Day 51 - If weeds can grow, so can potatoes.

Today the weather has been less than favourable. Windy, rainy, turbulent conditions, then a sudden calm. It was during this calm today that we planted our first early potatoes. They were Maris Bard and Swift, now I say we planted them, it was my choice as our lass has been saying to hold on, but the chitting room was not as cold as I thought it would be and my worry now is that they were starting to wither. I separated the chitted from the non chitted as we got two bags of each variety and I was going to see how they compared (chitted to the right non chitted to the left of each divided bed), but the potatoes stored in the dark cooler garage grew white spaghetti type tubers, so I thought the ground was the best place for them. As stated in the header, "If weeds can grow, so can potatoes" and the weeds seem to be starting to push their way back out of the soil again, so why not the potatoes. The first earlies should be ready in 60 days, then we will see if it worked out alright.

We did happen to have a few spare of each variety of potatoes, so I put the spare into buckets and will grow them in the green house, this again as with many things was not planned, it was barely a thought. But it might be a serendipitous action as it may well be the only first early potatoes we may get if the others fail due to my haste.

The Wooden markers (headstones) for the potatoes have been put at the fence side to save us falling or tripping on them, not the best photograph as this was a rare moment of sunshine so was taken quickly

Not quite chicken in a basket but potatoes in a bucket, this could be the whole of the first earlies harvest if it all goes horribly wrong, always best to have a back up, and nets which the potatoes came in tied to the handle so I can identify the survivors.

Day 50 - Half way there

 Day 50, and I am sure I have clarified this before, but days are the days we have worked and pottered not simply days of having the allotment.

Another thing I have written as advice is that you need to take lots of photographs, it helps for when you are in the middle of it all, simply awaiting for your work to be fruitful so that you can actually see where you have come from compared to where you currently are. One great example of this is our lasses greenhouse, today a hive of activity for new seedlings but as you will see from the photographs below it has had a big change from where it was originally when we took it over.

We have a wheelbarrow with a new wheel which is always useful.

The potato beds for the first earlies, has been done early. I must concede that yet again our lass is, as always right and the rest of the potato bed is simply not ready (too wet), although I am as ever impatiently wanting it to be.

Our lass forever the busy little bear, has been busy with some log roll which we had, to make an edging which means flowers can be planted along side the vegetables and it also keeps the soil in.

And finally, our neighbour offered us a fennel plant, can't say it is something we would have chosen ourselves, but I like the sound of the aniseed and it reportedly has great flowers which I thought our lass would enjoy, we will keep you posted.

Our lasses green house which we took over

The hive of activity it is today

We had no choice with the colour but it is a very cheery one.

two beds are ready for the first earlies, but will the weather allow this tomorrow is another question.

Our lass reused some log roll, with wooden pole supports, makes a defined edge for some flowers.

fennel from our neighbour, I like aniseed our lass likes flowers could be good.

Day 49 - Everything is fit to burst

It seems we are now only a short time away from spring bursting out all over. We have everything just about ready, seedlings are coming along, potatoes chitting, seed packets lined up to be sown, we just need the warmer weather. At the end of today we had the glimpse of what I described to our lass as a late evening sun, it felt like eight in the evening in the summer but it was actually three thirty in the afternoon. With the clocks moving forward and the longer days coming ever closer this will remedy all our angst of lets get on with it. But you do feel as though you are awaiting the starting pistol, which won't have made a noise but instead burst open a daffodil flower or pear/apple tree blossom.

Today our lass had not only been busy mixing in compost and grit to help the soil to drain in some of the beds, our lass also removed the leaves from a bed and put them into our bench planter, forked and hoed the beds, but also came up with a great idea for the onion sets I had left over. "Why not plant them with the tomatoes?" Our lass said, A quick google search found that tomatoes and onions work well as companions with the onions odour hopefully repelling pest that like tomatoes. We will report back through the year, but it could be an interesting experiment.

