Time to move the plum tree

We spent a very pleasant couple of hours at the allotment today in the weak January sunshine. I went down to dig up some celeriac and leeks for making soup. The snow has now all gone and we were hoping for a frost last night, as the ground is much easier to dig after a frost. However, the frost was negligible and the ground was very sticky. While I was there I decided that today was the right day for moving the plum tree. It is too close to the fruit cage and is going to become a problem in the future. It's two years old so the sooner the better. It turned out to be a bigger job than I expected - as always! When Peter came down he brought a very welcome cup of coffee and then started chopping wood for the wood burning stove back home. He keeps a large supply of wood down at the plot and as it's been a cold winter so far, we've used a lot of wood.

I needed help with moving the tree, so when the wood was chopped he came and helped with the digging. We dug a hole about 6 feet across but eventually had to chop the roots, as it was becoming too difficult to chase them all. The new place for the tree is beside the new lawn. I put some wood ash and manure in the bottom of the hole and then replaced the soil, putting more manure on top. It looks much better in it's new home.

I had left the celeriac soaking in a bucket as it's a very dirty vegetable to clean at home. The whole clean up operation takes longer at this time of year. Peter did manage to acquire a boot puller at the auction recently which works brilliantly for pulling off muddy wellies. He also got me a butler sink, but I haven't decided what to use it for yet, and a couple of galvanised buckets which are useful for putting the hot ash into.

Mr. McGregor goes to work!

Peter, (alias Mr. McGregor) has decided to rabbit-proof part of the allotment with a fence, so watch out all you pesky rabbits! He's fencing off the middle section using chicken wire and four inch fence posts. Trouble is I'd already planted the onions, shallots, garlic and broad beans in there, so when digging the trench we had to be careful not to dig them up or damage them. The wire has to go a foot down below the soil level in order to deter the little blighters from burrowing underneath. It's quite a difficult job now as the soil is heavy and damp. However, yesterday we just about cracked it. All the chicken wire is now in place, there's just some soil to replace and the gates to make. JUST! It's amazing what a different feel it gives to the plot - it's almost like there's a new patch to work in.

I'm still battling with the weeds - in between helping with the fence that is. John said that he was digging up the thistles and perennial weeds and digging the rest in. Seems like a good idea. It's not just me - everyone seems to have a problem with chickweed this year.

Since my last blog I've dug up the dahlias and moved them to their

new home next to the grassy area and the fruit trees. It should make a lovely place to sit and admire!! But who gets the chance to sit? I've been watching the carrots steadily growing and thought I'd risk picking a few

yesterday. They were disappointingly small and when I washed them to put into a casserole this morning they were largely useless - most of them were damaged by root fly. I did however pick a good sized celeriac. There's a lot of roots and waste to

discard but the finished vegetable was still about the size of a cricket ball. I found it not unpleasant to taste raw - a bit like the sweeter root part of a celery plant. When I was little and we used to have celery for tea, the 'knobbly' bit, or root, was the best bit. It was carefully cut into four so that everyone got a piece. We used to dip the celery sticks in salt, and eat them with bread and butter and cheese. Anyway, back to celeriac. Peter deigned to try a piece and declared that it had less taste than a potato. Maybe they'll be like parsnips and need a good frost to make them sweeter. I'm not sure I'll bother to grow them again even though they were easy to grow

and the rabbits didn't like them. I wonder why?

Betty has taken to racing around the plot like a demented rabbit when one or other of us turns up at the plot. But mostly she sits and sleeps in the sun, or barks at Charlie's alsation.

Last month we noticed some ink caps growing beside the old bath.

They're probably edible but we didn't risk eating them. The area down by the bath is still very much neglected, with many weeds, a half made path and still a visible hollow to be filled in. We'll have to finish the path in the Spring otherwise Kev won't be able to access his corner, due to the new fence.

I went along to the gardening club meeting last month. The talk was a 'Kenyan Safari', and the competition was a carved pumpkin. I thought I would enter my magnificent pumpkin, so I looked on the internet for an interesting

face to carve. There are thousands to choose from I chose a simple one which didn't take long to carve and guess who won the competition? Mind you, there were only two other entries!

