Feeding the Daleks

I had to go to the allotment to pick up Kelly's car and took a load of kitchen compost and shredded paper down with me for Dalek 4 which I keep topping up much to the disgust of Dalek 3 who's time will come later in the season. Harvested 3 lettuce, but there are to many bolting that will become compost fodder shortly. I need to sow some more.

A Nice Little Harvest

A swift visit to water and as it happened harvest onions, looks like white rot has started on some of the onions, so now researching what can be done about it seeing that it can live in the soil for 20 years.
http://www.growyourown.info/page173.html

Nice little harvest of onions, spring onions, Runner and French Beans

Talking to the site agent on the construction site next to the allotment who has a nice little Nissan Micra for sale and she looks really nice so we are getting it for Kelly to learn to drive in. Now where are my blood pressure tablets again . 

Extending the Cucumber Frame

Watering visit - and I extended the cucumber frame and the little blighters just keep growing.

I also harvested some spring onions, Red Barron Onions grown from seed that I'm really happy about, a few carrots and a cucumber and lettuce. 

Video Update 19th July 2015

Time for another Video Update

The potatoes on Bed 11 on the video has been harvested and taken home. The soil bulks about 10% as air gets into the mix. I have extracted nearly a round flower bucket of glass, stone, nails and other things that keep coming to the surface and it still looks like the bed has a pillow.

 

I found a small heart potato and sent a photo to Jen from the plot

Rain Stopped Playing with Mud

Raining first thing but it stopped so I got to the allotment about 8am - started clearing the weeds and hit Bed 9 which had the over wintered Onions in and now has half a bed of parsnips. So I set about weeding the bed and removing the volunteer potatoes from the vacant half.

Once all clear I formed some furrows and lined them with compost and planted 4 rows of carrots then I planted the two rows of onions that have survived in the nursery trays all this time, and then one at the end of some of the rows hopefully to confuse the carrot root fly once/if the carrots grow.

Topped up the comfrey water butt and added comfrey to make a nice on tap comfrey tea. The aerator keeps the water fresh and the smell to a minimum, plus there is an absence of insects / gnats floating on the top of the water.

Some of the beetroots have started to bolt, so I have harvested them, I'm really short of beetroot this year and I only have four out of 30 in vending machine cups that have germinated so far of the next batch.

I fixed some of the cucumbers to the trellis and found Wally has a long curved mate, and then I found members of wally's boy band. Looking at the amount of flowers and growth, I may have to extend the height of the trellis, but it looks like I will be alright for cucumbers for the next couple of weeks at least.

The foxes had dug all the woodchips out from around the bottom of the compost bins and it was all over the carpet path, so swept it up and put it all back and topped it up for good measure.

Lots of ladybirds all over the French beans and not so many aphids, so I'm happy they came back.

All the tomatoes had a feed, then as I was about to move onto the next job at about 12 ish the rain came so, I made my way home. Because of the rain  today I lost about 2 hours work  never mind, it could have been raining all day.  

Little Shop of Horrors

Wednesday 8th July - Morning Watering Visit

Thursday 9th July - Evening Watering Visit

Lots of biting insects so watered undercover crops and harvested Wally
Nice to see an army of ladybirds now feasting on the aphids on my dwarf French beans 

Saturday 11th July 2015

No visit Friday, Bessie was taken away to be turned into a cube.

An early morning visit today before breakfast to water before the sun gets onto the plot, as we just are not having any rain.

I also harvested the last of the early potatoes and some of the second early potatoes, in addition I harvested two Cabbages, Never grown the pointy ones before, I can't help it but they remind me of the plant in the little shop of horrors 

Plan for tomorrow is to get there early and dig up more potatoes before the sun comes around and weed the beds working from the bottom of the plot up and hopefully keeping ahead of the sun then sorting out the dodo around the greenhouse and grow house.

Wrens in the back garden

The Wren in the back garden feeding his two young and cleaning the nest recorded by my daughter Kelly Wooldridge

A Fathers Day Visit to the Plot

A Fathers Day visit to plant out the Swift sweet corn and make a quick update video

Planted Cucumbers and Cleared the Growhouse

Monday 8th June 2015
A morning visit taking tomatoes and cucumbers from the space saver at home to the allotment

Planted the Cucumbers in bed 9

I cleared the grow house of all the timber and have stacked it neatly in the timber store rack.
Potted up the tomatoes from the vending machine cups and put them in the bottom of the grow house.
Watered all the plants that needed to be watered.

