Wake up Call

The name of this post reflects that I'd felt I'd had a dose of reality after the induction day for fellow new allotmenteers held at the site on Sunday. We had a lovely introduction from the treasurer and other committee members, then had a walk around the 62 plots on site. It was great to meet some of the other newbies.

A head scratching moment for a fellow newbie as we admire a freshly erected  DIY greenhouse

The thing is- suddenly everyone elses' plots looked really good!  I was suffering allotment-doubt, like self-doubt I suppose: a crash in allotment esteem!  A lot of the plastic had been whipped away from the plots revealing burgeoning broad beans and neat rows of garlic and onions. And, taking a closer look in to the greenhouses, I could see tray after tray of seedlings.

Now I don't think the very cold wind helped, and bear in mind that the treasurer said our plot looked great: it hadn't looked as good for years, and we'd done an excellent job. But my spirits were a little low.

I felt too tired and knackered to do much in the afternoon, so I sat in the warm of the greenhouses allowing the boys to get on with the work!

Which was:

Weeding, weeding, weeding- mostly dandelions.

And the painting of long greenhouse number one. L used the blue and white paint he'd used on our last shed, turning it into a bit of a beach hut. Greenhouse number one looked great afterwards, and now it has a bit more protection from the weather.

Other work has included potting up the peppers and chillies at home, and keeping up with keeping our tiny greenhouse based seedlings damp, which are liable to dry up within one or two of days of watering.

I've been pleased that the tulips I put in have come up, and are a nice "strawberries and cream" colour.  Good to see that the Bleeding Hearts are doing well too. 

Everything's coming up Tulips

Once again these flower pictures are from other plots on the site, but hopefully we'll have something to show on ours soon!

I've struggled to find good pictures of our plot, but it just looks bare in the piccies, though it looks better in real life. Having said that I don't think the grey dry looking soil helps. I can't wait to for the manure to rot down enough to add to it. 

This is the view from my sitting and thinking place- out on to the nearest bed of broad beans, peas, mange tout, and sweet peas (not that you'd know it from this picture) to the new herb bed beyond (with another sweetpea wigwam). Beyond that is the main path with our water tank so handily placed for us.  Yesterday I watched a magpie come right up to within a few feet of where I was sat, oblivious to me- its colours were gorgeous in the sun.

We do have one or two blooms.

But I hope that our plot neighbours might allow us to have a little bit of this saxifrage to add to the spring colour. 

Since the last update we've:

Planted up the herb garden - with the sweetpea wigwam in the centre we have bronze fennel; three varieties of thyme; golden oregano; purple sage; feverfew; lemon balm (in a pot to restrict it) and chives. To add- lavender; a couple of mints in pots; borage and calendula. Then we'll see how it progresses. We have divided it into four quarters with a brick "path" - a bit lacking in bricks.

Sown- at home- more sweet peas (late but never mind); more tomatoes (ditto) Bloody Butcher (I just liked the name, ordered in the week a certain rather well known former PM bit the dust. Sorry couldn't help it) and Roma (a plum)  

Sown- in the greenhouse- a cut and come again lettuce; cosmos; french marigold from saved seeds; flax (lovely looking red annual, good for insects)  and some other stuff I've forgotten about.

L and N have been busy weeding.  L has a particularly relaxed technique for optimal dandelion leverage.

New Life

As a tribute to a lovely friend and former colleague who died recently here are some pictures to remind us of Spring and new life, and the fact that if we were still working together in our boisterous and banter-rich office I would no doubt be banging on to Steve about the joys of the allotment!  Here's to you Brock. 

 Cherry blossom in the sun

The apples are on their way 

 Butterfly-like pea blossom

New rose shoots

The pear flowers should be next

And so nature constantly renews and delights.

Does it look like an Allotment yet?

Finally we've been able to get quite a lot done. I've been juggling allotment activities with feeling a-bit-more-rubbish-than-normal with ME, struggling to get my MA done, and starting my project to redesign signs and interpretation in the garden of my local museum. Also we had a great trip to Brighton where we met up with old friends E and H, and had a very animated chat, occasionally verging on a rant, covering ways to avoid allotment fatigue amongst other things. 

At the plot it has been a treat to get out in the sun and get on with starting plants off and planting out.

The little wagon/planter came before we arrived on the plot by the way!  I think it might be moving along a bit. The bricks on the bed behind it will mark out a divisions in the proposed herb bed.

Focus on the water tank! Behind it is a hibiscus tree, more alive than it looks

L putting in the potatoes

In went the peas, and along came the slugs, so down went the slug barrier

Sweet peas beginning to twirl

Primulas on a neighbour's plot

All the flowers dotted around should help the two hives of bees on the site 

It's been suggested that I should be keeping more of a record of what we've doing: so I'll do an occasional summary of tasks we've done.  In the last week or so we:

Sowed (at home)  Tomatoes: Sungold, Gardeners' Delight, Moneymaker

                                Celeriac: Monarch

                                Thyme, Basil, parsley

                                 More broad beans and peas (normal- Meteor- and mangetout/ sugarsnap)

Sowed (unheated greenhouse on the plot)   Carrots, Rocket, Leeks, Radish,  Spinach

I've got to sort out my labelling system. If I actually remember to provide labels, I forget a pencil. 

Planted out on the plot   Potatoes: Arran Pilot and Charlotte  (a couple of bags in the                        greenhouse, most in the ground)

                                          Peas (normal- Meteor- and mangetout/ sugarsnap)

                                          Broad beans

                                          Sweet peas

Dahlias set out to sprout in a tray of slightly damp compost.

At the plot we've continued to clear ground that has been very weedy (from the previous occupant!). 

Wild garlic and snowdrops have gone in to the wild/ woodland area (very shaded by trees outside the site boundary) .

I've added a few perennial flowers to the front borders.

I can't wait for the manure to rot down enough for us to feed the soil: the sun has dried the surface of the soil and it's really grey and dry, lacking in organic materials.

And we've got loads to do still at the back of the plot (behind the greenhouses).

                  

Fortunately, out the back the rhubarb has decided it might just live!  Hurray! 

A week to remember

The world has somehow seemed a slightly better place to me since the beginning of the week. Maybe it's the hint of Spring in the air...or perhaps it was something else.  Anyway I have posted some recent pictures from the allotment and garden that reflect my mood.  

Bright and breezy in the garden

Cheerful daffs in a neighbouring allotment  plot.

Viburnum Plic Mariesii:  a lovely shrub in Spring, with bright green leaves, white bubbly flowers, and good colour in Autumn, kept by us in a pot in the garden.

At the allotment: maybe a tulip, could be an allium...

The crocuses haven't croaked yet

Marjoram from the garden , which was looking really good until I divided into five plants, to take four to the plot to start off our new herb patch.  It seems to have killed it (maybe temporarily). But it hasn't dampened my mood!