Harvest!

We've just returned from a holiday to Rome and Switzerland, by train. Travelling through Europe I couldn't help but notice the immaculate allotments beside the railway lines. I think our plot is a long way from that sort of perfection.

I was able to harvest all the squashes today and three wonderful pumpkins. As I laid out all the produce along the bench, it looked like a proper old-fashioned harvest festival. I say old-fashioned as harvest festivals aren't what they used to be any more. Most of the produce given these days is of the 'tinned' variety. The lovely gardener's trug baskets were a lucky find from the auction. Peter got them both plus a watering can for £3!

As you can see there has been a glut of runner beans while we've been away and another of the courgettes has become a marrow. The dahlias are still stunning - it's such a pity they don't last long in the house.

We've now picked all the tomatoes, including the green ones. Many of them had been nibbled while we've been away, and some were rotting. I've made some tomato and chilli jam which was delicious during the tasting process, but needs to keep a few weeks before using. I've also done some roasted tomatoes and some tomato soup. They're a much more versatile vegetable than I'd realised.

The weeds are taking over again and I'm not sure whether to dig them in or to pull them out. I've pulled a lot of bindweed from in between the fruit bushes - seems like I'll never be free of it. There's chickweed all over the potato patch but it's mixed with other more pernicious weeds so it looks like I might have to do some weed-killering.

Grass, squash and weeds

We've had quite a lot of rain over the last couple of weeks and it's been quite warm as well, so the new grass is growing nicely. In fact it was long enough to cut for the first time today. It's only four weeks since I planted it so I'm surprised at how quickly it's grown. It will be well established before the cold sets in. The late-planted carrots, parsnips and fennel are all growing well too - success at last. I picked a celeriac last week but it was very small underground and the leaves were bitter. I thought they might have been edible as salad leaves. I've planted two lots of salad leaves recently and although the first row didn't show, the second row have now germinated. If the rabbits don't get them first we might have a crop in a few weeks!
Peter came down today to cut the grass and trim the hedge. He's done a lot work on the lawn mower and the hedge-trimmer lately and they worked perfectly. He's also been working on the pump engine recently with little success. However, he finally managed to get it working last week and filled the 1,000 litre container in about 40 minutes.
The blackberries are still hanging ripe and juicy, and are very tempting. I can't resist the shiny berries so I've picked some for a friend and a few for the freezer. The squashes are beginning to harden and ripen to a pale golden colour and are almost ready to pick. Sadly the corn has been disappointing again this year. We went to a local chilli festival a few weeks ago and I bought a packet of posh-looking Italian corn seeds there for next year. Here's hoping we'll have more luck with them.
The strawberry bed has had it's annual tidy up and I've removed many of the runners. I find it hard to throw them all away so I've planted 36 in Kev's corner, and heeled some in so I can extend my own patch when the dahlias are finished. Talking of dahlias, they've been fantastic again. Especially as they were attacked by the late frosts this Spring.
I've had time to tidy the garden at home lately and have dug up some surplus grape hyacinths and split the red hot poker. They've all now been planted at the allotment, so should provide a bit of colour in the Spring and Summer.
Of course the weeds have got out of hand in many areas now. I'm trying to keep on top of them but the bindweed has returned with a vengeance at the bottom end and the fruit bushes are looking very neglected. Some areas can easily be tidied up with a hoe but other areas need to be dug over and weeded by hand or weed-killed. It's all good exercise!!

The goldfinch

I went down today to water the grass, which fortunately wasn't washed away by the rain last week, and is just beginning to grow. I planted some oriental leaves last week and was about to water them when I noticed a bird which had got caught in the netting. He was flapping furiously but I was unable to free him. By the time I'd returned with scissors to cut the netting, the poor goldfinch was breathing his last. I managed to free him and massaged his little chest for a while, but to no avail. It's very sad sitting with a little warm bird in your hand and not being able to do anything to revive it.
The carrots and parsnips are beginning to grow now and also the fennel. I don't know if this is too late for them to develop - will just have to wait and see. I also have two long rows of developing celeriac plants. Don't know what I'm going to do with them all though.
The artichokes have begun to flower, and although they are no longer edible, they do look beautiful and the bees love them.
The corn has had only a limited success again this year. The first few we picked were delicious, but subsequent ones have been deformed and partly eaten away by ladybirds. And I thought ladybirds were the gardener's friend!

