Allotment Diary
Dig for Victory!
Dig for Victory!
Timeline
From when we started to how it all eventually ends, we're going to track it on here.
15 March 2010 - Made phone call to the Charity for the Allotments of the the Labouring Poor and managed to find one in our area.
20 March 2010 - Went to see allotment and got keys.
22 - 26 March 2010 - Begged friends and family for old carpets, vans for hire and men to lift and hammer things. Also checked local papers and found a greenhouse for £50 and a free shed from good old Ma and Pa's.
27 - 31 March 2010 - J and I bought the greenhouse from our local paper, and her dad set it up for us. Sadly, the free shed is a no-go, its rotten through and through. Transported picket-fence from my mum and dads up to the allotment. Bought grass seed, bamboo canes, string, fork, spade, seeds, compost etc. (this is getting fairly expensive!). Mum and me cleared a fairly large area of plastic and rocks so we can rake it over and get some plants in. J started the potatoes off 'chitting' (See our "JARGONBUSTER") and some other seeds.
29 March 2010 - Researched clay soils on the internet - www.gardenzine.co.uk had some really good information on how to deal with it. Unfortunately, its difficult to work with, but as half of our allotment is really water-logged it looks like we're going to have to!
31 March 2010 - Found a shed in local paper for £50, but it had already gone when I rang them. There's another for £40, and I'm going to look at it tonight.
1 - 7 April 2010 - The shed's are selling like hotcakes! The £40 shed has already gone. Luckily, I had placed a cheeky 'WANTED' advert in our local rag - it was free, just ring them up and say please. A lovely lady gave me a call about a shed she had in edwinstowe. She wanted £40 for it. Off I went with my dad to check it out.
8-17 April 2010 - The shed has arrived and been erected (haha) by J's dad. He's been awesome, he put up the greenhouse, shed, fencing and is sorting out some turf for J's daughter to crawl around on. We now have what looks like an actual allotment.
16 - 17 April 2010 - Me and J went up to the allotment together for some real work. We've planted red onions, garlic, peas, potatoes in the ground. We've dug over the pumpkin patch and started off some sunflower, courgette, spinach and raddish seeds in trays. Also, we joined the local allotment association so we can get discounts on everything from seeds to compost - and some free advice! For £1 a year, you cant complain.
25 April 2010 - THE DIG PARTY - J had a brainwave! Calm down, it happens from time to time. We've created an event on facebook and invited our friends to help us dig over our allotment. In return, we're providing beer and a bbq. How very modern, I say. It remains to be seen how much work we actually get done though!
25 April - 15 June 2010 - One large plot has been dug over and planted to the brims with French Beans 'Blue Lake', Courgettes, Potatos and petit pois. The pumpkin patch has 8 pumpkins in, 2 normal and 6 'giant' ones, which I'm really excited about. The potatos I planted seperately are coming up lovely, and the garlic and onions are doing okay, although I had a few onions bolt. I just snapped the flowerheads off, and will use those first when it comes to harvest time.
15 June 2010 - Heading up the lottie tonight, I bought some pea netting to keep the birds away from my petit pois, so I'll rig that up to create a tunnel. Also I tried moving the water butt towards the middle of the patch, as its all the way up at the top. However I found it too heavy to move by myself so I'm going to hopefully get some help on it.
16 June 2010 - 7 July 2010 - Managed to get the waterbutt moved to the middle, unfortunately I had to empty all the water out to do it. And it looks like we're going to be having a hosepipe ban! Great. The pea netting has worked wonders for the petit pois although they are still quite small. Weeding, weeding, weeding. I have two Aubergines, a Cucumber plant and have planted Broccoli and Brussels too!
4 August 2010 - Weeds! We're drowning in doc leaves, bindweed, nettles and brambles. The turf is out of control. Sending reinforcements in the form of my dad armed with a strimmer! Most have already seeded though, so I'm hoe-ing it up as well, haha.
9 September 2010 - The weeds got strimmed and for about a week the plot looked nice and neat again. Now resorting to back breaking digging. Have been busy with the harvest - Pumpkins looking good and have had loads of beans. Planted strawberries, and some quick salad crops.
5 June 2011 - Still digging, planting and generally behaving like a land girl. Its been a long time since I updated, namely because of the nursing course I'm on. However, I now have my own strimmer (currently out of action, as you will see by the pictures!) and have dug much more of the soil...dare I say I have begun to turn the tide on the dock leaves? Only time will tell.
