Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary

Members adventures in the Vegetable Patch all year round
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KarenE
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

Post by KarenE »

You're certainly putting the work in! The never ending weeding is a pain, I filled 2 bags yesterday and barely made a dent in mine. But it looks like you're being rewarded with lots of great produce so it's all )t'

Runners have gone mad this year.
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
wildlifemad
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

Post by wildlifemad »

Have only managed about 3 hours on the plot in the last week! Got Purple sprouting plants planted at long last! Never put them in this late before but they have 2 chances! Put hoops in & covered them with rubble netting. The ground had been prepared a couple of weeks ago but walking on it to plant them was an experience of sinking due to a lot of vole holes!! We need to encourage an Owl or two to the plot as they are everywhere this year!!
wildlifemad
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

Post by wildlifemad »

Popped down yesterday just to harvest. Came back with 5.5lb Runners (nooooooo!!) Keep thinking the French beans are over & then you go & pick a 1lb! Also had 2 Courgettes which are now most definitely finished! The rabbits have been hole digging like crazy, mainly because the committee members have been clearing the plot next to us & can't be bothered to put gates back...thanks guys.
wildlifemad
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

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Well not much work managed on the lotty for a couple of weeks really.Hubby was off last week & we were busy in the garden at home laying a patio & all that comes with that!!! We did manage to get to the lotty to dig the last row of potatoes out,hooray!! So grand total of 9 sacks from fifteen 15ft rows!! The variety we dug up was called Sarpo Kifli which is a salad potato but dug up at main crop for over winter storage. We tried them & they have got a nice flavour so we will now see how long they store as it is sometimes nice to have a salad potato in winter rather than mash & roast all the time as we usually have. Anyway the plot is looking terrible with all the weed growth & if the committee comment then they need to look at their own plots first! I will try to get there for a few hours soon.
wildlifemad
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

Post by wildlifemad »

Went to lotty on Sunday for couple of hours. Hubby was going to mow the paths but the petrol had evaporated in the mower!!!!! We took all the netting down that had been round the onion & garlic bed as otherwise the rabbits nibble all the tops. We then covered the rest of the bed as the weeds are growing like mad & we seem to keep running out of time to do anything so best to get it covered. Then dug some carrots for tea, we found our little vole friends had been eating them AGAIN!! So made the decision to dig the lot up which was 2 rows 15ft long. Yet again the voles have good taste & ate more of the heritage purple variety than the normal ones!! Anyway, Hubby dug them up & I took the tops off so they could go straight in the compost bin. We also picked the rest of the Incas Tomatoes as they are starting to get blight, they have been a fantastic crop for us.
On Monday I checked the carrots & stored the best ones in slightly damp compost in polystyrene boxes in the greenhouse. It's a great way to store them & we were still eating them in April this year. The ones that won't store I am blanching & freezing some for Mum in laws meals I make for her & also just chopping some & putting in the freezer raw for using for soup through winter.
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KarenE
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

Post by KarenE »

It sounds like you've had a great year )t' It's so satisfying, growing, preparing and eating or storing your own produce. But such hard bloomin work with the never ending weeding! If you've got any secrets, do let me know :-D
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
wildlifemad
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

Post by wildlifemad »

Thanks Karen!! As you probably gathered its been an up & down year for us! Most veg cropped well but we have felt (for the 1st time in 10yrs we've had the plot) like giving it all up because of the attitude of the committee but then you think no because its only us that will suffer by not having the plot! We have the AGM next Tues (3rd) & speaking to other plot holders it looks like some fur may fly regarding the cost of them having the plot next to us cleared! I will keep you posted!!
We managed to get to the plot last Friday afternoon to mow the paths (hopefully for the last time!) & part weeded the carrot bed to get it covered but as usual these days rain stopped play in the end!
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KarenE
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

Post by KarenE »

Mowing the path is next on my list too )t'

Good luck with the committee meeting. It does sound like yours have taken the mickey a bit. I'd keep your powder dry and enjoy the fireworks!
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
wildlifemad
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary 2017

Post by wildlifemad »

Well we have done absolutely nothing on the plot since my last post as Mum in law is in hospital & most days are spent trying to sort things out about hopefully getting her home etc. We popped down to check the plot yesterday & it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be & we also met one of our new neighbours who has started re-digging the plot they paid £400 to have cleared!!!!!
I got a phone call from one of the plot holders this morning to say loads of sheds have been broken into including ours. They didn't take anything from ours but cut the lock off with bolt cutters, they had totally emptied some big sheds & got stuff stacked up on the track presumably ready to bring a van down to load up so perhaps they were disturbed. We all now have to report it to the police & one chap has a wildlife camera trap set up so is hoping he may have some footage. I know there are many worse things going on in peoples lives & around the world but it is just so frustrating. All we can do is replace the lock & cross our fingers again.
wildlifemad
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary

Post by wildlifemad »

Ok, so the first entry of 2018!! We haven't got on the plot yet this winter as its very wet! Most of the beds were covered so hopefully we won't have too much work.
Anyway, we have got our seed potatoes for this year so they are now sat in egg trays in the greenhouse. The varieties we have gone for are Annabelle which is 2nd early & tastes much better (in our opinion) than Charlotte & Maris Peer. If you see them anywhere they're worth trying. It's the only "summer" potato we grow now. The main crops we've got are Victoria (been growing these for 4 yrs) it's a good all rounder & stores well. Then we've tried Foxton which was recommended to us & is a floury red skinned variety so apparently makes great roasters. Lastly, we've tried Navan which is very popular in Ireland, it gives high yields of large tubers & make great roasters & chips.
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Richard
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary

Post by Richard »

Looking forward to viewing your year.

Let's hope for proper seasons weather wise !

Richard )t' )t'
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Mo
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary

Post by Mo »

Reading your post reminded me to try again at our local DIY shop for seed potatoes. I was passing this morning. 2 weeks ago they didn't have them ' they won't send them from Scotland if it's too cold'. Today the sack of Arran Pilot was less than half full - much later & I'd have missed them. And it looked as if people had had a good rummage - tiny and huge but not many medium spuds. The Edwards were ready packed. So now I need ti get weeding!
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KarenE
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary

Post by KarenE »

Blimey you are good even thinking about growing! I'm still dreading going up to my plot and seeing how well the weeds have done this winter... yike*
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
wildlifemad
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary

Post by wildlifemad »

So we are now in March & still haven't managed to get on the lotty!!! We go to Mum in law every fortnight so only have 2 weekends a month & it seems at the moment that our "free" weekends are always awful weather wise! We are also still trying to get our garden project finished.
I did venture to the plot last Friday with the kitchen waste & it is VERY wet. So glad we covered most of the beds as this will save us time. After the snow & wet I was surprised to pick nearly a pound of Purple Sprouting which was lovely!
We're not growing any Broccoli or Cauli's this year as they always seem to get clubroot yet the winter Purple & Cabbages are fine. The time is coming that we think the plot is too big for us, we have a lot of interests & struggle to split our time between them.We also have Mum in law who lives nearly 60 miles away but we have to do more & more for now, so I think we are going to carry on this year & then perhaps see about downsizing. Time will tell.
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KarenE
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Re: Wildlifemad's Allotment Diary

Post by KarenE »

I read your other post - the weather's still awful, really offputting, I know exactly how you fel. Re the comments about the size of your plot, do they rent out half plots? Ours do and it's very popular - mine is a half plot and I think most of the lottys on ours are now half plots. Just paid my lotty fee for this year so here we go again :-D
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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