Visitors

Ian and Jen came to visit last weekend. They just got their allotment in April so were keen to see ours. They last saw it two years ago when we had just taken ours on, so saw a big difference. It's very satisfying to share our plot with like-minded people. I think they felt that theirs wasn't quite big enough as Jen would like some fruit bushes and there isn't room.

I went down yesterday with some grass seed to extend the 'lawn'. The soil was already weeded and raked so it didn't take too long. I removed the stones from the surface, tramped it down using a board, raking down any high patches as I went. After spreading the seed I put up some sticks, string and a few plastic streamers to deter the birds. I didn't need to water as I knew it was going to rain in the afternoon. Well it didn't just rain - it poured. It's been raining for about 30 hours now, except for a brief spell this afternoon, and it's still raining! I hardly dare go down again in case all the seed has been washed away.

I picked a good basket of tomatoes and also dug up the rest of the potatoes. I planted Desiree and Pentland Crown this year and both have produced a good sized crop.

Betty and I went for a walk round the site and met Sarah who invited me in for a coffee. She was busy cleaning her onions. She showed me round and gave me a couple of her outdoor cucumbers. She has a very neat plot and a very welcoming shed.

Here's Betty resting on a piece of carpet providing shade over the bath - just in case there are any frogs in there!

Baby squashes - hooray!

Wednesday 18th August
I've been worrying about the butternut squashes lately as they've been producing lots of flowers but no sign of any fruit. They are all grown from seed kept from one of my own squashes, and I was afraid they might all be male plants, or all female plants, and that that might prevent them from producing fruit. However, when I looked today I found five tiny baby squashes! Hooray! They are so interesting to grow, as they ramble all over the allotment, without any regard to the weeds, the paths or the other vegetables. Then, just when you're about to give up on them, there are all the baby fruit. The two courgette plants have started producing again. I've given some to Mark who gave me plants, and also made some courgette muffins. The pumpkin is still growing fast and must be approaching two feet across. It looks like it will make a fine Halloween lantern. There are also smaller pumpkins on some of the other plants. I have one growing in the compost bin and one in the manure pile. Peter took Betty for a walk round the allotment site the other day and spoke to a chap who told him that 'they do pinch pumpkins around here.' One of his was found smashed in the road. We have taken the trouble to hide ours from being seen from the lane, although anyone walking round the plot will see it easily.
The French beans continue to be a great success and I'm picking them about every other day. We've picked four corn cobs so far which were delicious, but compared to size of other corn plants around the site, they're disappointingly small. The rows of carrots, fennel and parsnips are at last starting to grow, and I've covered them all with small wire cloches, to keep the nibbling rabbits away. I've also planted some oriental leaves.
The blueberries are all picked now and have been amazingly successful. Most are now safely tucked away in the freezer, although I have used some for making a batch of Rosalee's blueberry muffins. Delicious!
I've dug and raked the ground where the onions were, as I intend extending the grassed area in the coming weeks. There's a lot more ground than I need to use for planting, and that will make for one less area to weed.
I have at last got to grips with the weeds on the asparagus patch, keeeping them hoed down throughout the summer. I've boarded the edge of the asparagus plot with plastic covered boards to prevent the grass from creeping in.
The tomatoes have been successful grown next to the asparagus and we've started picking them this week. We've also dug up most of the maincrop potatoes. Many of them are a good size with very little slug damage.
Kevin's been down on his plot recently and done a bit of tidying up, digging over etc. Don't know if he took any produce away though?

Stringy beans!

The runner beans I picked on Sunday were dreadful - short and fat rather than long and thin - and very stringy. They all went in the compost bin. I did find some lovely french beans though - crunchy and tender.

