End of an Era

At the weekend we cleared the shed at the allotment.  We have, after somewhere around 10 years, decided to give up our plot.  We'll still be growing our own but we're moving house and will be doing so in our garden from now on.  The shed has been sold to one of our neighbours and so the tradition will live on at the site without us.

We've both learned a lot, it's been a lot of hard work, with ups of producing loads of great veg and cooking up a storm in the kitchen and downs of destroyed crops and weeds.

Jam Plan

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Graham spent the morning making jam from the fruit we had frozen in the autumn. 4kg of sugar was used to make this rasberry and blackberry conserve.

Asparagus, May 2013

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Sorry about the blurriness of this picture, but with aspargus, you got to be quick! This isn't even the first pick, but we ate that before I had a chance to take a picture of it.

May Bank Holiday Weekend

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With the weather set fair, we spent a lot of hours on this weekend at the allotment.

Lots of edgig and rotivating were done.

From a planting point of view, it was Peas, Broadbeans and Sweet Peas transplanted from the greenhouse. Seeds were sewn for Spring onions, carrots and poppies.

Onions were hoed, and the weeds taken to the tip. Exhausting.

The Rotivator

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6 years in, we've decided to invest in technology and have got ourselves a rotivator. It ploughed this bed really quickly. But apparently it is quite tiring taming the machine.

In the bed I planted spinach and beetroot. Aso, in the raised bed, I planted some Radish seeds.

Rhubarb - first pick 2013

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Today at the allotment wepicked the first crop from 2013 growth (we're still picking some cabbage from last summer). All rather exciting.

The other good news at the allotment is that the warmth of the last few days has allowed the onions to grow, and it looks like we might be in for a good crop after all (fingers crossed).

The broadbeans are doing well down there too. There's still a lot of digging and prearation to do though before we can put other plants and seeds in.

Planting out broadbeans #1

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Today, the reserve gardener had a brilliant session at the allotment, preparing beds, cutting grass, and planting out the first batch of broadbeans.

Spring has sprung, sewing time

Today has been about the first truly warm day (car thermometer said 19 degrees). Whilst we had a little pop to the allotment to put some veg peelings on the compost heap, and have a look at the onions - about 20, today was about sewing seeds in the greenhouse.

The greenhouse is now looking fairly full :-). Today I've planted:
- French beans (cobra) - we eat these during the summer
- Runner beans (Butler) - we freeze these for winter eating
- Courgette (jemmer F1) - we eat as many of these as we can, and then make ratatouille with  the rest. These are a bright yellow colour, slightly sweeter than green courgette, and look far more interesting on your plate!
- Sweetcorn (early extra sweet F1)
- Gourds  (Butternut, and Uchiki Kuri)
- Pumpkin (small sugar).

Note, I didn't need the extra broadbeans I planted - I now have about 45 plants! Going to be a lot of picking!!!!

Back after 2 week's break

So we went away for a fortnight, and what should be the beginning if Spring. But the UK has had freezing cold weather during this time, therefore I was a little bit weary about what I would find.

At the allotment, the garlic has begun to grow (hurrah); the rhubarb has frost burn, but should be recoverable (hmm); and the spinach and rainbow chard has been destroyed (boo).

In the greenhouse, the broadbeans that I thought were old and knackered have sprouted (bonus bumper broadbean bonanza?);the peas and tomatoes are beginning to do their thing (nice), and everything else is not responding (hurry up).

However, as it is now a little bit warmer (washing is drying outside), and signficantly lighter, I hope that things will catch up, and we actually planned our holiday really well!

Mid March and a slightly fuller greenhouse

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Whilst it's still a little cold, today I've planted:
- Broadbeans (Bunyards Exhibition) - yes, I know this has already been said once this year, but after a freezing fortnight and no sign of growth, I decided it might be because the seed is old, so I purchased some more this morning from Sainsbury's and it happens to be the same type.
- Squash (Early Flat White) - this is a heritage type, let's see if it grows
- Statice - Art Shades Mixed - some flowers for my garden
- Pea - Klevedon Wonder
- Leek - Caretan
Sweet Pea - Perfume Delight, to encourage the bees at the allotment and for picking for my living room.

Hopefully it will warm and they will grow.