Welcome back to
Reads Allotment Retreat, our diary blog of our new allotment. As the title suggests, we've had some busy days in the last week, and are making great progress.
Sunday 12th -I popped up to the plot Sunday morning and purchased sufficient bamboo canes for out 2 rows of climber (about 40 in total), which at 32p each from the allotment shop is a considerable saving vs. what we would have to pay elsewhere i.e. Homebase and the like.
While I was there i booked the "
lawnmower" for Monday, as the grass on the plot had not been cut since August last year! The hire from the society is 50p - for as long as it takes - and includes a full tank of juice. Not the best mowers in the world, but adequate for my needs! I also had a chance to talk to Alf about my new fruit trees. I had read that newly planted bare rooted trees should have their blossom removed in the first year to promote root growth. That seemed a bit harsh to me, and Alf's years of gardening confirmed my suspicions - that the majority of the blossom should be left intact, only removing any blossom that forms near the ground level. He also indicated that I should add plenty of GC compost around the base of the trees, to help hold in the moisture, as well as giving a good watering once a week to help the roots establish. Finally, due to an error on his part, he had ended up with 2 trays of shop bought Leek seedlings and he only needed 1, so i bought the other off him. Cheers Alf.
Monday 13th - Jen, Ruby, and I arrived at the plot around midday. We had a list of things to do - as long as a couple of arms! It was a glorious day, and being a Bank Holiday there was plenty of activity on the site. First job of the day was to collect my canes from the shop, and then get cracking with the lawnmower. Whilst I
effed and blinded over the efficiency (or lack of) of the lawnmower, Jen (wifey) got on with planting up the rest of our first early potatoes. There were about 30
Rocket and 30
Maris Peer to go in. In the absence of any more free wood to construct a permanent bed, we elected to cover the rotavated bed with a weed membrane, before cutting planting holes and planting the seed potatoes through them.
After I had finished cutting the grass, I set about starting to put the bean canes up. No mean feat considering the beds are about 15' long each. My top tip for this job is to use cable ties. These are inexpensive and last better than string or twine. I find the latter gets nicked by the birds over the course of the growing season, thereby weakening the support structure. It's quicker to use ties too! While I got on with this, wifey finished the spuds planting then started on digging over the next spud bed. Ruby was not far away, and quickly joined a group of kids in kicking a football about.
This Rhubarb crown was planted last year and virtually forgotten about. Now it is putting on good growth at quite a rate.
I need to clear the grass around this crown, and allow a bit more moisture and air in. That's another one of those 5 minute jobs added to the list. I need to do a similar exercise around the Red and Black currant bushes (5 more mins) as well as cover the slats in the "pallet" compost bin (another 5 mins) - you get the picture !
This is our Bramley Apple tree, one of 3 varieties purchased from Aldi's that we recently planted. Each time we visit the plot there is a bit more growth, a bit more blossom. We are just glad that they survived being moved so soon after their initial planting; and whats more, appear to now be thriving. We don't expect a huge crop this year, though a few fruits to pick would be nice! Next year however, will hopefully be a bigger harvest ! The other trees planted at the time are: Elstar Apple (eater) and Conference Pear, and further down the plot a Victoria Plum.
Final job of the day was to find a home for this Primula which we were given. I know you cant eat them, but a splash of colour looks good!
We're off to the plot tomorrow , so we'll bring you another update soon. Pop back to see our progress. Hope you are all enjoying your gardens. Take care,
TTFN
and we've been busy! As you can see, Ruby is proudly displaying our latest Marrow from the plot. These have grown really well, 4 now from 2 plants, and there's more growing too - maybe 2 more on the stronger plant which will be ready in the next week or so. As I type, Jen is preparing a Marrow Jam, which looks and smells delicious. (Recipe from the Allotment Growers Cookbook ISBN 978-0-276-44260-5). This has been a truly great cookbook this year, and we've tried loads of dishes from it. Well worth the money, in our opinion. Whilst the jam prep is underway, we're cooking up a feast of home grown veg for tea! I've been charged with cooking the pan fried potato's (v. Maris Peer), whilst Jen is roasting some beans( Scarlet Emperor, Purple French & Dwarf Yellow French, together with some toms, yellow zuchinni, green courgettes, and some onions from the plot. The sausages - I have to be honest - are from Aldi's!. Cant wait to tuck into this lot.
Not content with the amount of work our 10 Rod plot gives us, we have taken on another 5 Rod plot adjacent to ours. This is the space we originally wanted to plant our tree's on, and to be honest - we've wanted it for a while. Now we have got it (in writing from the society) we can spend some of our time now cutting beds into the unloved soil, and stealing a march on next years preparations! We have also got a good supply of Free manure now from a local stables, and will be using this to dress the beds, before we cover them with mulching cloth. They'll be left like this for the worms to do their work, before being dug over late autumn.
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