Allotment--A new year, bad weather, making plans

 

It's quite some time since I blogged about the allotment, but we were kept busy last year. Now a new year lies ahead and I'm thinking of what I'll be doing in the next few months. 

At the moment the weather is too bad to be able to do any sort of work. It's been really cold and wet. We had snow a couple of weeks ago with really hard overnight frosts. It's still quite cold and there is a weather warning for high winds at the weekend. So I have been staying indoors most of the time, but I'm longing to get out and start work on the allotment. 

I am often thinking about how much longer I will be able to do the allotment. Rheumatoid and osteoarthritis  slow me down now and we both get tired more easily. But we managed well last year so another year of growing lies ahead. 

At the moment the things which get me down are not my own physical difficulties, but neighbours who don't look after their plots, fly tipping seems to be happening more too and then there's the rats. On a recent visit to check over the plot we could see evidence of rats again in the shed. No matter how hard Richard tries to seal off any access holes, they will find another way to get in. This time they have been getting in through the floor.

There are changes down at the allotments as a few plots have become vacant and we wonder who we will get as neighbours. So many people take on an allotment full of enthusiasm but don't realise how much commitment is required and how much hard work is involved. Then they give up on it.

For me it's time to start planning what I will be growing this year, sorting through my seed packets and ordering more seeds. And as soon as we get some drier, warmer weather we'll be down there, mending all the holes in the shed and preparing the beds for growing. 

Wet, windy weather and time to make plans

Last weekend we made our first visit of 2023 to the allotment.  We haven't done any work on the plot since the middle of November but we went down a couple of times after that, once to cut greenery for Christmas and again to dig up some leeks, parsnips and swede. 

The weather has been very wet this month with some very strong winds and I've been wondering when we will ever get down to the allotment. But we had a short break in the rain one afternoon at the weekend so we thought we would go to check if there was any damage from the winds. I was hoping that the greenhouses would still be standing and thinking that the membrane sheets which we had put over the beds in November might have blown away. 

                                                 

Well fortunately everything was ok apart from the garden chairs and one or two other things blown over, but no damage.   

Lottie the allotment cat came to say hello.  She always pops round to see us when we are there and we give her some food. She looks very healthy,  I know she gets food and has a nice warm shed with a bed on another plot.

As we walked around the plot I was pleased to see that the rhubarb is showing signs of new growth. This is the variety 'Timperley Early' and it always lives up to its name of starting off early. 

                                                 

The leeks are still growing although they are a bit small yet.

While we were there we assessed what work needs to be done when we eventually get some better weather and there are lots. The first and most important job is to take off all the membrane from the beds. If there are any weeds underneath they will be removed and then we will start mulching the beds with manure or compost.  

                                     

We also need to clear the greenhouses of the dead vegetation from the tomatoes and cucumbers and then give them a good clean. Other jobs which I can do at home are to sort through my seed boxes and buy what I need for this year. I also need to work out my growing plan for the beds.

The plot looks really damp and dreary and I'm longing for the weather to improve so that we can get started on all the jobs which need doing. At the moment as I write this blog there is snow outside, so no chance yet.

Indoor gardening

No, I'm not talking about houseplants, I'm talking about garden jobs I can do indoors when the weather is too bad to be outside.  I think most gardeners are like me and are itching to get outside and start doing jobs in the garden or at the allotment. We have had lots of snow recently here in Lancashire, when it hasn't been snowing its been raining heavily and when it hasn't been doing either of those its been too cold to venture outside. Even Holly the cat hasn't wanted to go out.

First on my list of indoor jobs to do was to sort out all my seed packets and list what I need to buy for this year' s growing plan. I ordered seeds from Simply Seed and what I couldn't get from there I ordered from Seed Parade. I was very pleased with the service from both companies, seeds arrived within a few days. 

Since the start of  COVID and lockdown last year a lot of people have taken to growing their own flowers and vegetables.  This resulted in many seed companies being overwhelmed with orders, so I was thankful that I didn't have to wait long for my orders.

