Quick in and out

Been out visiting all over, showing Mum the sites of Glasgow, so not done any real work up the lottie this week but sowed some lettuce leaves and spring onions under the bean trellises and some radishes under the tee pee.

We had another break in on Thursday, wee buggars. They hit the plot next door and trashed his spuds. They "kindly" left their calling card, a half empty bottle of Buckie. Bent the perimeter fence as they jumped back over it, hope they broke their necks as they landed but as a body wasn't lying under the hedge, I fear not .... sadly.

I'll raise the issue of security at the committee meeting tomorrow. Why we can't have barbed wire around the top of the fence I don't know. I shall investigate.

Off up to Loch Lomond today so keep your fingers crossed for the sun.

xxx

I had some help today !

Was up the lottie today doing a bit of this and that and had a little helper ! Don't you think she did well!


Mulched the courgettes with the grass cut yesterday at home. Never have I been quite so keen to get the lawn mower out before. Apparently we had a break-in on the lottie on Friday and one of my courgettes got lifted and just sat on the soil (nearest plant in the pic)! Now WHAT was the point in that. The nice lad two plots up kindly replanted it for me (remember I was down south at the weekend). It still looked a bit limp today, but then it was roasting, so I gave it a good drink and hope that it picks up.

Nice Mrs Ex Treasurer gave me some rainbow chard and eight strawberry plants, so in they went.

"Lovely Lad" asked if I wanted some swede as transplants. Do I ?? Bite your hand off. Only trouble is I need to dig the final bit of ground and quick.

Hand weeded round the courgettes and onions and gave the rest a good hoeing. Little helper sprayed all the beans with a washing up solution to get shot of some of the aphids that had put in an appearance.





Going to take up some bronze fennel that's been busily growing in a pot on the plot, just to fill in some of the empty space.


Nice sunny day today and everything seemed to be growing well, especially the weeds. We have rain forecast for the rest of the week though, I just hope that we don't suffer as badly as the poor peeps of Sheffield and beyond. Must be a nightmare for them.

I'm getting my list of "must haves" together for next season. Despite much temptation, I don't think I'll be moving lottie, I just want to get my current empire waterproof and weed free. Get the raised beds built and the paths more permanent. After all, I'm not in this to feed the neighbourhood, just to keep me out of trouble.

And a special mention goes out to Alex who's none too good atm. Thinking of you and sending peaceful wishes.

Just a reminder that we have to live it large and live it now!

xxxxxx

Now I understand why people moan about weeds

When I started the plot at home, al the beds were made up mainly of imported compost and have remained more or less weed free for a year. When I saw one, I lifted it, no probs.

But the lottie is a different experience. Go away for a day, turn round and millions of the things have sprouted !

Went up there last night to discover the beginnings of a lovely green carpet, which isn't in the rotation plan ! Covered the bean beds with a couple of layers of newspaper, soaked, then topped that with the home grown compost. Of course the two bags went absolutely nowhere and only provided about 1/2" over the two beds.

I have definitely got to get something sorted though and soon. Cut a few courgettes and tried to have a bit of a hoe, trouble is that I'm scared of chopping straight through what shouldn't be chopped !

Fellow allotmenteer told me that there are 3 plots up for transfer and I should go for number 65. Nice situation and twice as big as mine. Lordy B man, I've still not got mine under control yet ! Apparently the rain soaked my leek bed while I wasn't there and John was quite worried on my behalf that they'd drowned. One of the holes seems to have collapsed but otherwise it looked drained enoughwhen I got there.

Anyway here's some pics ............ won't get back up there until Monday and by that time, heavens knows what I'll find !

Found some poppy petals which I thought had blown in from next door, then I looked and found my one poppy had already bloomed in my absence. Hmmmph.

Came home with three courgettes so was happy overall.

Have a good weekend folks.

Not much done this week

as I've had to spend the time on the plot surrounded by garlic.

However, popped up to the lottie last night with two very heavy bags of home cooked compost in hand to spread over the bean beds as a mulch. Going armed with a bundle of newspapers too to lay out before I spread, see if that keeps the blessed weeds at bay. Couple of the climbing beans look to have bitten the dust (mud), wind damage I guess.