Our bench planter, just needing some compost in the planting side. But looks as though it will be a good spot for the end of day sunshine.

Strawberry bed hoed and weeded

One of several beds attended to by our lass, with compost and grit to help improve drainage

Carrot bed now topped up and ready for seed.

The tomato plant will go in the middle of the four onions.

Onions the grandkids planted, now has a net over to stop the birds being confused with the shoots.

One wheel short of a wheel barrow, advice for anyone, if you choose a wheel barrow get one with a solid tyre, ours has got a puncture so having to seek a replacement wheel.

Tomatoes and aubergines coming along nicely.

Day 48 - Nanna and Grang-grads little helpers.

 Today was a grand day or as the grandkids might say grang, which makes me grang grad. It has been nearly six months since we have last seen the grand kids and although we could have wished for warmer weather we were greeted with warm hearts.

Onion sets were sowed, cauliflower / beetroot seeds put out in to trays, and the planks put to full use as a circuit for the kids to walk around. It is amazing how you can gain a childs interest in allotmenteering when you give them a small hand shovel and a home made watering can.

We have already received messages back having been asked by the grandkids if anything has grown yet, I concur with such impatience.

Very willing helpers to fill the barrow

Happy preparing the seed trays

Day 47 - We gotta have faith, faith, faith.

One thing our lass has been able to slowly but surely instil in me is a modicum of faith in myself. Yesterday a bench, today some planters from old tongue and groove. Before I would never have had the self belief but with the help of our lass, who knows what I could build next.

This faith, is also faith in that everything is going to grow. Our lass is currently disheartened by the performance of germinating seeds, currently around three have germinated in a whole tray, the argument seems to be, "Why not just go and buy the plants?" Which to be honest the same could be said about the fruit and vegetables we are growing. This could never be classed as a money saving exercise, but as a certain credit card would suggest "Some things are priceless".

Our lass potted on some lavender cuttings and in the Carol Klein style of gardening covered them in grit.

Three new planters for the front of the allotment, if anyone decides to nick them they are in for a surprise, as they have no bottoms....

Todays new work bench, the top of the compost bin.

Camera on a stick, see how the angle change affects the photographs

Onion bed being prepared

all the tubs ready and filled in the green house, just the buckets for the peppers.

Bench made safe by securing it to the flower bed

Day 46 - A chill wind is the benchmark

 Today down the allotment we barely got past four degrees but it felt so much colder, now having been up their in the snow, it seemed strange that today should affect us so much. Maybe it was the contrast of the warm sun of Sunday that hit us for six today.

We are also struggling with wanting to crack on and get planting yet this just seems another delay. I feel very much like a young child looking at all the presents under the Christmas tree with a week still to go and feeling as though it is an eternity away.

Our lass, I think judging my mood better than I judge my own let me do a folly of putting the scaffolding planks out on the potato bed, my autistic side wants order and it is a perfect way of dividing the six varieties we will have whilst hopefully ensuring I only walk on one particular part of the bed when hoeing. I had hoped the soil would be nearly ready, but it is at least one full dig over away.

So whilst our lass set away some more seeds, I got onto building a bench/table, having just come from one disappointment I seemed to rattle into another which climaxed with the leg falling off. Team work though meant we got this sorted and as you will see in the final photograph we have an end product sturdy enough to take my mighty frame. Then we will see in the future if that created any cracks.

Perspective doesn't help but they are equally spaced, but this is the general idea.

The chairs make a great work bench

We have all the parts cut roughly to size

Our finished bench, with a big thank you to our lass.

Day 45 - Women work 6 times harder than men

I am feeling much like your mobile phone does once you have owned it for a few years, remember when you first charged your phone it would last all day and a bit into the next, possibly two days if not used much. But then you get to the point that you can have your mobile fully charged first thing and it be nearly out of juice just after lunch. This is me just lately, our lass says that I am one of the non duracell bunnies. 

