Getting Down & Dirty

 Sat morning looked promising so we set off to do a bit of plotting. GS Callum came to lend his expertise and I think thoroughly enjoyed working in 'his' garden!

This is our second raised bed which is earmarked for the cucumbers which are languishing on my bedroom windowsill while waiting for the right conditions. It will be filled with horse manure from our previous allotments on  the Hydro Farm  which Zwena has very generously said we can use.It will create a 'hot bed'  for the cucumbers, then the problem will be getting Callum to dig elsewhere!

Having a look around to see where else he can lend a hand?!

Tea break is a very important part of gardening!

The sand table was on our previous plot and it has been relocated also as we have a few mini gardeners to be amused.

We could have the best watered plot on the site!The site is fairly sheltered on most sides but the incessant wind we have been having dries out the ground faster than we can water it.
 it wasn't all fun and games, the potatoes were earthed up as frost is still a threat, windbreaker was secured along the remaining side so the plot is now enclosed .Billy weeded the onions and dug a trench outside the fence where the marauding mint is invading our plot.
Mint grows from lateral shoots so our thinking is to stop anymore of it spreading in and try to weed out the ones that have made it through. We are going to pot up a few shoots too of course.
I put in some flowers , just marigolds and Snapdragons for the moment to attract some bees to help with pollination.They are around the pea bed, the one with yogurt cartons swinging on the peas stick branches.
The Sweetcorn is at home under fleece to try and protect them from the wind and cold for the next couple of weeks.
 This is record posting on this very neglected Blog but,  I will be missing again as I am going to London with my sister to the Centenary Chelsea Flower Show for the weekend , lots of photos will be taken if the weather is kind to us.It is my first visit and I am really looking forward to it!
Fellow blogger matron is attending on Press Dat (today) and you can read matron's unique take on the show  on her blog  Down on the Allotment

Some growth in the Cold!

 Lettuce of varying colours and stages of growth under the plastic cloche. Spinach at the very far end is coming on slowly.

 Blossoms are coming out on the broad beans, these have really taken everything the very unseasonable weather has thrown at them.They are not quite as tall as I would expect but hopefully they will continue growing while producing blossoms and pods.

Semi permanent brassica cage in place today, not a very pretty sight but hopefully (a word we seem to be using a lot of this year) a useful one!
 More rain with some sunshine today, other parts of the country  have thunder & lightening so we shouldn't complain down here!
I have worked out an easy method of uploading photos and text, just do one photo at a time, Simples!
Networked Blogs have been sharing my blog onto FB almost as soon as I hit the publish button. I found with the last post it took nearly 24 hours to do it?! I think it is now one of the services on FB payment plan!

Plot taking shape slowly

The plot is taking shape but the weather is not helping, which is everybody's complaint on this windswept isle.In view on the left side are onion beds, 1 red baron and 2 white then potato beds.Across the back fence are raspberry canes ,rhubarb and globe artichoke ,all moved from the previous plot at the Hydro Farm.

White fleece, back left side is covering one of Billy's raised beds. I sowed carrots, Pak Choi and beetroot in the bed today and covered with enviromesh, even the carrot fly may be deterred with the cold weather, but covered the bed 'just in case' !

The second raised bed is empty awaiting top soil and manure to sow courgettes which are on the bedroom windowsill as I speak hoping the weather will improve before June to put them outdoors.

There is a space left beside that bed to take the Sweetcorn which are struggling in the back garden at the moment. I had moved them outdoors at home to harden off but had to cover them today with fleece to protect them from the wind.

I intend to empty the compost bin at home and take the compost to the plot and dig it in to this bed for the sweetcorn, they will not be moving for a couple of weeks at least.

The potatoes coming through again, I have earthed them as soon as they appear to protect from frost because that danger is still very much present.There are 2 rows of Home Guard, 2 x Lady Christl and 2x  Premiere all first earlies.

The brassica bed, cabbage and  cauliflowers growing strongly.Brussel Sprouts & Calabrese only went in today.They are all formal in their cabbage collars to deter the cabbage root fly. The dark line to the right is a row of beetroot seed sown today. I didn't leave the bed unprotected, it was covered with netting before I left!

Lettuce and Spinach under the tunnel, the broad beans in the centre under netting. The Broad beans are growing OK under the netting to protect from rabbits which I'm told are here also! Its hard to see but there is a row of Spring onions to the right and Peas which are also struggling in the cold and wind.

