think these are actually ready for lifting! I was too tired to do more but will be on my next job to do. Also, more weeding! I ought to do the onion bed as another flush of docks are appearing, and I so wanted to get the potato beds done sooner rather than later.

An update of the potato fertilizer debate - I have to confess the potato fertilizer treated plants were marginally taller than the dried blood ones, but the leaves from the dried blood were a shade darker green. Compared to my neighbour's plants, mine looked twice the height yet I know he planted his potatoes a week before I did. Of course, it's possible the variety he grew might not grow as tall but I can't help feeling that all the chicken bedding dug in had a lot to do with it (she secretly smiles ....)

So all that's left to do is plant the sweetcorn (a big task, one I am not looking forward to) and the 4 raspberries in pots at home. I will need to dig over a new bed for those - again, not a task I'm looking forward to. Then move the bark chippings to the pond bed plus some tiles to cover the top of the liner to protect from the hot sun/weathering and animal/bird claws. Sorting out the foot paths is going to take a lot longer and I think I'll need to do it when I've got more time, perhaps in September?
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 26th June 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

Suffice to say, I didn't make another plot visit until Sunday - I was going out on Wednesday night so did not want to over-tire myself, and Thursday I had other plans. Friday I got engrossed with the Brexit results and drama on tv, and Saturday is shopping day (plus a trip to Derby for chicken feed and a much needed new bale of straw for the coops)

It rained Saturday evening and I still had to empty the sacks of feed and bedding out of the car - no sooner had I done that, when it decided to rain again on Sunday morning ... not what I was expecting according to the weather forecast. By the time it had finished and I loaded the car, it was already 10.15 am when I arrived at the allotment. 6 crates of sweetcorn plants filled the back of the car so there was no room for anything else although I still had the Fish Blood & Bone and chicken manure pellets in the car from my last visit.

My other task which I got stuck in straight away was to lift up the early maturing garlic bulbs. Convinced that the yellowing plants were do to them being ready rather than decimation from the rampant rust, it was a good call - the Illico, Albigensian Wight and Iberian Wight were indeed ready and any later, would have started to rot in the soil (or rather, the outer skins which then expose the cloves) I'm very pleased with the Illico and Albigensian, but the Iberian have a big problem - many of the cloves had sent leaves up and that means they won't store well. Another cluster of yellowed plants were the Polish variety, Ornak. The cloves on these should have been the size of my thumb but instead, the bulbs were not only small, but I don't think it has split into cloves. A total disaster. As it is a Polish hardneck variety, I'm wondering if the mild wet winter did not suit it?

As I left them drying out on the soil surface, I got on with planting the sweetcorn. First of all I scattered the Fish Blood & Bone over the soil surface - when I dig the holes and back fill, some of the fertilizer should end up in the planting hole and the rest will wash into the soil eventually. Each crate had about 7 or 8 pots in so I decided to divide the plot into 6 rows with a mini footpath between each 2 rows. However, there were actually more pots in one crate so I ended up planting a total of 56 ... I'd already left a tray at home as there was no room in the car so I'm not quite sure where to plant the last ones now. The task took as long as I thought it might. In each planting hole I put a handful of chicken manure pellets - these will give the plants a nitrogen boost and encourage them to grow quickly, and then each plant was planted in a deeper hole than the original pot so that they were earthed up. Planting them deeper means the plants will not rock or fall over in strong winds and encourages roots higher up the stem to anchor the plant better. It's always worked for me. Then the task was finished off with a scattering of slug pellets for good measure.

Despite several days of "rest" during my holiday, I quickly got tired at the allotment. Most likely because a lot of the tasks involved bending down to the ground level. I cleared a few weeds out of the garlic beds but what I really needed to weed is the onion bed - the docks that had grown since my last weeding session were looking a bit too happy in the bed and growing quickly. However, the last time I weeded that bed with the cage frame in the way, I hurt myself by stretching under the frame - the downside of using a netted cage. As for whether it is doing what I hoped which was to keep the onion fly out, it's a bit too early to say although touch wood, the leaves look healthy and the bulbs are already developing and looking well. So fingers crossed.

During one of my many breaks, as I peered down the plot, I couldn't see the courgettes or cucumber so decided to have a wander down the plot. I knew one courgette was not happy but it was completely gone, as were 2 cucumber plants }hairout{ They look like they've been dug up - too clean to be a cat, so either a bird (I suspect magpie as we have one that seems to have set up residence) or human. The tomatoes have nearly doubled in size, the swede look fine, the peas just making early growth, the dwarf French beans looking very distinct now and ready to start growing proper. I didn't go further down the plot but I could see the potatoes were fine and easily over 3 feet tall (almost as tall as the establish currant bushes!) and starting to flower.

