A Masterpiece!

Such a busy week last week so didn't get to Plot 6 as much as I would've liked. Did get there on Saturday with the kids for a few hours, then back again with Hubby in the evening when he finished work (braving the nasty nibbling flying critters that LOVE the taste of me!). We dug over the 4th bed and I've got half the bed filled with 18 sweetcorn plantlets (did have a little runt too - sweetcorn number 19, but slugs got him - probably for the best!). They look great! I went and checked out how others had planted their's and copied them (spacing etc.). Leeks are going to go in the other half I think. I've had two seperate offers for leeks so I'm hoping I will be able to fill it.

Rained ALL day on Sunday, and only popped in on my way home to drop off some pallets today. I'm itching to get back, but don't really like digging on my own. Need to get Hubby there too!

Sowed a few other bits and pieces to hopefully get in this year. They are happily germinating on the windowsill.

Up the garden:

The tomatoes are doing well, lots of babies now and looking healthy, a baby chilli pepper, peas have toppled over and do not taste that great now (though they were lovely with the pie we had last night), kids went mad pulling up my carrots (eekkkk!), but at least they did eat them! I've only 2 potato plants left now (so sad - mind you they've done well to last as the slugs and snails have stripped them to skeletons!) and beans, onions, garlic, butternut squash, cucumber, and lettuce are still doing well. My raspberries are not fruiting so much now, and strawbs seem to have stopped fruiting altogether. Courgettes are not really that happy in a tub I think and manky fruit flies keep attacking the end of the courg so I have to chop it off before it's really big enough. I'll have to make sure it's well away from the compost bin next year!

All in all I'm proud of what I have achieved up my garden. Even if I can't wait for the next year on my allotment!

I GOT ONE!

Hooray!!!

At last I am the proud tennant of an allotment!

It's not on the site I was originally looking at (I'm too impatient, I just can't wait for something without any idea of how long I will be on a list, when there are plots free on other sites). Last weekend I went for a look at the site that is next nearest to me and it looked great. I went to see the two plots that were available on Tuesday and really liked Plot 6. I decided to go for it, picked up the keys at lunchtime on Friday and set to work with the hubby that evening.

We've just spend a fair few hours there in the sunshine this weekend and already feel like we've got loads done! I LOVE it! I was humming away as I weeded the beds, and we've cleared, weeded, sowed and planted in them already. Smashing!

Plot 6 when I first saw it on Tuesday.

From the other end looking up the hill.

Hubby making a start on the first bed in the rain.

End of day two and glorious sunshine. We did really well, 2 beds completely weeded, another bed turned over. I managed to get some butternut squash, something I did think was a squash, but now think is a cucumber and pumpkins.

End of day 3. Bed 2 thoroughly weeded and raked finely and some Autumn King Carrots put in 3/4 of the bed and Chantenay Red-core in the the other 1/4 . French marigolds are surrounding and crossing through them for the carrot fly. In true allotment style I salvaged some posts from the big pile of rubbish on the next plot to us and used it in the corners, firstly to keep the kids off and also hopefully to put fleece around also to keep off the carrot fly.

A nice lady from up the hill gave us 2 brussel sprouts and loads of baby cabbage and the site manager said that if I put up some canes he'll let me have some kidney beans as well as some leeks. Such nice people you find on allotments!

I went to the garden centre on the way home to see what other seeds I can sow now and bought my canes. I can't wait to go back!

Whenever I take a picture of my veggie patch it never looks as good as I think it's going to. This time I took it from the other direction looking back towards the house, and it looked great (well I think so!).

Had an interesting time last night at my allotment-to-be's (hopefully!) BBQ. Met loads of the allotment holders (a very nice bunch) and got to show hubby around. He was impressed and we really enjoyed ourselves - I REALLY want one. I keep being shown/told about the good plots but at the moment I'd settle for any of them (I say that, but I'm very fussy so I hope I get a choice!). Can't wait though.

Up my garden I've got baby beans and now baby toms, hooray!! Something is still nibbling my raspberries and one or two have sunken grey 'berries' on the surface. However, strawbs are looking much less nibbled.

I've resown the salad bed and covered the seeds with a plastic cloche and some more sawn off bottles. Noticed this morning that there were slug/snail trail trails inside the cloche so I feel a nightly torchlight hunt coming on.

I re-potted the courgettes that were looking rather sorry for themselves as I had been relying on them for their 'boy' flowers as there seems to be only girl flowers at the moment on the two big courgette plants I'm growing in my half barrel. I hate to think of all those lovely unfertilised courgettes going to waste! I also re-potted a rogue seed that has germinated in my strawberry planter. It looks like a courgette - but not quite. It must've come from our home made compost, so I'm waiting to see what it is going to turn into. Very exciting!

We dug up the Anoe spuds on Friday and I must say I was rather disappointed after the success of the Karlena. They are my first earlies and the Karlena were my second earlies, but there were half as many underneath and were definately not as nice. We has to dig up two plants too. I've left the seed potatoes in the ground (just to see what'll happpen) and as there were still a few piffley little ones on them, to see if they'll grow again.

I also made a smoked salmon pasta with butter-fried carrots and courgette from the garden, the carrots were so sweet, lovely.

I WANT MY OWN ALLOTMENT!!!! (***stamping foot***!)

