Rob's Plot Blog

Some of my recent hard work

2011-11-20T17:14:00.001Z

New levelled path and improved weed suppression for next year

July 2011

2011-07-09T22:29:00.001+01:00

Garlic and shallots just dug up

Jerusalem artichokes

Almost Summer

2011-05-08T18:22:00.000+01:00

It turned out a lot nicer today than forecast and everything has started to grow after the rain over the last few days. In the foreground Jerusalem artichokes. This is the first time I've grown them and need to look up what to do next.

This end of the allotment is looking a bit too smart. My latest bed on the left for a red current bush my allotment neighbour gave me. It certainly looks better for widening out the plot to the boundary. Maybe this time next year the black plastic will have all gone.

Earthed up Potatoes. I think I always end up planting the rows too close but I had so many tubers to plant this year I had to squeeze them in somewhere.

These strawberries are in their second year and hopefully will have a bumper crop .

First Spring Crops

2011-04-02T17:53:00.001+01:00

The council put up a new 8' high spiky fence around the site last month. while means my previous barrier of brambles is redundant, I have no excuse not to clear the last of the plot.

The rhubarb has got off to a great start. And I've got a first crop of Asparagus too. Asparagus and Rhubarb crumble for tea tomorrow.

Black current bush also flowering well.

My war on couch grass and other weeds continues with more black landscape fabric from eBay - unsightly but effective. Newly dug bed in the foreground planed to Jerusalem Artichokes. And although they are hard to see - onions shallots garlic and potatoes all planted now also.

Six Months Later

2011-01-30T22:44:00.001Z

Not sure how much has changed here from a year ago. I've been digging over the past month extending the 3 nearest beds and have uncovered a new area to dig over during February. I expect there will be some seriously big rocks not far below the surface there.

One Month Later

2010-06-11T16:56:00.003+01:00

The early onions in the foreground are starting to swell up and will be ready for lifting in a few weeks I guess. The bed they're in had potatoes in last year and I must have missed a few when digging them out as they've started to grow in between the onions. I thought, after the onions have been lifted, if I'm lucky, there might be potatoes to follow.

Spring Returns

2010-05-15T22:05:00.006+01:00

Is it safe to plant out all the plants I've been carefully nurturing in the back garden? Maybe I''ll wait till the end of the week. Can't wait to fill in all the extra space in the bed dug new over winter though.

These strawberries I didn't grow myself - they're from B&Q. Rhubarb in the top right. We've been living off asparagus and rhubarb crumble for the past 2 months.

The pond had sprung a leak last year and what was left was choked with couch grass. I put a new liner in over winter. The frogs came back in the spring and the cordon sanitaire of black membrane and paving slabs is intended to keep the couch grass at bay. But what's that (red arrow)!. I'll get it tomorrow. The paving slabs as ever from skips and the rocks were pulled out of the from the beds I double dug over winter.

Sunny again.

Sunny January

2010-01-30T15:44:00.008Z

It’s always sunny on my allotment, even in January.
Had a day digging yesterday, taking out more huge boulders from a new bed up at the end of the plot. But the ground was too frozen to do any more of that today. Anyway it’s all looking very peaceful so why break the silence. Quite a lot of human activity on the site though with a few bonfires too, but the plants and weeds are all very quiet.
I did have some spouting Broccoli just visible in the foreground. It was attacked by pigeons when I first planted it, and now at the sprouting stage the pesky birds have got under the netting that I hadn't fastened very well. There might still be a bit of broc left for us, but not sure I'm going to bother with winter veg next year - might just focus on the spring summer and autumn, buy broccoli from Tesco and have a good month off when I know there’s nothing to tend on the allotment

2009-07-16T17:39:00.008+01:00

Allotment in the sun again. One month on. I've tried hard this year weeding. I decided that the best way in the beds was to really not give them a chance. We managed to go away for a week last week and was still in control when we returned.

I did let the grass seed though. It grew while hay fever kept me away. I think next year I'm going to do away with the idea of keeping any wild areas close to the cultivated parts. So will go for more paving - if i can find it and more weed suppression membrane. I don't think nature will worry too much, the allotments on the edge of town and there's plenty of nettles elsewhere.

This is my Favourite bed. Is it more luck or knowhow that it looks so full and healthy? Anyway every things growing well. Parsnips in the foreground, beetroot, Parsley, marigolds, chard, fennel (more Photos of that below)

I decided to dig up the potatoes - this photo is taken half way through while I had a bit of a breather. certainly got more out than I planted which is one measure of success. Hope they'll store ok. We ate a few at the start of the week and were pretty tasty, though had a bit of scab on them so had to peel them. I was planning to dig up a few at a time to start with but with all the rain forecast and having this week off work I decided to get them all out in one go.

