I haven't posted for a while now, so thought I'd better bring our loyal readership up to date (mainly because they hassle me whenever they see me).
Since the last posting we've planted all of our potatoes (first earlies, second earlies, and mains).
The garlic is now coming along nicely, and the earliest of the first earlies are starting to make an appearance. For some reason the plants in Abi's patch are doing better than the 'proper' plants in the main plot. She'll be unbearably smug if this trend continues.
We recently got the bill for the allotment for the coming year. This has gone up to £32 this year. This is still perfectly reasonable of course, but is a steep increase over the figure of £18 last year. Given that many of the people working the allotments are retired and therefore (a) don't have a huge income, and (b) have plenty of time to raise a stink, I don't envy whichever council official is going to be on the receiving end of their collective ire.
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Garlic 'n' Rhubarb
Last weekend saw us pay a flying visit to the allotment to kickstart the annual sowing/planting/whatever cycle. It was a flying visit because although it was a miserable day to start with, it got rapidly miserable-r and wetter while we were onsite. Undaunted, we planted three rows of garlic cloves in the non-pooh-treated root section of the plot.
Amanda had gone to the local farm shop in the hope of getting some Isle of Wight garlic to plant, but had managed to score some under-the-counter-past-their-best French bulbs. As they were past their best she was actually given them as opposed to paying for them, so can't complain.
She also got a couple of rhubarb plants at a local garden centre, and these are now safely ensconced at the top of the plot.
Amanda had gone to the local farm shop in the hope of getting some Isle of Wight garlic to plant, but had managed to score some under-the-counter-past-their-best French bulbs. As they were past their best she was actually given them as opposed to paying for them, so can't complain.
She also got a couple of rhubarb plants at a local garden centre, and these are now safely ensconced at the top of the plot.
Thursday, 26 February 2009
When blogs collide
Today's blog blathering features a special guest appearance from:
...
Drum roll...
...
(Impending sense of tension and excitement)...
...
(What could it be? What could it be?)...
...
THE CHICKENS!
(What, was that it? Vague feelings of disappointment, world-weary angst, and ennui.)
Yes, this epoch-shattering posting features the intersection of two previously parallel blogospheres, in which the chooks take a dander over from their blog to check out all things vegetable-related.
Last weekend Amanda decided that what we really needed to do was to take the chooks (also known as 'the freeloading b******s' since the egg supply dried up) to the allotment for a bit of free-range scratching about. A mini holiday to refresh their psychic batteries and re-focus the laser-like concentration required for the generation of eggs.
The idea was to give them a bit of a change of scene, let them scratch about for tasty grubs, and in return they could do a bit of fertilising. Perhaps this would spark them back into production.
We couldn't actually let them go totally free range, because they would inevitably wander over some of the gurus' patches, leaving a trail of devestation and pooh in their wake. And so we knocked together a temporary corral out of some leftover pallets.
Then followed the poultry transportation process. Amazingly we don't have any equipment specifically for carrying a bunch of chickens about, so we had to improvise. We put them all in a capacious garden waste bag, stuck a bin lid on top, and carried them down the road to the allotment.
We then let them get on with it within the confines of their holiday accommodation.
Amanda had done some prep beforehand by digging up some grass in the middle of the pen, so that they had a head-start on scratching-about related activities. Abi helpfully hopped about pointing out nice juicy worms to the inmates.
We left them to it for a few hours while we did some digging for the runner beans. We've put in a couple of two-metre long, spit-wide, manure-filled trenches where we'll plant the seeds at the appropriate time (for which, read 'we haven't read that far in the book yet').
So, the idea was to give the chickens a little holiday. Did it work? Hard to tell, really. I suspect they were freaked out by the transportation, and baffled at the change of scenery. There's no sign of a massively increased egg yield in the last week, but perhaps it helped. Who knows how often our plot will be graced with their presence in future.
...
Drum roll...
...
(Impending sense of tension and excitement)...
...
