Moving house

We've been pretty poor at updating the blog recently! We just moved house and only just got Internet access today. The recent good weather has really kicked off all our seeds in our patio greenhouses and the plants on the allotment have loved it too. Unfortunately so have the weeds. We're planning on planting out our seedlings, weeding and planting our potatoes over Easter weekend but rain is forecast - it may be a very muddy job!

Burning stuff

So, what do we do on the allotment all day? Well, now you can find out. I build fires and generally get distracted and Laura does all the hard work. It works quite well!

Our whole plot was covered in a black membrane to kill the weeds and speed up the rotting of all the stuff underneath. On this day (about a week ago) we took of the last bit, dug it over, moved the shed and after the video ends I did some real work and made another raised bed, this time with gravel board rather than the usual cheaper fence boards. Will see which last longer and let you know but I have a feeling that the gravel board will do better although it makes each bed cost twice as much!

Giving up?

Taking on an allotment is quite a commitment, especially when we first started back in October and there was lots of work to be done, loads of bindweed, nettles (the roots sting too you know!) and rain.

We had just started feeling like we had finally made some progress. We hade made two raised beds, put in some fruit bushes and a rhubarb plant. I’d left a pack of wood on the allotment ready for us to build the next bed the following day. Unfortunately it went missing.

To think that someone would take something obviously being used was a blow. We felt angry, upset and like we were just wasting our time. It wasn’t good. However, we decided to carry on regardless and our hard work has been rewarded. We also met some really great people around us who offered us bit and pieces and encouragement which helped us keep going.

Anyway, that was a few months ago and we are so glad we carried on, we’ve got quite a few things on the go now and it is starting to look like we know what we are doing!

Spend a little. Live allotment

Hello fellow thrifty planters! As spring draws closer it is a great time to pick up a few bits for the allotment. We noticed that Aldi is selling a few things from tomorrow (19 Feb 09). Whether you’ve got a huge plot or a small pot there should be something here for you. So without further ado, here are the details so you can grab yourself a bargain!

Mini Cold Frame - £29.35

Patio “Greenhouse” - £14.67

Propagators, seed trays and stuff like that – from £2.13

They are also selling compost, fruit trees and other bits and bobs so do check it out.

Sleeping Strawberries

We ordered some strawberry plants from Dobies. They came in a box with long stringy brown roots and old leaves on the top. That is fine, they are supposed to be dormant at this time of year and will “burst into life” in spring assuming we don’t manage to kill them in the interim.

On the instructions which came from Dobies (which is a very comprehensive booklet on growing all types of soft fruit) it says to “plant without delay”. Until today our allotment was covered in snow so we have gone for the backup option of laying out in a seed tray and covering the roots with moist compost until the ground dries out a bit.

The instructions also state that they prefer a good, loamy, well drained soil rich in humus. Don’t be fooled; hummus goes much better with carrots or pita than strawberries. Humus is well rotted compost.

Poo

We just noticed that there is a stables nearby which had a sign out saying free manure.

It is amazing what having an allotment can do to you. I’ve never before felt the urge to go and load up my car with faeces!

Snow!

You can’t do much when everything is covered in snow apart from build snowmen!

A small shed makes a great snow collector so that you can make snowballs without having to bend down.

We had seen shoots coming up from our shallots, garlic and rhubarb (which we were convinced a squirrel had eaten) so we will have to wait and see if they make it through the cold snap. I am guessing that snow gets counted as frost which lots of stuff doesn’t seem to like so we will let you know if we have suffered any casualties.

As you can see, we’ve had about 6-inches on Monday which started melting over the next few days. Those sticks popping up from under the snow are raspberry canes which don’t seem to be doing much yet. As the most expensive things we’ve bought so far they better be loving the snow and getting ready to stop looking so dead. Apparently you are supposed to plant them out in late autumn so they should be used to thins kind of weather.