Family Gardening

Well, last Sunday I decided I really need to brave the weather and go and do some allotmenting. The previous two weekends had brought snow, and the forecasts for Sunday were for rain showers and hail. However, it turns out that the weathermen got it wrong.

I trundled over to the plot and decided to start on the veg plot. The fruit plot - as long as the weeds and brambles are kept down and we get some netting in place - will give a decent crop of fruit without us having to do much at all so it can be left for the time being.

I moved the huge pile of debris from the previous effort’s weeding. I’ve put it in the corner where we have decided the compost heap will be. At some point we will incinerate most of it.

After clearing the debris, I started marking out the pathways I have planned between each bed. I then marked out (with pegs and string) the first two beds. I even managed to dig over one of the beds and remove most of the weeds!

The bindweed is horrendous. It’s roots are like looking at a map of the London Underground when you get the fork in the soil. However, the soil is quite good - not too compacted and quite a light clay mixture so its easier to dig over. Rain stopped play though, and after a good 3 hours work, I made my way home.

I came back to it again on Tuesday after work. The children had fallen asleep in the car, so I took the opportunity to park up, right next to my plot and get stuck in. I managed to dig over a third of the second marked out bed, which is also riddled with bindweed, and laid down some weed suppressing membrane on the sections marked out as pathways. I uncovered the weed suppressant covering the onions, garlic and potatoes that I’d planted up and used it on the pathways too. Most of the garlic has sprouted! the onions too. No sign of the potatoes yet though……….

The children woke up, and that signalled time to go home. Before leaving I met one of my plot neighbours! They occupy three plots opposite mine. They are very well tended and in excellent condition. I look forward to absorbing some of their wealth of knowledge and tips on allotmenting in the future.

I came back again on Wednesday. The children were awake this time, and, despite being a handful I managed to dig over the rest of the second bed! I also put up a 3 metre long cloche/poly tunnel on the second bed and hope that it will heat the soil up read to take some sweetcorn seeds on Sunday!

So, in a week I have 2 usable beds, and am ready to start sowing some seeds - it’s going well so far! Just 7 more beds to mark out and dig over……….BUT it’s not as hard as I thought it would be.

I’ve also been busy sowing seeds at home in propagators. I have 4 propagators. Three half sized modular trays, and one specially designed windowsill propagator. It is long and slim, and filled with Jiffy 7’s. I’ve sown my various varieties of Tomato seeds in there - Gartenperle, Tigerella, Cuore De Bleu (an oxheart), Millefleur, Alicante, Super Roma, Harlequin, and Sakura. They have all germinated and are doing well so far.  I have also sown Pepper - Big Banana and Pepper Salad Festival. Big Banana has also germinated….no sign of Salad Festival yet.

The other trays contain herbs - Lovage, Curly Leaved Parsley, Flat Leaved Parsley, Coriander, Basil, Common Thyme, Lemon Grass, Sweet Cicely, Summer Savoury, Oregano, Mint, Russian Tarragon and Stevia. All but the Sweet Cicely and Stevia have germinated so far.

I also have Cucumber - Burpless Tasty, Broccoli Claret, Celery Full White, Asparagus Connovers Colossal - the Asparagus hasn’t germinated either.

In the last tray I have Aubergine, Chillis - Anaheim, Heatwave and Jalapeno varieties. None of these have germinated yet.

Outside in the 5 tier propogator I have 6 Yacon tubers (thank you Gardeners’ World for that tip!), Strawberries - Cambridge Favourite x 10, and Judibell x 5. I have also planted some beans - Butter Bean, Dwarf French Bean Rocenforte, Runner Bean Best Of All, Cannellini Beans, Borlotti Beans.

So, that’s it for now. I’m hoping to go back on Sunday to sow some seeds under the cloche. Maybe more digging if we’ve had no rain. I’m so excited!  

Well, the weather held out for us today, and after lunch we trundled back to our plots. Despite some weather reports indicating an earlier start to the stormy weather and high winds, we had plenty of sunshine interspersed with small patches of rain and only mild gusts of wind.

 We split our attentions again today. I remained on the rectangular plot and my husband continued to use the brush cutter on the fruit plot. I started doing some digging over, and removing what turned out to be a whole network of bindweed roots. This plot is not going to be as easy as I first thought! However, it’d be boring I suppose if it was easy.

After digging the width of the plot (measured today as 7.2 metres - the length is 14 metres), I started back along, discovering a tiny frog along the way. He was bright red, and very fascinating to my daughter who wanted to hold him. I gently moved him to a sheltered place further up the plot. I’d like him to stay because I’m hoping he’ll feed on any errant slugs!

My husband convinced me that there was little point continuing with the digging and that we’ll do what we can with the cultivator next weekend. However, he did dig over a corner section of approximately 3.5 metres by 2 metres so that I could plant some of my sets and seed potatoes. We laid down some weed suppressing membrane and weighted it down with bricks (for the predicted wind). I managed two 3.5 metre rows of brown onions, and two 3.5 metre rows of red onions. I also did a row of garlic, and, I planted my seed potatoes (12 potato seeds in all - Jersey Royals also known as International Kidney).

On the fruit plot I helped trim down more of the bramble that has been slowly strangulating the currant and gooseberry bushes. My arms are now cut to ribbons, so my tip of the day would be to wear long-armed gloves when cutting back brambles!