The Spring onions were sown 5/6 seeds to a module and transplanted into their  growing position  like that. They grow and can be pulled in bunches!

The peas are in a row and the Sugar snap peas are on a wigwam shape of pea sticks, they are growing but slowly.

You might well wonder what this is?! It is turning out to be a major problem for us !It is mint growing wild on a disused plot next to us and is growing up through our onions and paths.It is growing vigorously in all directions and if anyone walks on it you can smell mint wafting around., maybe a Mojito party might help?!

Some of our near neighbours checking us out!

We are experiencing an extremely cold Spring/early summer which is affecting not only our plot, which in the greater scheme of things is nothing ,our farmers are in serious trouble for feed for animals which are starving in some parts of the country where grass is not growing and the land is too wet for the animals to go onto. Fodder is being brought in from France and being distributed to the worst affected areas.

Getting to Grips with the new Plot

 Posts in position for the wire fencing because we have been told that rabbits are also a big problem up here!Billy dug a trench along the fence line to bury the end of the wire to stop said rabbits from tunneling underneath. Windbreaker was then added for extra protection for plants as it is a wide open field!

It is hard to see in this pic but the first permanent bed is in place across the back fence.
I slipped 4 raspberry canes, 3 stools of rhubarb and 1 Globe Artichoke from the plot in The Hydro Farm.
The shed has to be put into place this weekend before digging out the other beds ASAP!
Potatoes are still chitting in the shed.
Onions are waiting to go in.
Seedlings are backing up at home waiting to be hardened off

 Seeds planted today were Sugar Snap.These handy little seed trays had grapes in them, nice and high with air and drainage holes already in place and a  lid to act as an incubator

Two of them just fit nicely into another reusable item, an aluminium tray which also reflects light as well as being waterproof on the bedroom windowsill

Sweetcorn coming up nicely, sweetcorn and parsnips are the two seeds which I buy fresh each season.These are planted in peat pots to minimise root disturbance when planting out.

The Broad beans were transplanted from seed trays to 3" pots and are hardening off outside by day while the sunshine lasts but are covered with plastic at night because of the temp drop.Next to them are some Purple podded peas which have been transplanted from seed trays to cardboard  toilet rolls as peas have a long root system

Cauliflower and cabbage plants which were transplanted into large pots about 2 weeks ago but if they don't get out to the plot soon they will have to be repotted once again.Once plants start growing they need to be allowed to grow unhindered.

 The sun is shining today but there is still a very cold snap and young tender plants still need to be protected, better a few days late going out than getting frostbite!

The plan for the weekend is put up the shed and mark out the beds we need and begin to move plants out and finally get the spuds and onions in. It must be remembered Easter was very early this year and normally I would reckon Good Friday a good day to sow potatoes which would normally be another 2 weeks away, how's that for some Irish logic!

The weather has not been very helpful in helping us get the new plot up and running for the new season. the first task was to fence off the plot and put down the base for the shed which still has not been erected as I speak!

There has been some movement on the other plots but we have only actually spoken to one other person!

Optimistic Seed Sowing

Cauliflower & cabbage plants, these were bought and potted on into larger pots and will be repotted probably twice more before going out into their permanent plot.They have been netted against the birds which would love a taste of some nice green veg to vary their winter diet.

 Our seed potatoes chitting in the shed, not a whole lot but we don't have a lot of space and it will be late by the time we get them in

 The rhubarb which I broke off  the big plants we had on the Hydro, I have one in the garden here which is growing fine these got 'a touch of frost' the other night and are looking a bit sorry for themselves

I set to on the seed box last night and discarded out of date seeds and opened packets.I had been tidying out one of the spare rooms and came across a gardening journal which I had started last year. I start one every year but then forget about it! I was amazed at the amount of seeds I had already sowed by this time of the year so we will have to get ourselves in gear pretty quickly!

I finished up with this nice tidy box! I sowed lettuce, crimson & white flowered broad beans, purple podded peas and blue sweet peas.They are all reposing on the 2 spare bedroom windowsills.
Today I sowed purple & white lisbon spring onions.I sowed them about 6 to a module and will pot them on  and plant them out like that. The idea being they grow in a bunch and you can pull a bunch at a time! We planted them like this for the past couple of years.
I also sowed 24 peat pots of Sweet Corn,I bought fresh seed which I do every year for sweetcorn. I should have taken pics of all of the above but have rather gotten out of the habit of whipping out the camera!