20 March 2010 - Went to see allotment and got keys.
22 - 26 March 2010 - Begged friends and family for old carpets, vans for hire and men to lift and hammer things. Also checked local papers and found a greenhouse for £50 and a free shed from good old Ma and Pa's.
27 - 31 March 2010 - J and I bought the greenhouse from our local paper, and her dad set it up for us. Sadly, the free shed is a no-go, its rotten through and through. Transported picket-fence from my mum and dads up to the allotment. Bought grass seed, bamboo canes, string, fork, spade, seeds, compost etc. (this is getting fairly expensive!). Mum and me cleared a fairly large area of plastic and rocks so we can rake it over and get some plants in. J started the potatoes off 'chitting' (See our "JARGONBUSTER") and some other seeds.
29 March 2010 - Researched clay soils on the internet - www.gardenzine.co.uk had some really good information on how to deal with it. Unfortunately, its difficult to work with, but as half of our allotment is really water-logged it looks like we're going to have to!
31 March 2010 - Found a shed in local paper for £50, but it had already gone when I rang them. There's another for £40, and I'm going to look at it tonight.
1 - 7 April 2010 - The shed's are selling like hotcakes! The £40 shed has already gone. Luckily, I had placed a cheeky 'WANTED' advert in our local rag - it was free, just ring them up and say please. A lovely lady gave me a call about a shed she had in edwinstowe. She wanted £40 for it. Off I went with my dad to check it out.
8-17 April 2010 - The shed has arrived and been erected (haha) by J's dad. He's been awesome, he put up the greenhouse, shed, fencing and is sorting out some turf for J's daughter to crawl around on. We now have what looks like an actual allotment.
16 - 17 April 2010 - Me and J went up to the allotment together for some real work. We've planted red onions, garlic, peas, potatoes in the ground. We've dug over the pumpkin patch and started off some sunflower, courgette, spinach and raddish seeds in trays. Also, we joined the local allotment association so we can get discounts on everything from seeds to compost - and some free advice! For £1 a year, you cant complain.
25 April 2010 - THE DIG PARTY - J had a brainwave! Calm down, it happens from time to time. We've created an event on facebook and invited our friends to help us dig over our allotment. In return, we're providing beer and a bbq. How very modern, I say. It remains to be seen how much work we actually get done though!
25 April - 15 June 2010 - One large plot has been dug over and planted to the brims with French Beans 'Blue Lake', Courgettes, Potatos and petit pois. The pumpkin patch has 8 pumpkins in, 2 normal and 6 'giant' ones, which I'm really excited about. The potatos I planted seperately are coming up lovely, and the garlic and onions are doing okay, although I had a few onions bolt. I just snapped the flowerheads off, and will use those first when it comes to harvest time.
15 June 2010 - Heading up the lottie tonight, I bought some pea netting to keep the birds away from my petit pois, so I'll rig that up to create a tunnel. Also I tried moving the water butt towards the middle of the patch, as its all the way up at the top. However I found it too heavy to move by myself so I'm going to hopefully get some help on it.
16 June 2010 - 7 July 2010 - Managed to get the waterbutt moved to the middle, unfortunately I had to empty all the water out to do it. And it looks like we're going to be having a hosepipe ban! Great. The pea netting has worked wonders for the petit pois although they are still quite small. Weeding, weeding, weeding. I have two Aubergines, a Cucumber plant and have planted Broccoli and Brussels too!
4 August 2010 - Weeds! We're drowning in doc leaves, bindweed, nettles and brambles. The turf is out of control. Sending reinforcements in the form of my dad armed with a strimmer! Most have already seeded though, so I'm hoe-ing it up as well, haha.
9 September 2010 - The weeds got strimmed and for about a week the plot looked nice and neat again. Now resorting to back breaking digging. Have been busy with the harvest - Pumpkins looking good and have had loads of beans. Planted strawberries, and some quick salad crops.
5 June 2011 - Still digging, planting and generally behaving like a land girl. Its been a long time since I updated, namely because of the nursing course I'm on. However, I now have my own strimmer (currently out of action, as you will see by the pictures!) and have dug much more of the soil...dare I say I have begun to turn the tide on the dock leaves? Only time will tell.