Courgettes are coming on nicely, may even get to cut a couple more baby ones tonight. The leeks have had a good watering, one or two of the holes is still full of water, obviously didn't dig well enough in that bit.

The weeds are doing well !

Hopefully will have more to report tonight.

Leeks are in

But forgot to take pics ! Got 70 odd in and gave as many away.

Cut four courgettes, the glut has started !

Had to teach the OH that digging needs to go down further that one fork's depth and when we did, we produced a mountain of bricks .... strange that !

I need to mulch though, and fast. Ickle weeds are poking through fast that you can hoe them ! I need straw, lots of it and NOW !

No visit to the lottie today as I've got to try and get the exhaust on the car done. Something tells me someone went over a speed bump too fast fully loaded. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Tried pacifying the car by giving it a good hoover when I got home, think there was more mud in the car and on the lottie !!! lol

Hitting a brick wall

That's what it felt like last night. Spent a couple of hours up at the lottie, watering the cracks in the ground (yes we had cracks).

Digging over the leek bed and produced another bucket of stones and weeds, then gave it a good old rake. Don't think I'm finished there yet though. As I walked past a neighbour's bin yesterday, there were two good sized sturdy flat boards just right for flattening, they are now in the hut ! I know where there's a skip full of wood too. May have a drive past at the weekend.

Had the foresight to leave the tops off the water butts and lo ! we had rain last night, and lots of it (which of course will make the weeds grow as much as the veg, but heh ho !).

Everything apart from one poached egg plant looked as if it was bedding in well, but I really need to think about mulching and bed edging and it's harder to tell new weeds from new beetroot that I had thought !

Had a walk round the long way as I left so have a nosey in other people's plots ! I think the plant of choice is ..... weed ! I feel better now.

Aches and pains and more aches

But we're getting there. I'd ay 55% done ! 75% has been weeded, but this side is dead dead stoney and think there's more weeds underneath where it's been weeded. I wasn't on weeding duty today !


Finished of the spare stations of both bean trellises with Blue Lake climbing beans. Courgettes are just going crazy.





Put 4 broad beans to the left of the beetroot. This was un- intentional successional sowing ! lol







Ahmed's Bosnian pumpkins x 2. There should be plenty of room here, she says hopefully.






Planted 4 runner beans round the arch, complimented by some calendula, poached egg plants, and dwarf sunflowers. Marked out the front border with plants rather than put a fence up for the time being.



Teepee of Blue Lake Climbing beans with the other front border.
The clear ground to the left is for the leeks. Got turn it over (again), weed (again), de-stone (again), rake, compact, rake, water, rake, make holes ! Not much then ! lol




Not so sunny today, although it was trying to poke through. Infact it was a much nicer day to be working in. Never thought this sun lover would ever wish for a cloud or two !!!

Much poopedness after a day in the sun !

Absolutely scorching day. A full 9-5 shift in hot sun meant I fell asleep on the sofa at 7pm, woke at 11pm, crawled into bed and woke at 5am ...... so why don't I feel rejuvenated and ache so much ? lol

Got loads done though ....... and here it is.


I used nearly a whole butt of water Thurs/Friday last week so figured I needed another one. They've still not got the 15% discount plugged into the computer but nice Mr Checkout man didn't even question me and rang it though immediately. I must have looked as if I knew what I was talking about ....... moral of the story ...... talk with confidence ! Sited it right next to the other one, nicking a bit of the communal path. Every little helps! Took the two hoses up and filled both butts. Going to cut some small holes in the lids and turn them upside down to protect against evaporation and collect any rain we do get. Not had any substantial rain since I got the first butt and the surface of the soil is dust !





We have a gate ! Well not so much of a gate as an arch ! This one fitted together without all the huffing and puffing that the last one took. Going to put my runners (only got about 4 plants) and sweetpeas up the arch. Gave it some support with 4 reinforcing poles. Second bean trellis (with the fleece) in the background. Planted up Brittle Wax climbing beans in there but the sun was so hot they wilted almost immediately, hence the protective fleece. Hope they've picked up overnight. The Gigantes beans in the first trellis coming along nicely. Planted some nasturtiums between the beans. The ones at home are taking off, so I hope it's not too late for them.




