Snow

Over the past couple of days the snow has been falling quite a bit now. As you can see the allotments are covered but i still managed to work despite the cold. At least it was dry. The early Broccili are somewhere under all that snow

The storage shed is nearly finished, just need a side and some more glass for the roof.

Down on the garden allotment everything is covered as well. Not much to do here until early spring. The bottom greenhouse will probably go up to the other pen sometime soon.

A view of the setting sun over towards Belthorn.

Raised Beds

The temperature has dropped quite a bit and there has been a few flurries of snow. Nothing too deep but many places the roads are quite icy. I still managed a few hours this afternoon though.

So armed with a flask of coffee and a fire i managed to build two raised beds and another car load of manure, with this i managed to cover one of the asparagus beds.

Manure and Garlic

I am on holiday now for a couple of week so i can spend a bit more time on the allotment. Not much to do plant wise but lots of tidying up and setting things out ready for next year.

First job for today was manure. As you can see I dont have a trailer so I use a large builders bag, tie up the corners and shovel it in. Then all i need to do is fork it into the wheelbarrow and on it goes. Granted the car does stink afterwards but i dont mind it too much. Anyway I managed to get 4 car loads on today before it got too cold. The weather forecast is cold and snow but at least there was some blue sky mixed in

The next job was to plant out the garlic. I put these into individual cell earlier in october in the greenhouse. There is plenty of strong growth to get them going and the cold weather will encourage the cloves to split.

These are some autumn onions. They are a little late but they should grow ok for pulling next summer when the autumn onions from this year have run out. The yellow onions grown this year are keeping well but the red ones have started to rot, I believe red dont keep too well so next year i will use them up first instead of storing.

Plot in December

These are just some photo's of the allotment in December. The first picture is the sprouting broccoli, growing strong for next spring. They seem very large plants so i will see how much they crop to see if they are worth it. The next has the swiss chard and perennial spinach. Then its the kales, curly and black.

Most of the tender plants and pot are in the greenhouse for some added protection. I am hoping to bring one of the greenhouses form the other pen to fit on the far end to make a bigger greenhouse.

These next two picture just show what the pen looks like this time of year

End of Year Review

Since i last posted i have been busy with other things and as the season come to an end i have not had too much to report, plus i broke my camera phone so i have not been taking photo's which serve as a reminder to what has been going on.

Most of the summer fruit and veg has now been picked and eaten. The potatoes lasted well into november, onions have been dried and stored. Leeks are still being picked as is kale. Most of the plants in pots have been put into the green house

The compost bins have been emptied and refilled hopefully ready for next year. the secret seems to be adding lots of fresh horse manure to get them going. The leaf mold is coming on nicely and another layer from this year has been added

So what have i learned this year?

Dont sow too early especially beans and courgettes. not too many seeds sown at one time, succesional sowing is a must, not too many potatoes.

Most veg was successful especially carrots, sweetcorn, chillies, tomatoes, potatoes

Next year: no broad beans, better tasting varieties, lots of chillies and tomatoes, hopefully some asparagus and artichokes.

To do: move greenhouse up to top plot, raised beds

Sweetcorn and Rain

August has continued to disappoint with the weather being cool and very wet. Most plants are doing well. Still picking beans, salad, potaotoes, courgettes, beetroot, carrots and as you can see below sweetcorn. These have grown really well with 2/3 cobs per plant and delicious to eat, all from a packed that cost 19p.

As September begins there are signs of improvement in the weather with some bright sunny spells forecast. This give a chance to tidy round the allotment and move some plants around. Some of the larger plants in the nursery bed can be moved into the boarders, it may be a little early but i want to get organised for next year.

I have some onions and garlic to plant now to be ready for next summer when the supplies of onions have run out from this year

Another week of sunshine, showers, warm and cold. I dont know how the plants put up with it because I can't. Still picking fresh veg every day, plenty of beans, tomatoes and courgettes to name a few. Below are some 'early nantes 5' carrots. These are a good size and very little sign of carrot fly damage so a great success this year so looking forward to growing many more next year. The tomatoes are 'harginger' variety and have done really well this year no signs of disease and have put up with some neglect but i have been rewarded with some nice tasty tom's. The last picture was collected today (Friday) 'cylindra' beetroot, 'parmex' carrots, courgettes and leeks. The leeks have been picked a bit early but we wanted some to eat right now.

