Category Archive

Another mini harvest tonight - this time of my red shallots that have got away from me slightly, though to be honest I wasn’t sure when to dig them up. I also took quite a few pictures of the other things that are growing in my garden…*obsessed*

The only thing I’m avoiding doing is weeding…maybe I’ll get the dog on that one… “Midge!”…

Found lurking behind the broccoli! I did plant him, I just hadn’t expected him to get so big so quickly.

“not more weeding”, she barked

My first potatoes…they made a lovely sunday lunch!

Fresh and sweet - I present my first peas! These are a variety called “Kelvendon Wonder” and they’re lovely.

I hope the slugs don’t get him!

Take a look at some more of my Ragged Radishes pics on Flickr.

Couple of cute little pickings I made accidentally whilst weeding…whoops. They made lovely mini veg though!

I’ve just not had chance to post recently, but I thought someone out there might like to see how I’m getting on. Pretty well is the answer!

Although the plot suffers from the drought caused by having a huge sycamore right next to it, I’m faring well all in all. My sweetcorn’s taken, spuds are running away, the courgettes are flowering and my aubergines…well they’ve not keeled over just yet!

Plus, I now have a little pond to help create my own mini eco-system.

…recap of the last few weeks coming soon, in the meantime spot the differences between the last panorama and this one!

It may not look like it, but I’ve made excellent progress this weekend.
- 6ft x 6ft raised bed built from scratch
- strawberries planted out in one of my mini beds
- sweet peas and sugar snaps planted out - complete with wigwams
- raspberry supports errected
- 3 gooseberries planted out (thanks Jon)
- shed tarted up with various places to hang things

I think I’ve got a problem…can you be addicted to allotment gardening?

I ran out of labels this afternoon whilst potting on some broccoli seedlings and then I had a nifty little idea…
- Just take an old yoghurt pot
- Cut down the pot so you have lots of strips around about 1cm each

- Then trim the strips from the base of the pot
- Make sure they’re dry, then use a permanent marker to write with

A quick snap to show my progress as of Jan 07 (meant to post this a while back!). The top shot shows the site when we took it on at the end of Oct 06. The bottom one is looking across the plot and gives you a feel for the progress we’ve made.

The back of the plot is still quite a state - it’s kind of banked up and to be honest it’s just full of burnt chair-legs(!), rusty nails and couch grass. Not ideal I grant you, but we’ll get there.

Weather permitting, this weekend I’ll try and get a picture of the site as it is now. But it might be under a foot of snow…

Just pottering this morning and noticed that the raspberries I inherited with my allotment are starting to bud. I’m pretty chuffed as when I took on the site they were in sorry state and took some serious hacking to get them into shape. Oh the joys of spring!!

Not a massive amount of progress over the last few weeks, but at least I’ve got myself a few barrows of manure on the plot thanks to Mark and his mum and dad (and Moo!). It needs it as much help as it can get as it must have been a good few years since it was last used to grow any prize-winning veg

We’ve also started to prune some of the willow trees that block the sun and drain the moisture from the soil. We should be able to hack away at them over the next couple of weeks. I’ll post a couple of pics when we’re all done.

Also in the paper this weekend I spotted that the Guardian has started as allotment blog of its own - take a look here: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/allotment/

I must be really getting into this growing lark as spent the last hour or so transcribing a vegetable sowing and planting calendar that I got with a copy of ‘Grow your own‘. I’ve posted it here (in excel format) for people to download. It’s designed to print landscape on A4. Let me know if you have any problems downloading.

Download at http://www.squarechick.co.uk/growing_calendar.xls or click on the image below.

A fair bit of progress since my last panorama taken 21 Oct 06…

Midge watches on while I get to grips with heaps of manure! Well at least I’m having fun (I think)

But all in all good progress this weekend. I’ve found a good source of manure from a nearby stables which I’ve begun to dig in to the main plot. I’ve also started a ‘hotbed’, planted out my Rhubarb (Victoria) and whilst I was planted it discovered another one already well on its way.

I’ve started watching a TV programme called ‘Grow Your Own Veg‘ that’s just begun on Friday at 8:30pm on BBC2 which should come in handy. Plus Sue (Mark’s mum) dug out an article from the paper that had some good tips and also had an offer to get a free veg starter pack open to the first 1,000 registrants at www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/

Some early starters for 2007 ready for the cold frame - from herbs and strawberries to caulis and annuals.

Just looking for help with my companion planting for my veg plot and came across a handy little table…

I started some carrot and onion seeds a couple of weeks back in my coldframe to see if I could get a head start on 2007. They’ve just begun to germinate over the last few days - going to keep an eye on these little guys across the season - although I’m not expecting prize winners…

I’ve drawn a quick sketch of my thinking for the alloment planting in 2007.

In addition to the main plot that I plan to divide into 3 rectangular beds:

• ROOTS
• BRASSICAS
• LEGUMES

I’ve also got 3 square wooden planters that I was kindy given by one of my allotment neighbours, Edie. I’m planning to use these as separate raised beds that will sit in the areas of the plot where the soil isn’t as good. These will hold leeks and onions, potatoes, and strawberries.

Well, that’s he the plan anyways!

