My little trip – Day 1 Thursday 12th June 2014

Posted on June 16, 2014 by clairesallotment

Today I was off on my little trip to Birmingham, St Helens, Daventry then home. I had lots to fit in, and lots of people to see, so here goes, are you ready? I left home at 10am with my suitcase, lunch, cake, wine and money to make my annual visit to Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC in Birmingham. I stopped just south of Birmingham to have my lunch in a little National Trust Place called Baddesley Clinton. It was built in tudor times and has a wonderful little house that you can walk round and some beautiful gardens to while away some time in. When I arrived after the obligatory visit to the ladies room I sat down for lunch and instantly got surrounded by loads of ducks. There was a pond the other side of the grass and the ducks pestered everyone that came over for some food. Now I was hungry and didn’t think that they’d enjoy my garlic and coriander naan bread and my tomato soup, so they didn’t get anything from me. They were clearly very used to people and came really close. They even can under the table and right up to my feet, cheeky things.

It's my lunch, not yours.

It’s my lunch, not yours.

After I’d eaten my lunch I went in the house. It was such a lovely old building, and part of the floor had been put down in the 1400’s!! I saw a priest hole that was also used as a loo. This was directly over the moat, so that anything that you did on the toilet fell straight in the moat. It doesn’t bare thinking about. You could also go upstairs to look at the rooms, which were all fairly small, and a scary 4 poster bed that had a rather scary face looking down at you as you laid on the bed. I wondered how many nightmares that gave the occupants. The doors were very low, so I had to duck to go through them all. Now I’m not huge at 5 foot 9, but you’d have to be shorter than about 5 foot 5 to be able to get through without ducking.

Tiny tiny doors. Not suitable for giants like me.

Tiny tiny doors. Not suitable for giants like me.

It was then time to wander round the gardens, there was a vegetable patch, which to be honest I wasn’t that impressed with. The Rhubarb was growing well and the rest of the fruit, but the vegetable were a bit hit and miss. Mine on the allotment were much further on. There was also several ponds and streams that you could walk by and round. All very tranquil and I could have stayed there for a lot longer, but soon I had to be on my way again.

One of the many tranquil ponds to sit and contemplate the massive drive ahead.

One of the many tranquil ponds to sit and contemplate the massive drive ahead.

But before I left there was a little church up the lane, so I had to go and see it, and find out if there were any bells, and a little bit about them. It was a tiny church, which from the outside looked locked, but was actually open and you were allowed to go in and have a look around. It was called St Michael’s Church Baddesley Clinton. So if you ever do pop to see the house make sure you pop to see the church also.

It looks quite a large church from the photo, but it's really very small, but beautiful.

It looks quite a large church from the photo, but it’s really very small, but beautiful.

Their church bells were another matter. Now I’m used to ringing the big bells in the church, not little ropes like this. I didn’t have a play on them, as I know that you don’t mess about with bell ropes. But they did amuse me.

3 little ropes all in a row.

3 little ropes all in a row.

It was then time for me to continue on my journey to the Premier Inn in Birmingham, where I was going to spend the night. The stay was very pleasant, and the staff were very friendly. When asked by them “Did you have a safe trip?”, I replied “I don’t like the Birmingham one way system.” To which he replied “No neither do I.” It’s appalling!! There is no other word for it. If you don’t know where you’re going it’s a nightmare. Still I made it, and flopped down on my bed and had a cup of tea before I went downstairs to have dinner. Then off to bell ringing at Smethwick for the evening, where we rang all sorts and the ringers of that tower were very friendly. The tower captain was insistent that I tried all the bells during the evening, which I was able to do. I then got back to my hotel room very tired, and after a well earned bath, I sat in bed with a cup of tea and watched the TV till I got so tired I needed to sleep, after all Friday was going to be a HUGE day!!

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Wednesday 11th June 2014 – Straddled over some potatoes.