All in all, not a bad day but I did seem to be much more stiff and sore than usual after a stint at the allotment. I had a couple of admirers of my garlic harvest, and another couple chatted about the state of the plots on the site. It would seem there are a lot of plots that are vacant which is quite worrying, as well as a number of people giving up - if the site does not bring in revenue, the council could easily sell the land for property development especially in these financial times and simply move people with plots to a nearby site which must be having similar problems. On that note, I left at 2.30 pm.
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 10th July 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

lancashire lass wrote:I did seem to be much more stiff and sore than usual after a stint at the allotment.


... which ended up with a back problem {cry} ... I think I must have pulled a muscle or something which developed into a problem. Suffice to say I did not go to the allotment last weekend and I wasn't going to go this weekend either if it hadn't been for worrying about the garlic. As it happens, my back seemed to be okay yesterday after a good rest up on Saturday. Still, I only spent a couple of hours at the plot to lift up the rest of the garlic (and pick out some weeds)

I got to the allotment for just after 8.00 am. Considering it was the height of summer, the plot looked not much different to 2 weeks ago except maybe a little weedier but nothing on the scale I've experienced in the past if I'd missed a weekend. Disappointingly, the sweetcorn bed looked like foxes had been in and dug out some plants (I found fox poo nearby so know it wasn't a cat) where I had put chicken manure pellets in the planting holes, and the others were either munched to stalks from slugs and snails, or generally not looking clever although there were some that were just starting to take off. Fortunately I have some spare plants still at home which I could use to fill in the gaps

I got stuck in straight away using the fork to lift up the garlic before knocking off as much soil from the roots as possible then leaving them on the ground to dry off while I carried on. All the garlic had succumbed to rust so little point leaving any behind, and the sooner I got them up, the less likely the outer skins would rot leaving the cloves to fall apart in the ground. As it happens, some had already got to that stage but I'd say those losses were small. It actually didn't take long to do all the garlic beds but I did make a point of taking lots of rests to avoid tiring my back.

As I'd made a point of keeping the garlic beds fairly weed free throughout spring, it didn't take much effort to pick out any that had started to grow while lifting the garlic up. The result is that all the garlic beds are almost ready to sow another crop like lettuce, carrots, kale, beetroot and turnip which I'll try to do next week. After bagging up the garlic and loading the car, I had just one more job to do and that was go round the plot with the last of the slug pellets - it was severely rationed between beds. Priority was the sweetcorn and asparagus beds, followed by the peas (half had been munched to ground level), swede, cucumber and the last few pellets and dust round the courgettes.

I'm surprised the cucumber plants had barely grown much, the courgettes are on the small side too but flowering! The dwarf French beans are also not thriving as well as they should but generally are fine so I'm not worried. As for the parsnips ... only one has grown after all that messing around with the chitted seeds. Seems a big bed for just one parsnip though so I'm not quite sure what else to put in there (I'll leave it to grow on - I've got to have something for my Christmas dinner LOL)

The potatoes on the other hand look well (and touch wood, blight free) - the Isle of Jura potatoes are in full flower, white ones. I think the Vivaldi were flowering a couple of weeks ago, and I noticed the Arran Pilots first earliers are only just starting to die off so I'd imagine they are ready to start lifting soon (can't wait to eat them) Lots of people prefer small new potatoes but I like them bigger and more mature for flavour. With all the rain we've had, I'm anticipating big tubers .... but knowing my luck, maybe not.

As I suspected, the birds had beaten me to the strawberries. During one of my many breaks, I noticed lots of birds like sparrows were flying in and out of the currant bushes, obviously taking any ripened fruit. To be honest, the bushes didn't look like they had much fruit on them at all - in the past I've not found the competition from the birds to have an impact on the amount of fruit I can harvest for myself (except for blueberries)

The raspberry bed was a little weedy so I pulled most of them up. One of the Malling Minerva had about half a dozen raspberries on it in various stages of ripening, not a lot of anything on the others. Compared to the All Gold raspberries in pots still at home, the plants on the plot are small and really struggling. All of the new canes are not doing as well as they should, even allowing for them time to establish themselves.

