Not just a bit of watering

Popping down to the allotment to water the greenhouse plants can take longer than expected at this time of year. There are quite often nice surprises in store.

The strawberries are ripening fast now and every time I go to the plot there are more to be found. There are always more than I think, they hide under the leaves to reveal big clusters of juicy red fruits. I have to pick the strawberries as soon as they are ready as they won't stay there for long, the slugs or the birds will have  them if I don't.

Looking at the vegetables I can see that the first little cauliflower heads are appearing, the calabrese have heads forming too and after all the heavy rain we've had this week the sweet corn seem to have grown several inches taller. The sweet peas are flowering now so I need to cut them regularly to keep them coming.

Some of the surprises are not so welcome though. Some of the  kale which I planted last week  have been eaten by slugs. But considering I have been so busy at home recently and haven't had as much time to spend on the allotment, things are not doing too badly.

Getting back to work on the plot

The allotment has been really neglected the last few weeks whilst we have been busy moving house. Our time has been taken up with so many other things. I have been to the plot to water and check over things and every time I've been so aware of all the jobs which needed doing but I didn't have the time to do them.

This week, feeling more settled in our new home, we finally managed  a couple of sessions on the plot to do some much needed jobs. There was the greenhouse to sort out. The tomatoes needed side shoots removing and then staking. I had plants to get in the ground, some Savoy cabbages and flower sprouts. As this is the first year I am growing flower sprouts I wanted to make sure I got them planted.

Arriving on the plot we could see that the moles had been at work in the onion bed. The onion bed also needed a good weed. In fact the weeds were growing in abundance all over the plot. But it was good to see other things doing well. The Sweet Williams are full of flowers and the sweet peas are just starting to flower. The peas and broad beans have got pods on now and we will soon be picking them. 

And the brassicas are growing well too, although I did spot a couple of caterpillars on one cabbage even though it was covered in netting. Those cabbage white butterflies are very good at finding ways to get under the netting.

We set to work, Richard weeded the onion bed and sorted out netting frames for the cabbages whilst I planted courgettes, cabbage, flower sprouts, cauliflowers and swedes. The tomatoes got a good tidy up and it was good to see some fruits appearing.

I decided not to get too stressed about the weeds, it's more important to get the food crops looked after, the weeds will get sorted eventually.

Tomatoes are planted up

There is so much to be done on the allotment now. I go down there to do certain jobs and then find there are so many other jobs also need doing.

The tomato plants have been growing well and I have been potting them on into larger pots until it was time to plant them up into their final planting positions.

This year I have grown five varieties-- Moneymaker, Ailsa Craig, Shirley, Gardeners' Delight and Red Cherry.  Last weekend I potted them up into big pots in the greenhouse.  We have had to move out some of the staging in order to make room for them and as I gradually move seedlings to the cold frame I will be able to move out more of the staging to make room for more pots.

I used a mix of home made compost and multipurpose compost to pot them up into big pots.

They are looking really good and strong and I am so looking forward to picking the first tomatoes. Eating them straight from the plant is probably the best way of enjoying them, but I love to make chutneys and soup too.

Rushing around

There's lots going on at home at the moment as we continue with the house moving process.  And when the days are busy with sorting and packing, getting stressed over why things aren't proceeding quicker than we want, it's good to get down to the allotment for a break. This is where we find peace and quiet. It's our retreat place, a place where we can take ourselves away from the stresses and strains that are getting to us at the moment.

We haven't been able to get down to the plot as much as we would like, but I don't want to let things go and miss out on all the lovely veg which we look forward to. So it's a busy time trying to keep up with all the jobs. The allotment is looking good though. The second lot of peas and broad beans are now showing through. The French beans I sowed in the greenhouse have germinated and will soon be ready to plant out.

The greenhouse is a busy place. The tomatoes are ready for planting into their final big pots or growbags, I must do that soon. There are also flower seedlings to be transplanted. I love to grow flowers on the allotment, I am behind with that job but I have at least got the sweet peas planted.

At the weekend I planted out brassicas into the borders, cabbages, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohl rabi, calabrese. As I was planting, Richard was setting up frames with netting to protect against the cabbage white butterflies and pigeons.

