Weekend away followed by family crisis

Means that I'm not going to get up to the plot for another fortnight at least.

I've informed the committee just in case they think I've run off never to be seen again and hope that I've done enough digging, covering with poo and various types of sheeting to keep the weeds down. With a bit of luck the leeks will think it's their birthday, have had loads of rain in the last couple of days, and by the time I get back up there, they will be prize winners ! lol

I'm missing the place already though..............................

See you all soon.

xx

Where were we ? Ah yes .... beds !

OH said he'd help me on Sunday and advised me not to go to the lottie yesterday cos the Old Firm was playing at Ibrox.

Little does he realise I'm up with the lark and intended to beat the rush both before and after K.O. So with the car fully loaded (what would I do without it?) I got up there about 10am and set about making the final RB. When I say "final", I mean the last one with the wood I have. Now standing back and looking at the layout, there are definitely two areas that would benefit from some edging, but they can wait .......

First things first, make the bed. I had to sacrifice the For Sale post that was in the garden intended to be a support for a leccy cable through to the greenhouse. I needed bed legs, so it had to go ! I'm getting a dab hand at making RBs now. Had this one finished in double quick time.

Now the cabbages and final swede were in the way, so out they came ! There appears to be two different varieties of cabbage, one light green and crunchy, the second deeper and erm, less crunchy ! lol These were donated by an anonymous kind soul earlier in the year so I have no idea as to the names. They have been pulled far too early but will still make 4 or 5 meals worth as long as we eat them and don't just leave them to rot in the fridge !

With the ground now clear, set about digging the foundations for the bed legs. This is always befuddles me, I can never get the beds quite level, or straight for that matter, but they're dug in and done so that's what matters. I'm sure the veg won't worry about slightly out of parallel lines.

Dug the bean bed quite deep and threw that soil into adjacent new bed. Will line the bottom of the bean trench with newspaper and then cow poo today. I was going to have the bean bed right up again the fence, but then I thought about it a bit more and decided I did want a double row, so left enough of a path to pick from the fence side (north). Don't know how the lack of sun will affect that side, but will find out next summer eh ? lol

Removed the final two strawberry plants to take home and over winter. The wee one, was from a runner this year and it has already got a good looking root system on it. No way I'm leaving the strawbs on the plot with the potential flooding.

Got the hanging basket brackets up on the fence posts, empty atm. Could fill them with primroses I suppose as I still have plenty back on the plot that I've not planted out yet.

Planted garlic in the trug ! Only about 20 cloves, but then I really don't need to feed half of Britain ! We do use a fair bit in our cooking but I think I've got enough hanging in the shed to last me a lifetime (for as long as the bulbs will store anyway). Thought I'd just picked up Solent Wight, but would appear that I got a Purple Wight as well.

Hung the jacket up as a flag of loyalty (Rangers tartan). The team must have been watching as they came away with the first OF victory of the season. I kept having to run up to the lovely Jean to keep her updated with the score.

I was thinking of doing a blow by blow round up of the season, but my record keeping has been shocking this year, so here's a few observations instead.

1. Taking on a lottie just the season after getting the plot together was a huge undertaking. In hindsight would I have said "yes" if I'd known exactly how much hard work it was going to take ? .... aye probably. Definitely pleased I only took a quarter plot though. At least by the beginning of next season, I'll be able to concentrate on sowing and growing rather than building and banging.
2. Never mix your Gigantes beans with your runners. They look so similar ! Fantastic crop of Gigantes though and will definitely grow them again next year even if they do take a long growing season.
   
3. Courgettes did reasonably well. Plenty to eat and more than a few in the freezer. Will definitely start them off at home again and plant out when they've got to a reasonable size in pots. Only trouble is, not a clue which variety was which.
   
4. Broad beans will definitely be on the menu again. Love them and have got a successional plan for next season.
5. Cabbages, still not convinced by these. Although I do have two new varieties to try next year. Will give them another shot in half a bed.
6. Was impressed with the swedes even though I'm sure they weren't prize winning size, but at least we got to eat them which was 100% success over last year.
   
