Weeding and harvesting

The allotment is looking very lush and green now. It's really rewarding after all the hard work earlier in the year to see everything growing well. I always have times of uncertainty when I start in the spring, wondering how many plants will survive or will they get eaten by slugs, will we have enough broad beans and peas
( because we love them).

The cabbages and Brussels sprouts are coming along fine. I planted some cauliflower seedlings last week and sowed another row of swede. I did some weeding in the brassica bed  which wasn't easy as I had to crawl on my hands and knees under the netting. I checked for caterpillars while I was under there just in case any cabbage white butterflies had found a way in through the netting. Fortunately not, and all the plants were looking quite healthy. It's surprising what you find though when you when you get down under the netting, there were some turnips ready for pulling which I hadn't seen before. Once I 'd pulled them out I could plant some purple sprouting broccoli and Cavalo Nero in their place.

We are now picking broad beans and peas and after wondering early on in the year if I had sown enough with two rows of each I know that was plenty. I have been watching the onions to see if they were ready for digging up and last week I pulled up one lot which we had planted in one of the raised beds on plot 10b.  The others which are on plot 8 are ready to dig up too and I shall be doing that this week. Most of the leeks were planted a few weeks ago but I ran out of space for the rest of them. Once I've cleared all the onions out of the bed I can plant the rest of these leeks.

The fennel has produced some good sized bulbs. The feathery foliage looks really attractive amongst the rows of vegetables. Now I'm looking out for some good recipes to use it in. We've been harvesting the potatoes now which were grown in bags.  The first ones we planted were Epicure and they have a good flavour.

Earlier in the year something ate the tops off some of the first lot of beetroot seedlings, we think it was a pigeon which we had seen hovering about in that area of the plot.  The second lot I sowed I covered with netting, but the first lot which were nibbled seem to have recovered and we have been pulling some lovely baby beetroots. We always have problems growing carrots as they get attacked by root fly, so we covered them with fleece and were really pleased to dig up some perfect carrots last week. Just hoping that the root fly didn't get the rest of the row whilst the fleece was off. We've also got some growing in deep containers just in case.

So now in August as I look around our plot I feel pleased with it all. There aren't  too many big jobs to do at the moment so we can have a little rest (not for long though!) and enjoy eating our produce.

Tackling the garden

 I've been so busy on the allotment recently that I've neglected the garden a bit.  The late spring flowers have all gone over now and it was all starting to look a bit wild and out of control, weeds were popping up all over the place.  In the last couple of weeks the work on the allotment has started to ease off a bit, so I've been able to start to give some attention to the garden.

When there's a lot to do in the garden I try not to let it overwhelm me by tackling too much all at once, so I work through the jobs at my own pace. I find it best to set myself a task of working on one small area at a time  depending on how much time there is. I try not to get distracted by the other jobs I can see need doing otherwise I end up up flitting about here and there like a butterfly.

So in the last couple of weeks I have had a few little gardening sessions, just working my way along the borders, cutting back the late spring flowers which have gone over, deadheading, weeding path edges, sweeping up, weeding borders. This is the time of year when I realise I cram too many plants into the borders, but at least they suppress a lot of the weeds.

As I've worked my way along the borders, I 've also made mental notes of bigger jobs which can be done in the Autumn. There are shrubs and trees which need a good cutting back and problem beds where I need to think about starting again and doing something different.

 A few weeks ago the predominant colour in the beds was blue. Now it's all changing and there seems to be a lot of yellow coming from alchemilla mollis, lysimachia and golden grasses. The hot colours of late summer are starting to appear. I can see red crocosmia lucifer, deep pinky red astilbe and knautia macedonica, a yellowy orange day lily and orange Kniphofia.

Although I haven't finished my clearing up of the garden it's looking much better and I'm able to spend time when we get a bit of sunshine, sitting and enjoying it, looking at all the lovely colours . That's what summer is about.

Strawberries

It's getting to that time of year when we go to the allotment to do work but half the time is spent harvesting produce. That's really good. At the moment that produce is strawberries. There are loads of them. In fact this must be the best year ever for growing strawberries--for me that is. I have never had so many strawberries.  I'm really enjoying them and I'm wondering what I'm doing right that makes this year's crop such a good one.

Well  the strawberries had plenty of manure early on in the year. Then I put straw under the plants to keep the fruit clean and netted them against the birds. Some of them are still being munched by slugs, but most of them are beautiful fruit. I don't mind sharing a few fruit with the wildlife as long as I get most of them. In previous years I never got around to putting the straw and netting down and it was always a race to get to the fruit before the birds or slugs.

