Seed Sowing Time: Part 2: Planting the seeds

So, its time for seed to go into actual soil/compost now.

I've been collecting toiletroll tubes for planting in this year, I've never used them before, but thought I'd experiment. My Sweet Peas and Broad Beans have gone into them, they are kept moist and put in a warm place to grow. The Broad Beans seem to be doing well so far...

The Sweet Peas are germinating and growing similarly well. Sadly the cardboard is also growing fluffy and white... I'm not sure I should keep them indoors much longer!

I've also been planting other seeds; Tomato, Lettuce, Kale, Cauliflower and Purple Sprouting Broccoli. These went into a windowsill incubator and are also doing well.

Ed wrote the labels for me. He's doing so well with his writing!

Seed Sowing Time: Part 1: Preparing the seed

Its seed sowing time already. No, not in the ground; indoors.

Earlier in the year I left some Broad Beans and Sweet Peas to soak, this isn't really necessary, but I like to do it anyway.

I also set out my potatoes to 'chit', that is, to sit in the kitchen, in open egg boxes to grow their initial shoots. This speeds them up so they take less time in the ground; a very useful technique if you have heavy, wet, cold clay soils like I do.

This year I'm growing 'Winston', a variety I've not grown before. They are 'First Earlies', meaning that they go in the ground early in the season (preferably March or April) and grow quickly. They should be ready for harvesting by July.

Snow

I love snow. I love that it covers the garden/allotment and every plot looks the same as the next, much less mess.

What I mostly love about snow is that I know its time to just rest. No point doing much at the allotment as I can't find most of it.

Garlic, again!

So, garlic! Ok it failed, I bought some more, plant-able in spring, and I've stuck it in the ground. In doing so, I dug up most of the previously planted garlic, which really was still quite solid, just apparently completely dormant.
This time I only planted 2 of the 3 bulbs I bought, the other will be put into modules to start off at home to try to guarantee at least some harvest!

Then I did something daft with the reject-garlic, I took it home and replanted all the decent sized cloves into a large pot and bunged it in the open cold-frame next to the house... Just to see if anything happens. Well you can't say I'm not giving it every chance!

Winter Digging and a Battle with Loganberry.

An hour's trip today with two main intentions, firstly to get some of the plot dug over (now that it has stopped raining a bit!) and also to tie up the loganberry canes to the frame on the side of the shed.

Rich did the digging for me, as I can no longer manage it, and dug the large bed 6, and the smaller bed 5, both of which are now completely empty.

Bed 4 still has parsnips in for digging and eating through the winter.
Bed 3 has leeks and celeriac.
Bed 2 had (until today) the remains of the broccoli and cauliflower and the leeks and garlic
Bed 1 has rhubarb and herbs.

The Loganberry was cut down in time for the bonfire at the beginning of November, and the new growth was left to flop until I had time and energy to tie it up again. Well today was the day. It took about an hour, with a small amount of prickling, to wind all the long canes into the wire frame that's on the shed. I had to sacrifice several bits as they had grown into the compost heap, some bits had rooted where they fell, so they had their ends chopped off and were then tied in as normal. All in all it was a fairly neat job, as loganberry goes.


Ed, of course, dug a hole, which then got levelled by his dad as it was in bed 5!

Garlic... or lack of it!

I've lost my garlic!
Well, OK, not lost, I know exactly where it is, its in the ground still, doing a big fat nothing! I planted it (with Ed's help) in October, giving it plenty of time to put down roots and send up little green pointy leaves... only it hasn't!
I know I've abandoned the allotment a little in the last few months, and last time I was down there before Christmas I do remember thinking that the garlic should surely be up by now, but I'll just give it a little longer... well I have and its still not there! Nothing, not a shoot, not a leaf, nothing! 5 rows of the stuff! NOTHING!

*grump*

I did have a furtle in the ground and found a few cloves, just where I left them, looking about the same as when I planted them. So I know they've  not been eaten, or gone rotten, just done nothing.

Anyway, I've admitted they have failed, I've bought some more, some that's suitable to plant in spring (hopefully we'll have some cold weather to split the bulbs) and I'll try again. I'm not sure if I should be putting it in the same place though, or just give up on that bit and start again somewhere else? Ah I'll have to think about it I guess...

First trip of the New Year

Today was mostly an assessment trip; I've not been down to the plot since before I was ill in November last year, so I had no idea what to expect today.
We've had SO much rain that I was expecting it to be seriously waterlogged and indeed all the paths were, but the plot itself wasn't too bad, the raised beds that we put in last year have made such a difference.

The initial overview of the plot showed it wasn't too bad, messy but not too bad. The pigeons had eaten the broccoli as the net had been removed, but never mind.

The leeks were surviving and some of them looking decent sized, the celeriac has grown new leaves, though the roots aren't too big yet, so I'm leaving them to see what happens, they're hardy afterall.

The parsnips' top-growth has mostly died back, but a few bits remained and reminded me to dig some to eat this weekend.

I was lucky, I saw the top of one parsnip poking out of the soil, stuck a fork under it and brought out 3! Decent sized ones too!

We've also taken the opportunity to prune the apple tree, its a precious tree that grows 3 different apples, Russet, Cox and Bramley (all grafted) on the same tree. Last year it only produced Bramleys, probably because they blossom slightly later than the former 2 and must have survived a frost/drought.
The red and black currant bushes were also pruned lightly, one more than the other 2 as it overhangs the new path between us and the next plot.

The canes from the beans and sweet peas were also cleared away, and all the plant labels and pegs were collected to be washed ready for the new year.

Ed dug a hole... as usual!

2013 A Fresh Start....

A new blog for a fresh start on the allotment.

I've decided to 'branch' out and create a blog just for my allotment posts. I want to keep it separate from all the other lifey stuff really, so here it is, at the start of 2013 a new blog.