I've been spending a good deal of time watering lately mostly the tomatoes, celeriac and butternut squash. The squash don't seem to have found water yet as every time I go down they are wilting. I dug up the remaining new potatoes today and was again surprised by their size.

Kevin's plot is looking very neglected - he's had a busy time lately, what with a wedding and a honeymoon to plan. However he's got some potatoes and onions ready to pick. Where are you Kevin - the slugs will have 'em before you do!

I have loads of marigolds coming up all over the plot, and although they look pretty, I don't want them to increase a hundred fold next year, so I pulled most of them up today. I decided to pick the two large marrows today as I think they are stopping any further courgettes from developing. I'll have to try and give the marrows away, or sell them as we're not keen.

Blueberries at last!

Peter picked the first of our blueberries today and some of them are almost as big as grapes. He panicked while we were away and was going to ask a friend to go and pick them for us. However, they're quite slow to ripen and don't all ripen at once, so we waited till we got back and they still weren't quite ripe. We seem to have so much fruit coming at us at the moment that it's all we can do just to keep on top of the picking, never mind doing anything with them. At least if they're in the freezer I can use them later when I have more time. Fat chance!!
The week before last we went away with the family to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary, and also the boys' birthdays. It was great to spend time together and once we were away I more or less forgot about the allotment. However, the week before we went away was spent frantically picking all of the red and white currants, and also some of the gooseberries which were going soft. I managed to make a gooseberry crumble and a cherry pie to take away with us. The pie was superb.Since we came back we've been busy picking the blackcurrants and the remaining gooseberries. We've had six pounds of blackcurrants from the one bush. Incredible.

The courgette plants have begun to take off now and in fact we came back to a very large marrow and some small courgettes. This is the first time I've grown them and I'm amazed at how fast they grow. I think I'll leave the marrow to fatten up for a giant marrow competition - if there is one! I've also watched a tiny pumpkin grow this week into the size of a small football. The celeriac is doing well and doesn't seem to have anything attacking it - so far.

I picked a few peas this week, although barely enough for a couple of mouthfuls each. They were delicious though. I dug up some lovely new potatoes today, some quite large ones, although it surprises me where they find the moisture from as we've had very little rain. We picked the first of the runner beans today although the plants don't look as lush and healthy as last year.

I picked a cabbage today to make into coleslaw. It was one of the plants Bernie gave me earlier in the year. When I showed the cabbages to Bernie's wife, Jacqui, she said she'd she'd better not tell Bernie as mine were bigger than his!

I also planted another small row of carrots, one of parsnips and one of fennel, in a last ditch attempt to get some of them to germinate. For all the seeds I planted earlier in the year, I can count about 3 carrots, no parsnips at all and all the fennel has been eaten.

Fruit Picking

Tuesday July 5th
I can't believe it's nearly two months since I last wrote a blog entry. I bumped into Kev the other day - at his wedding as a matter of fact, and he asked me where I'd been!
Peter wanted me to record the day we started to pick the redcurrants. It was Friday 25th June. We'd been away for two weeks, and the berries were dripping off the bushes. Fortunately not all of them were ripe. Peter spent two hours picking berries and cutting the grass, while I picked gooseberries, planted leeks and did some watering. The fruit cage is working well at keeping the birds out, although I think we could probably have allowed the birds have a few this year. Peter found a couple of bushes with berries on which weren't quite ripe - then I remembered - John had said something about white currants. They look like albino berries as you can see the seeds inside. But what on earth do you do with them?
I seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time looking up recipes on the internet, for what to do with currants and cherries. I've made cherry compote which was great, cherry and yogurt ice-cream, just ok, and now we're trying cherry jam. Of course the cherries are best just eaten. I've made one batch of redcurrant jelly which didn't set very well so I'm going to have another go.
I planted two rows of celeriac plants before we went away and most are survivng. I wasn't sure if they'd be attacked by anything so I had hedged my bets and covered some with wire cloches. The peas however have not fared so well. Every time I remove the wire cloches all the peas disappear! People tell me it's the pigeons. Peter helped me to make a new netting cover to protect them earlier this week, so hopefully in a few weeks we'll have some fresh peas.
We missed the best of the strawberries while we were away - but they didn't go to waste - Kev ate them! His new wife, Lauren said she hadn't seen any of them! She reckons he ate them all in this van!!
We had picked a good crop of broad beans just before we went away and there were lots more when we returned. Other crops haven't done so well. I still haven't managed to get any carrots or parsnips to germinate. I even bought a new packet of parsnip seeds as they tell me you can't plant old parsnip seeds. Still nothing! All the fennel has disappeared - they seem to have been nibbled off at the surface.
This week I've picked some lovely new potatoes though and the first of the onions are ready. All the garlic has now gone over and is waiting to be lifted.
Now we have the mammoth job of doing something with all the fruit. I must say Peter has been great, picking all the berries and then cooking them to extract the juice. We also have a huge crop of cherries at home this year, so he's spent a lot of time pitting cherries. We also have loganberries this year and a good crop of raspberries. HELP!!