And yike* I spied a horsetail poking through the weed suppressant membrane on the pond bed - it seemed to have come up where one of the membrane pins had been hammered in. It will get treated as soon as reasonably can. I surveyed the rest of the plot and I have to say the amount of horsetail around doesn't look anything like last year and the weedkiller must have been a lot more effective than I gave it credit. It's a good job I've been stocking a few bottles after learning that glyphosate might have been taken off the market. I know some people welcome the idea of glyphosate being removed from the shelves but there's nothing else available to replace it that works. Some of the reasons for the possible ban are its potential carcinogenic properties but it is still a highly debatable topic - I would agree that dosing farmers fields of grain plants (wheat and so on) with the weedkiller to hasten the drying off for earlier harvesting does not sound clever as this is directly on food. I try to only use weedkiller on the footpaths rather than beds where the veggies grow although the horsetail nightmare had needed something more radical in places. The EU however, had decided at the end of June to allow an 18 month extension to the license to sell glyphosate products although some EU countries already have their own ban.

I left the site at 10.30 am and headed straight home with the heady aroma of garlic in the car. The task was not over - I had to trim off the dead leaves and stem, and wash the bulbs and clean them up ready for the drying off. A little washing up liquid in the wash water does seem to help kill off any soft bodied pests like garlic mites round the roots. I spent the next 8 hours sat comfortably at home doing this, occasionally having a break taking trays of prepared bulbs outside to dry off. Most were fine but I'd say I lost about 10% to either some form of rot or like last year, the cloves had started to sprout inside the bulb and were unusable. Now we just need some warm dry weather to help with the process. Meanwhile, I can start using some of it right away - hmmmmm, fresh garlic is really nice in cooking.
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 17th June 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

Today was forecast warm and sunny, with a mini heatwave early in the week up to about 30oC on Tuesday. That changed my plans for the plot a bit - although the soil was damp, many of the plants had shallow roots so any heat would drive the moisture off quickly and cause stress. I had planned on digging the 3 weeks of accumulated bags of soiled bedding from the coops into the empty garlic beds but instead, decided to use it as a mulch.

I arrived at the plot about 8.30 am and got stuck in giving all the beds a thorough watering. The sweetcorn had picked up since last weekend and thankfully no more casualties although a couple were chewed down despite a dose of slug pellets. The onions looked well amongst the ever growing weeds in the bed, some already flopped over so a sign they will soon be ready to lift! Some decent looking bulbs, but as predicted, also a lot of smaller ones from the small sets. I'm not going to get too excited until all the onions are harvested but it looks like the netted cage may have done its job to keep the onion fly out - fingers crossed.

The blueberry bushes all look healthy with good foliage and fruit, some of which are starting to ripen. The fresh ericaceous compost and fertilizers have clearly been beneficial this year. As for the asparagus, some good ferns, some new spears and a few casualties. I think tying the stems to the canes has been a bad ideal as some of the stems have broken. A closer look and yike* oh no, signs of asparagus beetle damage. I thought I'd got away with it but it would seem the blighters have found the new bed.

The courgettes have all got fruit but still very small ... a couple more days and I should be able to start harvesting. Sadly the cucumber are struggling to grow - these are Marketmore and suited to outdoor growing but the weather has probably been too dull and cool for them. Maybe they will respond to the mini heatwave? As for my parsnip - it would seem I'm growing a bed of sow thistle LOL Strange how there is a single sow thistle in each of the planting holes I'd prepared. Very bizarre. The oca (New Zealand Yam) didn't look happy with leaves folded up - despite growing in a bed, the plants have not really taken off as well as expected but generally are fine. The dwarf French beans on the other hand are growing nicely, and there are pods on the broad beans (considering how late I sowed the beans, this is quite exciting) The peas too are taking off but where the slugs had got the ones at the end of the rows, there are no plants. But loads of weeds - another observation that when I sow peas direct, the whole bed becomes very weedy.

There are flowers on the tomatoes, and the swede have settled in and started to grow. As for the potatoes, the tall foliage have flopped over but generally still green. I was a bit worried about a couple of the Arran Pilots that looked suspiciously more like blight than naturally dying off - to be on the safe side, I nipped those leaves off for good measure. On to the strawberries and the plants are enormous but no signs of any fruit - I suspect the blackbirds and pigeons have feasted on those. And wow, there are raspberries ripening, but I'm still not happy about their poor growth. Maybe my garden was ideal as raspberries used to do so well there, canes reaching 4-5 feet in length whereas these are barely a foot off the ground.

