Plenty of sunshine, plenty to report, still cold at night.

Recently there has been a lot of sunshine, it has been strong enough to bring on the sun tans but not enough to push the thermometer outside the green house above 16 degrees. Inside the greenhouse it has been able to reach 45 degrees and thanks to very good advice from our lass we have some greenhouse shading material arriving next week but it has all been contrasts as in the evening we have been greeted by frosts and minus 3 degrees. Makes for a very confusing balancing act to keep all the plants happy.

Can not sustain such high numbers.

Far too hot in the greenhouses to sustain the lettuce

Our lass is always good at finding a bargain and upcycling things around us. On a lone trip to the allotment our lass completed a project of surrounding an inconvenient tree stump with milk bottle plant pots, should look even better when the flowers grow from them.

Just like winter currently bare will look even better in summer when in flower.

Another great find from our lass on FaceAche, you can't beat free

Two iron gates, quite some weight to them, will be very useful

A little early but the runner beans have been sown

Will any of the leeks make their way out of the holes?

Slugs like rhubarb as much as we do, but this is the rhubarbs first year so needs as much chance as possible to get a foothold. So our lass has a cunning plan to help it survive, so far so good.

As we have been leaving the allotment we have been finding some great allotment giveaways, firstly a couple of tubs, mostly likely not wanted due to the half an hour plus it took us both to part them, but once done we now have one for beans and one for carrots. So we didn't fill it all with compost, we filled to the top with straw and horse muck from the pile at the bottom of the hill and watered down, then just used one bag of compost instead of five. French beans sown and as the straw/manure rots down hopefully a source of nourishment as well.

Trying to fill every bit of space.

Another find as we were leaving moment was the logs and off cuts you will see below, this is the second time a pile had been left, before we were naive enough to think they would be still there the next day, obviously they were not. This time even though it was a trek back up the hill for the barrow, back down the hill, and back up the hill with a full barrow, we now have stepping stones and seats for the grandkids.

Nice little haul

and finally 

As we were leaving the other day, to look back and see the clear blue sky and to take in all the feeling of potential

Day 56 - It is time to celebrate - Spring

Today was a day to celebrate, firstly it was our lasses birthday which was greeted by sunshine and warmth when the breeze died down. Obviously I will take credit for making sure we got some sun today. Secondly, we have crossed the threshold of longer days than nights which means the growing season will be with us before we know it with somethings already growing.

A sunny view out over the allotment

The first of many empty bottles to be found down our allotment this year.

Tomatoes are taking root, onions starting to have shoots, peas starting to grow upwards and first level of compost added to the potatoes, just awaiting pumpkin and courgette seeds to germinate

Our lasses Carol Klein impression, tidying up the pots with grit,

Year one for the Rhubarb, which is a shame as no Rhubarb crumble this year, but where we thought we may have lost one, all three are starting to grow good leaves.

Another two sets of furrows await their potatoes, it will be plan B though as the ground is still very clayey so we will be covering with homemade compost in the coming months.

Christmas down the allotment.

Our lass is full of great ideas, and said we could make a Christmas tree from some off cuts of wood, so we did. We also saw the first signs of re emergence from the rhubarb, and the tomato experiment had another casualty. To complete the festivities our lass brought down some snowflakes she had made. The idea was thanks to ikea I think, but our lass made them better.

Just needs some baubles and a topper,

Snow flakes over a cuppa

The first signs of new life from our rhubarb

We are down to 5 seedlings and the frosts haven't really hit yet, the one bottom right is my best bet I think but we will see.

Gateway to our happy place

Day 35 - Fire, mulch and sunny views.

 As with a lot of the times we go to the allotment, we go with one job in mind and end up doing another.

I took this first photograph thinking all this would be covered in mulch

But to my surprise our lass let me play with fire, I love fire, our lass doesn't like the smell of smoke, but it helped clear some old wood and stuff which needed burning.

I then went for the leaf mould, I collected our lass did the spreading.

You don't see the elevation on this road way, but the leaves were right into the distance where the telegraph pole is.

Then another lane, then left up another hill, our lass will be laughing now, saying how I am really laying it on thick. but it must be at least three miles there and back (okay maybe half a mile)

The grey cylinders made a good template to keep the leaves off the rhubarb.

Hopefully that will keep the weeds away and the goodness in,

Four bins full of leaf mould, paving slabs moved, box full of nets and hose pipe, just the two tubs to sort and this area is getting sorted.

Another bed mulched

Big oak at the back of us, gives us shade in the summer mornings so we don't heat up to quickly. It was great to see some blue skies and sunshine.

Views from our allotment, over the tees valley.

Sunshine over the greenhouses

A late stay, meant we got to try the light out., photograph doesn't quite do it justice.

Day 8, We have finally moved, rhubarb, raspberries and sunflowers.

On the 10th September 2020, we had finally moved all we wanted from the old half plot to our new full plot. The sunflowers which had been a bowl of contention back at the old plot, were something I wanted to make a display out of, and the bin was the best way, I struggled and moaned until our lass got some twine and created a mesh across the top to keep them upright. We also planted the rhubarb our lass had sent off for, and we moved some raspberry canes from the old half plot. It was a good day to be feeling fully moved in.

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb

Raspberries

Not quite a Van Gogh