Clairesallotment's Blog

Rather a chilly start this morning, but after bell ringing I had a hot date with a trailer full of manure. I met a friend Clair at the stables and we drove to the allotment and together with a shovel each emptied the manure onto one of the empty bed on my plot. Thank you so very much Clair and Seymour who owns the stables for helping me this morning it was very much appreciated. Hopefully there’s enough manure for most of the empty beds. I may have to take the car to get some more, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. At least my car doesn’t smell. I’ll give you 1 guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but nothing’s been happening on the plot. But, I’ve just come in from the greenhouse after picking the rest of the chillies and cape gooseberries. I’ve got 3 bags of chillies, so I won’t need to plant any next year and hopefully enough cape gooseberries to make some jam. A warning about the cape gooseberries… “they fall everywhere!!” I had to get down on my hands and knees and stretch in ways I’ve not stretched in since I did ballet. They hide in all the corners and under the shelves. I’m sure I’ve missed some and will find them another time. The only plant that’s in the greenhouse now is 5 sweet potatoes.

What a lovely sunny day it’s been today. Popped down the allotment this morning and weeded the bed where the popcorn was growing. There were about 6 of us there today. With all the rain we had last night the weeds were very easy to remove, even the stubborn ones. My gloves are a little worse for wear. I hope they manage to last until the end of the season. Only time will tell. Popping down later with George so he can do more towards his project.

Picked all my popcorn today. Got quite a bit, and I’ll make a film about it tomorrow. I was the only 1 there this morning until Graham arrived. He’s a lovely elderly man. I need to get more manure, must do that soon. I also picked some sweetcorn, so we’ll have that for dinner tomorrow evening. Looks like the weather’s going to be pants tomorrow, so I don’t think a trip to the allotment will be on the cards. Thursday looks promising though.

Didn’t go to the allotment today as the weather wasn’t very inviting. Instead I spent the afternoon in the garden starting to tidy up after summer and getting the garden all ready for when autumn really sets in. I had a look at the sweet potatoes in the greenhouse, can’t wait to dig them up and find out which did better the ones in the greenhouse or the ones on the plot. Hopefully the weather will be more welcoming tomorrow. It’s been cold these last few days, and I’ve had to wear my thermal trousers. Very fetching.

Spent the afternoon sorting out the greenhouse. The tomatoes have nearly finished, so I picked any left and will add them to the trays on the kitchen cupboards, so they can ripen. I did pick one that was very odd, it was a beefsteak tomato shape with added bits on the bottom, another alien fruit to add to my collection this year. I picked the last of the aubergines. It’s the best year I’ve ever had with them. I did pick 1 that looked like a man’s “two veg” if you know what I mean. I did chuckle. The chillies are still going strong, so I’ve spread them out in the greenhouse. It was raining outside, but I was very dry in my greenhouse. The melons have finished, I only got 1 small one this year, so will try again next year. I found 3 more cucumbers, they’ve done well this year. I managed to avoid the spider that has taken up residence in the greenhouse. I’m sure I’ve evicted her a couple of times, but she’s got fatter, so I think babies are imminent. Oh joy.

Popped down to the allotment this morning to weed and strim more grass. I only stayed there for about an hour as it kept raining and so wasn’t that enjoyable. I got a fair amount done, before I thought enough was enough. Came home and had a hot cup of tea. The rain’s got worse all afternoon and the wind is very cold. Autumn is definitely here. Let’s hope the weekend is at least dry then I can get into the garden and I have a last tidy before the Autumn really sets in. Mark’s away this weekend with the car, so I can’t take the kids anywhere. I’m sure we’ll find our own individual things to occupy ourselves.

Popped down the allotment after school with George so he could start his project on “Habitat”. We spent about 40 minutes on the plot looking in various areas for insects and minibeasts. I lifted the carpet on one of the compost heaps and there was a huge spider hiding there. George was a bit shocked, so we covered it up again. He’s started by collecting some old branches and arranged them in a pile to make a home for mainly woodlouse. We’ll look just before his project needs to be handed in to see what has taken up residence. He also planted some nasturtium seeds, they may start to sprout, otherwise they’ll sprout in the Spring. He had great fun, got very dirty, and can’t wait to go again next week. That’s my boy.

Noticed last night that I’d been bitten by a red ant on my left knee. I never felt it, but I think it got in through the hole of my trouser leg and had a feast whilst it was there. It’s still swollen and is starting to itch now. Popped to the allotment this morning and weeded more. I had to walk there today as Mark had the car, well it is his, so he should drive it every so often. I had to wear the wellies that I keep in the shed on the plot. They’re very old I think I got them when I was about 15 years old. They’re green and have hardly any grips on them. They’re my spare pair and do the job very well, but I had to clear out stuff that snails had left behind and check that there were no spiders in there before I put my foot in. I’ve weeded at least three quarters of the beds, so I’m feeling like I’m back on top of it again.

You never would believe that we’re in Autumn today as it’s so lovely and hot. Tomorrow promises to be even warmer, I may have to put my shorts back on again. Looks like we’re having a late summer, about time we had a decent bit of sun. Had a great morning on the plot. I finally took down the old greenhouse, I’ve been using it as a place to store all sorts of bits an pieces. The cover is covered with holes and now that I’ve got my lovely new greenhouse at home I don’t need it. I’ll keep the frame and use it as a cloche in early Spring, and to keep the pigeon off my brassicas. George will be using the space left by the greenhouse for his project about “Habitat”. He can make all sorts of bug catching stuff, and I expect when he’s finished with it I’ll add to it. It’ll become our sustainable area of the allotment.