Spuddling Along

The Onions Have Liked This Years Weather Conditions (22/6/13)

 Most allotment holders will probably have heard the following phrase, possibly more than once, with reference to crops that are not developing as quickly as others are, "never mind they will soon catch up". Well with the unpredictable weather so far this year it's been a waste of time trying to second guess it, when it comes to the usual sowing and planting advice, weekly or monthly. Most of my crops are reasonable at the moment and for the past couple of weeks I decided to concentrate on some maintenance and landscaping jobs down my plots. This coming weekend it's back to some more seed sowing and after that I will be "chucking" things into the ground ad lib waiting for them to "catch up". It seems the reasonable thing to do, seeing as they will catch up anyway. Not a honey bee in sight yet, a distinct lack of rain, hot and cold temperatures and the crops are still looking good so whats the problem. Only 2 so far, my 4 rows of Parsnips have failed to germinate and my Cherry tree has shed most of its Cherries, so no Cherry and Parsnip soup this year, shame that.

Looks Like A Good Crop Of Apples To Come (22/6/13)

 So what have I achieved lately. After re-locating the shed on N2 Plot and repairing it, the final job of making it watertight is left to do, no rush there then, it probably won't rain until our next Bank holiday. Can't think why I put guttering up around the shed, positioned 4 water butts and added taps to 2 of them this afternoon. One wooden raised, and I mean raised, bed has been constructed and along with 2 large plastic rectangular containers, positioned in the area where the shed was. These "beds" have had turf loaded into them on top of which, sieved soil from the drainage bank has been added. Once the turf has broken down, more soil will be added and the beds used as seed beds later on. One more wooden bed is yet to be built which should see the area of ground where the shed was, fully utilized. Various hooks and shelves have been added inside the re-built shed using up some of the old timber I've collected over the past few years. A new potting table was constructed, from old timber, funny that, and fitted just below window level inside the shed. The table was hinged so that it lifts up to cover the windows, when it's not in use, as an added security measure. 2 trips this week, to my local re-cycling centre saw numerous items of unused timber, plastic, rubbish and various bits of vegetation that I don't add to the compost heap, disposed of. All in all a busy time.

Peas Almost Ready For Picking (22/6/13)

 On the vegetable growing side of things some watering has been done, mainly on an evening and with temperatures up to 47 degrees C in the poly tunnel on Wednesday a close eye has been kept on the veggies still growing in there. Thinning out my Swedes and Turnips took a couple of hours yesterday after which they were well watered to alleviate any stress to them. Weeding is being done as and when, with not too many weeds being apparent in general. A few Black fly have appeared on my Runner bean plants but they were hastily dispatched with 100% success, using a spray mix of water, washing up liquid and vegetable oil. Depending on how the seed sowing goes this coming weekend it's time the grass paths were strimmed and mowed as they have been neglected lately. My strimmer packed up a couple of weeks ago so I decided to buy a brush cutter from e-bay, due to the fair amount of grass areas I need to keep under control.

New Potting Bench In Place

Potting Bench In Upright Position To Protect The Windows 2 Old Broom Handles For Legs 1 At Each End Front

Shed Finally Organized (22/6/13)

Raised Beds Where Shed Was 1 More Bed To Go Into Place (Left) (22/6/13)

Grapes Just Developing (22/6/13)

Sweetcorn Growing Well (22/6/13)

Roll Out The Carrots (22/6/13)

Several Bees Were On This Plant When It Was Photographed, No Honey Bees Though (22/6/13)

There's Always Tomorrow!!