We  have had what seems like  weeks of dry weather, the ground has been so dry, but this week the rain came and hopefully, the newly sown seeds of radish, carrot and spring onion will have the moisture that they need to germinate.

As I rush around trying to do jobs, although some things may not get done, I know that the allotment is looking good and if things get bad it is still a place where I can get some time out to relax and enjoy.

Through the garden gate--April

April is such a lovely month in the garden, there is so much fresh bright green foliage about and the borders are starting to fill out with new growth. The colours in my garden at the moment seem to be blue and yellow. Brunnera, forget-me-nots and bluebells contrast well with the lime green euphorbia and primroses. The aquilegia are just starting to flower, the hostas are unfurling their bright green and yellow leaves and the apple tree has blossom. There is so much to look forward to as we move further into Spring.

Hostas

The herb bed which I planted up last year is filling out now

Moving forward is what we are doing ourselves as we prepare to move house, so this may be my last blog about this garden. We are moving at a time when the garden is looking its best, so there is some sadness. Perhaps it would be better to move in the winter when the garden doesn't look as good.

So I am busy now taking cuttings of plants I want to take with me and  decluttering the shed. But as our daughter and family are moving in to our house we will be able to return, take more cuttings, sit in the garden and still enjoy it. We are not moving far, just up the road to a smaller house with a smaller garden. We are at that time in our lives when we need to downsize. Our new garden will be a challenge and it 's a chance to design another garden so we are looking forward to that. I'm not sure how Holly will enjoy moving to another garden.

I am joining with Sarah at 'Down by the sea ' for this monthly post 'Through the garden gate'

Planting time

After what seemed like weeks of continuous rain, the weather finally perked up and it was so good to get down to the allotment at last to get important jobs done. April is a busy time on the allotment and it's important to get seeds started off and plants in the ground.

The first job I wanted to do was get the early peas and broad beans planted. I had started these off in the greenhouse weeks ago. The broad beans were grown in cardboard tubes and the peas in lengths of guttering. They were both looking really healthy and strong. Last year when I did the peas in gutters I had quite a poor germination. So this year I sowed  more seeds in the guttering. The variety is Douce Provence, one I have not grown before. As you might expect, this year it looked like 100% germination, so there were an awful lot of pea seedlings!  They were sown in three short lengths of guttering which fitted easily in the greenhouse. 

The pea and bean bed had been well prepared in the autumn with a layer of manure. A few weeks ago I weeded and hoed the bed and applied some blood, fish and bone fertiliser.  So I was all ready to start. I made a trench about a couple of inches deep and six inches wide, slid the pea seedlings out of the guttering directly into the trench, then tucked them in carefully. In past years I used long lengths of gutter and found it difficult to slide them out, but using the shorter lengths was much easier and because I had sown so many peas they had rooted well together.

Next was the broad beans which I planted about four inches apart still in the cardboard tubes which will rot down in time. I had enough to plant a double row, about ten inches apart. There are two  varieties, The Sutton and Express, which I also grew last year. The peas and beans will need some support and I will do that soon before they start growing properly.

That was enough work for one afternoon and there's still plenty to do, but it's good to see things growing in the ground again.

Through the garden gate--March

I can't believe we are now at the end of March, where did it go?  There has been a lot of wet weather around, in fact I often wondered if it would ever stop raining. But now at the end of the month we are finally seeing sunshine.  So I have been hard at work getting the garden borders tidied up of debris and weeds. There is so much to do now.

It's a lovely time of year as things start to grow and the garden becomes more colourful. The green of the new growth is a sharp contrast to the blues and yellows of the flowers. The mini daffodils are going over now and the big daffodils are out. There are a lot of blue flowers emerging--chionodoxa, saponaria, brunnera, vinca which are looking really well with the lime green euphorbia. My tulip pots are not flowering yet but won't be long I'm sure.

I had a lovely surprise when I opened the cold frame last week. I found several auricula plants which I had forgotten about.  I had put in there in the autumn. I don't know if they really need to be protected overwinter, but I think I was just having a big tidy up session at the time. The auriculas were starting to flower so I have now taken them out of the cold frame and put them on the garden tables where I can enjoy them.

This month I am linking with Sarah at Down by the Sea for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate ' slot.