The weather has been steadily hotting up all week until yesterday when it reached 25 degrees. I've been down every day to keep the seeds watered, although I still can't see much coming through apart from the odd beetroot seedling. I've planted half a row of Florence Fennel - there were 500 seeds in the packet, so I figured I wouldn't need them all! They looked remarkably like caraway seeds. I also planted another row of parsnips. Peter came down on Friday and finished off the fruit cage, which is now complete with gate. He also filled up the water container, and I did some watering directly from the hosepipe. I put the sweetcorn in yesterday, which had grown well at home and also chanced one of my pumpkin plants. I'm not sure what to do with the rest! On Gardener's World this week they said that to grow a giant pumpkin plant you need 36 square metres of space! We finished off with a cuppa in 'the orchard'.

Late frosts and tadpoles

Despite the lack of blog entries lately I have actually been down to the allotment over the past two weeks, I just haven't got round to writing anything down!
I planted my dahlias out about a week ago and lost the lot on Tuesday night when there was a hard frost! I also lost the French beans which Bernie had given me. I'm silly really as I'd bought fleece for this very thing - I just didn't believe the forecasts. The fig tree had about three leaves on it and they've all gone, as have some of the leaves on the grape vine. Ah well, that's a lesson learned for next year.
Peter came down this week and cut the grass which had grown quite long. He also measured up for the wood to make a fruit cage. He's now finished constructing the wooden supports and has attached the netting to one side. The red and black currants are growing fast, so we need to get it finished soon. The gooseberries are also looking good again this year.
I've prepared the soil in the raised bed ready for the butternut squash plants. All the seeds I saved from last year seem to be thriving and I've even given some plants away.
Today I planted the runner bean plants, some of which were about 18 inches tall, and beginning to climb round each other. I don't think there's any frost forecast for this week, I hope not anyway.
Many of the peas are now big enough to need staking so I've put in the pea sticks. And at last the sweet peas are beginning to take off. I'm still watering the carrot, beet and parsnip seeds regularly although there's nothing much happening yet.
I've been doing a bit of weeding alongside all the planting and have planted some cornflower seeds as well as the flowers George gave me last year, in the little border near the gate.
We were delighted to count about four big fat tadpoles swimming in the pond-bath today. We added some chickweed for food and poured in some water from a height to add a bit of oxygen.
I made some nettle soup a couple of weeks ago for my 'Souper Lunch' club. It was really just a variation on an Irish potato soup and was actually very good. I must have looked a strange sight, picking the nettle tips from the side of the road with my rubber gloves on! I also used the last of the parsnips to make a spicy parsnip soup.

The vandals return!

Saturday1st May
I've spent this week slowly building up my strength again. I found that digging and planting two rows of potatoes in one day was just too much so I had to take it easy and do a bit at at time. I've now planted all the seed potatoes, as well as another two rows of peas. I've planted beet, carrots and parsnips straight into the ground, although I'm doubtful if the carrots will grow as the seed is from 2008.

It's been a real treat to come home every other day for the last couple of weeks with a lovely bunch of fresh asparagus. The weeds are beginning to take over though.