Posted on June 11, 2014 by clairesallotment

Yes I know that sounds a bit odd, but it’s the only way you can weed between your potato plants. You straddle a plant, bend over, stick you bottom in the air and off you go with the weeding. It’s really the most sensible way to go about it, but not the most attractive. It helps if you’re bendy, like I am. Though I’m not as bendy as I used to be, but that’s another story. I only had 2 hours down the allotment today as I had to be somewhere else this afternoon, but I managed to get lots of weeding done, and then watered the weed free beds with my Shropshire Seaweed Fertiliser. I’m convinced that’s why I got huge potatoes last year as well as a generally wonderful harvest from most things. So I’m sticking with it. I’ve got half a bottle left, so I’ll have to order some more soon. I tend to go through about 4 or 5 litres in one season. If you’ve not tried it give it a go. It’s also good for keeping disease away. I then harvested lots more Strawberries, which seem to have gone manic lately. I’ve now got enough for some jam so I’ll have to make some very soon. But I won’t see the allotment until Monday of next week as I’m off to Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC. I’m driving up to Birmingham tomorrow and then going to the show on Friday, then up to see my grand parents in St Helens for a couple of days and then back home via Daventry to see my cousin!! Phew!! I’ll take loads of photos, and let you all know what I got up to when I get back. If you’re at the NEC on Friday and you see me, come and say “Hi”. If you don’t want to, I won’t mind. The weather looks like it should be great, so I may have to wear some shorts (don’t be scared by that thought please).

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Tuesday 10th June 2014 – Everything’s in the allotment.

Posted on June 10, 2014 by clairesallotment

It’s a very exciting day today as everything that needs to go in the allotment is in. It’s good that I’ve not got anything else to go in, as both my plots are jam packed. Usually I have at least 1 bed spare, but this year, nothing is free. I put in the last of my Musselburgh Leeks today, and dotted them all over the place, where ever I had room. Beware though that when you’re planting your Leeks in their holes that you don’t get poked up the bottom by a Globe Artichoke flower. I did, and it was quite a surprise. I’ve still got quite a few Leeks left, so I’ll see if my sister wants those. Now all I need to do is to sort out the greenhouse, and get all those bits in their final places. Then I’m all ready for the summer. So all is needed to be done now down the allotment is weeding, watering and harvesting. So I’m a very happy bunny at the moment. Oh, but a bit of sad news, my strimmer has to go to the great lawn in the sky. Apparently the engine has seized and wires have come out. So it’ll cost more to fix it than to get a new one. I’m off to Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC on Friday, so will have a look there to see if they have any, otherwise I’ll look into getting one when I get back next week. Such a shame, I’ve had it for about 8 years or so, and it’s the first and only time it’s gone wrong.

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Monday 9th June 2014 – Rhubarb, rhubarb.

Posted on June 9, 2014 by clairesallotment

Another busy day on my plot today. The sun is still shining and it’s very warm and humid. Which I don’t mind, it’s much better than it pouring with rain. So firstly I started with the Rhubarb bed. I’d started to weed this on Friday, but not got very far. So today I continued with this task, hoping to finish, which I’m pleased to say I did. Once all the grass and weeds were cleared, then I covered it with a good layer of manure. Rhubarb loves manure, as they are very hungry plants, so a good layer of poo makes them very happy. I’ve got a few spaces, so I’ll have to get hold of some more Rhubarb crowns to fill in the gaps with. I then had some lunch, and then picked some Strawberries. Wow they do love a bit of sun don’t they! They’ve gone made, and I managed to harvest loads. Enough for at least 2 days worth of puddings for us, if not 3!! There are loads that’ll be ready in a few days, and loads of flowers to, so hopefully I’ll be able to make some jam this year. Then it was off to Homebase to get some more bamboo canes for my Tomatoes at home. But that’s a job for tomorrow as I’ll have to start dinner now for my hungry children and husband, and myself of course. I’ll let you know how the Strawberries taste tomorrow.

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Sunday 8th June 2014 – Did I really walk THAT far today?

