Clairesallotment's Blog

The wind has died down slightly, which is a relief. Still no rain though, and none forecast for at least the rest of this week. I bought some new gardening gloves at the show yesterday and christened them by handling manure. They’re very comfortable. I was very busy up the allotment today, weeding, strimming, leaf mould over the potatoes and manure over weeded beds. I wore my smartest trousers which have holes in each knee and at the top of the leg. I really should throw them away, but they’re very comfortable.

I went to the Grow Your Own show at Loseley Park today. It was a lovely day. A little breezy, but at least the sun was shinning. There I was walking through one of the tents and I met Pippa Greenwood. What a wonderful lady she is. We had a chat and then I toodled off to find other bit and pieces. We met again later and did some filming with Sean. Also 2 girls that watch the show saw Sean and I, so we had a lovely chat with them also. I spent all my money, and came home. I’ll be going next year as it was such fun.

First of all it’s George’s 9th birthday today. Happy birthday to my little boy. His best friend should be round soon and they’re having a sleepover. How much sleep they get is anyones guess.
I’ve just come in from the greenhouse, (washed my hand before I’ve come on the computer). I’ve just finished potting up all my Aubergines, as usual I’ve planted far to many. I’m sure I’ll find space for them. Everything’s growing so well in the greenhouse, I may have to think about getting bits out a little earlier than June. If I do I’ll have to make sure they’re covered, just in case we have a late frost.

Got the strimmer out for the first time today. Amazingly it worked straight away! Usually it takes a bit to wake it up. At the moment I’m weeding the beds one at a time, then strimming the grass round the beds, then covering with manure. They’ll then be ready for the big planting session at the beginning of June. So the count down is on to get all the rest of the beds ready in time. I’ve got a month to go, so hopefully I’ll get there.

I was down there again this morning. I’ve put in all my Kohl Rabi, and again make sure you net them, otherwise the birds will have a feast. I’ve now started to weed all the beds systematically. I managed to get 3 done today, so I was very pleased. You can tell just by looking at my hands that I’ve been gardening, not only are they very dry, but there’s soil under all my nails and I’ve broken 4 nails. They don’t grow very long anyway. Must get the hand cream out.

Kids were back to school today, so where did I go this morning? I bet you can’t guess….Yes that’s right more weeding. I spent 2 hours weeding a bed and putting in the cauliflowers. Make sure that when you plant any brassicas that you put netting over the top, otherwise the birds will destroy them all as soon as your back is turned. I also have started to put leaves on top of the potatoes as it’s supposed to be quite cold tomorrow night, and more manure round the onions. I’ve got the Kohl Rabi ready to take tomorrow, so that’s 1 job to do as well as more weeding. Oh… and I picked 3 radish today and had them for lunch, they were very crunchy and my first pickings for this season. Must get the bicycle pump as the wheel barrow tyre is going down.

Had a wonderful morning today Mark, I and the kids went to Victoriana Nursery Gardens to meet Stephen Shirley and his family. It was so great to finally meet them and we spent 2 hours wandering round and having the grand tour of the place. Thank you so very much to you both for such a wonderful time, and for the free Raspberry canes and Chard seeds. We took some pictures whilst we were there, so please have a look.

Holy Moly it was hot down the allotment this afternoon! The car read 28/82 phew! Even so I got all my red onions in and a tree that my neighbours gave me the other day. The label says that it’s an Apricot tree, but last year it produced Apples. I think it’s a bit confused. The sky is very grey at the moment and the thunder is rumbling, please let’s have some rain. Knowing us it’ll miss us. The soil needs a good water as it’s getting so hard. All we need is a heavy down pour to wet the soil and a thunder storm to clear the air.

Hope you had your Hot cross Buns for breakfast this morning. I made my own, minus the crosses. They’re much nicer than the shop ones. We’re being spoilt with all this glorious weather. I’ve finally potted up all my chillies, a load more flowers and all my tomatoes. It’s getting very hot in the greenhouse, so you can’t stay long in there, but the plants seem to love it. I’ll try and get to the allotment tomorrow, will let you know if I do.