The lavender are in flower - lovely deep purple ones but }hairout{ the couch grass is now so well established and I don't know how to get it out. Mature lavender doesn't seem to tolerate being moved but my only options are to lift them out and replant, or attempt weedkiller and sacrifice those that get accidentally contaminated. The fruit trees on the pond bed are doing fine although the 3 pear trees all have pear rust. I always thought the problem of pear rust at home was because the trees are surrounded by other trees creating ideal conditions, but the pond bed is fairly wide open and the wind catches the buildings on the other side of the site against my plot. The only treatment suggested is removal of infected leaves (and clearing away autumn leaves to prevent re-infection) but as each leaf has rust, the tree would end up with having no leaves at all. I'm going to have to research this disease more thoroughly and see if there is any alternate treatment.

The pond meanwhile is amazing - still only the original plants, these are all growing well especially the Elodea. But what I found amazing is the water is still crystal clear - I was expecting the water to be green. The tadpoles have long ago gone but there's a whole load of new life in the pond. Expecting the dreaded mosquito larvae, there is a diverse insect life instead - I definitely saw a few water boatmen and skaters which I did not expect. I suspect these may have migrated from the big pond in the community plot behind my plot. This is quite exciting to see the pond developing.

The watering took well over an hour and half, so I got stuck in with the mulching. This should prevent water loss from the soil surface (a bit like lifting a pebble up from the ground and finding the soil underneath was damp) especially from the forecast hot sunny weather this week. Priority was the sweetcorn as they are still getting established, then the asparagus bed. I didn't really have that much bedding but just enough to make an inch depth mulch round each plant. The remaining bedding went round the cucumber and courgettes. I managed to weed the asparagus bed before mulching but the rest was left as it was too hot working in the strong sunlight.

I called round at the allotment shop specifically to get more slug pellets but with the discovery of the asparagus beetle damage, I decided to see what pesticides they sold. I don't use pesticides except out of necessity and prefer physical barriers like netting or simple soapy water if I can. Asparagus beetle however are devious - the larvae which does most of the damage hides from predators! I can remember treating the asparagus on the old plot and when I approached the plants, the larvae would physically move and hide behind the stems so you never saw them. BAYER GARDEN PROVADO ULTIMATE BUG KILLER is the only pesticide I know which is effective against asparagus beetle - it kills on contact but is also a systemic pesticide which means it is absorbed into the plant and works for several weeks. As I won't be harvesting any spears for the next 2 years at least, this is not a problem for me. However, like a lot of pesticides, it is also lethal to other insects especially beneficial ones. The most important thing is to make sure the plants are not flowering. Of course, the pesticide was useless without a sprayer - fortunately the shop sold those too, so I got a 2L pressure one. I'm actually quite pleased with it and might buy another to replace the stupid one I've been using for weedkillers.

I'd already prepared the weedkiller with the special horsetail herbicide but it was such hard work to use. If I was honest, I'd say the herbicide treatments have worked really well - areas which used to be dense with horsetail are just producing a few fronds, especially along the border with the currant bushes. I managed to douse the frond that had appeared in the pond bed ... when I walked on the weed suppressant membrane, I was aware that the membrane had been pushed up with the growth of the horsetail underneath. Hopefully lining the ground with plastic sheet first will keep the others from piercing the membrane and eventually get on top of the weed and then I only need concentrate on the foot paths.

Last task and that was to go round with fresh slug pellets especially the sweetcorn and asparagus but also the peas, swede and beans. I finished for the day at 12.30pm as the temperature was rising and I was getting sunburned too. I'd have liked to have done a bit more weeding - especially the onion bed - but after hurting my back the other week, I wasn't too keen to strain it again. Still, I was quite pleased with today despite not doing anything particularly major.
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 31st July 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

The week after my last visit, work got very busy – moving heavy trolley loads of junk and dead equipment for disposal, plus a heatwave (32+oC here in Nottingham!) on Tuesday and some really muggy nights followed …. which left me feeling tired and drained, and the prospect of another week of moving heavy stuff around at work was putting me off a visit to the allotment. I wasn’t unduly worried about the watering issues as we had plenty of rain forecasts which, unfortunately was not delivered in the quantities I had expected. This weekend, again I really didn’t feel up to going to the plot but I forced myself to at least go and water everything and hopefully harvest something.