If the weather stays dry tonight i will hopefully get some more veg and tidy up and cut the grass

This weeks weather has been much warmer with some nice sunny spells. Everything is now back on schedule after the hols. As in the previous post not much to do so a nice relaxing weekend just pottering. I got given a little shed so I put that together and tidied up the wood store and started putting together some kind of shelter for it all. Still picking beans, courgettes, potatoes, lettuce, chillies. Wednesday was a nice afternoon with the family. Stayed up til late waiting for the meteor showers but it was too cloudy. Had a nice time round the campfire with millie, kate and the kids.

Sweetcorn cobs are growing well. You can see the runner beans winding their way up the stalks. All the yellow onions have now been dug up and are drying in the sun, a good crop for this year but i need to make sure they are stored well for the next few months.

In the garden plot i still have two greenhouses. One with a grapevine in and the other with tomatoes and chillies. The grapes are black, small and juicy. This year i noticed quite a few ripe grape have been eaten and on furhter investigation i found earwigs have made the grapevine thier home! Not anymore, but i will have to watchout for them in future.

Tha tomatoes have done quite well with no sign of blight and a good mixture of varieties. The main ones are harbinger, subarctic and gardenpearl. The chilies have done especially well, they are 'cayenne' variety. Not sure how hot they are supposed to be but they pack quite a punch.

It's a strange time of year. After all the rush and panic of sowing seeds and planting out ther eisn't that much to do except harvest and keep tidy. There will always be jobs to do but not the pressing urgency from before. There is also a sence of impatience waiting for everything to finish so the beds can be cleared and palns made for next year, it's difficult to visualise and plot what needs to go where this year and for next year. I'm not sure where to put these asparagus plants. As you can see they are just starting to produce one globe each, but next year the plants will be much bigger and i have another eight plants grown from seed this year.

These are the first of the onions to be pulled up. They are spanish white and very nice in salads, much milder than normal ones

The leeks and southport red onions are doing well. First time growing them from seed and quite pleased with the results. The proof obviously is in the eating.

Next are the runner beans. I prefare the texture of these over green beans when cooked. The plants and flowers are lovely sight with the bonus of some nice beans to eat



These are some geranium, sweet williams and alpine strawberries in front of the shed to brighten up the place.


And lastly the herb bed. Not to sure what to do next year as they take up a full bed but i havent used any of them this year. There are some mints. oregano, tarragon, sage, thyme, garlic chives and lemon balm with some pot marigolds thrown in. Most of them used to be in pots but tey either outgrew them or kept drying out in warmer weather. They do look really well withn the flowers on so i may pot up the useful one for home and put the rest of them in the borders

Garden Plot August

Just a few views of the garden plot. Plenty of work to do but its nice just to relax and unwind and let nature take care of itself. Most borders need extending a little to accomodate the growth of the plant

Post Holiday Overgrowth

Not just me thats overgrown on holiday, but the allotment is bursting with plant life. All the wildflowers and sweetpeas in the borders fill the pen with colour and fragrance. Whilst away the weather has be quite dull and wet which i suppose is a blessing because it looked like it was going to be anoher hot month after June. It is quite cold and wet at the moment and with so much to do it is a little frustrating. As you can see from these pictures there is plenty to do and pick.

Quite a few of the courgettes have grown too large and are alomost marrow size. I have taken these off to encourage more courgettes to form. The 'bianca de triese' are long and curled but they taste very sweet. The sweetcorn contiue to grow with plenty of cobs forming and the runnerbeans are flowering well and some beans are forming. Hopefully the weather will pick up then i can get things straight

Picked lettuce, courgettes, beetroot, peas, beans, pink fir apple potatoes and radish

Pre Holiday Rush

We are going on holiday tomorrow (Friday) so this week has beeen a bit of a rush trying to get all plants into the ground and make sure everything is tidy and away for the next 2 weeks. Ronnie in one of the other pens is keeping an eye on things til i get back. Hope it's not to hot and dry for the plants. A view of the pen before we left. Everything growing well


One very large chinese cabbage. Off to some friends for their tea or two, A variety of courgettes and a row of nicola potatoes!

I'm off to France. ta ta for now!

A quick view around the garden plot just to record how things are doing

I think some of the beds need extending out to accomodate the growth. I tend to plant too close and they soon outgrow their space and encroach on other plants. The grasses especially need thinning out.