A few wildlife jobs on the allotment

Last week was a chilly week with snow again, but earlier in the week before the snow came we tackled a few wildlife jobs on the allotment.

The woodland area at the top of the allotment is an area where we can't grow anything because of the big sycamore tree which dominates. The good thing about this is that it provides a home for a lot of wildlife. I've written before about how we cleared the area to make somewhere for the grandchildren to play. They are teenagers now  and are no longer interested, but I still love this area. 

Our seating area is just below the big tree and when we sit there having our tea breaks there is so much activity from the birds flying in and out. There is a privet hedge behind the tree between our plot and the next one up. Also there is elder which provides us with lovely blossom in the spring and berries in the autumn. I pick the blossom  to use when I am making jam. It goes well in gooseberry or strawberry jam. 

When I first created this wildlife area I planted bulbs and shade loving plants. There are crocuses, snowdrops, Tete a Tete daffodils and bluebells. The bluebells do well and I am happy for them to spread. I've tried to get some foxgloves going too. 

The downside of the sycamore tree is all the leaves which fall all over the plot in the autumn and need clearing up especially from the paths. I don't clear them from under the hedge and around the base of the tree and any other nooks and crannies. Then in the spring the plot is covered with the little sycamore spinning Jenny seeds which fall everywhere then germinate and I am constantly trying to hoe them out.

The tete a tete and crocuses are flowering now and I can see the new growth of the  woodland plants I put in there.  Soon it will look more colourful like the picture below which was taken last year when all the euphorbias were out. I like them but they tend to take over, popping up all over the place as they send out runners underground. 

Last week I did one of the  jobs I do on the allotment every year at this time. That is to have a bit of a tidy up in the woodland area. It might seem the wrong thing to do, to tidy up a wildlife area, but it needs to be kept under control so that the weeds don't start to encroach on the vegetable beds and the rest of the allotment. And I pull up those euphorbias from places where they are not wanted. When it has all been tidied up I put bark chippings down on the pathway which goes around the tree. At the moment there are no chippings available to use so I am waiting for some to be dumped on the allotment site. Then it will be a race with our wheelbarrows as we and  all the other plot holders get their share of them.

Our other wildlife area is the pond. We built this a few years ago out of an old tin bath which was left on the allotment by the previous tenant. It was in good condition with no holes. We have had frog spawn each year which is always exciting. I give it a clean out every year in the spring to get rid of leaves and excess mud. 

This year I did the same, it was in a bit of a bad state with overgrown pond plants which I removed. Then I set to scooping out some of the excess mud and added more water as the water level was quite low. I soon realized that the pond was leaking because of a hole in the side where the metal had rusted. So we decided instead of getting rid of the tin bath we would leave it in place and put a pond liner in it. This was Richard's job last weekend. It wasn't as big a job as as I had thought and he completed it in one afternoon.

He needed to empty the bath completely of the stones and mud and to our delight he found frogs in the mud at the bottom and another one under one of the big stones around the edge. 

There must have been about four frogs and we think a toad. We kept them safe in a bucket while he finished off lining the pond and when the stones were back in place I gently popped them back into the pond. It must have been a bit of a shock to them, to be wakened up from their hibernation. We're hoping we haven't upset them too much and when the weather warms up will soon have  spawn back in the pond.

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. 

Through the Garden Gate --February 2023

February came with more sunshine, but quite cold at times.  I did  have to keep reminding myself it was only February, but I think a lot of gardeners like me are longing to get back to doing their gardens whenever there is some decent weather.

There are signs of new life all over the garden and little pops of colour as buds open up.  Gradually over the next few weeks more of this new growth will be bursting into flower. The snowdrops have continued to delight me and are still flowering away.  The pots of tete a tete and tulips from last year are showing buds so I brought them out of the corner where I store them over winter and put them out ready  to brighten up the patio.  I got a lovely surprise early on in February when I spotted these little irises in flower, later on in the month as they died down the tete a tete popped up.  

We wondered if we would get any frog spawn in the little pond we made last year but all I've seen so far is a dead frog! No new life there then.

I've been out in the garden, tidying the beds of dead plants, they look a bit empty now but soon they will fill out as plants come back from their winter rest.  