It was 12pm by the time I arrived and was shocked to find my plot was covered in 3 foot high weeds, mainly sow thistle but also fat hen amongst many others. How on earth did they get so tall in just 2 weeks? Most were barely an inch off the ground when I went the last time and at that fiddly stage of finger picking out. As I scanned the plot, most of the plants bar the potatoes were green and growing well. So I got the hosepipe and hooked it into the standpipe and got stuck in with the watering.

First the sweetcorn – now about 2 feet tall, and most plants had silks forming and flower heads just starting to push up. The leaves were lovely and green, no heat or “drought” damage so the mulch round the plants must have worked well to keep the moisture in the soil. For the most part, it really did help to suppress the weeds too as only the footpaths were covered in 18-24 inch high weeds! I didn’t bother watering the onion bed because I could see most of the leaves had flopped over and in the stage of dying back. Also, the bed was just a mass of weeds inside the cage so all I would have been doing is watering them!

On to the asparagus beds and there was a lot of healthy growth in the 2 beds of Arienne and Mondeo but the Pacific Purple was a mixture of good growth, dead stalks or new shoots – they looked untidy and in different stages of development. Strange. Despite the mulch, another crop of weeds had appeared. I think I really ought to put weed suppressant membrane down on these beds but I’d like to leave it until late summer / autumn after I’ve put fresh compost/top soil down and tidied up the beds properly.

There were a number of courgettes to harvest but surprisingly most were just apple sized rather than the gigantic ones I might have expected from delaying a harvest. Still, I’m not complaining! Like the sweetcorn, the leaves looked healthy with no discernable scorch marks so they had weathered the heatwave and reduced water quite well. The cucumbers too looked healthy and had that outdoor plant look – dark green and tough-looking leaves rather than pale greenhouse-wimpy. Two were just starting to take off with about 2 feet length vine and flowering, whereas the other 2 were barely 6 inches tall.

The oca were swamped by sow thistle and not looking happy at all. Despite growing in the soil so that roots could tap into moisture rather than the "plant pot" conditions of the old sleeper bed, the plants have not flourished as well as expected. Something is very weird this year with some plants not doing as well as they should be for this time of year. On the other hand, the dwarf French beans and peas are all in full flower. I really expected the peas to have been dried to a crisp but instead are also doing surprisingly alright as are all the weeds too, arrggh! There are loads of pods on the broad beans and most are probably ready for harvesting but I ran out of time. The swede too were growing well with lovely big healthy leaves, the tomatoes had a mass of flowers and there was some fruit set (bear in mind these were last minute freebies)

The blueberries have all gone – I suspect the berries ripened quickly in the heatwave and the birds had got there first. (no surprise) However, I am pleased with the bushes overall with lovely dark green leaves and looking so healthy. I’m hoping this means next year will be a bumper crop so I really must cage them off (my 2017 plans)

On to the potatoes … sadly, most of the Vivaldi had almost died back – the front row next to the communal path were collapsed and yellowing, the row nearest the currant bush bed just about hanging on with some green growth … just like last year’s comparison experiment, the dried blood treated plants were still growing and the potato fertilizer ones had been the first to die back. The proof will be in the tuber size and flavour of course. The Isle of Jura however, were still fine albeit on the verge of also dying back, and surprisingly the first earlies Arran Pilots also still going strong – I could have sworn blind they were ready a couple of weeks ago. With the Vivaldi I suspect the heatwave may have sapped off a lot more water than I would have liked and the plants have responded by dying off to preserve the tubers. Also, I did squeeze in the seed potatoes when planting – about 12 inches apart when ideally 18-24 inch – so there would have been competition for feed and water. I think it is too late to save the Vivaldi but I did give all the beds a thorough drenching – every year I underestimate the amount of water the potatoes need and had made a big effort this year to keep on top of the watering except for last weekend. I hate to say it, but I am praying for some rain this week.

My big surprise was the raspberry bed – the canes are still small and barely 12 inch tall, but there was a sprinkling of red berries ready to pick. I ate a few straight off the plants – lovely flavours but the sweetest of all was the Malling Minerva. Yum. I decided to pick the rest of the ripened fruit to take home – not the biggest harvest of barely a tea cup full but I was still happy.

The recent weedkiller treatment round the pond bed has been partially successful – the horsetail that had come up through the holes where the trees are planted had died off, the one that had pushed up through the membrane is dying off but still had traces of green so maybe another dose needed? The treated footpaths were not totally clear either but the weedkiller had definitely had the desired effect of keeping the horsetail from growing and thriving - bear in mind that the stupid sprayer was not working properly, so if I'd done it properly then it might have worked better. Another treatment might just be enough to really knock the weed from coming up again. I have been holding my breath as past treatments have shown promise and then let me down but so far, I’ve been impressed. Obviously covering the pond bed with plastic first before putting the weed suppressant membrane down has probably helped the most, but the footpaths which have been treated are looking much better, especially a bad patch at the edge of the currant bush beds.