I was clearing out the shed at home the other day and found .... wait for it .... another sack of potatoes, completely untouched! They look like they were the best ones too. Unfortunately they were all sprouting so I'll just have to plant them now.

Bernie gave me some of his left over cabbage plants which I've protected with netting as we still have rabbits on the plot. He also gave me some French bean plants which I've now managed to get in the ground. I still haven't got any planted at home yet, but the runner beans are starting to grow. All my seed trays in the conservatory are beginning to get going now, after a slow start. The pumpkin seeds are romping away and almost all the squash seeds I saved from last year have now germinated.

The apple tree is looking fantastic and is loaded with blossom. I'm so pleased it's doing well as it was planted rather too late last Spring - much against the advice of the nurseryman. However, we did look after it well and watered it often. Unfortunately the pear tree doesn't seem to have any blossom at all. It has lots of leaves though and looks very healthy. Here's hoping for next year.

We took some friends down to show them round the plot this evening, but found that the vandals had smashed their way through the gate and broken the latch. They've also forced their way into the shed and broken the catch. Nothing else seems to have been taken or damaged. I guess they were just showing that a simple thing like a padlock wasn't going to stop them getting in. It's so frustrating.

A new pane of glass

Wednesday 21st April

Well it's been three weeks since we did any proper work on the allotment. This week the weather has been beautiful and we spent about 4 hours there today. Peter was able to borrow John's rotavator and dug over some of the previously dug areas ready for planting. The new rotavator doesn't dig as deeply as the old one, but at least it saved me from doing any more digging. I was able to get in all the second early potatoes - tried Estima this time. I haven't bothered with the first earlies this year. I planted another row of peas and protected them this time as the first row are struggling - they've probably been eaten by the mice.

Peter had made me a bug box earlier in the week and so we put that up on one of the old bean posts, to encourage the ladybirds. If you look closely you can see it in the picture.

Peter put in a new piece of glass to replace the broken pane in the shed, and I cleaned up the debris from the fires they had started to light. The fire in the corner had been worse than we had thought, and if it hadn't been for the quick thinking of one of the allotmenteers who noticed some of the sheds smoking, ours might have gone up in flames too. He had thrown water to put the fire out and stop it spreading. We've put a padlock on the shed and the gate now but many people say that it will be counter-productive.

We were both exhausted by the time we went home.

Vandals!

Sunday 18th April

We had a phone call from Lauren today to say that the vandals have been at our shed. They've broken one of the windows, and tried to start a fire inside. The posters on the walls have all been badly burned. It seems it may have been mindless vandalism from youngsters. If they'd really wanted to set the shed on fire it would'nt have been difficult. There was plenty of combustible material in there. Peter went down to take a look. I just hope they haven't been at the biscuits!

Tadpoles

We felt fit enough to do a little pottering this afternoon. The weather was amazing, wall-to-wall sunshine, so what better time to do it? On the way to the allotment, we stopped in at the common and collected some frogspawn and were lucky enough to catch a few tadpoles as well. We felt like big kids with our plastic container suspended on a pole! We also collected a bag of mole-hill soil to build up the area around the bath/pond. The soil is very fine and crumbly so we aim to get some more another time. We emptied the frogspawn into the bath in the hope that they will successfully turn into frogs. Betty came to watch the fun.

Peter planted his garlic into the ground and watered it in, while I did a bit of weeding in between the remaining garlic and shallots. We enjoyed just wandering around looking at what has started growing in the almost three weeks since we were last there. The plum tree is well into blossom as are the peach and the greengage tree. The apple tree looks healthy and about to burst into flower, and the mulberry has a way to go yet. The pear tree has leaves but no blossom yet.

A Nasty Virus!