Courgettes are coming on a treat. I lost one of the first two due to it not being pollinated but the second one is doing just fine. Odd that, since there was no male flowers out at the time. Plenty more flowers on their way. Mine still look far superior to any that I can see around me. Moral of the story ..... start them off in pots and get them to a good size before transplanting ? My smaller ones are still much smaller, so I'm sure a bit of pot boundedness forces them to grow upwards !





Sowed a third row of beetroot direct, next to the existing two rows. Apparently our friend in Ayr likes them, so will have someone to give them to.






The OH took a car load of carrier bags to the dump and started weeding the second half of the lottie. Got to get the leeks in and I think I will have enough space for the squash I've still got sitting at home. The trouble with getting the lottie so late is that I hadn't banked on having the extra space this year and haven't got much else started. Got a load of Blue Lake beans to go in so I'll have another bean trellis to make, may ring the changes and try a wigwam or two. Going to plant some Lemon Zest calendula inside the arches but apart from that I've run out of bedding plants too. There are still a few new broadies to get in and if this weather keeps up, may try a couple of chillis/peppers outside. I've got plenty so will be prepared to sacrifice them if the poor weather ever returns.

May take some of the fruit bushes in buckets up there too, just to get some room in the garden.

Will do some more raking and bashing today as well but I'll do that first, by the time the end of the shift arrives, I just don't have the energy !

Apparently we get really bad evil carrot root fly on the site. Was talking to one of the Johns who knows his stuff. He has individual cloches over each carrot and plants in compost holes. He was telling me about the site in years gone by, all the plots were separates by hedges which didn't allow a good flow of air so meant the soil was quite stale. It's not so bad nowadays as it's a lot more open. His leek bed looks like he's rolled it before dibbing the holes. It looks like set concrete, it's so flat. Not sure mine is going to look anything like his but I like the idea !

My new hoe is just the dogs danglies. Lots of little tiny weeds just decapitated in one push/pull. Must get some edges to the beds made though as it scoots all the earth over the paths. The bottom end of the lottie has far more stones that the top end, so am creating stone paths round the back of the beans. Not very easy to walk on though but once their trodden in they should be ok.

So that was that for the day. Got a nicely toasted set of shoulders and think it will be more of the same today. Can't wait for a decent hour to get up there.

Happy days people, happy days.

Hunions !

72 went in tonight. Pain in the proverbial getting them out of the modules so I hope they get to usuable size !

2 hours it took to plant them all ! BBQ sticks and netting to try and prevent birdy damage.






























Having an enforced break tomorrow night as we're out visiting. Next stop, 2nd bean trellis !

Beginning to take shape

An absolutely beautiful afternoon saw me rushing away early from work, car packed with beetroot and away up the lottie I ran.

More gushing praise from another allotmenteer wasted 10 mins of hard work. A fence must be built and quickly. I know it's good to talk but not when I've still got digging to be done !

The first half is almost there. The two nearest beds could do with a heavy dig over but that's just where we've been treading all over them . I think they're basically ready to plant. Leeks tomorrow I think, that should keep me busy for a few hours !

Here's today's endeavours.

Looking up the plot, wee flower bed emerging around the water butt.












Two rows of beetroot leaving me another half of a bed to play with.









Water butt again, with a path around it, leaving me with an oddly shaped, but useful bed next to it.









The new beetroot bed and courgettes which seem to be taking well. People are impressed with those !









Supersprout's Gigantes beans, still being hardened off (as they'd come straight from the spare room !).









So at least I have paths where the paths are meant to be. Now to plant up that side and start working on the rest.

Chuffed.

Sacre blue de blanc

I planted out 15 Gigantes beans, tenderly surrounded them with a fleece windbreak, stuck in another courgette, some marigolds and a couple of calendula and beetroot .............. and forgot to take bloody pictures !

Forgot the slug killers, so if I've got anything left when I get up there tomorrow, I'll take some then.

I promised myself I wouldn't

So what did I do? I did !

You are now looking at a new committee member of the South Western Allotments Association. Don't think it's going to be as busy as it might sound though. One meeting a month in MY hut !

A new Chairman who wants to keep meetings to a strict time limit (suits me), some very nice co-victims. The good news was that I narrowly avoided being appointed as treasurer and the lovely Mr Sec asked me if I wanted the job ! Appears to be a lot of familiar faces that I've met already.

