Sunday 10th April 2011

Posted on April 10, 2011 by clairesallotment

Sneaked a couple of hours down the allotment this morning, and managed to get everything done that was on my list! Amazing, I’ve never done that before. I planted my broad bean plants, sowed the last few purple carrots, got all the mangetout and the rest of the peas in, another row of radish, and the rest of the chard. It was beautiful down there, the sun was shinning and not a cloud in the sky. Yes I had my shorts on, but the legs aren’t quite so pale as before, the tan is slowly returning. Make sure you don’t wear wellies and shorts other wise you’ll get welly marks, not very attractive. I did it one year, and had a line just under my knees….lovely. After a BBQ and eating outside I repotted my yellow courgettes and okra. I think I need a rest in the sun now, phew what a busy day.

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10 Responses to Sunday 10th April 2011

  1. veggiegardeningdiaz's avatar veggiegardeningdiaz says:
    April 11, 2011 at 9:53 pm

    Hi Claire. Quick question. Lettuce is supposed to be so easy and so fast to grow. I am in my third year of gardening and haven’t had any success with lettuce at all. This year, I decided to start them off in a makeshift cold frame. I started them the first week of March (it’s been pretty nice weather here), and they sprouted nicely and all, but here we are a whole month later and only a few plants have a very teeny tiny set of second leaves. What’s going on? I keep hearing of being able to eat lettuce weeks after planting. My teeny tiny plants look healthy enough, they’re just not getting any bigger.

    Reply
    • clairesallotment's avatar clairesallotment says:
      April 12, 2011 at 11:44 am

      Hi there,
      I’ve never been able to eat lettuce a few weeks after planting, I don’t care what people say. I does take a while, but once you start picking, it keeps on coming. I plant mine in a 6inch pot filled with multi purpose compost, and there it stays for it’s whole life. I just pick the leaves I want when I need them. Is the pot in the sun? If it’s not, then move it so it’s gets sun for as much of the day as possible. Then at the end of the day put it on the window sill inside. It’s warmer in the house, so it’ll grow a little faster. Also keep an eye out for slug and snail trails over the compost. They’ll strip the plants in about 30 minutes. Don’t worry, I planted some about the same time and they’re about the same size.
      Hope that helps,

      Claire

      Reply
  2. frazzledsugarplummum's avatar frazzledsugarplummum says:
    April 11, 2011 at 11:21 pm

    I am having a lovely time watching the Horticultural Channel and seeing you put in carrots and onion seed. You always have the best tips.

    Reply
      • mari's avatar mari says:
        April 15, 2011 at 9:14 am

        Hi Claire

        love all your tips and explanations about planting. can you tell me once I have finished with my tomatoes plants can I use the soil for anything else or should I discard it.

        Many thanks
        Mari

      • clairesallotment's avatar clairesallotment says:
        April 15, 2011 at 2:23 pm

        Hi Mari,
        As long as your tomato plants didn’t get “Blight”, (you’d know if you’ve had it), if they did have blight then get rid of the soil. Don’t even put it on the compost heap, or on the soil. Get rid of it down the refuse centre. If you’ve been lucky and not had it, you can reuse the soil, either put it on your compost heap or mix into the soil.

  3. ummSuhayb's avatar ummSuhayb says:
    April 12, 2011 at 7:56 am

    Are you like me,’sneaking’ to the allotment?! It can be hard fitting it round the kids. In an ideal world they’d come with me, helping and enjoying it, but my toddlers idea of helping would be treading all over the beds. My eldest did help putting the onions in at the weekend but you never get so much done as when you’re on your own…

    Reply
    • clairesallotment's avatar clairesallotment says:
      April 15, 2011 at 2:38 pm

      I’d never get anything done if the kids were there. It’s my little oasis where I like to be on my own. They like harvesting bits, but weeding that’s too much like hard work.

      Reply
  4. ClarkeyM's avatar ClarkeyM says:
    April 12, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    Claire hoping you can help me…

    I have planted some Tigrella and Ildl toms, the Tigrella are going great guns but the Ildl are not even poking through. All planted at the same time and in the same conditions. I too have to sneak up the plot although the kids do come up for an hour or two each week.

    Great program and site!

    Thanks

    Reply
    • clairesallotment's avatar clairesallotment says:
      April 13, 2011 at 8:25 am

      Hi there,
      Tigrella are really beautiful tomatoes, I love their stripes. Sometimes tomatoes seeds can be a bit temperamental. I usually plant mine in February when it’s still cold and they take weeks and weeks to come through, but when the weather warms up they pop through all together. Don’t worry about them. Maybe they’re still a little on the cold side and don’t want to get out of bed yet. Bring the container inside and put on a sunny window sill and they should pop through in a few weeks.

      Reply

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