Nothing More To Say

What do you say after picking the first punnet of Strawberries of the season??

Scrumptious 15/June/2013

Shedloads All Round

With both of my plots almost fully planted and sown for a while now and most of the veggies and fruit growing well, it was time for another project to keep me off the street corners. The front garden project of removing the lawn, top soil, paving slabs and some of the sub-soil is finished and is now awaiting the next phase of construction. The soil and paving slabs have been transported to my allotments and are being re-used there.

First Harvest of the Year End of May

 Last Thursday I decided to re-position the shed on N2 plot. I had inherited the 10 feet x 6 feet shed along with the plot. The shed was old and badly situated close to the drainage ditch bank, on the lowest, dampest part of the plot which is susceptible to water logging & flooding at times. Most of the floor boards, several side panels & some of the vertical wooden supports were already rotted away but I decided that repairing the shed would be a far cheaper option than buying a new one of comparable size. I constructed supports for the shed base using some of the flag stones from my front garden project stacked one on top of the other. The final position of the shed would be a few feet away from my other shed on N1 Plot. The shed roof was in good water tight condition so I decided to remove the sides of the shed trying not to disturb and damage the roof and roofing felt. I propped up the roof with various pieces of timber and duly removed the door end and 1 side of the shed. Due mainly to the persistent stiff easterly breeze (not mentioned in the health and safety handbooks) it was apparent that the roof might have blown off its supports, so I had to cut the felt down its centre and take it down in 2 pieces. The roof was quite heavy and my thanks go to Dave, Jason, Alan and Jeremy, (4 of my fellow plot holders), for helping me lift the roof sections off and back on again. Before the sides and roof were re-assembled I constructed a floor using decking boards (seconds). The rotted upright supports were replaced with new battens, after which it wasn't too difficult to re-build the shed and replace some of the shorter, rotted side panels. By the end of the weekend the shed was up and on Monday the central part of the roof was re-felted and sealed with roof & gutter sealant. Tuesday was spent replacing some of the guttering and emptying the old water butts. Most of the water was used to water my Potatoes on N2 Plot. Supports were made using more paving slabs & some breeze blocks and 2 butts were positioned onto them. The intention is to have 4 or 5 interconnected butts alongside the window side of the shed, close to the veggie beds on N2 Plot. Other guttering & butts will be put in place on the drainage ditch side of the shed as time allows.

Old Shed on N2 Plot Being Dismantled

 The area where the shed was originally sited is approximately 15 feet x 25 feet and the intention with it, is to raise the soil level several inches, using some of the soil from my front garden. Several large raised beds will then be built to offset the dampness of the original ground level. The soil for the raised beds will come from the turf taken from my garden and from the pile of soil along the top of the drainage ditch bank which I dumped there whilst clearing the central bed on N2 Plot, over last Winter. The Dandelions and other weeds still growing in it are currently being cleared out as I dig out each barrow load.

Repairing the Shed Panels

More Repairs

Guttering Being Fitted

Almost Finished 11th June 2013

Here's a Money Saving Tip (Don't Buy Brackets)

Transferring Soil from the Drainage Ditch Bank & Removing Dandelion Roots

Where the Shed Was Raising the Soil Level Ready for Raised Beds

Although the majority of my fruit & veg are developing well and the glorious weather over the past couple of weeks has meant plenty of watering, mainly on an evening. The persistent cool easterly breeze continues, apart from 2 days, and I believe, along with the colder night time temperatures, it is affecting the development of some plants. My Cucumbers, Squashes and Runner beans don't seem to like the conditions. All of the "cold climate" crops are doing well, with the exception of 2 sowings of Parsnips which have totally failed to germinate this year. The lack of rainfall is causing the ground to dry out rapidly but on the up side the lack of annual weeds is a bonus. 

Potatoes Flowering N2 Plot 12/6/13

Strawberries Ripening 12/6/13

Cabbages Looking Good 12/6/13

There's Always Tomorrow!!

Rooko's June Top 10 Tryouts & Tips

1. If you are growing Potatoes don't forget to earth them up and don't allow any developing tubers to come in contact with sunlight. On the subject of earthing up, Carrots will also benefit from being earthed up as a protection from the dreaded Carrot fly.