Found part of a fire guard that is ideal to stop the foxes and cats getting into the greenhouse and it means I can leave the greenhouse door open so that the greenhouse does not over heat and it has air flow to prevent any nasty fungal growths.

Set the hoses to dribble mode on the runner beans and the grapes - as there is a splitter on the hose as  long as the guy on plot 3 is watering, my runner beans and grapes will be watered.

Sunday 7th June Update

Sunday 7th June 2015 - Early visit got there at 8:00am and was there until 1pm I made good progress.

Sieved the soil from the spoil heap on bed 7 and spread it on Bed 8 after weeding - erected the cucumber frame

Bed 9 - Cleared the volunteer Potatoes from the Onion Bed and harvest those onions that have started to drop their tails sowed half the bed with rows of parsnips provided by Edita from parsnips that had
gone to seed - I'm really hoping these take and I have not had a lot of luck with parsnips

Bed 15 - erected another mesh panel and planted the peas in gutters - really easy I will definitely do it that way again much easier than modules.

Bed 14 - sowed some French Beans - Pickwick and watered using the pop bottle at depth 

Bed 16 Attached bars to two opposite sides of the net and added string at 2/3 height to hold back netting . Sowed carrots in the gaps from previous sowing.

More clips on the grapes

Volunteer Potatoes are still popping up

Another evening visit to water the plants in the greenhouse and nearly all the Swift sweet corn in the 3 trays have popped their little heads above the soil where as the Lark in the space saver at home are still struggling. Watered the plants on the allotment even though the weather forecast is for showers tomorrow, just encase it does not happen.

The potatoes in buckets are looking especially sorry for themselves, or perhaps there just nearly done.

Volunteer Potatoes are still popping up all over the place, I'm definitely planting as many in sacks and buckets as possible and will really sieve the soil when harvesting next year.

I will use 70% Soil 20% Compost and 10% Coco peat as a mix next year.

As the sun drops the biting insects arrive and it was time to depart and they like my sweet blood!   

Assessing Wind Damage

A swift watering visit and to assess the additional high wind damage - looks like some direct re sowing of French beans and some backups in vending machine cups on the French Bean front, shame some are from the seed circle with limited spares.

One or two of the Swift sweet corn are starting to poke their heads above the soil and the next batch of peas are looking good in the guttering.

I sowed another two and a half rows of beetroots. 

Muderellas Get Muddy at Clapham Common

Weather forecast says rain all day, stupid thing is I will need to go to the allotment to water what's in the green house and little house extension.

Update - I waited until the girls went for their Muderellas Get Muddy at Clapham Common for Cancer https://www.justgiving.com/mudderellasgetmuddy then popped down, watered what needed it and filled Delak 4 with the flowers they sent my Daughter from her last Job to her new Job. They took her on full time and now three week in they have called them to a meeting to inform them they are moving that particular office to Wales, but she could relocate.!!

Left to right Kelly Emma and my niece Kristy
 

A few more clips on the grapes vines, the two vines that were reaching out for each other are now touching, I will get a photo next visit.

Potted up the tomatoes as they were quite frankly in desperate need, and edged pots with coffee grounds to ward off slugs and snails. Started cutting comfrey as the heavens opened and I came home, but it was a productive hour. 

Friday 29th May 2015

Up at 5:30 washing 2 litre pots at 7:30 for potting on more tomatoes from vending machine cups. 8:30 - 4:00 Working

4:00 A swift visit to the allotment to drop off the French beans and water what's in the greenhouse. It's been overcast, heavy rain and hail stones on and off all day and as I left home it was dry and sunny and the rain started again as I got to the bypass. I arrived at the allotment sat in the car with hailstones bouncing off for 20 minutes the a break in the cloud cover and half an hour of sun.

Watered the stuff in the greenhouse, its been that cold that the automatic vent was closed. A few more clips on the grape that appears to have grown another 75mm in the last couple of days, then home just in time for the next downpour.