Last week we bought bark and soil improver. The bark has gone on the hosta bed in the front garden and more will go in the back garden on the woodland bed. It looks lovely now as the tete a tete and crocus are starting to flower. I bought some cyclamen coum plants for this area as they grow well in shade and under trees.  They should spread about more each year as they get established.  The soil improver I will use as a mulch for the other beds.  I've started spreading that in the back garden, not finished yet, it will take a few more bags of mulch to get around all the beds.

February is the time to cut the old growth from the grasses which die down in the winter. We have a few big, tall clumps in the back garden and I have been working on them.  They create a lot of mess when they are cut down.  There were grass stalks all over the place. I'm hoping that the birds will make use of  some of it when they start nest building. 

One really big grass we have is a Miscanthus Zebrinus. It's a really lovely grass and provided us with a lot of screening when we were on the patio, but it had grown too big and it was time to dig it up and divide it. It caused more mess with grass stalks all over the lawn which Holly enjoyed playing with. Now it's been split up I will plant a smaller section back in the bed it came from.

The garden is looking good after it's tidy up and I'm feeling happy that at the moment we are fairly on top of our spring garden jobs.  

I am linking this blog post to Sarah's blog at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate'   post

Through the Garden Gate--January 2023

We've had some bad weather during January.  At the beginning of the month it was very rainy, I was longing for it to stop so I could get out in the garden to do some tidying up jobs. That was not to be because after the rain came snow again. It was very cold and the the snow took some time to melt. How glad I was when finally it cleared away. It was still very cold but I could wander around the garden and I was so pleased to see bulbs coming through especially the snowdrops. The snowdrops are flowering now and seem to look better every day.

Down in the woodland bed the Witch Hazel is in flower. The variety is 'Jelena'--a bronze colour, but I'm a bit disappointed with it as it's quite a dull colour.  It was one of the first shrubs I planted when we moved here 5 years ago and I'm wondering now if I should have chosen a yellow variety which might have been brighter. 

Also in the woodland bed there are primroses just trying to flower and a few little pink cyclamen. I noticed too that the Hellebores have buds so will be flowering soon.

In the border near the kitchen door there is a Sarcococca (Sweet Box) which is flowering with pretty white flowers and a lovely delicate scent which wafts around the garden.

Some of the container plants have perked up, this little trough with white hellebores was planted up just before Christmas and didn't look too great at the time but it's looking quite pretty now.

We've been doing a lot of catching up work on the allotment now the weather has improved so not much has been done in the garden. There's a lot of dead plant material which is now brown and soggy and not very attractive looking. 

So the garden isn't looking great at the moment, I have to search around for little spots of colour. But I'm sure the weather will improve soon and I will be able to get out and tidy up. 

I am linking this post  to Sarah's blog at 'Down By the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' post.

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.

Through the Garden Gate--December 2022

Not much work gets done in the garden during December, Christmas preparations take over my time, although some of them are garden related. I've spent a lot of time looking out of the windows thinking about what needs doing, admiring areas which look good and watching the birds feasting on the crab apples and anything else they can find.

At the beginning of the month I cut greenery from the allotment and the garden to make Christmas wreaths and flower arrangements. I managed to get conifer and berried ivy from the allotment, box and rosemary from my daughter's garden and Pittosporum, Brachyglottis and dried hydrangea heads from my own garden.  I had a few busy days making the wreaths--one for the front of the house and the other for the side. We bought the Christmas tree from our local garden centre and this provided me with a bit more greenery.

A couple of weeks into December we woke up one morning to see snow had fallen overnight. It was the weekend our daughter Sarah and family came up for a pre Christmas visit. Cars were sliding about, wheels spinning, so we decided to cancel our plans to go out and about that weekend and stayed indoors in the warm. We had a lovely weekend with our family together and I made a big Christmas meal. It took a week for the snow to go from the paths and garden and was very slippy out.

Now at the end of the month we are getting a lot of rainy, windy weather and the garden is looking quite bedraggled. I'm looking forward to some better weather so I can get out and do some work again. In the meantime, I received some lovely garden books for Christmas so I am doing quite a bit of reading.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and I wish you a happy and healthy New year.

I am linking this blogpost to Sarah's blog at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' post.