2. Keep your hoe moving in and around your vegetables and other plants, attack those weeds whilst they are small and easier to deal with. Don't wait until they have spread their seeds.

3. If you are watering small seedlings or young plants, keep 1 or 2 full watering cans somewhere warm overnight so that the water remains a few degrees higher than it would be straight from the tap or water butt. This is to prevent shock to the plants when watering them.

4. When growing Cucumbers keep them away from Tomatoes and Sage. They may benefit from being grown near, Carrots, Beet, Dill, Marigolds, Nasturtians, Peas, Radish and Sunflowers.


5. Planting Egg plants, Tagetes and Calendula will attract Hover flies into your garden or plot. They are avid eaters of Aphids.

6. Do you park your car at the allotment when you are there? If so and you are picking herbs to dry for later, leave them in the car on sheets of newspaper to dry, on a sunny day of course. Nice smelling car too.

7. Couch grass can be a real pain in the garden or down the plot. Sow some Tomato seeds in amongst it and wait for the results. Should be Tomato plants not Couch that survive.

8. Don't forget to check your hedges and shrubs, before you start to trim them. Birds may be nesting in there.

9. June is possibly the best month for planting perennial shrubs.

10. More to do in June:

SOWING/PLANTING IN JUNE

 1.   Plant out Brassicas, Broccoli, Calabrese, Brussel Sprouts, Summer Cabbage and any beans which are in pots.
2.  Sow the following: French Beans, Runner Beans, Beetroot, Cabbage, Cauliflowers, Chicory, Courgettes, Cucumbers, Endive, Kohl-rabi, Marrows, Squashes, Swedes, Sweetcorn and Turnips.
3.  Successional sowing of certain seeds, should be done throughout the Summer.

OTHER JOBS IN JUNE

1. As June is usually warm and dry do not neglect to water plants, a good soaking of plants is better than frequent amounts of a little water.
2. Keep weeds down, hoeing will aid water to soak in also.
3.  Salad crops should be ready for harvesting, along with other early crops.
4.  Check Lettuce/Brassicas for slugs/snails especially after rain or watering.

Flaming June Nearly

Reading through many allotment and gardening blogs during May, it appears that most gardeners have been busy sowing planting and doing the various gardening jobs associated with this time of the year, despite the vast local differences in weather conditions from one end of the U.K. to the other. The end of May Bank Holiday here, consisted of 3 days of glorious sunshine, ideal weather for gardening and the first real sunny spell of the year. As I spent 2 and a half days since last Friday visiting family in Hampshire I missed the sunshine here in Somerset. Arriving back on Sunday evening the sun was still shining and I ventured down to my plots to check on things. The temperature in the poly tunnel was just short of 40 degrees C and most of the plants in there needed watering. Since the beginning of last month I have emptied 2 and a half large water butts and the large water tank I keep on N1 Plot, with the water being mainly used to "water in" seeds and refresh a variety of seedlings. Not enough rain has fallen to re-fill the butts and tank as yet and many areas of ground on the plots are currently drying out rapidly. Although all my vegetable seeds sown outside have now germinated, (with the exception of the Parsnips), I am still keeping Cucumbers, French climbing beans, Pumpkins and some squashes protected inside my poly tunnel, with Sweetcorn and Runner bean plants as back ups against any early JUNE frosts?? Last night the air temperatures dropped yet again with a mild frost still in evidence at 5-30 a.m. this morning.

I was privileged to have a Lesser spotted woodpecker visit my back garden early this morning, he landed for a very few seconds before flying off again. I've heard Woodpeckers tapping away on trees some distance from my house for quite a few years now, but this was the first time one has landed in my garden. My resident Blackbird "Chalky" and his mate are currently nesting in the Clematis on my patio again, this year, having chased away the pair of Robins which were nesting there earlier in the year. A pair of Goldfinches have set up home in the bushes growing alongside my back fence, so the garden is quite busy with bird activity at the moment  Sorry no photographs as yet, because I don't want to disturb the nesting birds.