Last year I potted up a lot of plants from the runners and these new plants were planted in the bath at the allotment.  The strawberries I planted in the bath  are not as good, and the ones in my garden also have not done as well. So the allotment beds seem to be providing the best conditions. But strawberries need to be replaced every three or four years.  They get better after the first year and then start to get less productive after the third year. The ones in the bath are in their first year and those in my garden beds are probably in their third or fourth year.  So that might explain why they are not as productive.

 We are really enjoying our strawberries.  The best way to eat them I think is from a bowl topped with cream or ice cream.  I have also been having them for breakfast with granola and Greek yogurt or with scotch pancakes and honey.  But this week faced with a massive box of them I decided that I would have to make jam. I've never done  much jam making before but with other types of fruit growing at the allotment I'm having to learn. And I really love the jam labels my granddaughter has made for me.

Townhead garden

Last Sunday Helen, the grandchildren and I took ourselves off to do some garden visiting. It was quite by chance I had found out about Townhead having an open garden day. I had spotted a poster in a nurseries a few weeks ago and then read an article in the local press. Townhead, a Georgian house  had been neglected for many years and was taken over in 2008 by  new owners who have restored the house and gardens.

Townhead is in the village of Slaidburn in the Ribble Valley. Our journey there took us through the pretty village of Waddington.  Unfortunately it was the day they were having their annual duck race and scarecrow festival. That slowed us down a bit as the village was heaving with people and traffic, but it did give us chance to do a bit of scarecrow spotting as we drove through at snail's pace. Kept the grandchildren amused.

Finally  we got to Slaidburn, parked in the village and walked the short distance up the hill to Townhead.The house appeared to have doors on at least three sides so we weren't sure which was the front door, but that didn't  matter as we weren't going into the house, just the garden. We found lawns, a pond and beautiful flower borders at the front of the house (well I  think it was the front). Most of the borders  had a purple, pink and blue theme.   We loved the purple pink and blues of the alliums, nepeta, astrantia and candelabra primula. I especially loved the nepeta because I can never get it established in my garden.    

There were one or two lovely old looking metal seats in various places around the garden.  We wondered if   they were from the original garden.  I liked the fact that they were a bit rusty with paint flaking off.  They may not have been very comfortable but added character and were ok to have a short rest.

Our entrance ticket included tea and cake and the terrace was very busy with people eating and drinking.  We had tea and cake even though we had only just arrived.  It pacified the grandchildren.

After our refreshments we moved around towards the back of the house (or it could have been the front) along to a little path called 'the posh passage'. At the end of the posh passage we had two ways to go--the walled garden or over to look at the old pedal cars.  We opted for the cars to start with, we knew the walled garden would take a long time to explore.  There was more than cars here , there were old prams and all sorts of old things.

 

We entered a small building which looked like a workshop with an amazing array of old tools--Richard would have loved this but he had been happy to stay at home.  Upstairs was the toilet.  Now I don't usually include visits to the toilet on my blogs but this was quite an interesting building with lots of old paraphernalia dotted about.  Old stone pots, metals baths, pictures and more tools.  When we got back down the narrow wooden stairs we met a man who may have been a workman or he could have been the owner in disguise.  He told us that seven people used to live in this little house. I hadn't realised up to that point that the building had been lived in at some time.

Our next visit was to the walled garden. We were well pleased with this, there was so much to see. There were fruit trees and vegetables, old brick walls, old plant pots, old metal tubs. I was in gardenalia heaven.

There was also a wild flower area and the most wonderful long herbaceous border which had peonies to die for. I reluctantly had to tear myself away  from the walled garden to enter the The Folly.  This was an interesting wildlife area with a collection of quirky stone and wooden features.

Townhead was an interesting garden with something for everyone. I would happily go there again but I think the day was a one off.  I hope there was enough good feedback to encourage the owners to do it all again next year.

Changes on the allotment

Plot 10b

Things are changing at the allotment this year. Helen has decided that with all her work and family commitments she can no longer give enough time to working her plot (Plot 10b) and so will be giving it up at the end of the year. She will still be around though, helping me on my plot (Plot 8) when she can.

As we worked on both plots together and shared everything, we are gradually moving the things over to plot 8 which we want to keep.  Things like tools, pots, pea and bean frames and also plants.  There are quite a lot of fruit bushes on Plot 10b but not so many on plot 8.  Earlier this year I  moved three blackcurrant bushes and planted them in the fruit bed on Plot 8.  In the autumn I want to move the gooseberries and some of the rhubarb. There won't be enough space in the fruit bed on plot 8 to transplant all of the rhubarb, but I will be moving some of it.

