MONDAY 13TH JULY 2009
I picked up some packets of seed from Peter at about 7pm tonight and headed straight to the allotment to get some seed into the ground. On arriving at the allotment, I notice the fella who has the plot next to mine has pulled up all his lettuce and had left them to rot in the ground. They had gone to seed anyway, but it's a good example of how you can grow too much of one crop. As with most things on an allotment, nothing goes to waste and at least they will compost down to give the soil some nutrients.
I removed the fleece covering the existing beds to expose the plants. I am amazed at how quickly things grow and the Broad Beans have had a definite spurt of growth in the last 24 hours.
My next job was to measure out a new raised-bed, so that I'm planting the seeds within a planned area. Leaving a gap of 600mm or so for walking on, I put some sticks in the ground to mark the corners of where the bed will be, then tie string between the sticks to mark out the border, 3.8M long x 1.2M wide. I had to turn over the soil with a garden fork in some parts, where the soil had become compacted, then raked it over to level it out ready for planting. The bed I've marked out this time runs lengthways down the plot at a 90 degree angle to the other two raised-beds. This is for no other purpose than to bring some variety to the appearance of the allotment as it gets established.
Now for planting. Instead of planting the seeds in rows along the length of the bed, I decided to plant them across the width. Again, this will add to the aesthetic look of the allotment as it grows. I had time to plant three rows of Turnips and four rows of Carrots. There's room in the bed to plant some of the other seed - Onions, Beetroot and a different variety of Carrot - but I needed to get the plants and seed-beds watered and covered before nightfall. I covered the seed-beds with a sheet of netting that fits nicely over the area of the raised-bed, by simply hooking the corners of the net over the sticks I had placed in the ground to mark out the area. This will need replacing with a horticultural fleece when the seeds germinate and start to come through.
My final task of the evening was to give all three beds a thorough watering before putting the fleece covers back over the original two beds. A good evenings work again, which I'm very pleased with. It's much more rewarding than vegging out in front of the TV for the evening and is giving me a good workout at the same time! More seeds to go in later in the week.
TUESDAY 14TH JULY 2009
It was raining during the afternoon, so I've no need to go to the allotment today. I did, instead, pop into Wickes Builders Merchants after work though to check out their decking boards and agreed the same deal with them as with B&Q. Between the two stores, I should be able to find enough 'damaged' stock for my needs.
WEDNESDAY 15TH JULY 2009
I didn't get to the allotment at all today. After work I went home and then straight out again to Sinead's school presentation. It looks like rain anyway, so no issue.
THURSDAY 16TH JULY 2009
The seed potatoes have arrived with Peter, so I'll get them in over the weekend. It did rain last night, but I popped down this evening just to have a look over things anyway. I didn't water or do anything other than check over things, but planned out in my mind where the spuds will go.
FRIDAY 17TH JULY 2009
OK, so this blog is getting thin, but it's not through lack of trying. It rained again today. In fact it absolutely poured down during the afternoon. I have put aside some time over the weekend, so I really hope the weather improves!
SATURDAY 18TH JULY 2009
I woke up early this morning, raring to go. The sun is out and, although it looked like showers, I quite fancied getting a lot done today. My first task was to go shopping at Wickes. I purchased 5 lengths of decking and 10 lengths of 2.4M x 25mm x 38mm wood. I have a plan.
When I got home I quickly knocked-up the components for the raised-bed I'd marked out on Monday. Now I've got all the measurements clear in my head, it was just a simple case of making 21 measured cuts and screwing in 12 screws and I was ready to load up the car. With the 25mm x 38mm wood, I simply cut the 2.4M lengths in half and then screwed in some small brass hooks. The idea is to drive the 1.2M lengths into each corner of the raised-beds, leaving just under 1M exposed. The hooks are positioned in several places up the exposed length, which will allow me to simply hang the nets over the beds and replace the fleece as the plants get bigger. The only problem it poses is that I will need some side netting too, so that birds and insects cant get in... mmnnn???
After popping into Peter's to pick up the seed potato, I went to the allotment with Megan. We unloaded all the wood and quickly positioned the raised-bed around the seed-bed that I'd planted on Monday. After uncovering the existing two beds and folding up the sheets of horticultural fleece for future use, I then drove the 1.2M x 25mm x 38mm poles into each corner of all three raised-beds, ready for the netting to go over.
To ensure we only walked on the areas that won't be used for planting, Megan and I also measured out the next area for raised-beds, leaving a 600mm path, and then marked it out with string and sticks. There is now room for 2 triangular beds, which will add even more character to the allotment when it's fully utilised.
It's starting to look like rain again, so there's only enough time to get in three rows of Potatoes, of the Carlingford variety. Each row is planted with twelve seeds, with the rows about 12" apart. I've got another two bags of different variety seed-potatoes to go in, but they will have to wait until tomorrow.
SUNDAY 19TH JULY 2009
I popped to the allotment at about 2pm for an hour, just to finish seeding the raised-bed I built yesterday and to plant the rest of the spuds. There was enough room in the bed to sow three rows of Onions, two rows of Beetroot and four more rows of Carrots. The whole bed is now full of root-crops. When I put the triangular beds in place in a couple of weeks time, I'll fill one with root crops and the other with salad crops. In total, that will be 2 x leaf/brassica beds, 2 x root beds and 1 x salad bed, plus the potatoes. It's been pretty hard work, but not bad for a months effort!
Peter had decided to pop over and take a look at what we're doing. Looking over the plot, it's been really, really satisfying for us both to see how quickly it has taken shape. Where only a couple of weeks ago it seemed a huge task to get the 100 sq.M into production, over half of it is now planted. I mention to him the problem of netting the sides as the plants grow higher and he came up with the ingenious idea of using pallet-wrap. Like cling-film, but thicker, pallet-wrap comes in rolls about 500mm wide x 300M long and I can just wrap it around the outside of the raised-beds and build the height as the plants grow, raising the height of the net over the top using the brass hooks to keep it in place. Ingenious idea Peter!
It looked like rain again, so Peter headed off and I finished planting three rows of Maris Piper Potatoes before the heavens opened. I've still got another three rows to go in, but they'll have to wait.
Four years after becoming the fastest person to sail around the world alone, Dame Ellen MacArthur is giving up ocean racing – to save the planet. She is so anxious about the threat to the environment she will abandon any new marine expeditions.