A makeshift greenhouse, someone gave me lots of plastic some time ago and I put it down in  the shed thinking it might come in handy some day.The hen house has been covered with it to keep some heat in for the 3 ladies these cold nights.I draped the rest over the onion seeds and the cabbage & cauliflower plants. Today was a lovely mild Spring day but they are forecasting more frost for tonight so better safe than sorry I just hope it s enough to protect them

My potter was brought in from the plot and is waiting poised for his new home to be ready on the new plot!

All Change!

I have been absent from the blog forever! I had a lot to weigh up before deciding which way to go .
We had been nearly 6 years on our plot in the Hydro Farm Allotments, 3 with one plot and then we even took on a second one, but things change and sometimes we have to change with them.
The recession means my trusty Grandson Stephen who has been with me since day one has had to emigrate,Grand daughter Gemma is now studying at Drama College and D. Kathryn and the 2 girls Sinead & Aoife are moving to the other side of the county and so are unable to continue on the allotment and therefore after much mind acrobatics and heart searching I  decided finally that neither could  I.

The kids grew up on the Hydro farm, Zwena always encouraged them.They learned about growing their own, they got to  know about hens etc, they grew pumpkins and giant sunflowers had BBQs and generally had fun. We got to know some fantastic people, grew and ate veg we had never considered before, had open days, celebrities & TV crews visiting, became  subjects for a book chapter, took part in Garden festivals and I won the RDS award for allotment gardening again encouraged by Zwena.
I considered just taking on one plot but I finally decided that a clean break was the hardest but the only option in the long run.
Pic of our first open day when we were still reclaiming over grown beds!

Kevin that first year!

I mentioned to one of my sons, Billy about giving up the plot and he said he would love to do it but Tower is too far away for him also and found there were allotments available much nearer to both of us.We met with the owner and made the decision to take on a plot at Rathcooney Fruit Farm about 5 minutes away from us. It is a bare site so I am taking my shed which regular readers might remember was a 60th birthday present to me from my family.Billy came out and we stripped it down and transported it to our new plot where it will be erected in due course (hopefully soon)!

The beginning of the end, the shed being stripped and dismantled.

 Our last view of our plots, even the scarecrow looks a little forlorn at being deserted. We had already said our goodbyes to our neighbouring plotters and Zwena will keep me on the newsletter email list and hopefully we will keep in contact and meet up again.
I also slipped some of our rhubarb into large pots, raspberry slips and strawberry runners so some of our Hydro plants will make the transition with us.
I have seed potatoes chitting and cabbage and cauliflower plants waiting........

 The dark patch in the foreground is our new plot, 'nuff said for the moment!

Spring?!!

Unbelievable sight out on the allotment today! This is just one (forefront) of our 5 rhubarb  plants bursting into new life.I should have covered them just in case of severe frost but it was a quick visit and I was caught for time, hopefully I won't  regret the decision!
The whole reason of the visit was to pull the remains of the Brussels sprout plants to give to the hens to nibble for greens.
It was a beautiful bright and sunny day , a complete contrast to yesterday when we had to drive with lights on ALL day!

 I just had time for a quick look around and I was amazed at the new growth breaking through, above some daffodils
                                                                                                                               

 In the same bed which was a new 'dig' last autumn are lots of daffs and some new off shoots of our globe artichoke.They have all taken root and are looking great, even the weeds are awakening from their overwintering!

The over wintering onions have put on a growth spurt since I was out before Christmas,  this photo was taken at a bad angle and does not show them off at  their best, they are probably all about a foot high still under the protection of the netting to keep the birds and everything else at bay.

After being out there and feeling the Spring sap rising I think I am beginning to think of seed planning !

It will have to wait for a few days as I am off to London tomorrow for a couple of days R&R.  D.Aisling won a competition on author Wilbur Smiths website (she is his No 1 fan), each of 40 winners and their +1 (me in this case) have been invited to attend THE IVY restaurant in London for the great man's 80th birthday celebrations and the launch of his early years collection. Wilbur Smith will be in attendance  so some serious hero worshipping will take place as some winners are even travelling from America  for the event!