Installing Hoops and Planting Cabbages and Cauliflowers

Update Video after a late afternoon visit on Wednesday 27th May 2015 after installing hoops and planting cabbages and cauliflowers in Bed 2 and Sprouts in Bed 3

Sunday Morning on the Plot

Really nice and warm got to the allotment early about 8 and came home at 1 - five hours flew by and I still didn't get everything done.

01. Runner beans poking their heads up so I fixed the strings to the bamboo minty frame
02. Inserted the 2.4m timber edging into Bed 1 and in the process
03. Removed the old woodchips that are now 3 years old and basically good compost and put some in compost dalek 1
     and 4 as they both needed a layer or brown
04. Barrowed now woodchip for the paths around bed 2, then found I didn't have the membrane to put
      in the cauliflowers

 
05. Made modifications to the skyscraper sprout frame - found netting and cable tied the joint and fitted the netting

06. Cut stakes for the spouts and installed with the plants this year!
07. Planted the 4 sprouts my brother-in-law gave me complete with root fly collars
08.  Found and dispatched the slug and snail to sluggy heaven that have demolished my cauliflower and sprouts
09. Ran a wire between the two eye bolts on the horizontal of the trees - I have mini apples on one branch.
10. Watered everything that needed watering inside and out

11. Cut a flower bucket of comfrey and filled the pipe up
12. Fixed a new rope to the comfrey pipe weight.
13. Moved the weed tea down to the comfrey and nettle tea

There are lots of flowers on the strawberries and a few are starting to go red 

There are the starts of bunches of grapes forming on the grape vine 

There is life in the Birdbox!

I noticed at breakfast this morning (23rd May 2015) that a few years on the tree and being vacant, someone has found the home I built and is building a nest inside.



I made some gutter racks and took them to the allotment and cut some guttering and planted peas - watered the plants in the greenhouse and the plot and recovered the weight from the comfrey pipe that the rope broke yesterday.  

Crimson Crush Arrive!

 

A lunch time visit to water the greenhouse stuff, weeded the strawberries and noticed that I have a plastic milk bottle container of pure comfrey from the comfrey pipe. But horror of horrors the string on the weight has broken and I now have to disassemble the pipe and recover the weight. Too messy and smelly a job for a lunch time visit.

Got home and postie had been with two crimson crush toms for me - they got potted straight ways and I got a lot of stick from the wife re moving fast and not doing her jobs so quickly 





It has to be said they don't look very small tomato like, but there again I have never bought plug tomato plants. 

Extended Lunchtime Visit Video Update

What I managed to get done in an extended lunchtime visit on Tuesday 19th May 2015



As a certain supermarket says "Every Little Helps!"

Forgot the screwdriver attachment for the drill - Doh!

Rain in the morning so no extended lunch visit today, but I did manage to pop down in the evening to water the carrots under the solar tent, and half have been consumed by invisible slugs! Barlambs I didn't put a trap inside the solar tent thinking the would not get in so it must have been the small ones in the ground come out to play 

The debris netting on the ridge had drooped because of the high winds this morning as I had forgot to bulldog clip it so I added some more all round.

I tried taking the top of the grape either way and one of the branches snapped on be Bummox to quote GG.

Roberts plot was being retaken by nature was there clearing it once again, appears he has been unwell recently and he was surprised how much had grown. Looking at other plots the weeds have really grown in the last fortnight. We chatted for as while, and I passed on some seeds as he is a newbie and it's not as if I don't have enough.

Watered the plants in the greenhouse, and I was going to fix the hoops on the frame of bed 16 the realised I didn't have the screwdriver attachment for the drill - Doh!

Nice warn dry day (A week of rain to follow according to the weather report. Dismantled the staging that going to a new home as I really don't need two outside the greenhouse and its basically just getting in the way. Surbie came over for a tomato exchange, a 2 and 6 tour and some slug traps. (Beryl you really need a real car lol)

Then I cleared out behind the shed, and again mucked out the greenhouse so I can get plants on the shelves from home, and hopefully some toms. Top of the growhouse is now clear of slug traps, what remain and now stored behind the shed, and looking at it I will not need to make anymore for some time.

Fixed the Debris netting to the greenhouse

Trained the Grape a little, but need to do the top.

Planted poached egg plants in the bean trench

Watered the carrots under the solar tents and removed the solar tents from the potatoes now the temperatures have gone up a little.

Drilled and fixed eye bolts so that I can start to train the apple trees on the wall.

Here is a quick video