After a good 2 hours watering (yes, it really did take that long!), I felt the need to start clearing some of the weeds. Starting with the sweetcorn bed, I lifted up the weeds but left them on the surface to act as both a weed suppressant as well as mulch as these did not have flower or seed heads on. Next the Oca, dwarf French bean, courgette and cucumber beds. Most of the sow thistle came up easily, but some broke off so I’m expecting them to come back but on the whole, taking the sow thistles down alone made the plot look tidier. I didn’t do a thorough job of weeding as it hadn’t been my intention to spend any length of time at the plot but it did look so much better afterwards. After harvesting the courgettes, I packed up at 3.30pm.
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sandy
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by sandy »

And again…..LL you diary is like reading a good book )like( As you know I am no gardener but I find you wonderful details and descriptions excellent.
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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lancashire lass
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Sunday 14th August 2016

Post by lancashire lass »

sandy wrote:And again…..LL you diary is like reading a good book )like( As you know I am no gardener but I find you wonderful details and descriptions excellent.


you are too kind but thank you )t'

As some may have noticed, I missed another weekend visit last Sunday after going down with a mild but lingering summer cold }hairout{ Today I hadn't intended doing any more than some necessary watering and to take the ever growing collection of soiled bedding to the plot.

I arrived at 8.30 am to a strangely quiet allotment site - some of the regulars must be away on holiday. The plot didn't look too bad at first but clearly 2 weeks of weeds had grown since my last visit. Watering was priority so the first task was to find the hose pipe and hook it up to the stand pipe. Starting with the sweetcorn, there were plenty of cobs forming and the pollen heads were only just opening up to release pollen. Then I concentrated on the asparagus, fruit bushes, courgettes, cucumber and oca. The blueberries still look green and healthy so I'm pleased about that. Courgettes - well, a few nice ones for myself and some marrows for the girls I think. And 2 cucumbers! I'll be having those for lunches. The oca - interestingly, one row had a tinge of red in the leaves while the other row looked green, but as before, the growth is not that spectacular. I can't be sure, but I think the row with the red were treated with dried blood when planted. However, growth comparison showed no difference.

All the potatoes are now in a stage of dying back, the Vivaldi showing no green at all. I think I'll leave them until my holidays which I'll be taking after the August bank holiday weekend ... and that's only 2 weeks away. Then I'll have the time to dig them up, wash and store. The dwarf French beans looked great with loads of beans - nice tender yellow pods ready for picking, while the Borlotti bean pods were just starting to fatten up. The broad beans too were ready for picking while the peas had disappeared in a bed of weeds. The swede look nice and healthy, the tomatoes full of green fruits.

Finally, the raspberries had ripened berries - still not in great numbers but nice to see all the canes in fruit including the later ones Polka and Joan. But the soil was horribly dry with really deep cracks on the surface so I spent a lot of time watering these. I think I might have to reconsider their location and site them elsewhere on the plot.

Basically today was a repetition of the last visit - weeding the sweetcorn, asparagus and other beds and using the soiled bedding as mulch especially round the asparagus. The asparagus look really good now especially the Arienne and Mondeo but even the Purple Pacific are coming along nicely too and I think the pesticide must have been working well. What I did notice is that weeding these beds was a lot easier than the other beds due to the previous layers of mulch - the roots on the weeds seemed a lot more shallow and came up without too much effort. And the mulch really did seem to suppress some weeds better. As the asparagus are a long term project, it made sense to pamper them more than the beans and peas so they got the lion's share of the mulch.

Before I left, I harvested the French beans, courgettes and cucumbers. I had hoped to lift the onions up - they were hidden by weeds that had completely filled the cage! Still, now that the foliage had died back, the bulbs should still be fine in the ground .... providing we don't get any rain! But definitely top of my list to lift up on my next visit. I found myself alone on the site soon after the gates closed at midday so decided to leave at 1.30 pm. Not a bad day but I can see the plot still needs a lot of work. Already I'm planning on what I'll be doing on my time off but as usual, the list of tasks seems very big. What I'd like to do and what I actually get done will be two different things I think.
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sandy
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by sandy »

I am getting withdrawal symptoms {cry}
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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lancashire lass
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by lancashire lass »

sandy wrote:I am getting withdrawal symptoms {cry}


{hug} sorry - I've been a bit out of sorts lately and it has got busy at work ...

lancashire lass wrote:Basically today was a repetition of the last visit - weeding the sweetcorn, asparagus and other beds and using the soiled bedding as mulch especially round the asparagus.


