Heckington Show Here We Come!

29-30 July 2017. Remember the date, as this is when we will make our agricultural show debut. The Heckington Show is billed as the "Largest Village Show In England" and this year celebrates its 150th anniversary. Quite an achievement.

Please check out their website for all the information you could ever want: Heckington Show

Of more interest to any allotmenteers reading this may be the show categories for the vegetables, you'll find these on pages 3 to 6 here: Categories

If you're close to Heckington why not join in and have a go? This will be our first attempt so we're expecting nothing more than a sound thrashing and a good learning experience. We're planning to show some potatoes, white onions, longest runner bean(!), tomatoes, dwarf beans, runner beans, marrows, beetroot, cucumber, courgettes and radishes. Plus of course the Garden News Top Tray and the Allotment Challenge.

So come on Plot 13D, Grow Grow Grow!

Glory Awaits!

Greenhouse Climbing Help

As well as some outdoor plants we've decided to grow a few cucumbers and tomatoes in our little greenhouse. As much an experiment as anything else....

Almost certainly incorrectly, we've alternated the plants in two grow bags. We realised that these are both plants that do better if they stretch out a little, so we had to come up with a way to help them....netting?

I am absolutely useless at making things, the ultimate un-practical man. So how could I give them a little assistance? Well, we just draped netting from one side of the greenhouse, across the ceiling, then down the other side, under the grow bags, and back up to the frame. Whether this will prove to be effective, who knows? But I was over-impressed with the result of my terrible handiwork.

I hope the whole thing stays standing, as one of the cucumbers has started to flower and fruit already! We'll be knee-deep in them within the week....

Flowers

Even on our humble little allotments our plants give us lovely flowers to enjoy. Of course the plants don't set out with a mission to make us gardeners feel aesthetically enriched, they just want to attract insects to help them reproduce. Long may this continue!

Here are five of the most "ordinary" plants we are growing, showing off in the sunshine. A nice purple potato flower....

....very pretty French bean....

....inviting courgette....

....vibrant runner bean....

....and a strawberry. People who don't have an allotment really are missing out....

Do You Know Your Onions? We Don't!

Onions. Easy to grow. Reliable. But so cheap in the shops, why bother? There are very different schools of thought on the topic of growing your own onions....

Above is our "Avenue Of The Allium Sepa", a lovely view between our onion rows. We've gone for one row each of white and red, and we definitely think that an allotment ain't proper until there are some onions maturing nicely and quietly somewhere.

Our white onions are Senshyu Yellow, grown from sets. We planted 21 sets and miraculously all 21 of our white variety survived and thrived. So from a VFM point of view, Senshyu Yellows can't be beat. We're looking forward to trying one when they tell us that they're ready. Until then we just keep admiring them as they swell and look marvellous.

Our red onion variety this year is Electric. Of the 21 sets planted just 15 of them made it. And overall they are smaller than the white ones, but that's OK. Again, we can't wait to see how they taste.

The onions are housed between the swede and beetroot, and they seem to all be getting on very amiably. One good tip I have discovered is.....

....give the onions a top dressing of potash in June. If they get even better then brilliant, if they don't, nae bother! So, onions on the allotment, yes or no? For us it is the easiest answer - YES!

Projects....

We took on Plot 13D in May 2016, and we're pleased with our progress thus far. The plot is bisected by a path, which separates the north and south sides. The north side, which enjoys day-long sun, is where we are growing most of our crops. But the south side. Oh dear....the south side....

It's a ruddy wilderness. But it's being recovered! The pic above is looking east, and below we're looking west. I've spent many hours trying to knock this area into shape and the effort is finally paying off. In some places you can even see soil! And the raspberries along the fence will be allowed to do their juicy job this summer before moving house for next year.

At the west end we have our strawberries in their cosy wooden box, and the rhubarb. And just "this" way from there is Jacob's mini-allotment (the jury is out on whether he has another go next year). He's enthusiastic, sometimes, but seems to believe that allotmenting is a computer game and will "do itself". The real challenge for me is the area nearer to the camera, where we planned to house a greenhouse, but have changed our minds. We'll now have a seating/eating/drinking area and extra growing space! What a fabulous hobby this really is....

Another project is on the north side, where the previous occupier sited a cane lattice for his tomatoes. Now, up until last week we "thought" that this was part of our neighbours masterplan, so we have never touched it. It's now overgrown with raspberries, and that is when I mentioned it to Ivan and he said that it was actually ours. YES! As with the south side we'll keep the rasps in situ this year and move them later. And we have a stock of canes to prop other needy plants up.

We're having an absolute ball on Plot 13D this year, some things are going great guns, some have already failed, but it's a constantly surprising and always fulfilling addiction....

 

First Harvest Of 2017

It's the middle of June and Ruth and I headed to Plot 13D to make our first proper harvest of the year. Ruth's parents became addicted to our spinach last summer and are hoping for lots more of the same this year, with radishes thrown in to the deal!

And so, within a short space of time there were gaps in the rows of carrots....

....gaps in the potato patch....

....and lots of newly vacated space in the spinach and radish aisle. We ate a lot of what we harvested for Sunday dinner, and it was all absolutely delicious!

We love our allotment and at this time of year the allotment seems to return your affection, in the form of delectable produce. What a lovely selection of spinach, cos lettuce, radishes, potatoes and carrots, thank you Plot 13D!