My thought process said, if you're not in it, you can't moan about what goes on ! Dues stayed at £22 (I think).

Rain stopped play today, but on the way to the meeting, I delivered a couple of trays of things to plant out as soon as I get up there next. No danger of them drying out ! Noticed a couple of puddles on the paths so they need to be built up a bit and levelled. All the beds dug so far showed good drainage though.

Spent a fairly productive day on the plot instead.

Have a look over there and see what I pulled !

"Gosh, you're doing well"

I know they're trying to encourage me, but I've heard it a dozen times now and I'm beginning to believe them.

Meeting loads of new people. Having the plot next to the lovely Mr Sec is slightly busier than I'd anticipated! Loads of people come looking for him when he's not there, and then they all come back for a cuppa when he is ! I don't think I've actually seen him do any work on the plot yet lol. He keeps saying he'd going to clear his border, I think I'm putting him to shame !

So ......... today I:

1. Dug out one of the bean trenches, half-filled with with half-cooked leaf mould, refilled and put up a trellis. Very sturdy if I say so myself. Tried to erect a second one but two canes snapped ! Feel like waving them under a B&Q assistant's nose but as they'll be used for something, I shan't! Need to go up and get another pack of 10 canes though.
2. Was told that my courgettes are probably planted too close ... ah well. I have two babies though, must keep an eye on them to see if they grow before they rot !
   
3. Cleared another bed so am going to put a couple of rows of beetroot in there tomorrow.
   
4. Buried the water butt about 9" deep and 3/4 filled it with water. Now it's being left to it's own devices. The hose was about 4' short of the butt so I had to aim the water in.
   
5. Broke the stand pipe tap ! Oops ! Mended it (after a fashion). Need to get some of that white plumbing stuff out of the cupboard and put that on, but the nut needs a tighten first.
6. Planted some calendula to provide a bit of colour.
7. Chicken pelletted all the beds that have been cleared.
8. Cleared the centre path so at least we have a main route in and out now so we don't have to watch where we tread.
9. Started piling up the carrier bags ready for removal to the dump.
10. Tidied the hut up a bit. For some reason a lad who had borrowed the communal wheel barrow put it inside the hut ! Perhaps his dad had told him to, so I stuck that back outside covering the carriers .... at least they're camouflaged.

So here's the proof ...






















































So by virtue of the fact that I can't move, tomorrow is a planting day (as well as the AGM - should be interesting).

And with that, I'm off to snore !

Making it up as I go along

New plan !

Things are looking up

Thanks to the lovely Jeannine I am no longer too worried about the courgettes. She says it's not mosaic virus. I choose to believe her.

I'll keep an eye on them though to see what happens.

Bright sunshiney morning yesterday, so wangled it with the boss and took the afternoon off and was up the lottie by 12.30pm. Predictably, the sun went in but the rain held off until I was back in the car at 4.45pm and then it fell down.

The first bean bed is already showing signs of new weeds sprouting, so I'll take the new hoe up there today and have a wee practice.

Second bean bed is now ready. The plans have been thrown out the window as they have changed direction totally. Will get the new one done in a mo as I have ........ lost the camera!

Had a little visitor when I pulled the weed suppressant back on Thursday, he was so well camouflaged that he nearly bit the dust with just one dig of a spade. I am now learning to look before I dig !


Went up to my fave shop in the whole wide world on my way home (except it's a few miles in the wrong direction) and bought myself an "active" water butt ! Neither I, nor the friendly assistant knew what was active about it (he suggested it might grow legs) but for £13 (with 15% discount that I had to ask for) I wasn't particularly bothered. Went home, collected the OH, took the new goodies back up to save them staying in the car overnight. New canes, some compost, new butt .... sorted. Now to try and figure out how to fill the butt from the stand pipe. The lovely Mr Sec's hose isn't long enough, so I'll take mine up there and try and figure the connections !

Bought some new jigsaw blades so the OH can get started on the bed edging and I'm taking my half baked leaf mould up today to go in the bottom of the bean beds, which means more digging ! Ugh ! Still it will give me another opportunity to get rid of more weeds that I haven't found yet.

Am as happy as a pig in muck!