Tuesday 21st May 2013 – Picked my first radish today!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by clairesallotment

Today was a better day, still a little cloudy, but at least it was dry. So this morning I carried on with methodically going through each bed and weeding them. I’m still on the potatoes, so I’m earthing them up as I go. I’ve now done down 1 side, so that’s a quarter of my space perfect, just 3 quarters to go and I’ll be done. I got my petrol strimmer out of the shed and it worked first time, much to my surprise. I need to take more of the wire down tomorrow as there’s not much left on the spool. I had a wander round to see how it was all growing, and I picked my first radish. I was a good sized one, so I brought it home and had it with lunch. It was rather hot, but crisp and fresh. That’s the first bit of produce from my plot, hopefully they’ll be lots more to come.

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Monday 20th May 2013 – Day spent tidying the front garden.

Posted on May 21, 2013 by clairesallotment

Well the weather was a bit crap today, so going down the allotment would have been a disaster, so instead I had the wonderful job of giving the front garden a bit of a tidy up and put a few plants in. I’ve got a bare (not bear) spot on one side by the house. I’ve had plants in that spot before, and the robust ones have done well, but the delicates haven’t. One on the kids that side isn’t too careful when he throws a ball, so the prickly rose does well. So I got some Crocosmia a while back and they’ve been sitting on soil in 3 inch pots growing a bit before I put them out. So today I filled in all the bare gaps and had some left so planted the rest in a little space next to the greenhouse. Hopefully they’ll be able to cope with the balls that come over from next door, otherwise I’ll have to plant more roses with bigger prickles.

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Race for Life Saturday 1st June 2013 in Clapham Common.

Posted on May 17, 2013 by clairesallotment

Yes it’s that time of year again when I sweat it out by taking part in the 10k Race For Life. This year I’ll be doing the 10k on Saturday 1st of June in Clapham Common. Mark is most probably going to be away in Ireland, and the kids will have to stay with someone, so I’ll be walking on my own and trying to beat last years record of 87 minutes. If you would like to sponsor me I’d be very grateful, so please “click here” for the link that will take you straight to my page. I’m not sure which is more knackering, 2 hours on the allotment or a 10k very brisk walk. I’ll let you know afterwards. Suppose I’d better get some training in.

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Friday 17th May 2013 – Make sure the fork is in the ground firmly, otherwise it’ll fall on your head!

Posted on May 17, 2013 by clairesallotment

This happened to me this morning. The soil was a bit hard, and I thought the large fork was in enough, but as I bent down to do some weeding it fell towards me and donked the left hand side of my head. It didn’t hurt, but I felt very silly at the time. I’ve now finished turning over the final bed on one of my plots, so I’m meticulously weeding each bed, and then I’ll start turning over the remaining beds on the other plot. I’m earthing up my potatoes as I come to them, but I’ve got next week and then it’s half term. Hopefully I’ll get it all done next week, or as much as possible.

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Thursday 16th May 2013 – Half and hour to spare

Posted on May 16, 2013 by clairesallotment

When you’ve only got 30 minutes to spare in the greenhouse it’s necessary to set the timer. Not only because the dinner will burn, but just in case other reasons arise…. I had 30 minutes to sort out my Kale “Black Tuscany” most are for me, some are for my sister, and some are for my son’s school. The reception children are making a garden, so I’m giving them a few plants that they can look after, along with instructions on how and when to plant them out. Now that’s done, it’s time to get ready for a bath, and then bed. Another glass of wine is needed and I’ll be fine. Nighty night, and see you tomorrow.

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Thursday 16th May 2013 – Has a slight frost last night on the site.

Posted on May 16, 2013 by clairesallotment

Well I was out last night, and didn’t realise that it was that cold, but when I looked at my potatoes this morning they’d got a bit of frost damage. Not to worry, as it was only a little bit. The site is in a frost pocket. I only live about half a mile away and we didn’t have any at home. Well it was an enjoyable morning, I’m half way through digging the final bed on one of my plots, so it’s starting to feel like I’m getting somewhere. The weeds are starting to come back, so it’s going to be the endless task of starting at one end and weeding through, then when you get to the end, starting back at the beginning again. It’s what I call “Painting the Golden Gate Bridge syndrome”. You’ll be please to hear that my little babies are doing really well. It looks like all the eggs have hatched, and they seem to be growing fast. They still haven’t opened their eyes, but they’re keeping their parents busy by demanding food all the time. A bit like our son George…”Can I have an apple” is his favourite phrase.

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Birdcam #4 – Hatched! – Claire’s Allotment part 202

Posted on May 15, 2013 by clairesallotment
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Wednesday 15th May 2013 – Afternoon spent in the greenhouse pottering about.

Posted on May 15, 2013 by clairesallotment

I’m still waiting for the migraine that came on on Monday to finally go. So going down the allotment when I can barely think straight isn’t the right place to be. Yesterday was basically wasted because of it, so I thought the best thing to do today would be to potter about in the greenhouse as that’s not very taxing on my little brain. I’ve managed to pot up some ornamental grasses that are going in my sister in laws garden. We sorted her garden out a while back, and got rid of so much crap, and it’s starting to look really good now, but there are still some holes that need to be filled up. Also I’ve potted up my Brussels Sprouts “Falstaff” and “Trafalgar”. They seem to have grown really well, so hopefully we’ll have lots of windy brussels for Christmas. And then finally some Broccoli “Red Arrow”. The greenhouse has been closed for the last few days because of the weather, so the humidity has got quite high and the plants are loving it. The cabbages are ready to go out, so I need to go and buy some good netting to protect them. Tomorrow hopefully my head will be back to normal and I’ll be back on the allotment and back to my normal self. Better be, I’ve lost 2 days and I’m not amused!

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This made me smile so much.

Posted on May 14, 2013 by clairesallotment

Sean James Cameron found this, it’s just brilliant. Thank you Eva for watching, I hope you have a brilliant year.

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Tuesday 14th May 2013 – My babies have arrived!!

Posted on May 14, 2013 by clairesallotment

Now I usually plug the bird camera into the back of the TV after everyone has gone, but this morning I plugged it in before they went, and I’m so glad I did. There they were about 5 little baby birds that must have hatched either last night, or first thing this morning. There are still about 3 eggs that have not hatched so far, but I expect they’ll hatch sometime very soon. They were squirming about, and you could make out their tiny wings, beaks and bottoms. I’ll be taking some footage later on, so look out for that. The parents have been very busy coming in and out and both have been in the box together most of the time. As Mark said “You’re a granny!” At 39 that’s a bit early.

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