Californian Lilac Flowering in My Back Garden These are Excellent Plants for Attracting Bees

 I am still continuing the re-designing work on my front garden, spending many hours, last week, bagging up and transporting more top-soil down to my plots. I decided that tipping the topsoil along my Potato ranks was an easier way to earth them up than hoeing/raking the original dry soil up into ridges around the spuds. Many of the annual weeds growing in the Potato bed were pulled up and then buried under the soil as I went along each rank. I found this method easier than the usual methods of earthing up. Hopefully the buried weeds will produce some extra nutrients for the Potatoes as they develop.

Topsoil Dug Out Front of House

Topsoil Being Removed to My Allotments

Stones, Hardcore & Rubble Removed from the Topsoil

Well I started writing this post last night mentioning the lack of rain here for some time. Since the mention it's been raining steadily for most of the time. I visited my plots late this morning and the first job was to deposit more top-soil onto the Potato bed. I then planted out 2 Butternut Squashes into the lower corner of the L-shaped bed on N1 Plot, sowed half a dozen Watermelon seeds into a large pot, hopefully they will eventually germinate and grow, protected in the poly tunnel. One of the small beds on N2 Plot was hoed and weeded, using a walking board to stand on, due to the damp soil, after which I dispatched a handful of slugs to their afterlife, I then re-shot the allotment tour video (Take 7) which is currently uploading to YouTube. As the rain was now getting heavier and yet again the temperature becoming colder, I called it a day and left for home.

Allotment Tour Video ABOVE Replacing the Last Effort

There's Always Tomorrow!!

Eureka And Cut

Some time ago I began to use photographs, taken on my allotments, to keep a record of my gardening activities, as you know us wrinklies tend to have temporary memory glitches at times. As with most technological items, cameras are fine when they work correctly. In this age of high tech devices, when some stat or other is incorrect, have you heard the term "sorry but it was a computer error". Well I thought the input came from the computer operator in the first place, maybe not? Which brings me to the video in this post. Having had my camera some years now, after some "finger trouble" I finally managed to make 2 videos, one yesterday, lets call that one a test piece for want of a better description. Today's effort was slightly better quality, despite the rain, so I decided to publish it. I haven't a clue if there is any audio to go with but I hope my readers get the general idea of what is happening or not happening.

                                                                                                                                                                 The weather over the past 11 days, since my last blog post, has been average for this time of year here in U.K. With overnight temperatures generally lower than the norm I have restricted seed sowing to trays and pots, which are under cover in my poly tunnel, with the exception of more hardier varieties of vegetables. Over the past few days of waiting for higher temperatures to arrive and the germinated plants getting too large for their pots, (potting on is extra work and time consuming), I have planted out the first batch of Sweetcorn and Runner beans. Within 24 hours of doing so the Runner beans were flattened by a heavy shower of hailstones this afternoon, just prior to the rain storm in the video. One days rain during last week did little to aid the germination of seeds sown outdoors and indeed the lack of rain for several weeks now has left most areas of ground parched.

Last Sunday I decided to do a car boot sale, so on Saturday I stripped down my 5 Rhubarb plants, discarding the soft and unusable sticks of Rhubarb, (which should benefit the plants), giving me 7 large sacks of bumper sized sticks. The remainder of my Leeks were lifted ready for the sale along with several fruit bushes and trees in pots. I added a couple of trays of Strawberry plants, Runner bean and Sweetcorn plants to the tally along with other none-plant related items I had for sale. With the current high costs of shop bought Rhubarb, mine was snapped up at the sale. The past 11 days has been busy down my plots with such tasks as, watering seedlings, erecting bean poles, sowing and planting various veggies and flower bulbs, earthing up Potatoes, grass cutting and strimming, adding and removing various protective covers for plants, seed sowing, pruning back some of the large trees which overhang the drainage ditch at the lower end of my plots, sharpening tools and of course doing some weeding. The removal of the top soil from my front garden is approximately 50% complete, with the soil being bagged up and transported in my car to N1 plot each time I make a visit, hopefully this will be finished by the end of next week, weather permitting.