(What could it be? What could it be?)...
...
THE CHICKENS!
(What, was that it? Vague feelings of disappointment, world-weary angst, and ennui.)
Yes, this epoch-shattering posting features the intersection of two previously parallel blogospheres, in which the chooks take a dander over from their blog to check out all things vegetable-related.
Last weekend Amanda decided that what we really needed to do was to take the chooks (also known as 'the freeloading b******s' since the egg supply dried up) to the allotment for a bit of free-range scratching about. A mini holiday to refresh their psychic batteries and re-focus the laser-like concentration required for the generation of eggs.
The idea was to give them a bit of a change of scene, let them scratch about for tasty grubs, and in return they could do a bit of fertilising. Perhaps this would spark them back into production.
We couldn't actually let them go totally free range, because they would inevitably wander over some of the gurus' patches, leaving a trail of devestation and pooh in their wake. And so we knocked together a temporary corral out of some leftover pallets.
Then followed the poultry transportation process. Amazingly we don't have any equipment specifically for carrying a bunch of chickens about, so we had to improvise. We put them all in a capacious garden waste bag, stuck a bin lid on top, and carried them down the road to the allotment.
We then let them get on with it within the confines of their holiday accommodation.
Amanda had done some prep beforehand by digging up some grass in the middle of the pen, so that they had a head-start on scratching-about related activities. Abi helpfully hopped about pointing out nice juicy worms to the inmates.
We left them to it for a few hours while we did some digging for the runner beans. We've put in a couple of two-metre long, spit-wide, manure-filled trenches where we'll plant the seeds at the appropriate time (for which, read 'we haven't read that far in the book yet').
So, the idea was to give the chickens a little holiday. Did it work? Hard to tell, really. I suspect they were freaked out by the transportation, and baffled at the change of scenery. There's no sign of a massively increased egg yield in the last week, but perhaps it helped. Who knows how often our plot will be graced with their presence in future.
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Potentially perfect potato patch preparation
It was flippin' cold this afternoon, but clear, so we decided we should make the best of the opportunity to dig some dirt, and headed off.
[Actually, Amanda and Abi headed up to the allotment while I went to Tescos. Nominal reason: to get some light hand weights for training. Real (secret) reason: to get the new Springsteen album. I've been most remiss about this, as it's been out for several days now. In the past I've normally got these on the day of release, but I must be slipping in my encroaching decrepitude. But, in the words of the inimitable Ronnie Corbett, I digress.]
When I eventually got to the allotment Amanda had removed the remains of the grass paths from the root-crop-area-to-be. Abi had added what looks like a miniature swimming pool to the hedgehog hotel, in the interests of encouraging wildlife on the plot. I can't help thinking that it looks remarkably like a trap-of-certain-death-for-small-mammals, but to her credit she put bricks in it so that the inmates stand some chance of escape. And she was remarkably focussed on digging out the hole, which was the most impressive part of the whole operation.
Amanda and Abi have also hung a bird feeder from the shed roof, to encourage the wildlife a bit. We've started seeing one of the local cats on our plot regularly when we go up there, and he seems to think that having more birds about would be a splendid idea.
In the end we dug over most of the root crop area. It turns out that cold days are great for this sort of thing, as you're incentivised to make some effort.
[Actually, Amanda and Abi headed up to the allotment while I went to Tescos. Nominal reason: to get some light hand weights for training. Real (secret) reason: to get the new Springsteen album. I've been most remiss about this, as it's been out for several days now. In the past I've normally got these on the day of release, but I must be slipping in my encroaching decrepitude. But, in the words of the inimitable Ronnie Corbett, I digress.]
When I eventually got to the allotment Amanda had removed the remains of the grass paths from the root-crop-area-to-be. Abi had added what looks like a miniature swimming pool to the hedgehog hotel, in the interests of encouraging wildlife on the plot. I can't help thinking that it looks remarkably like a trap-of-certain-death-for-small-mammals, but to her credit she put bricks in it so that the inmates stand some chance of escape. And she was remarkably focussed on digging out the hole, which was the most impressive part of the whole operation.