Posted on June 8, 2014 by clairesallotment

The answer is YES I did!! “How far?” I hear you ask, well I had to walk for at least 3 hours. You can walk a long way in that time. Now I’d not been very happy with the app that I had been using as it hadn’t been very reliable, but I think I’ve figured out why. The places that I’d been going didn’t have a very good GPS signal, so today I decided to keep to the main roads and it was much better. I’d planned to meet Mark and the kids at a National Trust place, and thought that it would take me about 3 hours to walk there, but I had nearly reached it, and still had an hour and a half’s walking to do, so I had to think fast and find somewhere else to go. So I walked the streets, and went past a house where I used to live, but was only five and a half when I left. So that was a lovely trip down memory lane, then I walked past the school nearby where I went for about 1 term, but hated, so was glad we moved. But I still had time to spare, so I walked even further, and finally worked my way back to the main road and on towards our planned meeting point. When I finally got to Mark and the kids I walked for 3 hours and 23 minutes and walked 13.1miles!! Yes you have read it correctly. Even I was surprised, but very happy as this means that I’ve walked half a marathon, just the same distance again and I’d have done it all. I was rather hot when I’d finished, and very thirsty. I’m glad to report that I have no blisters and now as I’m writing this no part of me is sore. Tomorrow morning I may feel different. The sun shone all day and the temperature in the car said 25 degrees. Still after a sit down with a cup of tea when we got home and a rest in front of the TV I then went into the greenhouse and potted on some more Tomatoes in 6 inch pots. The sun is still shining but the temperature has cooled a bit. Mark and Emily are at the cinema watching Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt beat the crap out of some robots, and George and I are going to watch Life of Brian. What a brilliant day, if exhausting.

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Saturday 7th June 2014 – RIP Tomatoes and Melons.

Posted on June 8, 2014 by clairesallotment

Don’t worry they’ve not started to die on me, but I’ve potted all my Melons and also started to pot the Tomatoes up in their final resting places in 6 inch pots. The Melons I always keep in the greenhouse as they do much better in there, as we don’t get the temperatures in the UK to plant them outside, and I also don’t put my Tomatoes on the allotment anymore, unless I can help it. This is because they are at a greater risk of getting blight down there. So I’m putting as many I can in the greenhouse and the rest dotted around the garden where ever I can find space for them. I may have to move a few plant pots around, but I’ll fit them in somewhere. Also you may remember from my last post that we were expecting torrential rain and thunder today, but they were going to be very hit and miss. We did get rain in the morning, in fact most of it actually, at one point we did have a down pour and my little birdies were looking very scruffy when they went in the box with wet feathers, but they soon dried out. Still only 2 babies have hatched so far, and one did make me laugh as it got stuck on top of an unhatched egg and looked like it was doing breast stroke. We also got a couple of flashes and a couple or substantial rumbles, but nothing on the scale that I’d hoped. Still the sun came out in the afternoon so I was able to get out in the garden.

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Friday 6th June 2014 – That was a full on day!

Posted on June 6, 2014 by clairesallotment

Another busy, busy day on the allotment today. The sun was shining, I had my shorts on (and now my legs are not as horrendously white as they were) and I even had to get out the sun cream. It was a scorching 25 degrees today, so I was very, very happy. So it was the perfect day to spend as much time as I could on the allotment. So in just over 4 hours I managed to plant out my Chop Suey Greens and my Celeriac. Picked, weeded and manured the Strawberries. I’ll give you one guess on what we’re going to have for pudding tonight!! And finally I cut a load of grass and then started to weed the Rhubarb bed, which has been a bit neglected recently. The allotment is looking lovely and full now, and I feel like I’m nearly on top of it. I then had a wedding to bell ring for, otherwise I would have stayed at the allotment for a bit longer. Tomorrow we’re supposed to get some thundery downpours, but they’re going to be very hit and miss, so knowing us they’ll miss us as they usually do. Still I’ll let you know if anything exciting happens. So now it’s off to mow the grass, and see if I can get up to any mischief in the greenhouse. So TTFN have  a great weekend.