Why do I mention this, well, today I finally got around to doing the job I had been thinking about for a while, which was sorting the compost, moving it from one bin to another whilst adding some from the manure pile to make sure that is rotting down well, as well, once that was done I would make a few trips to add to the manure pile. I only did half a job and that was helped at the end by our lass. The compost though is finally, finely mulched, as the large roots and stalks had still been rotting down so today with loppers available broke them down smaller.

In this time though, our lass had dug over the potato bed, dug over the bed by the front fence, replaced an edging plank (I did bring the plank down though ;o), removed pansies from the front, put some slate down out front and sorted some seeds in her green house.

Before going to the allotment I did sort some seedlings out at home, but as our lass pointed out, I could have waited till in the week, as all I really managed to do was get in the way and the stuff is still set out on the dining room table. I do have a use, it is still to be quantified.

Aubergine and tomato seedlings potted on

The scene of my one job

Potato bed, fence bed dug by our lass and new plank

Last bit of slate sorted

Am sat in the shed looking out, our lass was off doing more jobs.

Day 44 - Trug? What's a trug?

The very thing which I have thought (not planned) would get done is still to be done which is to move some of the top layer from our horse/straw manure piles just see all is breaking down well, and mix it in with the other compost pile we have. But, going to the allotment and what you do there in, is not a fixed art. You really don't have to go with plans, thoughts or ideas, you simply be. Our lass reached this state yesterday, which is nothing more than you can really ask for. Well, we would like everything to grow and not be eaten by the wildlife, but to just be will be a great start.

We seem to still be on the tidying stage of the allotment cycle, maybe that process never ends, maybe that is it with allotments you forever tidy. But we are quite looking forward to the growing stage which is not too far away now, our lass set a range of flowers seeds away on their first journey of being put into seed trays, and the leeks have taken a little longer than first thought but have now germinated.

Our lass, forever a fan of digging, dug out hopefully one of the last strips of carpet and fixed the fence at the front, as for myself, I pottered readying the greenhouse for the first lot of compost to warm it ready for the tomatoes, aubergines and peppers. The taking of photographs is a must I have written this before but as you will see below there is always a big difference and a big help in seeing where you have come from to where you are now which helps you go further in the future.

Forever moving forward another bit of carpet gone and the fence looking good again.

How the greenhouse looked when we first took it over

How it looks today, getting ever closer to our first season of growing in the greenhouse.

Leeks coming through, I had almost written them off as they have been in for over a month.

Before

After, repurposed some shelving for in the shed, 

Day 43 - We must be barking

 I think I have mentioned this before but there has been many times when we go to the allotment with one job or jobs in mind and we end up doing another, today has been no different. Once on our site our walk to the plot means we pass the wood chip or manure pile. Today there had been a new delivery of wood chip so where I was going to sort the compost pile, we decided to get some woodchip as you will see in the photographs below.

Our lass also got to complete a job which had been bugging her for a while, which was replacing a multi cracked paving slab as we enter our plot.

Our lass did a grand job of sorting the paving out.

Before we brought the wood chip up the hill.

Step now blended in with the woodchip, really starting to look good.

Really starting to come together, much better than all the carpet and broken paving slabs we inherited

A much tidier corner

Our lasses greenhouse when we first took it over

Fresh wood chip down on the floor, but a lot tidier greenhouse for our lass.

Day 42 - Hoe di Hoe

The lord giveth the mice taketh away, I had only a few days ago put some pea seeds out in a drain pipe, and on opening the greenhouse today found everyone had been snaffled away. Plan B for the peas now, start them at home and bring them later onto the allotment.

Today was a day of potter, our lass hoed one half of the allotment, and between us we set out the scaffold boards so we had walkways and beds set out. It really does help bring forward that the season is almost upon us and it helps to bring into reality what you have thought out as ideas. Just can't wait to actually grow stuff now.

Our lass bakes some great biscuits

Hoed and ready to go

Almost ready, and yes you do really need to stake the corners in of the bed.

Wildlife camera had been out for three days, and it's always great to capture any birds in flight