Hello again, empty cyberspace.
So, I've been very busy with the harvest. I've pulled up all the garlic and onions. Next year I think we need to plant a lot more, because when you get a bag of 50 onion sets you think '50 onions? I dont need all those'. But I didnt realise how many would bolt, or account for the variations in size. So next year, lots of onions. I have sown green manure over the plot to keep the weeds down.
All the potatoes from the tatty area have been dug up, although I'm not having much luck with cooking the Red Roosters - every time I boil them they dissolve into mush. Not impressed. I have sown mustard seed over the potato area to deter wireworm and add nutrients.
The winter veg area is filling up nicely, and the summer bed is just finishing. To be honest, I cant wait to pull all the plants up and get ready for next year. Jen and I have drawn up a plan of where we want things to go. This should save time and make us more organised next year.
The pumpkins are doing really well - we have 8 fruits in total and they're all a good size. Oh, and we've ordered 4 tons of manure for £12 (bargain!) and begun digging a new bed where we can plant salads next year.
August, the time of plenty. Plenty of veggies, plenty of weeds. I finally filled up the patch that will see us through winter. Planted winter cabbage, and seeded 'white lisbon' spring onions, rocket, perpetual spinach, and raddish. hopefully we'll see signs of life before too long from the seeds. I keep going up to water them.
The whole patch got strimmed by my lovely dad. He pondered up with his petrol strimmer, sending bits of dock leaf stem and nettles flying. I think he enjoyed it - but it was dangerous to stand too close!
The green manure has germinated in the garlic patch and potato area!
Well. What do I say? The warnings of fellow allotment holders were left unheeded. The weeds that first started to show their heads in early May have now exploded over the allotment, spreading seedlings into all the beds. Because we onlyhave a push-along mower, any grass more than 1 inch high becomes un-mowable. Bah!
Fortunately, my dad has a petrol strimmer and I have begged him to help out. I promise never to let it get this out of control again.
On the vegetable side of things, overall I think we're doing OK.
Courgettes - Absolutely loads. And very tasty too. The only thing I would advise is that you need to go up and check them regularly because they will turn into marrows in the blink of an eye and taste watery.
French Beans (Blue Lake, BBC 'Dig In' Seeds) - Have started to crop heavily, giving flavoursome beans. They have become infested with blackfly though (a memeber of the aphid family) and some of the plants are beginning to become strained. I'm not sure wether to chop the ill ones down or leave them. I sprayed the leaves with fairy-liquid and water to try and kill some, and have been transporting every ladybird I can find up to the row of beans. Hopefully, if I get enough they will eat most of the fly. Next time, I will plant nasturtioums close by as these attract the blackfly away.
Sugarsnap Peas - I bought 4 plants from a man who advertised in the chad. They got badly eaten by birds in the first 2 weeks, but I covered them over with netting and used twigs for them to grow up. The pod are so delicious, I have been eating them raw. They seem to be happy in the poor soil we have, and I have collected loads.
Sweetcorn - Planted in a row, and every one has at least two cobs on it. I think there are 16 plants. They aren't as big as others on different plots.
Purple Sprouting Broccoli - Only one plant so far has reached the flowering stage, and its very difficult to get them before the buds open. The few I have tried are delicately flavoured, but very small. If planting again I will have to buy more.
More Veg analysis' to follow...
You can find out about allotments in your local area by phoning your local council or looking on their website. Just google your town name and local council in the search box. There should be an e-mail box or a number to call.
Sometimes, there a waiting lists. I got lucky with mine, but its not unheard of to have 2-10 years waiting lists in some areas! This, I think is something that the government needs to re-think. They should make more land available instead of allowing tiny houses with postage-stamp sized gardens to be built.
Anyway, as allotments are designed to provide a place for people with low incomes to supplement their diet with home-grown veg (and sometimes poultry) the cost per year should be quite low. Mine is £33 per year, but as J isn't earning at the moment, the price is lowered to £30 per year as I put it in her name. I'm guessing that in London the cost will be higher.
So, you make the call, you find your site and you go to visit. We were led up a muddy track in the pouring rain by a lovely man (the man in charge so to speak) and we were led proudly onto our plot. After some chat, we were given the keys there and then. Its ours! Already rotovated to an extent, with nothing on it except bits of plastic and rocks.
Right, first things first.
I'm A, and Me and my friend J like growing stuff. We can get quite competative with each other about it. But that's ok - as long as I win, haha.
As I researched allotments online, I realised that although there are a lot of sites for allotment holders, and tips for growing and stuff there wasn't anything comprehensive that tells you where to start, and what to do when you've finally got your paws on that bare patch of earth.
So here it is, our own little website where you can see how we did it - as we're doing it. Enjoy.