... and there's only so many ways you can make weeding sound like an okay job LOL

When I took my 3 week annual leave from August bank holiday weekend, I had no energy to go to the plot. I think the virus I had earlier had wiped me out and I really needed to rest up. We also had strange weather - it seemed to rain over the weekend, then a surge in temperature from about Tuesday which gradually dropped in time for, rain over the weekend, and then it repeated itself again and again. Bad enough I felt tired and lethargic, but to do heavy gardening in a mini heatwave was not going to happen. I managed to make 2 visits on the usual Sunday during my hols and a lot of it was titivating up the plot rather than some serious digging.

However, there was also an essential non-gardening reason for spending a lot more time at home than usual - I was going to buy a new car! My 14 year old car was on its last legs - engine-wise fine but I knew it would have cost a lot of money to get it through the MOT so I decided to put it towards a new car instead. A lot of research went into searching for a car within my budget (top of the list) plus financing, and also, technology has moved on quite a lot since my last car. But before I could go looking at cars and booking test drives, I had to find all the bits and pieces (like log book, service records and so on) for the old car. And that meant sorting out a lot of hoarded paper-work - so, most of my time was spent on an annual decluttering. I can honestly say the house looks better for it. For the record, I bought a brand new (66 reg) Nissan Note (silver with a hint of gold in it if you understand) :-D

It still has its new new smell and appearance at the moment, carpets and upholstery immaculate. There was no way I was going to load the car with bags of smelly chicken poop or tread dirt into it just yet!! But I know that I do need to pay the plot a visit soon so I'll just have to get the plastic sheets out and cover everything up.

Meanwhile, work got twice as busy than usual - a colleague had to take time off at the busiest time of the year and as I had experience, found myself being roped in to help out when my own workload was also getting busy. I couldn't afford to overdo it at the plot and get too tired to do my job so weekends were for resting up (and no, not an excuse for driving about in my new car - I'm on a strict budget now for the next 3 years because of the monthly payments)

On a gardening note - I ordered some new garlic:

Mikulov

and

Topinky Wight

which were on special offer. The bulbs arrived last week which reminds me that I should start planning my autumn garlic planting soon. But it just feels wrong at the moment - usually by mid-October, many trees are racing towards autumn colours by now but everything looks so green despite a few chilly days this week. I'm not sure I can bring myself to load bags of manure into my new car at the moment, so that's not helping either LOL
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by sandy »

I'm sorry to hear you have been unwell {hug} I have to say you have set yourself a dilemma now with a shiny new car and 'stuff' to ferry about in it yike*
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by lancashire lass »

sandy wrote:I'm sorry to hear you have been unwell {hug} I have to say you have set yourself a dilemma now with a shiny new car and 'stuff' to ferry about in it yike*


Not just ferrying stuff about now, but as the allotment site is all horrible and wet, the risk of splashing mud all up onto the bodywork is very high, not to mention treading dirt into the carpets (even when I change my shoes before getting into the car) yike*

It's been insanely busy at work, most of it very physical rather than sit down type - not just the workload or type (moving 75-99kg gas cylinders / pushing heavy trolleys up slopes because the lift is permanently out of action, are just a couple of things - I've voiced my complaint on deaf ears), but even getting around is hampered by roadworks and building works (and that is on site, not including the journey to and from work has been slow now that the fair weather cyclists are back in their cars. At least I can get in and out of the car as the seat is higher up than in my old car) My job has definitely had an impact on my weekends - I need my Saturdays to catch up and rest up because I'm tired, but come Sunday, I worry that I'll do too much and not be able to do my job. I don't want to give up my plot but something has gone horribly wrong in recent weeks and I've been re-evaluating whether to keep it on or not (or worse, the decision made for me and I've been evicted)

Well, anticipating that it'll work out okay and I'll still have a plot in spring, I have ordered my seed potatoes in advance - 20% off if I ordered 3 or more packs, and free p&p from DT Brown Seeds. I have gone for:

Abbot - an extra early type (only extra early if planted early in a mild region or greenhouse with low risk of frost LOL)

variety for roasting and chipping, as it does not absorb too much oil. The healthy plants are double eelworm-resistant and have good resistance to slugs and blackleg


Elfe - a new seed potato, a second early cultivated by Albert Bartlett (who also cultivated my all time potato fave Vivaldi)

An award winning variety and a very distinctive 2nd early with delicious, creamy yellow flesh with a rich, sweet and buttery taste. New to the market, Elfe is ideal for boiling, makes wonderful mash and can also be baked


Rooster - which I think everyone should be familiar with even if it is brought from the supermarket

A delicious flavour, tubers have shallow eyes, making it easy to peel, and it is excellent 'all year rounder'. Bake, chip, boil, stem, roast or fry!


I don't normally grow a main crop because they are in the ground a lot longer (higher risk of blight and slug damage especially if it is a wet summer) but I have grown Rooster and found it particularly good.

For the moment, we'll see how it goes - come spring, I might find myself planting the potatoes in my poly tunnel at home ...
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by sandy »

That will be a big decision for you I am sure but your health comes first {hug}
The Pink Ladies..Audrey,Ingrid-Bergman,Madeleline,Norma-Jean,Dora,Janice,Jo,Robyn,Chrissy and Joyce
The Peds…Mork,Mindy,Bell,Saphire &
Vorky ,Blueped,Ginger,Ninger &Linky

Sunny Clucker was ere July 12-21 2012
Sunny Clucker was ere July 6 2016 to Sept 9th 2017
Sunny Clucker is here , rehomed Aug 18th 2018/
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End of an era?

Post by lancashire lass »

the allotment plot rent in January 2016:

lancashire lass wrote:I have just paid this year's rent for my plot which is £68.79p of which £47.30p is the yearly rent, and £21.50p is the water charge. We were also told that the charges for 2017 will be going up an extra 3p per square metre to 16p per square metre, and water charges to go up from 6p to 9p per square metre. Total 25 pence per square metre ... my plot is 360 square metres - if my maths is correct, that means next year's rent will be about £90 ... that seems like a big jump in rent :?


I received a letter for the 2017 tenant agrrement for the allotment ... my maths wasn't far off, it is just over £89 for this year's plot rent. On top of that, I've received mail about the HS2 phase 2 route through the area I live - in theory my house should't be affected directly (though I don't know the exact route so who knows) but I wouldn't be surprised if the allotment site is as it is very close to the original proposed route. I'm wondering if the council is pricing people out so they don't have to find them a new site? Truth is, I am seriously thinking of giving the plot up now - despite making "permanent" beds with the new fruit bushes, canes and asparagus and hoping it would reduce the amount of gardening I'd have to do, it's still an effort and I think the time has come to realise that it is not getting easier.

2016 hasn't been all disaster. I had the best onion and garlic crops ever and even the sweetcorn was great, but the rest was so-so - the weather has been okay but not brilliant, but I'd say the biggest problem has been the gardener. I didn't go every weekend, never went mid-week, did the minimal, weeds had trunks on them before I got round to lifting them. The slugs and snails were relentless. The raspberries didn't settle in very well, the wind knocked over the asparagus .... At least I got to replace the pond lining and the frogs have got somewhere decent to spawn!

As I have already ordered my potatoes I'm definitely looking at the polytunnel at home and thinking how to grow them. Digging the garden is not an option as the ground is riddled with tree roots so I'll have to think about container gardening. In the next few weeks I will also have to clear the plot - the thought is quite scary as I have moved plots once before and it is a lot of hard work! And I do hoard loads of rubbish. I will have to make a start on the plot shed soon ....
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by Mo »

Do you think there might be compensation if you did get moved off compulsorily?

Still, you know best how much you can/want to do. And midweek it is easier to pop out for half an hour, than load up the car and drive.
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Re: LL's Gardening Diary

Post by Richard »

Hi Lassie

Apologies, only just read this.

What a todo !

HS2 is more than likely going to be one of those things which will get put back and put back.
All I know about Allotment Law is that should an Allotment be sold by a Council they have to find an alternative site within a certain radius.
Not sure, but 3 miles seems to be in my mind.

It's a shame you may decide to come out of the Allotment life, but your prowess and expertise I'm sure will come into it's own in your back garden.
Square Foot Gardening comes to mind.

I do hope something sorts out, guess the only advice I could give is be one step ahead!

Richard

PS. This is all I can find.. http://www.nsalg.org.uk/news-events-campaigns/protect-your-plots/
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