Sues Allotment Diary

Forgot what happened last year - maybe it's here!!
little brown hen
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

Hope so Linda.
I went down today and planted my potatoes today. My son came and helped me dig out the trenches, only Ive well and truly over bought on spuds, and Ive 3 trays of them left, so I'll dig more tomorrow and try and plant as many as I can. :-D
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

It was a beautiful sunny day, and with the wind gone it was warm! Forgotten what that was like. Anyway, I went and dug 2 small and one long trench and planted one tray of potatoes, but have decided that will be enough, so my friend has had 6 and I'll find a new home for the rest. There is a swap table at the gate of the allotments, and I'll put them there for someone to help themselves.
Image
Mum to Sox and Boo,and hens, Bramble,
Belle,Bourbon,Holly,Ivy, May and June
RIP Daisy my cat,and Spice, Clara, Alice, Biscuit, Cookie Clarice and Henrietta. Over rainbow bridge, but never forgotten.
little brown hen
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

Everything in the greenhouse is coming on nicely, but Im not ready to plant out yet. Anyway I had bought a fig, so I put it in a big pot, (they like their roots restricted) and I planted it at the end of my fruit bed. Someone said it was best to plant them out in a 2ft x 2ft hole lined with pavers. Well, someone on the site had 1ft square pavers and let me have 8, so I dug a hole 1ft across, and tried to make it 2ft down, but due to solid clay, I only managed 1 1/2 feet. So I put the pavers in so the are just above the ground level, and planted the fig. It's roots need to go down 2 feet, and it will do that, and hopefully give us lovely figs this year. But, Im not holding my breath over that, and I think thats the last hole Im digging this year!
Image The hole.
Image
Fig in hole.
Mum to Sox and Boo,and hens, Bramble,
Belle,Bourbon,Holly,Ivy, May and June
RIP Daisy my cat,and Spice, Clara, Alice, Biscuit, Cookie Clarice and Henrietta. Over rainbow bridge, but never forgotten.
davina112
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by davina112 »

I would love a fig tree, are they difficult to keep ?
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little brown hen
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

I dont know yet Davinia, I know a couple of people who have figs, but havent had much off them, but hopefully it will be plain sailing and I'll have lots of lovely figs this summer. Watch this space! )t'
Mum to Sox and Boo,and hens, Bramble,
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RIP Daisy my cat,and Spice, Clara, Alice, Biscuit, Cookie Clarice and Henrietta. Over rainbow bridge, but never forgotten.
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LittleBrownFrog
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by LittleBrownFrog »

Keep us posted about the fig- my father in law loves them, and we've been thinking of getting him one.
"Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder..." Thoreau.
little brown hen
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

Will do LBF.
Spent 5 hours at the allotment on Thursday and got a lot of planting done. I put in beetroot, swede, turnip, chard, spinach seeds and cauliflower, onion and garlic which had been growing in the greenhouse. We are off on holiday and when we get back Im hoping there will be green shoots and not too many weeds. )t'
Mum to Sox and Boo,and hens, Bramble,
Belle,Bourbon,Holly,Ivy, May and June
RIP Daisy my cat,and Spice, Clara, Alice, Biscuit, Cookie Clarice and Henrietta. Over rainbow bridge, but never forgotten.
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Annie
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by Annie »

Hopefully that will be the case Sue , unless of course you are going on a round the world cruise !
It will be alright in the end , if its not alright, it isn't the end .
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

WE'RE HOME! we had a great holiday, and the weeds are growing really well. }hairout{ None of the seeds I planted seem to be showing, but there are lots of 'weeds' growing, so perhaps there are veggies in there too. The cauliflowers I had carefully grown in the greenhouse have mostly died, but there are some left and Ive watered them well so Im hoping they will pick up. The Brussels sprouts are doing fairly well. In the greenhouse sweet corn plants are starting to push through, and I have a clematis in the greenhouse which has flowered. So its swings and roundabouts. The leeks are growing well in one tray, but not so well in the other which Ive flooded with water and I'll do something with them tomorrow morning. :-D
Mum to Sox and Boo,and hens, Bramble,
Belle,Bourbon,Holly,Ivy, May and June
RIP Daisy my cat,and Spice, Clara, Alice, Biscuit, Cookie Clarice and Henrietta. Over rainbow bridge, but never forgotten.
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

Decided this morning I would start weeding my plot. I dug weeds out of one path, and then gave up digging and used my hoe to weed the fruit cage. I didnt feel I had got that much done, but it did look a bit better. Im hoping to go again tomorrow and weed my onions, and another path. I hate weeding!!!
Mum to Sox and Boo,and hens, Bramble,
Belle,Bourbon,Holly,Ivy, May and June
RIP Daisy my cat,and Spice, Clara, Alice, Biscuit, Cookie Clarice and Henrietta. Over rainbow bridge, but never forgotten.
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Stef
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by Stef »

Glad your holiday went well, Sue.

And look, you came back to gloriously hot! I had to come in cos I was getting burned - I had even remembered my sun screen!

I'm all set up for planting/sowing out during the week. I may even catch up with you :-D
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LittleBrownFrog
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by LittleBrownFrog »

Glad your holiday was good :-D I know what you mean about the weeds though - my little and often method isn't really cutting the mustard at the moment!
"Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder..." Thoreau.
little brown hen
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

A couple of pictures of things growing on the plot.
Image Fig
Image Yarrow
Image Sweetcorn starting to show.
Mum to Sox and Boo,and hens, Bramble,
Belle,Bourbon,Holly,Ivy, May and June
RIP Daisy my cat,and Spice, Clara, Alice, Biscuit, Cookie Clarice and Henrietta. Over rainbow bridge, but never forgotten.
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by little brown hen »

I was up at the allotment yesterday, and the warden rang to say some one had said there were bees all over the fence between plots. My oh had said the bees in my hive had been flying around the hive in a big cloud, and he had retreated to a meeting he had to go to at work. I raced round to have a look and sure enough there was a load of bees attached to the fence. I got into my keepers suit, and got a hive out of the shed, and set it up, but then I wasnt sure what to do next. How to capture them? I had been trying to get hold of my OH because he's the one who knows what to do, but after the third attempt, I rang the apiary manager. He was great, and said have the hive with a few frames in it, next to the swarm, and use a dust pan and soft brush and get them into the pan and put them in the hive. So I found a dustpan, moved the hive and gently ran the dustpan up the fence, and they stayed in a big 'lump' and I put them in the hive. It took several goes, and I hadnt got them all, but left them to settle. They were all up the front of the hive, and a few were on the fence, but when I checked later they had all gone. We checked them this morning and they were ok, so we went back this evening to check our other hives, the one they had come out of had loads of bees, so it was a case of over crowding. They had also made lots of queen cells so they were trying to grow a new queen. We took most of them away, and left one that was sealed up. My chickens got them as a treat. We opened up the new hive, and put a crown board and sugar water to keep them fed and moved them a couple of feet nearer our other hives. It was very interesting, and Im really pleased we have a new hive.
Image
Image
Image
Mum to Sox and Boo,and hens, Bramble,
Belle,Bourbon,Holly,Ivy, May and June
RIP Daisy my cat,and Spice, Clara, Alice, Biscuit, Cookie Clarice and Henrietta. Over rainbow bridge, but never forgotten.
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jemberelli
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Re: Sues Allotment Diary

Post by jemberelli »

Wow, that is quite a sight! It's great to know that there are bees doing what they should be doing. I would love to learn more about bee keeping and have my own hives, unfortunately I have a hubby with a phobia of all things buzzy! Good luck with yours, I look forward to reading about them in your diary!
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