maintenance

11. MARCH

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After a few days of heavy snow, high wind and winter temperatures I was able to go to my allotment. To be honest I was dreading it, all I could think of was my fruit cage. I know I should take the top net off before every winter – I was used to do it soon after I got the cage. During those winters we didn’t have any snow so I thought I would take my chances and leave the net on. It was fine  for a few years and then one early spring we had a sudden heavy snow fall. It was touch and go, a couple of the upright posts were leaning but I managed to knock the snow off and straighten everything. Again the last few years all was fine – until this week. The heavy snow was a huge shock for me and there was no chance I could go there and try to save the situation. But my worries were unfounded, the cage survived.

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My first task there however was to rake the wood chip on the paths, the place looks much better immediately.

There was one casualty on the plot however, the very first net cage that Mike helped me to build. It is quite old, I can’t even remember how long ago we did it.

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It suffered some damage a few years ago but then I was able to rescue it. Not this time. But things are never that bad, I will be able to use the net and also the plastic tubes and dismantling the cage was surprisingly quick.

7. MARCH

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What a beautiful day we had here today. I thought it was just about time we improved the paths on the allotment and as ever my friend Wayne helped out. He left a truck-load of wood chip by the gate of the allotment and we had a lovely work party there in the afternoon. I was there first, Frank followed soon after me and then Simon came home from work and between the three of us we soon sorted it. 

It might not look a lot but we managed to improve three of the longest paths and had a little bit to spare. 

The paths are so much better done like this, the grass never did well there, it was full of weeds and they got muddy on a rainy day.

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23. FEBRUARY

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It was back to work on the allotment today after a little break. The day was lovely, blue skies but the wind was a bit cold. All the same, perfect for working. The other day I noticed that the net on one of  my old net cages was torn on the top, just where is was going over a wooden pole. I had a piece of a green net, just the right size so I got going. A bit problematic, it was still quite a breeze and it was rather difficult to fix the new net on top of the old one. After some frustrating time I managed, it’s not easy to do something like this single handed.

Next was the real reason why I was there today. I wanted to tidy up inside the latest big greenhouse. It is not quite finished but that doesn’t matter, I can pull out all the weeds inside and get it as ready as I can.

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After doing that I put some pieces of paving slabs in front to make it look better and also stop it from getting too muddy.

Last little job was to check how the garlic and broad beans are doing.

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The garlic is fine and the broad beans are doing well too. I had to put them in one of my net cages because the pigeons on our site like any tender new shoots. I found that out last year.

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Hopefully I’ll manage to have a decent harvest.

16. FEBRUARY

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At last – the biggest job on the allotment is finished. I was hoping yesterday that I would be able to do it and now I’m delighted to say – finished!

Even though it was a lovely sunny day yesterday I was just too tired I couldn’t carry on. It needed a fresh start in the morning. I made a guess about the number of flower pots that I’ll be able to use there, I was wrong. I thought 12 would do but in the end I needed 16. Just as well I have lots left. The hardest part of it was dragging the sacks of soil there and filling the pots.

It is all ready now for planting either more climbing beans or outdoor tomatoes. Both should do well in this position, they would be sheltered.

6. NOVEMBER

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I had a change of scenery during the last few days. We had our usual Johnson get-together in Whitchurch, in Hampshire. The weather was kind to us, from the journey there on Thursday till late on Friday. It was back to rain on Saturday but that didn’t matter, my and Chris’s job was done.

 

This is the usual gathering of the older members of the family and we combine it with some gardening jobs. This time it was tidying the grave of the boys’ Mum. The grave has got some white stone chipping  but the weeds have taken over and the surface is just a sea of green. We decided to leave it and just put a number of pots on top. There are two small roses in the pots and a selection of spring bulbs. We refreshed the soil so I’m hoping for a great show. Chris always gives me some bulbs and they are wonderful. We are in for a treat.

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The headstone is leaning a lot and I’ve written an email to the town council asking for advice where to get help. All the same, it looks much better after the clear up.

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The next job was weeding the front and back of Mike’s garden. Chris did this job in August but because the weather has been so mild the weeds flourished.

 

Between the two of us we filled a wheelie bin with the weeds and the result is very satisfying.

It’ll be very interesting how long it takes before the weeds appear again. We have decided to put a layer of chipped bark or wood chip on these borders to smother the weeds. That’ll be the next job then.

