Allotments 4 All

I was netting out my fruit cage, then run out of netting :'( but decided to stay out when the sun came out, pop home, poured a glass of wine for me and my other half, and i then had a sudden burst of energy and started digging and weeding ready for my potatoes, spent the morning in the greenhouse re potting tomatoes plants, moved some plants over to plastic greenhouse , so i have been a very busy bee today. ;D

Spent the last two days digging over my new half plot ive managed to get.
I now ache all over !!!

Spent a few hours cleaning out old compost from some large pots washed refilled ready :) Still not planted anything out still to wet, will hang back till weather changes had over a ton of free manure from the local stables its where to put things stuck for space at the moment

Got up during the night to a poorly Harriet looks like she has 3 teeth coming though so lack of sleep and a clingy still poorly baby meant the gardening got knocked on the head. Husband carried on with the laying of slabs but the garden remains unplanted and uncovered. Which means i have 2 hours tomorrow to get everything done.

Fingers crossed i can get my list done which means husband can get the turf laid while i am laid up and it will be ready for the summer for Harriet to play on :)

Soil is far 2 cold and wet still to i am having to pack all my seeds back away will cover the ground up to stop the weeds taking over again and fingers crossed i can try again in a few weeks...

Quote from: saddad on March 12, 2011, 19:57:33
I've often considered growing some but apparently they need very rich conditions to reach any size...  :-\

I'm not sure they do reach any size. they're a bit of a pain, but at least they've cropped. There's a decent page here, though it evades the question of size. http://www.slugsandsalal.com/plantdb/veg/artichoke/artichokechinese.html . I can very easily see them becoming a weed.

more digging but i am getting there going to make 2 more beds then going to leave the middle bit for a bit.

weather this morning was rubbish but by lunchtime, sun struggled through & afternoon was glorious

planted up two containers of first earlies (lady christl)

sowed seeds (onion ailsa craig, leek musselburgh, kale, dill )

Will need to buy some beetroot, broccoli & french bean seeds as lid on seed tin not shut properly &

seeds had gone mouldy  :'(
 

Stuck a few brassicas in pots.

Soaked the bean trench
Filled with shredded paper
Topped with council compost
Drenched again
Then put back original soil and mounded
;D

OH tidied up some flower beds, which included me digging out a large carex pendula..
but I worked along the boundary fence of the lottie digging out couch and bindweed... have a keen new neighbour who has done his side so we stand a chance of sorting it...  :)

More diggin  ;D

Weather fantastic in Whitley Bay today - so sunny and warm at my plot. Wore my sun hat and put some sun block on my face (yes, really did!).
Put some manure under my gooseberry bushes, and planted out my new blackcurrent bush.  Put some manure on my courgette/squash bed to-be, and dug out some old redcurrant bushes. Then dug over two thirds of our pea/bean bed which is very large. My back is very achey at the moment but hopefully after some tlc tonight will manage to finish off the bed tomorrow. Quite pleased with progress at our plot. OH is lopping some of the trees to the side of our plot as it has started to be quite shaded there, so think it will make a big difference to our crops this year.  I am really looking forward to lying on our sofa tonight surrounded by cushions.  :) busy_lizzie

Ditto as per Bizzy lizzie  :) - weather beautiful in Whitley Bay today.

Planted more earlies (Anya) in pots for patio

Sowed seeds indoors - Salads (rocket, mizuna,corn salad, mustard red giant,)
                                  Cauliflower All Year Round & Spring Onions


Debs

As the ground is still cold i have dug out some cardboard i was saving and hubbie is going to lay cardboard down and cover in black membrane to stop the weeds and help the soil warm up.

Upon digging out the cardboard i had saved (big bits) i found a carrier bag with some seeds which i had forgotten about.  Looks like a bag of seeds i took from my allotment a few days before it was torched :) bit of a spicy smell so going to have a sort out tonight :) Also found my wireless headset so i am going to load an audio book onto my phone so i have something to listen to :)

i spent almost the whole morning in my greenhouse, OH only put it back up saturday afternoon, oh that feels sooooooooooooooo much better ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Got home from work and the lawn looked dry so give it its first cut on a high setting pulled a bit but it cut ok give it a top coat of fertilizer will do another one   tomorrow.  ;D ;D

finished transplanting the last of the sweet pea buckets, 25 of them now, transplanted the kalibos cabbage, watered stuff in the communal greenhouse, showed a new special needs group around, then a school for one of our new beds, busy day  ;D

Dug out lots of bindweed and spread some hops.

Turns out the people who took over the other half of my plot haven't given up- they were there today. Their side is definitely in a worse state than when I left it last year, but they seem keen to get it sorted (again!) so I wish them luck!

Quote from: Debs on March 13, 2011, 21:42:32
weather this morning was rubbish but by lunchtime, sun struggled through & afternoon was glorious

planted up two containers of first earlies (lady christl)

sowed seeds (onion ailsa craig, leek musselburgh, kale, dill )

Will need to buy some beetroot, broccoli & french bean seeds as lid on seed tin not shut properly &

seeds had gone mouldy  :'(
 

I have some spare beetroot, broccoli & french bean seeds if that helps you out? Might be a week or so before husband can stick them in the post?

Lifted more Chinese artichokes. I remember Harry Dodson muttering about these in 'The Victorian Kitchen Garden', and I can see why!