That'shallot

Went to the allotment yesterday and it was so warm I was nearly in a t-shirt...yes, it looks like spring might finally be here, hoooray! It was really mild and sunny, glorious. Makes such a change from the sub zero temperatures we've been experiencing.

I spent 4 hours there and enjoyed every second. I dug over and made a bed for my onions and shallots and to be honest I was expecting it to be really hard work. But the soil was light and easy to dig, maybe because we had potatoes in that area last year so they'd done most of the hard work for me. I actually dug up a few that we'd missed, it always amazes me how difficult it is to get them all out when you want them!

I also dug over a couple of other beds and generally tidied up, its looking good up there, am really looking forward to a busy and fruitful year. Bring on Spring.

Back at home today I sowed lots of peas, some to keep at home on the terrace and some to bring to the allotment. I also sowed some spinach and radishes to keep me going at home. And started the first of my sweetcorn, two types - Honeydew and Swift. My chillies have germinated which is a relief, the seeds are right at the end of their use by date.

Anyway, here's a picture of my new onion bed:

Hard frost

I went to the allotment yesterday, the weather was glorious, clear blue sky but with a biting wind. There had been a hard frost overnight, the top 2 inches of soil was rock hard which made digging hard work. And that's all I was really there to do so I ended up with a sore back. I brought 2 buckets of the compost I extracted from my wormery the day before with me and spent about half an hour preparing the bed I'm going to put peas in this year. I first removed 3 large comfrey roots and moved them to another area on the plot. Then I dug out several shallow trenches in the bed and put in a layer of shredded paper followed by a chunky layer of wormery compost, and covered it all back up with soil. Hopefully when I sow lots of rows of peas they'll benefit massively from the rich compost and layer of moisture retaining shredded paper. Well, that's the plan anyway!

What else did I do...I discovered to my horror that the horseradish roots had broken through the bottom of the plastic pot that they're in and were happily spreading a million roots through the ground underneath....noooooo! That wasn't supposed to happen! I suppose I'll be digging out horseradish root for the next 20 years! The bit I dug out was brought home and pickled ready for the next time I make roast beef for sunday lunch.

I gave the rhubarb and blackberry plant some feed and tidied up a bit and then legged it home to rest my back and get warm.

Here's a couple of pics of the plot, one of the whole plot and the other of the old compost heap that James has been tackling recently.

Worms

Its been way too long since I wrote anything on this blog. Must do better!

The allotment is looking great, I'll take some photos when I'm there tomorrow. Have had some handy husband help recently, he's got to the bottom of the old compost heap which is something we've been wanting and trying to do since we took on the plot 2 years ago. He also made a massive sieve which sits on top of the new compost bin and we've sieved most of the old compost to get rid of stones but more importantly, all the nasty weed roots that have been lurking in there for years.

Today's job was to empty my wormery at home. Not a pleasant job and a bit back breaking. I don't know what the best way to empty a wormery is, the only way I think it can be done is by literally picking over every bit to separate each worm from the gorgeous rich compost. I started by emptying the top layers of uncomposted kitchen waste in to buckets. Then I spent the best part of an hour and a half picking worms from 4 buckets worth of compost. It was quite therapeutic and at least the sun was shining. It was bitterly cold though, I had loads of layers on and my hat pulled right down over my ears. I always find it fascinating picking through the compost, it always amazes me that we eat so many eggs and avocados! But I guess its that they take the longest to break down. I'll bring 3 of the buckets of compost to the allotment to dig in to the beds.

July was great...but its august already

I can't believe that its August already, how did that happen?! There's been plenty going on at allotment 28a since I wrote last. I've had loads of courgettes (courgette soup anyone?), potatoes, peas, beetroot, beans, redcurrants, raspberries, blackcurrants, sweetpeas, lettuce, radishes and chard.

Our plot has kind of caught up and is now producing lots of veg. The chinese broccoli hasn't been a success but pretty much everything else has been good. The runner beans are nearly ready and I sowed another 4 rows of peas to take us through autumn. And we've got a pumpkin! There was some debate whether our pumpkin plant would produce any fruit as I saved seed from last year, but as you can see, we've got a fat pumpkin growing. The slugs have had a lot of the plant but so far the pumpkin is looking pretty good. The chard we've grown this year is really delicious, I've been eating lots of it.

What other news...the sweetcorn has quite a few cobs, our neighbour Shelley planted lots of flowers this year - dahlias, echinacea and verbena so the bees are happy. And...someone has taken over nettle mountain and has started the hideous task of clearing it. They've done a very good job so far, I'm really pleased, it might help stop the nettles and bindweed spreading to our plot.

I love sweetpeas

I adore sweetpeas, they're my favourite flower and they remind me of my dad as he always grew them when I was young. I bought some seed at last year's Chelsea Flower show, the important things were the colour and the scent. They had to smell like proper old-school sweetpeas. And they certainly delivered on both fronts! I started them off in the late autumn last year. The plants on my roof terrace are now about 7 foot tall and producing so many beautiful blooms. We have some at the allotment too. Stunning.

On another note I bought some seed in a half price sale, mostly winter veg - kale, sprouting broccoli and some savoy cabbage. The seedlings are just poking through now. I'll plant them out at the allotment once they're bigger we've got some space!

What's been chewing on our broad beans?

Something has been having a go at our broad beans! Whatever it is, its got sharp teeth...squirrels maybe?

Its been dry weather so Seamus and I have been mostly watering the lottie in the last few weeks. I've sown a couple more rows of peas, they're doing really well this year and you can't have too many gorgeous fresh peas.

The redcurrants are glowing a deep red, we've got some flowers on our french beans, the early potatoes look like they're nearly ready for the pot and we've got some teeny courgettes on one of our plants.

It all seems good. But a lot of our plants and veg seem to be lagging behind a little. We can't decide if its the lack of sun our plot gets or the compost we dug into the beds in spring...

Anyway, onwards and upwards, if we get the very hot summer we're being promised then the shade that creeps over our plot at about 2pm may save our veg from being scorched. Fingers crossed.

Daz & I went up to the lottie today for the fist time in a week (slack I know) but we've been busy in my garden planting lovely Roses as a tribute to Loulou and making a lawn for Daz to roll around on as he loves grass. Things have grown loads we have Onions big onions which we thought were Shallots, ah well you live and learn. Tanya's sweet peas are flowering and I ate a Strawberry it was gorgeous. I watered everything really well, Tanya had planted Beetroot last week and they are looking good.