7. The beetroot grown in situ were just sown too late to reach any kind of useful size. The early ones raised at home did well though so they'll go in the plan.
8. Blue Lake climbing beans were a winner, but don't think I'll have room for them next year. Have got Dwarf Bush Bean - Purple Teepee instead.
9. Ahmed's Bosnian Pumpkin was delish however took up loads of room. I may find a home for him on the plot next season but not at the lottie.
10. Find a new way of growing leeks. The hassle of having to weed around them was a right faff, and my nicely prepared holes just seemed to fill up with soil far too fast. Some are getting to a reasonable size but a lot of them still look like large spring onions !
11. Green manure is the way to go. That's one bed I've not had to worry about since I sowed the Mustard way back. All I can see is Mustard, no weeds ! Like that idea lots !
12. Will definitely plan and label better. For all my playing with excel charts, I simply lost track of what was where and when it was planted, and simply MUST find a pen that doesn't fade in the sun !
    
13. Must get the watering and feeding thing sorted though. Everything was left to it's own devices this year and I'm sure with a bit of TLC I would have got more and bigger than I did.
14. Don't go mad with the seed catalogues. Realistically I have enough to last me until the end of time................. famous last words.
    

There's still a lot of work to do, filling the beds with old compost bags and the like, but hopefully the hard part is done (apart from getting the netting and supports sorted and everything else that I've forgotten already ! ).

Found this purty wee pink thing over the back in the nature reserve. No idea what it is, but it's very girly !

Am away next weekend with the A4A girlies so must get up there again today so have another good bash. No useful daylight to get much done after work nowadays and just SO much still to do on the plot.

Have a good one folks !

I made a mistake yesterday!

I went up to the lottie after a good long absence without a plan.

It's amazing how quickly you forget where you're at with stuff after a couple of weeks away tending to other things.

Still everything appeared to be how I left it, so no vandal damage (two or four legged varieties) to contend with.

Planted some more tulips I found hiding in the trug. Filled the trug with spent and sieved growbags ready for the garlic. Another growbag went to providing an almost invisible layer over one of the raised beds. It really doesn't go far, despite breaking your back getting it to the lottie !

Took more netting supports up, but almost immediately found that I didn't have anywhere near enough plastic joints. Thinking cap on, will take up a length of hose next time and cut some from that. Baby Bro donated much to the cause during his brief visit, so I now have three full length hoses to choose from.

We had a new fridge delivered at work in the week, so I grabbed the cardboard and polystyrene packing. Was thinking of insulating the cold frame with the polystyrene and the cardboard went over a couple of bare areas of soil.

Lifted half a dozen leeks from the flower bed because I wanted it clear for the new path. Small as they are, they are destined for the soup this week.

Moved the 5'x5' RB over about a foot to it's final position. Just a shame the rest of the leeks are in the way. Spent a bit of time moving paths to suit. Despite the paths being compacted, it was reasonably easy to dig. It would appear that's I've got a strange shaped area in between the 5'x5' and the bean trench. Can't really visualise it until I've got the last 8'x4' built and in place which will be almost next on the agenda.

There's still a huge pile of cow poo in the midden, so my main priority is to lift the last of the swedes and the cabbages and get the two final RBs in place and filled with the stuff. I'm surprised it's not all be grabbed by now.

Ma and Pa in law came to visit for a chat over the fence, so they got one of the swedes and I brought two home. Bit of splitting damage to one, and what appears to be root fly tunnelling. Still there's enough there to go in the pot and I was more than pleased that I actually got some grown which was more than happened last year when they all rotted.

The green manure mustard had fairly shot up. Keeping a watchful eye on flower heads forming. I really must find out where the mustard sits in the rotation plan and how long I'm likely to be able to leave it before I dig it in. It's definitely an easy way to ignore any weeds that might be lurking, you just can't see them !

Stood and looked at the plot for ages thinking what to do next so turned the compost heap. Bit wet and soggy so made sure extra newspaper went in as I refilled it.

