Alans Allotment

Monday, 29 June 2026

Potting Up Strawberries

Photo's Uploaded words to follow later ......

My Agapanthus plant is finally bursting into colour.

A check in on how my very late tomatoes are doing

Strawberry (Fragaria) Elsanta from

A great mid-season Dutch variety that produces a lot of glossy, orange-red fruit with a delicious sweet flavour. Elsanta strawberries, a supermarket favourite, have a long storage life and are less prone to bruising than many other varieties. The juicy berries are available from mid-June to mid-July and are ideal for making your own jams or freezing to enjoy when they are out of season. Height: 20cm (8"). Spread: 30cm (12").

Strawberry (Fragaria) Elsanta Peat Free 9cm pots x 6

Growing Information

Plant strawberry plants in autumn or late spring in a sheltered, sunny position in well manured, free draining soil. Plant strawberry runners every 45cm (18") in rows spaced at 75cm (30") apart.

Spread out their roots and place them in the soil at a level where the crown of the plant is just poking above the surface.

Avoid planting them too deeply as this may cause them to rot. Alternatively try growing strawberry plants in hanging baskets or in specially designed strawberry planters for the patio.

Sunday, 28 June 2026

Small Steps Forward

Photo's download...... words to be added soon

Saturday, 27 June 2026

Hydrating Coir

I purchased these 6 blocks of Premium Coir Compost from ebay for the princely cost of £15.49 including shipping which works out at £2.58 for every 10 Litres worth

These blocks measure 140mm x 140mm x 50mm thick and the volume is the same as the older 180mm x 180mm x 30mm blocks, that changed their packaging each year, but remained 99p or a £1 a block. Until that was, those that want to save the planet decided on our behalf to stop selling peat compost to domestic growers.

Coirs value increased as it became a critical component in peat Free composts and in a very few years is now 2.58 x more expensive than it was for many years.

I hydrated the six blocks of Premium Coir Compost using 3 litres of water, in square flower buckets from my favourite supermarket that I've had for years. as these smaller blocks don't come inside a plastic bag like their larger flatter cousins.

Friday, 26 June 2026

Equigrow Order Arrives

Arrived safe and sound between the delivery window I was given of 2pm to 4pm

The Large 50 Bag Variety Pallet looking well what can I say "Very large on the doorstep"

What can be spied on the top of the pallet, are a couple of additional bags, above and beyond what I ordered. More on that later .........

I did offer the courier a drink if he could walk the sacks through to the back garden for me, alas he was on a time crunch and had I been his last drop off, he would have done. So there I was with all these sacks on my front door, scratching my head, how I was going to get them into the back garden?!!.

Hold that thought again, all will be revealed later on in this post.

Focusing on the Blue Pallet at the base of this mega stack of compost.

Blue pallets almost universally indicate ownership by CHEP, a global supply chain and pallet pooling company. They are rented rather than sold, meaning they legally remain the property of CHEP and must be returned, as buying or selling them is prohibited.

The Meaning and Origin of Blue Pallets

Ownership: The blue colour is a registered trademark of CHEP. It allows the company to track, maintain, and retrieve its equipment across the global supply chain.
The "Pooling" System: Instead of buying pallets, businesses lease them from CHEP. After a shipment is delivered, the pallets are meant to be returned, repaired, and recirculated rather than discarded.
Legality: Because blue pallets are private property, it is illegal to buy, sell, trade, or upcycle them for personal use. Keeping or attempting to sell them can result in legal liability or civil penalties.

Other Pallet Colours

Colour-coding is a standard industry method to instantly identify which company owns or manages the equipment.

Red: Typically owned by LPR (La Palette Rouge) in Europe or PECO in the US/Loscam in Asia-Pacific.
Brown: Indicates ownership by the IPP Pooling network.
Blue Plastic (FDA/Hygienic): Some unbranded blue plastic pallets are utilized in the food or pharmaceutical industries to indicate they are made of virgin plastic, meet FDA hygiene regulations, and are easy to sanitize.

What to do if you have one

If you are a business or individual with unauthorized blue pallets, do not throw them away or attempt to sell them. You can arrange for them to be legally collected through the CHEP Return Portal. CHEP provides free pick-up services to clear their equipment from your premises.

I've completed the information on the Return Portal now I will just wait and see how long it takes them to come and collect their property.

The 20 sacks of Real Farmyard Manure stacked adjacent to the Kitchen back door

Now I have to say, the back garden is looking a wee bit crowded as one might expect having just brought 52 sacks of various composts from the front to the back of the house.

I would love to say it was me that did it, unfortunately that's not the case. Kelly brought 7 sacks through bless her before she had to pop out on a mission as in driving her old car with a broken clutch to the car dealer, she has just bought her new car from.

It was my neighbour Sid's grandson Dave who came to my rescue, he is in his 40's a scaffolder and as fit as I used too be when I was in my 40's.

He would not take a drink as a thank you and was happy with a simple thank you.

As my old dad used to say, there is no taste in nothing, so I will be buying him a substantial quantity of his favourite beer and giving them to Sid for him. In that way I can ask him for a favour in the future again.

Fertile Mulch on the decking beside the gate

Two additional sacks added to my order by Erika of Equigrow for me to trial, Premium Soil Conditioner and Finest Topsoil. I will be posting about these in a little while.