This must be about the Most Photographed Fennel ever - Its the highlight of my favourite bed. Some of it is just about ready for eating. These were planted with a bit of secession so hopefully will be able to pull them up gradually over the next 2 months.

Onions will be ready in a few weeks too. Planning on planting some overwintering ones this autumn to get some early next summer.

Monster Courgette plants. Hard to believe that the slugs almost ate them, though they are now going after the courgettes! With luck though will have some to eat in a few days time.

I planted these through membrane on soil that had become pretty weedy. I just dug the weeds in with a bit of compost and haven't seen anything of them since - I'm expecting that by next year any weeds will be long gone.

2009-06-22T21:56:00.002+01:00

We ate the first rhubarb today. It was lovely. The plan for next spring is to divide the 2 plants here and have them filling out this whole bed.

The fennel is still growing well, as are most things right now. still managing to keep the beds clear of weeds because I think the more I do this year on that will mean less weeding in years to come.

2009-05-31T16:26:00.003+01:00

The Potatoes one month on are looking great. I've tried to earth them up a bit as your meant to but I think I've planted them a bit too close together to do much of that.

This is the second lot of parsnips that I've planted out. not enough germinated the first time, but these I sprouted on a layer of damp kitchen roll before getting them started in compost filled toilet roll tubes.

And the biggest success on the allotment this week was finding 5 paving slabs in a skip down the road. I'm hoping if I find enough of these I wont need to buy a strimmer.

2009-05-31T16:03:00.004+01:00

There's been a bit of a change in fortunes for the veg on the allotment this month. The broccoli, it turns out, was been eaten by pigeons and not by slugs at all. A bit of netting on some canes and its recovered really well.

The courgettes unfortunately haven't been so lucky. This is definitely slugs and i think the main problem has been that I planted them out too early and in a week of heavy rain. I'm hoping a couple will recover and I've seen they sell butternut squash seedlings at B&Q so hopefully will have something to fill any gaps.

Parsley is surviving. little coya pots worked well for this as it has done for the fennel below which is romping away.

2009-05-06T15:22:00.015+01:00

A Mixed bag here, most of it good, some uncertain and only one failure so far.

I hope the potatoes here appreciate all the hard work that went into getting the bed ready.

The asparagus started really early this year. We’ve been eating it for over a month now and to not overdo a good thing thought I would give it a break now until next year.

Above are onions, shallots, garlic and tadpoles. Always guaranteed to grow well.

These are sprouting broccoli seedlings I’ve been nurturing over the past month. Planted out 2 days ago and now hardly anything left of them. Despite the slug pellets, which I’ve been assured on the box are organic! I think the answer is not to bother with Broccoli next year.

These went out at the same time as the broccoli. On the right Florence fennel which does seem a bit tougher than broc. On the left – parsnips. These took ages to germinate as I’ve since been told they do. They’re planted in toilet roll tubes which I’m also told will mean they come out nice and straight. I think root vegetables don’t like much root disturbance when transplanting and this way you can avoid any. I’m hoping the little cardboard fences will fox the slugs too.

2009-05-06T15:11:00.004+01:00

Looking particularly well tended in the sun here. So just as well you cant see behind where I'm standing.

2009-04-06T20:10:00.004+01:00

Still excited enough to head up after work and take some photos from the ground.

The beds in the middle distance are now planted with onions, shallots and garlic. You can also see a healthy clump of rhubarb in front of there.

And this is the furthest bed, which I dug last week. The large boulders came out of here before the potatoes went in.

2009-04-04T17:34:00.004+01:00

Here's my allotment viewed from Google Earth - from last year maybe. I've highlighted it in case you cant make it out. You might also notice that one of my neighbours has got his more under control. But there are a few newly dug beds visible on mine and there's a shed on the left.

The beds are the handy work of a friend of mine who’s been looking after the plot for a few years. There’s also a rhubarb patch that she planted and an asparagus bed that she inherited from me. My friend's now moved to a new allotment and so she handed this one back to me just 2 weeks ago now. I’ve been busy up there digging and planting since then.

So this is my second time at it. The first time the weeds, slugs and hayfever beat me. This time, I think I’m ready for them. My first plan is to stick with what works. I’ve planted onion sets, shallots and garlic over 2 beds as nothing eats them and I shouldn’t have to worry about watering them. Potatoes, sweet corn and courgettes should do ok too, and I think and I’m going to try out purple sprouting broccoli and Florence fennel to see how tough they are. I know, as names go, Florence Fennel doesn’t sound very tough, but we'll see.

I’ll try and get some more close up photos to mark the changes over the year.