Then we need to sort out the shed.  There is quite a bit of useful stuff which we will take with us to Plot 8.  This means we will have to improve the storage space in Plot 8's shed with hooks to hang tools on and shelves for larger items. I like to keep the shed reasonably tidy so that we can work in there on the potting bench and also make a brew (very important!)

   

Plot 8 shed

Behind the shed on Plot 8 is a very untidy area where we have dumped things which might come in useful one day.  We need to tidy this up and get rid of anything we don't need.  Richard has a plan to build a sort of storage shelter where can store large items like wood and growhouse frames, which we seem to have a lot of on both plots.

The mess behind plot 8 shed

    

The big decision was what to do about the greenhouse on plot 10b. It's not a proper greenhouse but a timber framed structure which Richard built and covered with polytunnel material.  Richard felt it wasn't worth trying to dismantle it and move it over to plot 8. It didn't cost much to make as all the wood was recycled. It is also too big for Plot 8.  So as we can't afford to buy a proper greenhouse he is planning to build another of the same type on Plot 8. It will be smaller, but that won't matter, the other one was quite big. He's started work already on building the base for it.  This is in the area where the old pond was.

Because Helen and I had shared both plots, we did consider which plot to give up--Plot 10b or Plot 8.  But we decided to keep Plot 8.  It might seem a bit daft to get sentimental over an allotment plot, but we do like Plot 8.  It's secluded,  has a good feel to it, lots of wildlife, a woodland area where the grandchildren can play and the best shed ever--another of Richard's creations.

This year we're not doing much growing on Plot 10b as we start to wind down. We're using the greenhouse and just keeping up with the weeding. We worked really hard to get Plot10b into a workable allotment and some people have said it's a shame to give it up after doing all that work. But we don't mind that. We've enjoyed the challenge of transforming a piece of derelict land into a good growing space and hope that the new tenants will look after it. It was hard work looking after two plots so we're already starting to feel the benefits of having just one plot to look after.

Little helpers

 

 We've had a bit of help at the allotment recently from the grandchildren. It's not often it happens so we make the most of it--enjoy it and hope they do too.

 I have found that with my own children and now my grandchildren that as they got older they lost that interest in gardening which in the early years was so full of enthusiasm, everything was new and interesting to them.  Now there are other things to interest them and a visit to the allotment is not always welcome. We have found that we need to really work at stimulating some interest whether it is den building, sowing seeds or watering the plants. And although they might moan and groan about having to go to the allotment, they usually enjoy themselves once they are there. Sometimes they just want to run around and play, but other times they like to help, it might slow us down a bit with our work, but it's worth it knowing that they have probably learnt something by being involved.

On their most recent visits to the allotment they have been sowing purple sprouting broccolli and beetroot seeds, planting cabbages, sweet corn, french beans and sunflowers. It helps to talk about what they are planting and explain how it will grow. For example, beetroot grows below the ground, sweetcorn above and beans wind themselves around a post and some things need more space to grow than others. These things might be obvious to us who've been growing vegetables for years, but not to children who are still learning.

My own children who lost interest in gardening as they got older, I am pleased to say, rekindled this interest when they got gardens of their own so there's hope for the grandchildren yet.

Getting the jobs done

Here we are in June and still waiting for summer, will it ever arrive? This week we've had some lovely warm days and maybe summer has finally arrived. But we've had some strong winds recently which have tested the stability of our allotment plastic grow house. Fortunately Richard secured it well to a strong base. This is its second year and probably its last. The zip has broken down one side and although we could probably buy a new cover I don't think it's worth it. It's served its purpose and Richard is making a base for another grow house or poly tunnel type of structure which he will build himself and will be much more stable. We don't buy things for the allotment if we can make them.

Things are starting to grow and it's looking nice and green with rows of broad beans, peas, salad leaves, onions, garlic cabbages and Brussels sprouts. The pea and bean frames are in place and so is the brassica frame.

This week I have planted out celeriac. I love celeriac but haven't quite mastered the technique of growing it.  Last year's crop was very small, but I will keep trying. I have also sown fennel, swede, more peas and more climbing french beans.  It always seems a mad rush at this time of year to get everything in the ground at the right time.  I don't want to miss out on any vegetables because I forgot to sow the seed at the right time.  But I feel I am getting on top of things and ticking off the jobs on the list in my allotment journal.

The strawberries are looking healthy.  They have had some lovely flowers and are now starting to form the fruit.  I have put some straw underneath the strawberries in the bath and still have to do the ones in the fruit bed. This year I must remember to net them before it's too late and the birds eat them all!