I've pinned down the little runners on my strawbs, raised the pot up on blocks, netted the lot temporarily and put copper tape around the pot to deter any new slugs/snails that fancy climbing up for a juicy feast.

I decided against putting the pumpkin straight out, I'm going to acclimatise them and my Sweet Million toms in the peppers plastic frame first.

I also noticed that the rozzers are turning red - hoorah!

Well, the lady from the council got back to me and said that basically I'd have to wait (I suppose it's good to know that they work fairly), and anyway she'd already promised the plot to someone else. I was a bit disappointed, but the good news is that it looks like I'm now 17th on the list. I'm just hoping it won't take too long to get to the top.

As for my garden everything is coming along nicely. My peas are fattening (I couldn't resist and popped open a pod, and the peas inside were tiny!! - but yummy :oD).

I had my first real bounty of food on Monday. We dug up our first spuds (second earlies) and they were absolutely GORGEOUS!! There were also loads of them - it was so exciting! I dug up our first carrots. The Autumn King were still small but looked good, long and tapered to a fine point. The Chantenay Red-cored were a little more unusual and had root going off in various directions, however all tasted yummy and I grew them!!!!! We even ate the Lady courgette and she was good - though slightly bigger than we'd planned - an unexpected visit to the hospital with my daughter due to severe chest infection, meant she had swelled up from a tennis ball to a grapefruit before we had chance to eat her! (the courgette not my daughter!). Think I'll try stuffed courgettes for tea tonight too!

My strawberries are also starting to ripen and are HUGE! I don't think we're going to see much of them though, my daughter's gobbling them up as soon as they ripen. There's also something that keeps having a nibble (I'm thinking snails), so I'm going to have to set up a better defence.

I also planted a new wave of salad a few weeks ago - oriental lettuce, rocket and spinach. They were all coming up nicely and I was just waiting to thin them when the slimers totally devoured the lot!! Grrrrr! I've protected the last few with cut off bottles, but I'll have to re-sow them. Today's task is to do just that and also plant out one of my pumpkin babies ready for October.

Allotment hunt update

Yesterday I contacted the council about the site I fancied, I was told there was a waiting list of 21 people (with me being no.21!), but that not to worry as many people put their name down for several allotments and not everyone wants one when they actually get to the top of the list. My hopes were high and especially as there are a group of people from the Probation Service in, clearing the site and bring back to life some rather unloved allotments. There are 50 plots on the site. About 10-15 are currently taken, 6 are being cleared by the PS now and 9 more (currently a field but used to be allotments) are also due for clearing. Also a few people are being asked to leave and a few are giving up this season. I am VERY hopeful and was told that now is a good time to be on the list.

SO, today after work I went down to the site to see if I could have a look around. It was BRILLIANT! I met some great allotment holders who said they are trying to become an association and get the place sorted, also that if I am keen (I am!) then they have the perfect plot for me with a fab wooden/brick greenhouse and a large shed. It was tended up until the autumn so there is a meadow of 3 ft grass, but underneath it is good. They were really keen for me to push for this plot as it has only just become available, so I have and I emailed the lady at the council again when I came home. Cheekily I think, but if you don't ask you don't get! The ladies also said that they would phone on my behalf and would I like to come to their summer BBQ? I think I made a good first impression (hope so anyway!) as I was given a packet of lettuce seeds. Gonna take Hubby for a nosy soon and will take my camera!

Anyway, up my garden my babies (courges) are coming along nicely and my eldest is nearly fat enough for the chop. Can't wait to taste it (though not actually sure if I even like courgette!), bound to be good though as I grew it!

My first peas are actually looking like skinny peas now too. All so exciting!

I repotted my sad spare tigerella toms last night and although they now are rather wiggly stemmed, they look much happier.

A busy couple of days, I'm surprised I can even fit work in!

This is my first blog about my adventures into the world of the Vegetable Patch. After a stint of allotment sitting over the summer for my friend Jonathan, watching the amount of peas my veg-aphobic kids managed to eat, as well as the whole laid back, feel good vibes you get from caring for a plot, I was truly bitten. I didn't want an allotment yet (didn't think I was that interested!) but I thought I'd like to give the end of my fairly small back garden a make-over and turn it into my own mini allotment. We started on the 3rd of Feb 2007 by pulling up the patio and with the hubby's muscle, we began to prepare our beds.

The end of the garden before make-over Feb 07
The raised beds & hubby getting down to a bit of diggin'

Well, after 4 months of preparation, sowing, nurturing and excitement as things actually start to grow I feel we've made a great start. We've been eating lettuce for ages (gotta love those cut and come again!) and are eagerly awaiting the growth of the three little baby pea pods I spotted a few days ago and numerous berries. Not to mention carrots, spuds, butternut squash, toms, peppers and soooo much more! I can't explain how excited I was when my first 'lady' courgette flower opened!

June 07

Yesterday, the hubby and I decided that it would be a good idea to try to find an allotment after all. You don't get many spuds in a 1 x 1.5m raised bed (plus 5 in a flower bed), and I think as a family of 4 that these will actually only last us about 6 weeks. We need more space! So the hunt is on. I'm very unfit, don't want to travel far (and so drive every time I go) and I hate going uphill on my bike so I've applied for a plot in some allotments nearby that I hope aren't in as dodgy an area as it looks (but only 3 mins on my bike). Watch this space!