'A nasty virus is what you've got', the nurse told me when I went to see her a few days after Easter. I'd been feeling rough since the family left on Easter Sunday and things weren't getting any better. She checked me out and gave me some antibiotics to try. 'They won't work though, if it's a bacterial infection' was her parting shot. By the weekend things were getting worse, so another trip to the Doctor's confirmed that I had - yes - pneumonia! 'More antibiotics, but don't forget to finish the first course', he said.
Well two weeks have gone by since the first sneeze, and I'm beginning to make a little progress. While I've been away from the allotment the weeds have been steadily growing (that reminds me of a song but I can't think which one) and there's no-one to plant the potatoes chitting away in the conservatory. Ah well, they'll just have to wait. A few days after I came down with the virus, Peter caught it too, so we're just trying to keep each other going.
The seeds I planted a few weeks ago are still making very slow progress - apart from the sunflowers which are about 6 inches tall. And what is it with leeks? They took ages to germinate and they're still so small and spindly. What do I have to do? I'll have to ask Bernie. I encouraged Peter to plant some garlic 'seeds' which we'd kept in the shed over winter, not really thinking they'd grow. Well of course they're doing famously. I've never heard of anyone growing garlic seeds before - maybe it will be a two year process, who knows? The other seeds he planted were some green peppers. They're also doing well - he must have green fingers.
Hopefully we'll both soon be fit enough to get down to do a bit of 'green fingering' on the allotment.

Tidying the shed

The forecast is for rain all week so I foolishly headed for the allotment this afternoon during a brief sunny spell. It didn't last long! Betty and I soon headed for cover in the shed and starting tidying up the accumulated debris of the last 20 months. It's a job that is long overdue and there never seems to be time to fit it in. First of all there were some tagetes plants waiting for their seeds to be shaken into paper bags. Then there were lots of things which needed hanging up such as stools, bags of plastic pots, reels of wire etc. Luckily there was a hammer and some nails to help with the task. Lots of the rubbish on the floor was collected and other things tucked away underneath our old dressing table which serves as a useful storage space. My friend Brenda had given me a useful vegetable planner, so with that hung on the wall along with the Gardener's World calendar and a butterfly identification sheet, it looks positively cosy!!

By the time we'd finished the rain had eased somewhat so we ventured outside. I managed to hoe the little border at the front of the plot, and turn over the soil along the edge of the grapevine before the weather became unpleasant again. The ground is really much too wet to dig at the moment and I think it will be a few days yet before it dries out.

The picture shows a very wet Betty in the rain.

I noticed the first of the blossom showing on the apricot tree at home this week. It's usually beginning to show on my birthday, so it's at least 10 days late this year.

Pea planting in the rain

Thursday 25th March
Spent a couple of hours digging, planting and tidying today. I've started hoeing in between the asparagus plants to keep the weeds down. The soil was very wet and sticky today as we've had some rain. However, it's been mild so good growing weather. I planted some seeds at home three weeks ago, but they're very slow - nothing up yet except the sunflower seeds. Perhaps it's still too cold in the conservatory.
I've removed some of the pea sticks covering the shallots, onions and garlic as they're growing well now, and I weeded in between the rows. I know what the experts meant now when they said to hand weed in between the plants and hoe in between the rows. I didn't have time to do that last year as there was always so much clearing of the perennial weeds to do first. The new lawn behind the onion patch is looking very green and healthy now with all this rain.
Martin bought me an allotment book for my birthday this year and I have used it to make a plan for rotating the crops. I've decided to put the 'legumes' in where the potatoes were last year so started preparing some of the ground today. I don't have a lot of manure so I spread some compost from the compost bin instead. I just had time to plant a row of peas when the heavens opened and I had to run for cover. Still got soaked though as it takes a while to get everyting packed up. Poor Betty got soaked as well. She has her bad leg problem back again so looked a sorry sight - all wet and miserable as I lifted her into the car.

Spring at last!

When I turned the corner onto the allotment today there were cars parked and people working. Spring was in the air.
Last week I spent two mornings digging over the area for the potatoes and planted two bags of Spring sown shallots.
Today the weather was perfect for a little more gentle digging. The soil is damp and mostly weed-free - not like last year when I put in many hours of back-breaking work removing the weeds. I did a little digging over and planted some Spring broad beans. The winter beans are beginning to grow well now especially the ones under the cloche. Peter organised the log pile and placed some wooden panels along the bottom edges of the fence to deter the rabbits. He also started to tie in the peach tree to the horizontal supports.