Saturday 18th August 2012- Back from our holidays

We all had a great time, very relaxing, lots of sun bathing, swimming in the pool, eating too much and drinking too. A huge thanks to my mum and dad for making us so welcome. We got back on the 17th but at some unmentionable hour in the morning, (just after 3am I think). After a long sleep it was time to sort everything out. It took a while and we all had a nap later on in the day. Therefore, I had no time to pop to the allotment. However, after and early night and a fry up (again) I headed on down to the allotment to say “hello” and pick what I could. I came back with quite a sizeable haul. The weeds have had a field day, but I’ll start to sort them out tomorrow. I managed to pick some sweetcorn, it’s growing really well, and looks like a good harvest this year. Loads of runner beans, they seem to have gone mad over the last 2 weeks. I had none before I went and now there are loads! A few french beans, a couple of onions to keep us going until tomorrow, some radish and the asparagus peas have gone wild. I picked a load, but there are still more to harvest. When I came back from the allotment I scanned the Telegraph on Saturday paper, will explain on my next post.

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4 Responses to Saturday 18th August 2012- Back from our holidays

Southbourne Gardens says:

August 18, 2012 at 12:32 pm

Welcome back from your hold. Eek, I’ve seen it. Well done. D and I were discussing the videos only last night and saying how we were surprised that you haven’t been snapped up.

- clairesallotment says:
  
  August 22, 2012 at 11:05 am
  
  I was jolly excited when I saw it on line, it came through just as we were leaving my parent to drive to the airport.
  
Northeast Old Newbie says:

August 19, 2012 at 12:50 pm

Hi Claire,
Hope you all had a good break.
While you have been away I have worked hard on my new allotment, mostly fighting with weed growth on a scale equalling the triffids.

As the soil is heavy clay and is difficult to work, I have been convinced by my learned neighbours to cover it with six inches of chipped conifer ( a guy dumps this on site for paths) then fight to dig it in, Followed by a six to eight inch topping of fresh manure, heavily mixed with shredded paper and straw. This is to lay there for the worms to take down, and then be turned in next spring.

So, the area where the first earlies were taken from was clear and weeded, and I followed their advice and did just that, finishing this morning.

Do you think I have done the right thing? (kinda hard to undo now LOL)

- clairesallotment says:
  
  August 22, 2012 at 11:04 am
  
  Yes you’ve done the right thing. The wood chips are not suitable to put in the soil and then plants straight into as they need to rot down. The manure is the same. Well rotten manure is the best. Your neighbour clearly knows your soil well, and has most probably done the same thing. The shredded paper and straw are great too. If you can shred some cardboard that would work also. Put it all on, and leave for the next 6 months or so, everything will come together and digging in Spring will give it that extra bit to help it on it’s way. If you find digging too hard, and it’s a large space, it may be wise to hire/borrow a rotavator for the weekend.