There is still lots to do. We need to pull all the waste stuff into the centre of one of the plots and burn it to dispose of it, but today, because of the threat of high winds and having to be mindful of the neighbouring houses and flats we decided against it.

Onwards and upwards though! We’ll get the cultivator this coming Friday and see how much we get done with that. This should give my husband and I plenty of time to recover from our aching backs and muscles!

Buying seed potatoes, and planting them out.

and today we went back to see him!

 After various discussions and confusion about which plots were free (we were originally told we could have a particular plot because the lady couldnt manage it any more, only to find 3 weeks ago that someone had been working it.

 After a call to the council (not particularly helpful since the lady wanted to tell me about how incredibly busy she was and that she hasnt managed to process any applications since November), and a revisit last weekend to the allotment site, we established that there were two plots left.

 Now, these two plots….the first one we were shown that the site manager said was “the best” one was thoroughly overgrown. Mostly with brambles. It’s a corner, curved plot. I don’t yet know how many poles, but I’d guess that it’s about 7 poles. (A pole is a square yard, or, 2.4 square metres). The bonus with this plot is that it has lots of fruit already established there. You could say too established! There are raspberry canes around most of the perimeter, and, there are several good sized currant bushes (blackcurrant I think). I also think there are gooseberry bushes, but, I’m not entirely sure. But, these are all things that will provide a crop this year, albeit unquantifiable. The remainder will need razing to the ground, all rubbish removed and completely cultivating.

 The other plot offered is a basic rectangular plot. It’s size, again, is an estimate of about 8 poles, possibly less. This plot is far less overgrown. It has some grass, some crops from last year or the year before that have overgrown, and, some nettles. No brambles though! But no compost bin, no existing plants or bushes of use. It would need some basic clearing/raking, and then cultivating.

 So, my husband and I, after much thought, decided on the corner plot. We already have a brush cutter, and will hire a cultivator to go over the remainder of the plot left after removing all the brambles. The plus of this plot being the fruit already in situ.

So, we went to the site manager this morning, and looked again at both plots. After thinking about it, I suggested to my husband that we take both plots. Amazingly, he agreed to this. This way, we’ll have a plot devoted to fruit, and non-rotational crops such as asparagus, strawberries and rhubarb. We’ll have the other for the vegetables and salad crops. Because of the condition of the rectangular plot, we can start planting things almost straight away, and we’ll have time to fully prepare the fruit plot.

 So, we paid our deposit, and the site manager seemed quite pleased that he no longer had any plots vacant. We had brought our garden tools with us to get started straight away. A rake, a hand cultivator, secateurs and our brush cutter.

 We took a plot each and my husband took the brush cutter to the fruit plot, and I took the hand cultivator to the rectangular plot. Our two children ‘helped’ by clearing rubbish, and trampling over the inside of our car! After an hour and a half of raking, the rectangular plot is now ready for a small bonfire and then cultivating with a petrol digger that we will hire on Friday.

 The fruit plot took much more work. My husband did really well. Most of the brambles were cut down, and I cleared a fair amount of rubbish. I think we have about 6 gooseberry bushes, several metres of raspberry canes, and 6 currant bushes. It will need raking over and removing of the dead stuff and debris. We are going back tomorrow to do this. We found a few scaffold poles whilst clearing which will be great for either making cages around the largest current bushes, or, creating a framework for beans.

So, tomorrow we go back, and, if time and weather permits, I may even dig over a small section of the rectangular plot and put my seed potatoes in.

I can’t wait to get started with the growing!!!

I will update further tomorrow.

Now that I have some more time on my hands, I felt the need to expand my vegetable growing empire. Unfortunately, with my vegetable growing ambitions, my small garden just isn’t enough any more.

 All local authorities have some land put aside for allotment use, and allotment renting is more popular than ever. I therefore consider myself lucky to be able to visit my closest allotment site, and be able to have several plots to choose from. I’ve asked for a plot that is the least untended. I really hate digging over a plot and will avoid it as much as possible. This is why I favour the “No-Dig” method of gardening, (I’ll go into that more at a later date). However, this just has a couple of seasons’ worth of weeds, and no extensive brambles, nettles and buddleia rampaging across the plot. It also has it’s own mini-greenhouse. I’m not sure of it’s size yet, although I think it is 10 poles.

The allotment supervisor is an interesting chap. He must be in his late 70’s now. He spoke mostly to my husband during the visit, including asking questions about “your wife”!!! However, he seems a lovely man, if somewhat old-fashioned and I think he’ll be really helpful.

 So, the sooner our application goes off to the council the better. I’m keen to get started, and not to let the weeds start multiplying as the weather gets warmer. There are quite a few things that need to go in the ground soon and I dont want to delay!

The estimated cost for our plot is about £70 per annum, plus £14 for rental of the shed. This is relatively high compared to some local authorities, where you can rent a plot for £10-£20 per year. The perils of living in London I suppose.

Well, I love gardening. This blog is all about that, and perhaps some little bits thrown in about my other love of cooking (compatible with my main passion) and crafting (card making and jewellery making).

 I’m determined to be more prolific with growing my own vegetables and fruit this year and this blog is going to be an account of that, along with tips and hints for anyone else who shares a passion for fresh, homegrown, tasty fruit and vegetables. There might be a recipe or two thrown in for good measure!