Many small annual weeds have been making their appearances since about the beginning of last week, so this weekend is being dedicated to (joy of joys) weeding and hoe-ing down the plots.


There's always tomorrow!!

Updated Plan N2 Plot 2013

50/50

Another week of sunny dry weather has seen me alternating work between my allotments and re-designing my front garden. With the turf removed from my garden and transported in my car to N2 plot (about 40 trips) over a week ago, I have continued to remove the top soil, spreading it around the flower borders of my back garden. The borders are now "well soiled up" and today I began transporting bags of top soil to N2 plot, adding it to the last uncultivated bed, to be dug in at a later date. In between the work on my front garden, several pleasant days have been spent sowing more seeds into pots and also directly into the beds of N2 Plot. Due to the recent dry weather several evenings have been spent watering the emerging seedlings on both plots and in particular the pots and trays in my poly tunnel. Temperatures in the tunnel reached 30 degrees C today with the air vents open. Most of the ground inside the tunnel has not been prepared or weeded yet, although yesterday I spent an hour or so clearing and digging over a few more feet of it.

Turf From Front Garden Stacked In Compost Bin On N2 Plot

First Batch Of Top Soil From Garden To N2 Plot 5/May/2013

Main Crop Spuds N2 Plot Showing Through 5/5/13

Peas N1 Plot 5/5/13

Roots Bed N1 Plot 5/5/13

Beans Transplanted in Back of Polytunnel 4/5/13

Runnerbeans in Polytunnel 5/5/13

Still Organizing the Polytunnel 5/5/13

Trouble Germinating Cucumbers This Year 5/5/13

2 Batches of Sweetcorn 5/5/13

Amaryllis (Bulb/Corm Purchased From Spalding)

There's Always Tomorrow!!

Rooko's May Top 10 Tryouts & Tips

1. Now that plants are starting to grow due to warmer soil conditions try adding some general purpose fertilizer to flower borders and around other established plants.

2. If you are intending to sow a new lawn this year, May is probably the last month to do it in most parts of U.K.

3. If you grow fruit trees, remove any suckers as soon as they appear.

4. Light & sunlight are very important factors when growing vegetables, most need about 6 hours per day for healthy growth. Lettuce, Peas, Carrots, Kale & Chard will tolerate shady conditions. Fruit bearing vegetables such as Tomatoes, Squashes and Peppers need full sun.

5. If you are growing Carrots this season do not sow them near to Strawberries, Tomatoes or Grapes which can have a negative effect on the Carrots growth.

6. If your garden or allotment soil is still cold and wet do not add any mulch to it, as this will only cause mould and disease to start.

7. Onion tip. When you are preparing Spring onions for a meal, normally the base of the Onion along with the roots is cut away and disposed of. Try keeping part of the base with the roots intact and replant for more Onions. Water well after replanting the base and roots. This should work both with home grown Onions as well as shop bought ones.

8. If your Cabbages are affected by Cabbage worm make a 50/50 mix of Bicarbinate of Soda and White flour. Dust the mixture over the affected plants.

9. Okra is native to Africa & grows best in warmer climates than in UK, it can be grown undercover though, use well composted soil. Sow seeds 1/2 inch (1cm) deep & 3 inches (7cm) apart in rows, soak seeds before sowing and thin to about 2 feet (60cm). Water but do not soak Okra. Harvest while young and tender on completion of flowering.

10. 

SOWING/PLANTING IN MAY

1. Sow the following this month: Runner Beans, French Beans, Beetroot, Broccoli, Calabrese, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chicory, Kale, Kohl-rabi, Lettuce, Peas, Radish, Spring Onions, Swedes, Turnips.
2. Sow Sweetcorn, Marrows, Pumpkins (under cover).
3. Plant out seedlings such as, Brussel Sprouts, Summer Cabbage, Celery, Leeks. Winter Cauliflower, Spring Cabbage, Sprouting Broccoli & Kale should be ready for harvesting now.

OTHER JOBS IN MAY

1. Keep weeds down by hoeing.
2. If late frosts are likely keep fleece handy to cover plants with.
3. Thin out plants as required.