Hazel and Jane's allotment: June 2018

Thursday, June 28, 2018

Bringing home the goods!

I managed get to the Hill for an hour this evening before the England match.

I finished digging over bed7 then did the dalek dance with the compost dalek on bed8, emptying it, and moving it to it's new home at the far end of bed7. Another bed finished and ready for planting - and I have brassicas in pots ready to plant out; a job for the weekend.

I now have a stock of punnets in the car, so it was easy to harvest some of the Japanese leaves from the plants in the courgette bed - a cloud of whitefly flew up from each small plant - some tiny french beans (the vegetable equivalent of veal), and also some raspberries and a few redcurrant.

I blanched the Japanese leaves for a minute to take the bitterness out of them, and also the French beans; then made them into a salad for tea with some lettuce seedlings growing at home.

I offset the healthy salad with a piece of key lime pie I made the other day - but at least got another of my five a day when I topped it with the soft fruit.

I'd call that a win.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

A Bit More Done

I nipped to the Hill on the way home from an after-work meeting today to carry on with repairing the beds.

I finished staking bed7, and forked over half of it before it was time to come home.

Sunday, June 24, 2018

A Pause in Bed Repairs

The climbing beans are looking a bit pale and peaky, so I went to the store shed and bought some fish blood and bone to hoe in. I bought enough for all the other beds too, but for today, I just applied it to the bean bed, and the courgette bed too.

That's all I had time for before the England match; so I came home to watch the footie - and took the opportunity to pot on the brassicas and some late sown tomatoes whilst it was on.

I should have paid a bit more attention to what I was doing as although the kale is quite distinctive, I cannot tell the cabbage and the cauliflower apart - so the planting out is going to be a bit random!

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Shaping up

Today's hour or so at the plot was a bit aimless in that I didn't fancy the slog of bed restaking; which leaves me with weeding as an activity - along with watering as it has been so dry.

However, I did bring down some 'catch up' climbing French beans to plant out, some runner bean seeds to bodge in by the stakes with the existing plants, so I did that too.

I also remembered some punnets for raspberries and picked a heap of those to bring home, for once.

I also forked and re-weeded half of the area in front of the bench where the Bramble Intent On World Domination was - although a better use of my time would be to put down weed suppressant (which I have to hand) at least until I decide what I will do with that area. It's on the list to do after this second fork-over.

Then, because it's good to stand back every now and again and look at what ~~you've~~ Mother Nature has achieved at the plot, I noted that the main crop potatoes are going mad; there will be French beans very soon, and the parsnip flowers are magnificent.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Little by Little

A snatched hour at the plot this evening and I started on straightening bed7. I wasn't much in the mood for banging in stakes though, so once I had the line I left it at that for next time.

The photo also shows how much there is to do with bed8 - by the time I get to it, the parsnips will have finished flowering and I can hoick them out with a clear conscience over the bees, which love them. I won't muck about waiting for the seed head to mature to save the seed with parsnip seeds about 19p a ton, so I'll use the space for something else instead.

I weeded some of the frontage - a waste of time really just taking the tops off, but it keeps things in check until I get round to doing it properly. I ended up at the raspberries, and ate more straight off the plants - still have no punnets in the car in which to bring them home!

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Continuing Bed Repair

I've re-staked, dug over and planted up six of the main beds - this latest one now planted out with leeks - and I have just two to go before the plot is in reasonable order.

I say that, but then the side beds (rasps, currants, asparagus and nursery beds) will need the same treatment, then the front of the plot; and finally, the paths need re-laying with weed suppressant, and covering with wood chippings.

So just as well that I've had reward this year already from plenty of rhubarb; and tonight, the first of the raspberries. No pics of the rasps as they were carried home via my mouth.

Note to self: put containers for rasps in car - there is a limit to the amount of soft fruit that one can gorge on the spot.