Well, who couldn’t it’s fab! So it arrived on Monday and I’ve already started to deck it out with a variety of shelves, shovels and storage - I just shouldn’t be let loose in Ikea on my own. It’s going to be great place to keep all my gardening paraphernalia, but the best thing…Midge seems to like it!

My lovely new shed is on it’s way tomorrow so I wanted to capture the site prior to installment of the shed. Friends and relatives have been so interested in the allotment I feel like a should have some kind of “shed launch” or a grand unveiling. Maybe Midge could do the honours - all I need are sissors and a pink bow!

To keep track on the crops I’m planning to grow and the various sowing times I’ve created myself a list. I’m going pop back and update this when I finalise the plan:

• Basil Sweet Genoese: Mar - May
• Beetroot Boltardy: Spring - Early Summer
• Butternut Squash Pilgrim: Mar - April
• Butternut Squash Barbara: Mar - April
• Calabrese Marathon: March - Jun
• Climbing Bean Fasold: April - Jul
• Courgette De Nice a Fruit Rond: Spring
• Courgette Defender: April - May
• Cucumber Futura: Feb - May
• Lettuce Flamenco: Mar - Jul
• Parsley Lisette: April - Aug
• Pepper Apple: Mar - April
• Salad leaves Niche (mixed): Mar - Sep
• Tomato Black Cherry: Feb - April
• Tomato Ferline: Mar - April

I’m getting there. Although it doesn’t look like it I’ve made quite a lot of progress in the last month. I’ve only been able to work at the weekends, but with a little help from my motley crew I’ve laid the foundations for my shed, cut down 4 trees, trimmed back the raspberries, burnt last year’s old wood and dug the main growing area. Still lots to be done though!

Thought it might be useful to link to start with a grid to plan out my allotment. Quick Google brought back a handy grid generator:

http://incompetech.com/beta/linedGraphPaper/easy.html

Here’s a PDF to get started:
grid pdf

Lots done today:
*checked out the shed situation, turns out Woodlands Sheds in Horsforth don’t deliver to allotments. They’re going to let me know next week if they’re going to make an exception…otherwise it’s Homebase and a hammer!
*burnt all the dead wood and some of the twigs and leaves that have been hanging around since the last occupant tended the site
*finally laid the foundations for the shed - enough sand this time round
*cleared the conifers to the far end of the plot to die down so we can burn them later in the year
*met my neighbour Matthew
*best of all…started to dig over the main plot. Soil looks ok, but bags of manure wouldn’t go amiss!

Here’s a few more pics from today…

Latest view of the site. Really opened things up now I’ve taken down the 3 conifers on the right hand side and the other sapling that was living behind the raspberries. I’ve also had a good hack at the raspberries - just keeping the new growth for next year.

The big pile in the middle is steadily growing…good job it’s bonfire night soon!

I was going to do lots of research on the right things to grow but I got carried away and have ordered a bunch of seeds to get me started, no doubt there will be a number of other frenzied seed buying stints, but for now here’s my list:

• Calabrese ‘Marathon’ F1 (Brocolli)
  “The commercial best-seller - producing large heads on sturdy stems. Can be sown and harvested successionally over a very long period.”
• Cucumber ‘Futura’ F1
  “An all female variety which has good resistance to powdery mildew. Heavy cropping, slim long fruits.”
• Lettuce ‘Flamenco’
  “This delicious improved red oakleaf will add colour and flavour to salads. Resistant to mildew and is slow to bolt.” - which is handy!
• Pepper (Capsicum) ‘Pepper Apple‘
  “Mild and juicy, almost apple-like flavour and distinctive top shape. Quick to mature in variable weather conditions, you can pick green or, if you can wait approx. 3 weeks when red.”
• Squash ‘Pilgrim Butternut’ F1
  “A selection of the ever popular Butternut family with a less vigorous vine habit. It exhibits outstanding resistance to cracking and has long storage ability. Good sweet orange flesh (Semi-bush type).”
• Squash, Butternut ‘Barbara’ F1
  “Attractive high quality ‘butternut’ variety, with a unique green and orange stripy pattern o the outer skin. The interior flesh is sweet and an intense orange, which is high in beto-carotene. Stores well if kept in a frost-free room after harvest.”
• Basil ‘Sweet Genovese’
  “This is an aromatic herb which has many culinary uses, particularly popular in Mediterranean dishes.”

I’ve set up a group on Flickr.com where other Otley allotment owners can post their pictures, share advice etc etc . Take a look… http://flickr.com/groups/otleydiggers/

well, made a start at least - only problem is I ran out of sand!! grrr.

It’s even harder work with a furry jacket. Midge takes a break whilst laying the foundations to the new shed.

I’ve taken a panorama shot so I can chart my progress and hopefully look back later in a year and be happy with my handywork.

Clearing the ground in preperation for my shed started in earnest today. 16 paving stones and 600 weight of river sand was hauled to site (thanks Mark) in the back of my little red mini.

This is my first post as an allotment owner. I’m plot no. 27 on the Burras site in Otley, West Yorkshire. Plan is to create a personal diary of my progress and put together some useful links to other blogs. Well, that’ s the plan…