May 2022 - This second page is started to record the Allotment Adventures of a new gardening year.
See the original Allotment Adventure page to see how this all started.
*** Latest Updates 5th December - "A busy time into the New Year. ***
We've had a busy December and into January. Before Christmas we emptied the compost bin at home and sieved the compost, some of the compost will be used at the allotment. We had a great picking of brussel sprouts for Christmas as well as cabbage. Activities over the last few weeks have focussed on getting the beds ready for Spring. We had two bulk bags of wood chips delivered for pathways and spread mushroom compost. Last friday we planted 18 raspberry canes on the back plot.
Last Friday we had a productive day at the allotment, the greenhouse was cleared and Matt built a raised bed out of scrap wood. It was a beautiful day and we also sorted out a couple of beds and topped them up with well rotted manure."
Harvest time has continued and we have plenty of potatoes to store. We have planted onions, shallots and garlic and are trying no dig beds this year, this involves laying cardboard over the beds and any existing weeds and adding a layer of well rotted manure of compost. We also had a fun time at the allotment bonfire night, a great opportunity to catch up with fellow allotment holders. The new plot is almost level and we have got a raspberry order in for delivery in December
We have spent the last couple of weeks clearing the new plot and have planted an edible hedge along the fence. The shed has been removed as it was dangerously leaning and rotten in places but we hope to repurpose the wood around the plot. We have started new compost bins to deal with the cleared vegetation. The plot is pretty empty apart from one clump of rhubarb and a few randomly placed raspberries and gooseberry plants. It will be a blank canvas once cleared and the soil levelled.
We got some good news last week. We were offered the half plot next to us at the allotment and we accepted. Lots more space for raspberries and fruit trees. Will need a bit of clearing.
We've had a very busy summer and have been away a lot but still managed to get some good harvests from the allotment. We have had good success with our sweetcorn, tomatoes and runner beans. Keeping on top of the bindweed has been a challenge but we hope to keep weakening it over time. Lily and Matt won prizes for their allotment produce at the Annual Show. Lily won the my biggest disaster class with her carrot, and biggest sunflower head. Matt also won a prize for his little sunflower."
We have been sorting out the paths between the beds by laying cardboard and wood chips. All ready for planting out our veg which is currently in the greenhouse at home. Matt has been keeping in top of the bind weed and we have signs of asparagus in the beds. We have also had a bumper harvest of rhubarb too.
We have had a busy few weeks at the allotment, the warmer weather is definitely making a difference and the weeds are keeping us on our toes. We regularly go down there on a Friday and have started to go on a Tuesday evening too for a couple of hours. We planted our chitted potatoes in April, this year we are growing Cara, Charlotte and Kondor. We have also been planting out some of the veg we grew at home including spinach, spring onions, lettuce and beetroots. We sowed carrot seeds and some extra spinach, spring onions and lettuce to compare direct sewing with growing from seed in cells. Friends at the allotment gave us some cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprout, leek and broccoli plants so those have been planted out and covered in mesh to keep the birds off. Finally we have had some lovely surprises at the allotment, lovely tulips, irises, four batches of asparagus so far and some self seeded radishes.
We have had a great few weeks down at the allotment. The allotment association held two events which we attended, a BBQ and a Jubilee Party. It's been great to get to know some of the other allotment holders. We harvested about six batches of asparagus and even made an omelette at the allotment one evening. We have stopped harvesting it now to give the plants a chance to build up reserves of energy for next year. It has been a challenge keeping everywhere weed free but we cleared an additional area next to the greenhouse to plant a bean row. Other new crops going in include sweetcorn, we'll be planting squash and climbing beans in this bed too, this is called the three sisters. It's a stacked garden that uses three layers of plants in the same space. We'll have to see how it goes
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