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!

16 Apr 17 - What's Growing?

 

This year "Tom" is for our root veg, there are three rows of potatoes in nearest the camera. Bit further away there are two rows of onions, one each of white and red varieties, and at the far end two rows of carrots which seem to be doing well. On the right we planted way too much garlic, and there's also half a row of spring onion just sown. We just want some lovely growing weather now!

 

In the middle is "Dick", this year's legumes bed. Nothing here so far except the bean frame that Sam built last week (good work dude) and next to that half a row of newly-sown cos lettuce.

However, the runner beans seedlings are going great guns at home and we're looking forward to seeing them in the ground at Plot 13D....

 

And finally there's "Harry", which in 2017 will be home to brassicas etc. Just one row of radish and half a row of spinach sown so far, within the last day or two.

 

And on the other side nothing is happening apart from the rhubarb and strawberries - disappointingly, JP has so far done nothing with the area that he pestered us to let him have for himself....

March Dawns

Beautiful day in South Lincolnshire and it coincided with a day off. Result! After heading to the farm shop for some high quality Lincolnshire sausages, popping to the storage to retrieve my orienteering kit for this weekend's big race, and popping to Sleaford for Friday tea for the family, I headed to the allotment. Plot 13D was warm and sunny.

We have experimented with carrots this year. We sowed seeds last summer and the seedlings have over-wintered outside, so they should - in theory - be capable of handling any weather from March onwards! We shall see. Here they are waiting to hop out of pops and into the ground.

And they're in! Good luck little plants. Eat you (hopefully) in a few months.

As with most allotmenteers we are getting the place into shape right now. We're splitting into three beds for crop rotation, which will be named Tom, Dick and Harry, a la Great Escape. Tom is at the far end here and will be home to our root veg this year. Dick is currently empty, and Harry houses our greenhouse Meccano set.

Today also saw two varieties of onion sets popping in, one red, one white. Yes it's cheap and easy to buy veg such as onions, but NOWHERE near as satisfying....

So here we are. Garlic, carrots, onions and strawberries in the ground. It's such an exciting time on the allotment!

5 September 2016 - Looking at Christmas Dinner & Beyond

We planted four nice rows of garlic cloves - wonder how many of them will make it?

There were a few unwanted visitors - tortoiseshell perhaps?

We had confusion with the carrots we sowed for winter - which were the carrot seedlings and which were weeds?

In a bid to have home-grown new potatoes we planted half a dozen maris piper tubers.

Good luck little potatoes, see you in three months!

31 August 2016 - Carrots....And The Dark Side

 

 We don't talk about this - the south side of our allotment - still pretty much a shambles. Hopefully not for too much longer.

 

The second sowing of radish is going great.

And in a bid to improve Christmas dinner, Christmas-aimed carrots.