Moving, Growing, Harvesting (September)

Photos for September

Moving, Growing, Harvesting (August)

Sorry about the delay since my last post everything has been rather manic in the last few months. I moved house, bought a new cat, became a bachalor, and have even founded a new band. Further details on the band can be found here www.thefatcatband.com

Life on the allotment has continued to thrive, the poppies have come and gone, the gazinas have exploded, the galladias have finally made an appearence too.

All my crops have provided something, Corn, Cabbages, Broccoli, tomatos, peppers chillis, cucumbers, melons, carrots, parsley, onions, leeks, spinich, courgettes, marrows, squash, apples, rasberrys, strawberrys, potatoes, and the herb patch. in order to save a bit of time i'm going to try and stick some photos from the last two months up for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy.

Rain, it's good for plants, ducks and blogs.

Since my last update veg production has gone through the roof. The last three weeks have seen me harvest 5 FAT cobs of corn, 5 Huge telegraph cucumbers, 9 Rubens peppers, a fistful of carrots, 8 caugettes, 3 beetroot and a handful of Ildi cherry tomatoes.








On top of this yesterday saw me harvest the first Ferline tomoto of the year. I'd forgotten how wonderful they really are. Their taste is a very full, acidic flavour that is bound to a very fleshy meaty texture which lends itself to both eatinf them raw or cooked. When you consider that the also have a good blight resistence then they really are the ultimate tomato.



Outside the tunnel things have also moved on, the goosberry bushes and raspberries are both fruiting with vigour, the beans have shot up their poles and the peas have been knocking out pods left right and centre. The potatoes have set fruit (berries) and i'm dying to get in there and go for the tubers.

In the brassica patch the cabbages are continuing their quest for world domination and continue to thrive, the romenesco broccoli has made an appearence and the ground covering curbits have started to scramble.



It's not just the brassicas which have rally got stuck in the flower border has been in full swing for a few weeks now. Unfortunately i didn't get too many photos of the poppies - they looked great - all i've got left now are the heads swaying in the wind. The rudbeckia has come up and is looking good but i've been left waiting for the dalias and galardias.



All around the plot i've tried to bring height and colour and none sums it up better than this......



See you soon.

A

Sorry about the lack of updates life - like the veg patch - has suddenly exploded with things to do.

I've been trying to keep track of hrvest dates from the tunnel and the results are below.

may 14th first strawberry

June 13th Fisrt carrot, caugette and wet garlic eaten,

june 14th Tomato (Ildi)

June 15th Garlic Harvested

June 20th First Sweetcorn and Green Peppers

June 25th First Raspberry

June 27th First Cucumber harvested,

More dates and photos will follow.

The first harvest is in!

Today has been a momentous occasion, the first harvest of the season has arrived. Eight Carrots, A bulb of wet garlic, some kale and a little red cabbage.

I'm chuffed to bits and can't wait for the tomatos, cumcumbers and peppers to join in the fun.


I'm now off to enjoy my first polytunnel meal for the year and i'll keep you updated as more food makes it to the table.

D

What a difference a day makes...or at least 14

Well another two weeks have passed and life at the allotment continues to thrive. The sweetcorn has hit the roof, the cabbages have exploded into life, and the beans have started to climb. You'll be glad to know that this was expected and that the peverbial poo is no where near the fan.






The other news to report is that the poppies have started to flower and the gazinas are busy creating little starbursts of colour. It's a great feeling to finally see that summer is just round the corner. With only 3 weeks of term left i'm looking forward to some beer fuelled weeding; of course there is also the safer option of beer fuelled feeding.

Plotting for the Future.

In the ever changing world of my allotment it's a difficult job trying to find room for all my crops. I wiggle them in where i can and slowly the plot is coming together nicely. Inside the tunnel things have literally burst into life with the sweetcorn taking centre stage and giving me concerns about their final height - i can see me bagging pollen and then chopping the heads off to make sure they don't grow through the roof!

The tomato plants continue to thrive and everything is in flower/setting fruit, I'm convinced that watering into pots idea has been responsible for some of their enormous growth over the last three weeks i just hope i can keep going down every night to keep them going strong.









Due to the rain we've had over the last few days the 2nd overflow barrel is now 80% full which should help as the hot summer months see the site water supply stuggle to keep up with the demand. Not bad for a bit of plastic and some sticky tape.



The Brassica Hoops have done there job for the season and have been replaced by a brassica cage - Not bad for a first time build and i'm happy that the whole thing cost under £20. - I will not have my brassicas ravaged by cabbage white like last year......or so i hope.



The beans have started to climb up their wall and i'm positive that it'll continue to stand up to the windy battering as the season progresses. Then again if i'm wrong then i'm sure i'll find out the hard way as i pick up bamboo that's been scattered across the whole site.

Fingers crossed that this doesn't happen too soon!

Should anyone be after some tomatoes in a month or so then please give me a shout as the Ildi plants are going to produce more fruit then i know what to do with.......chutney anyone?

Apple Seedlings - update

In Nov '08 i planted some apple pips selected from a selection of unmanaged local apple trees. I was delighted when they all started to germinate and have kept a close eye on their progress. It is unlikely that any of these seedlings will produce a wonderfruit but i am hopeful that i will see them fruit before i give up on them. (check this space in 4 years!)

I have been guided in my attempts to grow these seeds by FB from the Grow Your Own forum and have attached the following pictures for his interest. (and your amusement)

D

How much woodchip does a woodchipper chip?

This week has seen me land on my feet, some very kind person donated a huge pile of wood chip to the Allotment association and I've put some to good use marking out paths.

On the veggie front the cabbages continue to grow well under their wire frames and are becoming healthy young plants. I hope that i can keep the cabbage fly off long enough to actually get something this year. I've also decided to chance my arm by planting my f2 runners, french climbing, and sweetcorn varieties into their final plot positions. Time will tell if I've been too hasty but I'm confident that their cloches and fleece blankets will see them through tonight's low temperatures.

Whilst we're on tender veg this week saw me plant a small portion of my experimental TPS potatoes, the initial signs are good and they are continuing to thrive. I'm confident that I'll get tubers from them and i hope that they'll be as tasty as last years TPS crop.


Life inside the tunnel is continuing to thrive with all the tomatoes having established well. At least 8 out of 15 plants are starting to flower and the pinchings are growing as fast as i can pick and pot them. At this rate i expect I'll have hundreds of spare young plants to sell at the allotment open day on August the 1st.

Not content with a tomato glut the first of my telegraph cucumbers has also made it into the ground, it'll be interesting to see how it takes to its new environment, here's hoping that i can find room for the other 5 varieties.

The only concerning thing at the moment is the fragility of my Chili plants, none of them have bulked up after being transplanted and I'm a little concerned that they may be sulking about the move. Here's hoping that they pick themselves up before i get too impatient and they find themselves being replaced by some scotch bonnets which are awaiting their final positions.

Lastly I've received some news that the latest addition to the family is a little nearer to joining us......no I'm not going to be a dad, instead I'll be the benefactor to this little chap.