Amanda and Abi have also hung a bird feeder from the shed roof, to encourage the wildlife a bit. We've started seeing one of the local cats on our plot regularly when we go up there, and he seems to think that having more birds about would be a splendid idea.
In the end we dug over most of the root crop area. It turns out that cold days are great for this sort of thing, as you're incentivised to make some effort.
Having a chit time
This morning we had a long discussion about whether or not we should chit our seed potatoes. Sophia the disappointed Swede (not that kind) had read somewhere that this is a waste of time. Our allotment books seem to be divided on the subject. And it's completely pointless looking on the web for this sort of info, as you only seem to find the opinions of complete zealots of either persuasion (this is of course a general phenomenon, not constrained merely to potato-related dilemmas).
In the end we decided that perhaps we should find out what chitting is first. Turns out that it's just standing potatoes up in a tray of some sort to encourage them to form sprouts. It's a form of premature aging, so that you get your crops faster. Well, you learn something every day.
We eventually decided to chit our two early crops - according to one of our books, this is good for earlies, but mains are best left to their own devices. Apparently we can then expect fewer potatoes, but they'll be larger. Sounds good to me.
After all this discussion and research, it was a bit of an anti-climax when the actual operation itself took about a minute to perform. Next up: find out when we should be planting this lot.
In the end we decided that perhaps we should find out what chitting is first. Turns out that it's just standing potatoes up in a tray of some sort to encourage them to form sprouts. It's a form of premature aging, so that you get your crops faster. Well, you learn something every day.
We eventually decided to chit our two early crops - according to one of our books, this is good for earlies, but mains are best left to their own devices. Apparently we can then expect fewer potatoes, but they'll be larger. Sounds good to me.
After all this discussion and research, it was a bit of an anti-climax when the actual operation itself took about a minute to perform. Next up: find out when we should be planting this lot.
Friday, 30 January 2009
Controversy rages over allotment plans
Our friend Sophia, allotment/gardening/cooking guru, Swede (not that kind) and sage (not that kind) was shocked, disappointed, aghast, flabbergasted, etc by our decision to go for plug plants this year.
A disappointed swede, this morning:
A disappointed swede, this morning:
Sunday, 25 January 2009
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Amanda suggested I title this post something like "Potato-related purchases for the 2009 growing season". In a spirit of bloody-mindedness I've decided to ignore that sensible and useful advice.
This morning we went to the shop in Newtown Allotments to stock up on supplies for this year. We got the following seed potatoes:
1 kg Sharpe's Express (first earlies)
1 kg Wilja (second earlies)
1 kg Magestic (main crop)
and some fertiliser:
6 kg fish blood and bone fertiliser
3 kg potato fertiliser
Our choice of potato varieties, given a list of the huge range available, was driven almost entirely by names we vaguely recognised. And a slight Bernard Cornwell/Sean Bean obsession.
Top tip from a shop guru: we can plant all of the potatoes at the same time, and they'll sort out themselves when it's time to grow.
Next up: we need to chit the potatoes in preparation for planting them. Actually, next up: find out what chitting is.
This morning we went to the shop in Newtown Allotments to stock up on supplies for this year. We got the following seed potatoes:
1 kg Sharpe's Express (first earlies)
1 kg Wilja (second earlies)
1 kg Magestic (main crop)
and some fertiliser:
6 kg fish blood and bone fertiliser
3 kg potato fertiliser
Our choice of potato varieties, given a list of the huge range available, was driven almost entirely by names we vaguely recognised. And a slight Bernard Cornwell/Sean Bean obsession.
Top tip from a shop guru: we can plant all of the potatoes at the same time, and they'll sort out themselves when it's time to grow.
Next up: we need to chit the potatoes in preparation for planting them. Actually, next up: find out what chitting is.
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