Went for a walk around the site on my way home and ended up having a cup of tea and a chat with the lovely Mrs Minute Taker and her chap, and the Chairperson popped past too. Came away with two jars of home made chutney, a pepper and a sense of well being.

List of things to do before I can put the lottie to bed:

1. Obtain 2"x2" post for the last 8'x4' bed legs. Build bed.
2. Remove cabbages and swede and dig over where bed is to be. Fill both with poo.
3. Find two more pallets and get another couple of bags of post fix to finish side fence and then I can get the hanging basket brackets up.
   
4. Plant garlic in trug.
5. Fill RBs with spent compost from the plot (which is going to take a while as the tomatoes in the g/h are still ripening !).

Things to think about for next year:

1. Build a secure tool store. Everything is just crammed in the corner of the shed atm and now I've used the trug, everything's just been stuffed into carrier bags.
2. Think about the paths. I'd originally thought woodchips, but with the likelyhood of flooding I can see them ending up a soggy mass. Chuckies, pavers or bricks would be ideal, for the central path anyway. Shame I don't have any !
3. Secure the fence that the Lovely Mr Sec has excavated right up to and which is leaning precariously towards his plot.
   
4. Measure up and cut netting from the huge roll that's sitting in the plot shed.
   
5. Devise my cunning planting plan!

I've sown a tray of perpetual sweetpeas (donated by Mum) and a tray of annual sweetpeas at home. Think the perpetual ones will go up the arch and hope they don't mind being a bit waterlogged !

End of chapter.

xx

Sunday - day of rest ? Do me a favour.

I really do enjoy the peace, quiet and calm of early morning on the lottie, especially when the sun is out. The birds are happily playing and you can't even hear much of the motorway that's close by. And then I arrive and stick the radio on but not before I've had chance to soak up some of the peace.

Another beautiful day. Slightly overcast to start with, and a bit damp. But when the sun came out it was fleece off time, really warm. There has been much activity on the plot next door for the past couple of days and they've put some flowers and shrubs into the border. Was going to ask to borrow their broom to sweep my not very neat paths, but I don't know them very well, so didn't ! Will take the spare old one from home up when I remember.

Sawed the final 2"x2" post for legs in record time and bed No. 7 got built. I'm getting the hang on this sawing malarky, obviously. Need to level it up a bit though. Didn't notice until I took the pics that there is a very obvious tilt.

The whole "village" is beginning to come together now though. It may look a bit cramped, in fact it is, but the main path up the middle is wide enough for a barrow (I stole greenhouse John's and checked) and the poo was easy enough to sling on. There will be no turning circle though, so it's a case of driving in and reversing out. Being a woman of many talents, I can reverse - even without mirrors !

The netting hoop support post idea works well. Glad I found that during my browsing.

I made a brick kerb to try and stop the path overflowing which I think works quite well. Ideally I want a fence (perhaps chicken wire rather than pallets) at the front of the lottie.

I'm toying with the idea of a small gate too. Don't know why really except I have two spare short posts that would lend themselves nicely. I'll see what everything looks like when I've got the final fence panels up. I just cut bit lumps out of the turf, slung them in an old compost bag behind the shed. I shall ignore them for a year and see what happens to them. The theory is that I'll get a nice bag of loam.

The leeks are now in the way of where I want the 5'x5' square foot bed to go tucked away in the corner. I want 5 (yes a whole 5, don't go mad now) sweetcorn in the back row so as not to cast shade but where I want to shift it means that it will sit over the path that I've so carefully be firming up lol. Still it would benefit from another good dig I think.

Found another roll of weed suppressant tucked away in the shed, so now I've got all the newly pooed areas covered. I grabbed a couple more barrow loads for No. 7 but could still do with a couple just to leave on the pile until the 8'x2' is in place ready for next years runners. Spread a bag of home cooked compost over the poo in No. 7 (which of course didn't go far) and then came home to a bowl of home grown/made soup.

Leeks, swede, onions, butter beans, garlic and carrots - all MINE ! More than enough there for us all week, don't know how I'm going to get the big lumps in the flasks though !

Overall a very rewarding weekend's work.

This week - the plot !