Flowers on the plot!

Welcome back to our allotment retreat. As the title suggests and the pictures show, the spuds have started to burst into flower, a sure sign that they are growing on well, and getting closer to the all important harvest time. We are lucky to have almost white flowers mixed in with the usual lilac and yellow , and as the next few weeks come and go, we hope to see even more flowers. Over the last couple of days I have doused the spuds with a hose ( borrowed from fellow plotholders - thank you ) and I think they have responded well. This morning it's raining lightly, and the rain is forecast for the weekend, so they should get plenty of the wet stuff now!

Our apple tree's continue to put on good growth, as this picture of our eater shows. The variety is "Elstar" - not one of the common ones that i know, but a necessary pollinator for our Bramley apple. I'm constantly worried that the apple tree roots might dry out, and with that in mind have recently been collecting buckets of stones / pebbles from around the plot and placing them around the base of the trunks as an aid to locking in the moisture. Guess we'll have to wait and see if it works!


Our Bramley Apple; as you can see, is fairing far better than the Elstar, and it looks like we'll be getting some first season fruits. Differing opinions tell you to sacrifice this first bearing of fruit whilst others tell you to leave well alone. We're opting for the latter course, and we'll see how we get on ! Of the other 2 tree's we planted, the Conference Pear is looking good - plenty of lush leaves but as yet no other signs of fruit. Too early perhaps? The Victoria Plum tree however, is not looking so healthy. Most of the leaves have died back for some reason, and we will be watching this closely to see what occurs. I'm convinced that moving all 4 tree's earlier in the year was not a good move, especially so soon after planting. It's a shame also that we moved the tree's to accomodate a fellow plotholders wishes, and she has not returned to her plot since. What a waste of time.

The runners / climbers that we planted as seed directly into the ground are now making headway. As mentioned in earlier posts, our early plantings were devastated by the winds so we are really pleased that these are growing so well. We have been watering these daily over the last week to help them on their way, and with a few ( or more ) showers forecast this weekend, the growth should continue. Only trouble we have now though, is trying to remember what we planted, and where ! Maybe we can just wait and see, and look forward to the surprise !!!



And finally, here's our young apprentice! Ruby is with us whenever possible on the plot. She really LOVES the plot, and can't wait to be in it, either at home or on the allotment. We are both looking forward to the time when we can dig up some produce - take it home - and cook it !
Not long now darling.

That's it for today's update. Hope you've enjoyed it, and we look forward to welcoming you back to our Allotment Retreat very soon.


Take care all, and enjoy your gardens & plots.


TTFN.

Tree mendous !

Welcome back to Reads Allotment Retreat, our new diary blog for our allotment. There's been no activity on site for the last month, mainly due to an all "time consuming" new shift pattern at work, which we are still trying to get used to. There's still been plenty going on at home though, and the spuds are chitting away merrily. Mum visited last weekend, and went home with half a dozen seed pots to plant up at home. Wifey and I managed a brisk couple of hours on the plot today, and we managed to plant our 4 new fruit trees that up until now have been in the frost free greenhouse. After purchasing 4x1.2Metre stakes from a local timber company for a mere £4.14 incl vat, we set off for the plot. The first Tree planted was a Victoria Plum - a Wedding Gift from Huw & Jane. This variety is self fertile and does not therefore need a companion tree for pollination. (This is bottom left in the pic). The next one in was a Conference Pear. This variety is Partially self fertile, and as such I was glad to see fellow plot-holders in the immediate vicinity have also planted the same variety(bottom right in pic). This was followed by a Bramley Apple, which requires a pollinator tree(top left in pic), in this case we chose an Elstar Apple(top right in pic). All of these tree's; once established, could theoretically grow in height to 25', so pruning will be essential to keep them at a manageable height.
Prior to planting the trees, i checked on the RHS site for advice on staking. There's not much you won't find on the RHS website, it's well worth a look when you have a few moments!

The latter 3 trees were purchased from Aldi, at the price of £4.18 each. I found this to be too much of a bargain to miss, and It'll be a long time I guess till I next see fruit trees at that price. The labelling on the individual packaging reads:

1. Conference Pear: Partly self fertile. Height is dependant on variety and pruning, and can vary from 6' to 30'. Picking time is Late September. Thrives in heavy soil. Yippee !A superb dessert pear of medium fruit. Juicy firm flesh. Easy to grow.
   
2. Bramley Apple: Requires Pollinator (Granny Smith, Elstar, Cox's Orange). Height is dependant on variety and pruning, and can vary from 6' to 25'. Picking time is October. Thrives in a sunny, well drained site. A heavy cropper of extra large fruit. Excellent flavour. The most popular culinary variety of vigorous habit. Keeps well.
3. Elstar Apple: Pollinator for Bramley Apple. Height is dependant on variety and pruning, and can vary from 5' to 25'. Picking time is October. Thrives in a sunny, well drained site. A medium dessert apple, which stores well. It is juicy and has outstanding flavour. A heavy cropper.

Plenty of information there to keep me going. I guess now we'll have to read up on pruning techniques!

There's sure to be loads more updates soon, and we look forward to your next visit.

Till then, enjoy your gardens.

TTFN