Clairesallotment's Blog

Bank Holiday Monday is a weird day on the allotment, because it’s a week day, but the weekend gardeners are down also. I get so confused! I was down the allotment today for about 2 and a half hours and managed to get ALL the Courgettes, Pumpkins and Squash in, and I’ve still got room left. I also managed a little weeding and watering. In the afternoon Mark, Emily, George and I went for a lovely walk over Box Hill. We walked all the way down the hill and then round and back up again. We ended up not where we expected, but only a short walk from the car. Just as we were walking back to the car it started to drizzle, but it didn’t matter. We found some wonderful dark paths, with tree roots showing, very creepy and spooky.

Today was the Site Plant Sale. Thanks to Jill and Aimee for organising this, we managed to raise £231! Fantastic! Loads of plot holders came and also some visitors from the neighbouring roads. We were only supposed to be there for 3 hours, but customers kept on arriving, so we were there for a lot longer, still it was worth all the effort and people got bargins and all went away very happy. And the sun shone which was a huge bonus.

Well it’s nearly the end of May, so I can start getting all the tender crops out now. So today I had a good rummage through the greenhouse and got out all the Squash, Pumpkins and Courgettes. They’ve taken up the whole of the outside table, so I planted quite a few. I’m sure I’ll fine spaces for them all. I hope so anyway. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Today was the first time this week that I’ve been to the allotment. I wasn’t a well bunny at the beginning of the week. I had a virus of some sort and lost all my energy, and had to spend 2 days in bed. Mark looked after me so well by bringing me soup for lunch and lots of juice to drink. He looked after the kids superbly. I missed the allotment, and was very pleased to be there again today. We had some wonderful down pours yesterday, not as much as I’d hoped. But some is better than none. I managed some light weeding today, but still had to water as the rain only touched the surface. I’ll see if I can pop down over the weekend as the kids are on holiday next week. As it’s very nearly June I think I can put all the tender crops out. Yippee!

Is it Friday? Thank goodness for that. I’ve been so busy rushing everywhere this week, next week looks much the same. That’s what you get for being a Mum I guess. I cycled again to the allotment today, I don’t know what’s got into me with all this exercise. Must stop it otherwise I’ll become a fitness freak. I weeded the Rhubarb and Strawberry bed today. I’ve picked loads of Rhubarb and will make some Orange and Rhubarb jam. I did last year and it was really tasty. My strawberries have started to turn, so I tried 1 and oooh it was so sweet. I gave the bed a thorough water and then covered it with leaf mould to keep the moisture in. Only 10 days left until all the tender plants go out. Yay, then the greenhouse will be so bare.

I was very energetic today as I cycled to the allotment! Don’t be so surprised! Obviously I couldn’t take the strimmer on the bike, so all I managed to do today was weed more, and them water what I’d weeded, and then of course the obligatory chat with a few other people. Went swimming this afternoon, so I should sleep very well tonight, not that I usually have any problems dropping off to sleep. Let’s see if I can make it to 9pm.

My eye is much better, feels a little gritty, but it’s fine. Popped down to the allotment for a couple of hours today, and just concentrated on weeding and strimming more. I’ve now weeded three quarters of all my ground, so I’m getting there. Every time I get rid of the green waste I always pick up more leaves, so I’ve got a pile on a couple of the beds ready to spread out. We had some drizzle late this afternoon, but it’s stopped now. I want a down pour all night long, then maybe that’ll do some good. Still got no major rain on the horizon. I’m just waiting for the hose pipe ban note to come through. I’m sure it won’t be long.

Had a little accident when using my strimmer today. There I was happily cutting the grass when something (not sure what it was) flew up and landed straight in my left eye. What ever it was it scratched my eye and it kept weeping, I couldn’t open it properly and it hurt for the rest of the day. Yes I know that I should be wearing glasses or something to protect my eyes, but…..you never remember. Had to leave earlier than I wanted as it really hurt. Hopefully it’ll be better tomorrow.

Well, we’ve got another 2 weeks of possibly getting a frost, and then there should be no more. Until at least the end of October. So it is the perfect time to sow your French and Runner Beans. After an awful lot of trial and error, I’ve come to the conclusion that if I sow mine 2 weeks before I want to plant them out, that way they’re the perfect size when you plant them out. They’re about 9 inches tall, and haven’t started to have the need to twine round anything. So this afternoon I’ve sown some Blue Lake Climbing French Beans, some Stringless Runner Beans, and some Dwarf French Beans. The Dwarf French Beans don’t need to climb up anything and are self supporting. They’ve now got 2 weeks to do their growing stuff, and make me proud. I’m sure they will.