Merry Christmas

We attended our AGM and were very pleased that a lot more people turned up than usual. Quite a few new faces who all seemed very enthusiastic about their plots and the coming season.

The garlic is doing very well but yet again this year more problems kept us from the plot so missed out on planting early onions and broad beans.

Will try again with bird boxes but will site them higher up the trees so lets hope the morons leave them alone this time.

We did manage to make another compost bin so now have three and have just started to use our own compost after nearly three years.

Still not had a chance to take any more photographs but hope to over the holiday. We plan to visit the plot on Christmas morning and dig some leeks and pick some herbs, we already have some potatoes, onions and shallots to use.

MERRY XMAS and HAPPY ALLOTMENTEERING from both of us

We Are Back

Here we are again, back at last.

It has been a strange year on the allotment. We have had all sorts of things happening at home so have not spent anywhere near as much time on the plot as we would have liked. Hopefully we can now spend more time preparing for next season. We have still got leeks growing and some herbs and recently dug 110 pounds of Sarpo potatoes which we thought we had left to long but turned out very well, and also taste very nice.

Two weeks ago we planted some garlic and it is showing strong growth already.Will try to get some shallots, onions and broad beans in this weekend but would have liked to have done this earlier but it is still quite mild so will have a go.

We have our site AGM tomorrow morning and after will do a couple of hours hoe hoe hoeing.

Good to be back and will post some new pictures soon.


Jim and Barbara

What a Week

Was meant to post this days ago but have had to cover at work as the chap that I work with had heart problems and he is still in hospital waiting for his op.

We went to the plot early last Sunday ( 8.30 ) was a bit chilly but the sun was shining and we had the place to ourselves. Saw the blue tit still busy in and out of the nest box, the robin box is still vacant though. Planted some new herbs that we got from Coolings but bought the wrong type of mint so will go back at Easter to get some apple mint.

Took some fennel home and added it to some fish for lunch. Last year I read that if you carve out the middle of a beetroot and put in a daffodil bulb then you will get pink flowers. I tried it but they are nowhere to bee seen, I must be really gullible or perhaps I read it on the first of April.

Put in some carrots and leeks which were on seed tapes, never tried them before but it was certainly a lot easier and will not need as much thinning. Have tapes with beetroot seeds but have not put them in yet.

The cut and come lettuce and radish are both showing as are the broad beans which are under cloches which I bought from poundland, and as long as they are tethered so the wind does not get them seem like a bargain buy.

(Don't tell Barbara)

After reading in yesterdays GARDEN NEWS that beetroot was considered to be an aphrodisiac I went to the plot today and cleared every bed so that I could fill them with the magic seeds. How many do you have to eat to make a difference? Boiled,roasted,raw? I think that a candle lit supper and a good bottle of wine would work better but my memory is not what it used to be.

Get out the Champagne and Cigars

Exciting news we will soon be hearing the sound of tiny wings. Blue Tits have decided to set up home in the bird box which we put among the plum trees a year ago. We stood and watched for ages as mum and dad went back and forth with nestmaking stuff, will try and get some pictures but do not want to spook them.

We agreed to go to the plot on Saturday whatever the weather as we were getting very restless and felt that we were falling behind with the work to be done. We arrived at 8.30am and the sun was shining and after some recent rain it was so easy to hoe (hoe hoe) and weed. We pulled a few cabbage and put in our broad beans and some red onions.

The herb bed is coming along nicely and with the recent rain and milder weather the garlic and onions look really healthy. The plot is beginning to look cared for again and we hope that we can put in our seed potatoes this weekend.

Please Help

I would really like to add links to our blog but for the life of me I can't work out how. So many people have us as a link that I would like to put them on our site .BUT HOW DO I DO IT ?

I am probably being very thick here.

We went to Coolings Garden Centre this morning to buy some more seeds. We bought some on tape, has anyone tried them? Meant to cut down on thinning, will give them a go. We also bought a parsley plant and some more Daliahs.

Coolings are selling plants called " Green Goddess" which are meant to be OK in a water shortage. They have bought a Green Goddess fire engine to promote these plants and have it parked in the centre of the site.

Cooling are great, in the three years that we have been buying from them we have not had one failure.

Brass Monkey Sunday

Our first time to man the trading shed this year. We tried to keep warm by weighing and bagging fertilizers, bird food etc. We had three visitors all morning and only one of them bought something, three bags of stable manure. Our site took over the running of the trading shed last year and we are ( well Reg mainly ) trying to smarten it up a bit. We are just beginning to show a bit of a profit which will go towards the upkeep of the plots.

After closing we meant to do a bit of hoeing but the wind just cut through us so we called it a day. I don't mind the cold but the wind really whips across the site at times. Our garlic and onions which we planted last year seem to be doing really well and I gave them a scattering of chicken manure pellets and will now leave them to fend for themselves until harvest time.

Felt really bad on the way home as we had to buy some veg, I really must learn how to store more of our stuff .

Super Sunday

We went to the Dulwich potato fair Sunday morning. We arrived soon after it opened and it was quite busy. I managed to buy some Sarpo Mira and Axona as we were badly visited by blight last year so thought that we would give them a try and see if they are as good at resisting it as is claimed.

Barbara bought a dwarf iris for the flower bed on the plot and planted it next to the peony which we inherited and last year separated into two as it was so large.

We paid our rent for the coming year and were asked if we would man the trading shed for about five Sunday mornings. We both enjoy this as it gives us a chance to chat to other allotmanteers that we may not otherwise get to meet.

We have been trying to decide what to grow in each bed but every time we make a decision when we reach the plot we change our minds.

It seems that birds love peanut butter as it was the first thing to disappear from the tree we made.

Birds Xmas Tree

Spent Sunday afternoon on the plot. We have discovered that to maintain the plot 2and a half hours is just enough at each weekly visit this time of year. It has taken me two years to learn to slow down and finish one job before I start another and if I don't finish then there is always tomorrow, it is after all a hobby. I must learn to relax more.

Barbara redecorated our small Xmas tree for the birds and really enjoyed doing it. You could hear them all in the trees chattering urging us to leave so that they could get to the feast.

Tried a bit of hoeing but it was really to wet so pruned our winter raspberries and tidied the herb garden. We also sorted out our compost heap. It has taken two years to get it to a usable state and the next time that we need some good compost we can use our very own, how good is that?

We have decided to try to grow one vegetable that is new to us each year, this time it is Kohl Rabi. Know very little about it so any recipes welcome, will update on how it goes.

This Sunday ( 22nd ) we are off to the Potato Fair at Dulwich, all very exciting.

Happy New Year - we are back

We did not go to the allotment to do any work for about three weeks before Christmas as we were so busy and I had caught a dreadful cold. We just called in every now and then to make sure all was ok. The plot is looking very bleak but the garlic, onions and cabbages and chard are all looking healthy.

Christmas eve we decided that we needed some time out so went to the plot. I did a bit of gentle hoeing and dug up the parsnips for Christmas dinner while Barbara set about making a xmas tree for the plot out of twigs and branches from our plum trees. The decorations were milk bottle tops which my mum gave us and the robin came from the pocket of our scarecrow that my grandson made for us. It was a lovely warm sunny day and was a perfect way to relax before the next hectic few days.

We are going to plant our Christmas tree and redecorate it with fat balls, millet and peanut butter filled cones for the birds and will post pictures later.