Along with planning what to grow this year I needed to work out my allotment plan and crop rotation. I have a very simple plan of the allotment, which I renew every year. Although it's too early to sow seeds outside, I have started a few off indoors in propagators on the kitchen windowsill. It can be a bit hit and miss as there isn't always enough light and seedlings can get leggy. 

I sowed some chillies, peppers, broad beans and sweet peas. So the kitchen windowsills are now taken over with seed pots and trays. I check them several times a day and never fail to get excited when they start to germinate. Upstairs in one of the spare bedrooms are trays of seed potatoes laid out for chitting.

One of the jobs which the presenters of gardening programmes often tell you to do in the winter time is clean up your plant marker sticks.  I have never had the time or patience to be bothered with this until this year when I have spent a few cold wet days sat in the kitchen scrubbing the marker sticks with wire wool and washing in soapy water. I know I will be pleased about all this preparation in a few weeks time when I'm sowing seeds or planting out and  can reach for a nice clean seed marker.

Bad weather but getting a few jobs done at the allotment

We've been having some really awful weather this month, when its not been snowing we've had really heavy rain. We haven't been out much because of the weather, and I'm so looking forward to being able to get down to the allotment again regularly. We've managed two visits to the plot recently when we had some fine, dry days, although it has been very cold so we didn't want to stay too long. We watch the weather forecasts and if there is likely to be any suitable days then we plan ahead to go and do some work. 

Its been lovely to get down to the plot on these two days so far and we've done quite a few jobs. On our first visit I went with a plan to start cleaning out the greenhouses, but instead I decided to dig up all the beetroot which was left and take it home to store in the shed. I expected the soil to be quite wet and soggy after all the rain, but it wasn't and was quite easy to weed and hoe the bed. I try to follow the

'no-dig method' of growing vegetables so the next job was to mulch with home made compost. It looks great now and will be ready for sowing and planting into when the soil warms up in the Spring.

There are still a lot of leeks growing but they are not looking too healthy, so I dug a few of those up.  And I was delighted to be able to pick brussels sprouts, this is the first time in years that I have had any success with growing them. I think they were in a more more sheltered spot and didn't get blown about by the wind.

The asparagus bed and adjoining cut flower bed was looking untidy so I cut the asparagus stems down and pulled up the dead flower stems.  This bed will get a mulch of compost too next time we go.

The rhubarb is coming through already and looking very colourful.

On our second visit to the plot we concentrated on clearing out the dead tomato and chilli plants from  the two greenhouses. Then I swept them both out and swilled with water.  They still need a good clean out, the windows and all the nooks and crannies will need washing down with disinfectant. I'm saving that job for a warmer day, it's one of my least favourite jobs.

It was good to get to the allotment, we felt we'd made a bit of progress getting the plot ready for Spring. I think the robin was pleased to see us he followed us round as we worked finding worms in the newly worked and composted beds. 

Seedy jobs

The weather is showing no signs of improvement and I wonder if it will ever stop raining. As the wind was howling outside and the rain battering against the windows at the weekend I decided a good rainy day activity would be to sort out my very untidy box of seed packets. It took nearly all day, but I now have a neatly filed box, a seed list on computer and a long list of new seeds to buy for this year. Very organised, I thought!

Holly was keen to stop me from working

 I will need to be starting off seeds very soon and I am so pleased that our allotment greenhouse is now fully assembled and it looks great. I couldn't wait to get something in there and before Richard had cleared away all his tools, I had put in some trays of spring cabbage seedlings which I started off late summer and seemed a bit slow to grow. They had been living in the shed.  I'm  sure that before long I will be running out of greenhouse space.  This little greenhouse will not be big enough for all the growing we will be doing, so Richard's next project is to build a bigger growhouse type of structure next to it. This is what he was planning to do all along.

My next job is to go shopping for vegetable seeds and get some seed trays washed.