Stormy weather and winter jobs

 It's quiet on the allotments at the moment, we hardly ever see anyone else down there. Not surprising, with all the storms and snow we've had in the last few weeks it's not been fit to do any work. We've managed to do a few short sessions since the start of the year, taking advantage of the odd fine weather day. Fortunately in the autumn we got most beds cleared and mulched and the greenhouses cleaned out.

I don't do any planting in the ground yet and I don't usually start sowing seeds in warmth until early March. It's surprising though how many other jobs we find need doing. This time of year is a good time to tackle repairs and  maintenance jobs. The high winds blew over some of the fencing so that needed fixing back in place, the compost bins need  repairs to some rotting wood, and the heavy rain upset our drainage system. 

An old land drain runs down onto our allotment from the plot above and when we took the plot on years ago Richard put a drain in place to divert the water down, into the pond, onto the lane outside and into the woods. It works well most of the time but after any really heavy rain the drain overflows and needs clearing of silt.  Well we've had our share of heavy rain in the last few weeks and last week after more rain there was water running down the paths and it had also got into the shed. So Richard has had quite a job on trying to sort out the blocked drain. This week he thinks it's sorted at last but we are left with a very muddy mess.

One job I didn't get done in the autumn was pruning the fruit bushes and that's what I have been doing recently. It's taking me longer than I thought to get it done. I have to work at a slow pace because  the pruning aggravates my arthritic hands and bending and shoveling compost hurts my back. After I've pruned the fruit I've been giving them a sprinkling of chicken manure pellets and a mulch of home made compost. Nearly done now, just have the blueberries to do. Those I mulch with the shredded branches of our Christmas tree for the acidity. The rhubarb is growing fast, it's pink shoots seem to increase so quickly. Every time we visit the plot it seems to have grown much bigger.

Finding the shed floor covered in water I had to sweep it out, but it reminded me that the shed needs it's annual clean out. It needs a fine day to do this so I can move the contents of the shed outside before I can give it a good clean out. This is my least favourite job as I never know what wildlife I will find once I start. For the time being I can put that job off, but I really want to get it done soon so I can have a clean start to the growing season. What we need is some drier weather then we can really get a move on.

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Mulching, pruning, and getting ready for Spring

Its been good to get back to working on the allotment after the rain and snowy weather we had early on in January. It was drier in February and we had sunshine, but it has been quite cold. We've been working at a slow steady pace, with about two or three visits to the plot a week for about two to three hours. We both struggle with pain in our joints and we now have to be more careful about how much we do in one session. Lots of tea breaks! Last year when I was first diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis I thought I would have to give up the allotment and we said we would give it a year to see how we got on. Well we did really well I'm pleased to say, so we'll carry on as long as we take it at a slower pace.  And with the latest shortages in tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers I think we're best to grow our own.

Over the last few weeks I've cleared all the dead plant material from the veg beds and weeded. Then I spread a manure mulch over the beds. There are some vegetables still growing, leeks and parsnips. I dug some of the parsnips up at the weekend and there are some really big ones. I brought a bagful home but there are still some in the ground. Spicy parsnip soup could be on the menu soon. I've cleaned both greenhouses out so they are ready now to be filled up with seedlings when I start those off.

The next job was to prune the fruit bushes. There are blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, blueberries and raspberries. I gave the apple tree a bit of a trim but I'm never sure if I'm doing it right. The fruit bushes and rhubarb then got a mulch of manure and a feed of blood fish and bone. I mulched the blueberries with the shreddings from the Christmas tree as they like an acidic soil We do this every year and they seem to like it.

I started off onion sets in cell modules. I'm growing two varieties, Sturon and Turbo. Red onions never do very well for me so I've decided not to bother with them this year. Shallots do well but I find them difficult to peel because of the arthritis in my hands, so I won't bother with those either.

The potatoes are chitting at home. I'm growing Rocket and Charlotte. I've also sowed broad beans in cardboard tubes and those are on the kitchen windowsill.

With regular visits to the plot I feel pleased that we are on top of the work. There are some bigger jobs which are on our to do list. Like repairing a section of fencing, mending the strawberry troughs, relining the pond and sorting out the leaf bin area. These will keep Richard busy for the next few weeks. My next job will be to start sowing seeds at home to grow on the kitchen windowsill.