My Chop Suey Greens all in 2 lovely straight rows.

My Chop Suey Greens all in 2 lovely straight rows.

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Thursday 5th June 2014 – Climbing French Beans are all in.

Posted on June 5, 2014 by clairesallotment

Another successful day up the allotment today, and a glorious one. Much better weather than yesterday, so off I trundled with lots planned. Firstly I dug over the rest of the Pumpkin bed. It was much tougher than the first half, as it hadn’t been dug for at least 2 year. I found loads of red ant nests, and they went mad when I disturbed them. I had  a few more Pumpkin plants to put in, so that was the first job. Then it was lunch time so I sat down with my soup, bread and fruit and had a little rest. If I sit down for too long I get bored, so after about 20 minutes it was back to work again. The next job on the list was putting in my Climbing French Beans. This year I’ve grown “Cobra”, which I’ve grown before and they did really well, so hopefully they’ll be a success again. I sowed 2 plants to a cane. At a push you can do 3, which I’ve done before. Make sure you attach them to the canes, so they curl up well, otherwise they decided to make out with anything that they can get close to. Then to finish off at the allotment I cut some more grass round the edges. I’ve still not heard back about my strimmer yet, but called them yesterday and they’re supposed to call me today. If they don’t I’ll call them again tomorrow. I then loaded some rubbish from my plot in the car and made a quick trip to the tip. Then home for a well earned cup of tea, and a little while later the kids arrived home from school. Phew!! Same again tomorrow.

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Tuesday 3rd June 2014 – More tender crops are in!!

Posted on June 3, 2014 by clairesallotment

Today was a bit bizarre. Before I went to the allotment this morning I had a few errands to run, and as I was doing these it poured down with rain. I was getting a little concerned as I had a boot full of plants with the sole intention on putting them all in today. Fortunately the rain went and finally the sun came out, so all was good. When I first got on my plot I made a film about planting out my “Swift” Sweet corn, and putting the Butternut squash in between. You can also plant out climbing beans and this combination is called “Three Sister”, but as I’m not doing my beans that way, so I’ve called it “Two Sisters”. Then it was time to move onto the “Purple Teepee” Dwarf French Beans. I do like Dwarf French beans as they are good if you are limited on space and will very happily grow in hanging baskets (make sure you water them well though). When planting out beans, be it french or runner, make sure you protect them from slugs and snails as they really like to eat them. Then it was time to get the bed ready for all my Pumpkins. I’m growing 2 varieties this year, firstly some seeds that I saved from my Atlantic Giants last year, and “Charmant PMR F1” for George’s Scout Group. I’ve put them in the bed where I’ve been dumping a load of manure. As I was turning over the bed to remove any weeds and thistles, the soil looks really good. In fact there’s enough manure in that bed to grow a massive beanstalk for Jack, so hopefully they’ll be enough for my Pumpkins. I watered them in well and protected from slugs. So that all took me about 4 hours to do. I’m exhausted now, but happy.

Grow my pretties grow!!

Grow my pretties grow!!

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Monday 2nd June 2014 – Back to work on the allotment.

Posted on June 2, 2014 by clairesallotment

Now the kids are back to school after half term, I’m back up the allotment, and it’s full stream ahead. As it’s June, we’re very unlikely to get any more frosts in the south of the UK, so all the tender plants can now go in the ground without any worry. So this week will be spent doing exactly that. Today I got all my “Camelot” Brussels Sprouts in, my “Swift” Sweetcorn and my Butternut Squash. As well as the obligatory weeding and grass trimming. I’m still using my shears as I’ve not yet heard back about my strimmer. I’ll have to call him this week and find out what the news is. So that took just under 4 hours. Now I need to pack what I want to do tomorrow in the car. I know what that’ll be, but I’m not going to tell you yet, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

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