ALLOTMENTS

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I have been calling my allotments my ‘farm’. Little did I know that other people thought that us allotment holders are doing a great job! 

Even the Guardian has plenty to say about it. After reading that I was greatly encouraged when I started my work on my farm in the morning. The majority of jobs is done, I am concentrating now on some changes and improvements.

There is a small patch of ground there that was used to be a compost heap. Well, after a number of years I turned it over and found loads of lovely soil. Last year I grew squashes, this year some beans but the site is a bit difficult to work on. Change was needed and I think I have got the perfect solution. I have removed all the wood edges, levelled the soil and removed about 4 barrow loads. These I put beside the fruit trees in the nearby orchard. Now I have a very nice square of land, big enough to plant an apple tree that I have on order from one online nursery. I will even have space there for a couple of rooted fig cuttings.

 

REPAIRS

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One of the most satisfying activities on the allotment is exactly what I was doing today. Using something other people didn’t want and improving my plot at the same time. In this case it was a few long pieces of wood, about 10cm profile. I think it was a part of somebody’s decking in its previous life. I have used it for mending the edges on my path and creating a border edge on my raspberry patch, to contain the plants and make it easier for the future wood chip spreading.

 

I have nearly finished weeding the raspberry patch – first of all I had to cut down the fruited canes and then I was able to tackle the weeds. Amazing how well they were hidden under the lush greenery. This job is almost done.

My latest little greenhouse is quite secure now, all I had to do was to put a few slabs down inside and create a little path in the front. That is all done now, the surrounding soil is hoed and all is ready for next year. I have put nine grow rings inside, it’ll be ideal for tomatoes. I keep reminding myself how good it is to grow tomatoes every time I open one Kilner jar of my oven baked tomatoes. Gone are the days of tinned tomatoes.

MAINTENANCE

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Even bad weather is useful for an gardener. It is still very cold for this time of year but I had to go to the allotment to check on the seedlings I moved to the greenhouses there. All is fine, even the cucumber seedlings are doing well, they germinated only the other day.

I try to do one improvement each day I am there, today was the turn of the large compost heap at the end of one of my plots. Usually I put compostable things into the composter bins, this heap is for the end of season waste – after harvesting potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages etc. It was sitting there the whole winter under a cosy cover – a carpet offcut.

I wanted to mend the retaining framework so the carpet was taken down, the Brussel sprout stalks thrown out and the rest dug over and heaped better. I was amazed how crumbly and brown it looked.

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All I had to do now to water it thoroughly and cover again with the carpet. It will sit there until the autumn, I will then rake out all the good soil, either bag it or use it on the plot and start the whole process all over again. My plan is to improve the soil in the strawberry raised beds – that will be quite a lot of work but worth it. I will select the strongest runners and gradually replace the plants in the newly filled beds.

The new look compost heap

GETTING READY

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Despite the difficult situation of life with COVID 19 things are looking up on the allotment front. The days are getting longer and that is always something to cheer me up.

I have finished washing my greenhouses, the next thing was to refresh the soil and sort out the supports. After last year’s harvest of tomatoes, aubergines and chillies I took down all the cane supports – it needed re-doing.

I have also decided that ‘less is more’ and will limit each greenhouse to one type of vegetable and will space them further apart.

As I was looking at my Asian pear tree and planning how much to trim it – it has gone rather tall and the top branches are very thin and straggly, I noticed a nest in the fork of two larger branches. It looks a bit scruffy and untidy but it certainly is a nest. Perhaps a pigeon’s nest?

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AUTUMN

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Here we go again – another autumn, another clear out operation. My plan is quite simple – I aim to complete one task each time I go to the allotment. Yesterday it was clearing out one net cage and weeding (again) a bed after garlic has been harvested some time ago.

Today was the turn of the orchard. Managed to weed, hoe and re-do the stepping stone path in front of the shed, I’m happy with the result.

Another job I finished today was weeding and digging inside one small net cage. I had some broad beans there, they did very well, no sign of any blackfly, then I put some tomatoes and celery in. The tomatoes have finished, just the celery remains.

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Yesterday was quite difficult. I have decided to put a scaffolding plank as an edge to a narrow strip of soil beside this net cage, to keep the soil in, and making it deeper. I knew the planks are heavy, but I didn’t think they were this heavy! Too late to change my mind when I was half way down the main path dragging it behind me. Never mind, it all ended well.