Cracking on at Easter

The weekend of the 8/9th April was a rest from the allotment, work and the house. We were invited to Newark Park to stay with friends, The Peter's at a National Trust property. I only had the weekend but the girls stayed for the whole of the following week returning on Good Friday. Newark Park is a very old hunting lodge but it not a shed in the forest. It perches on the very edge on the cotwolds vallys looking South West towards Bristol some fifty miles distant. Search the National Trust website for Newark Park It was a very splendid respite from the effort expended since Christmas.

I returned to Moira on Monday morning to fit the central heating in the house. I would be able to pull the floors up without being under pressure to put things right each evening for the "ladies". In the evenings I was able to sow trays and trays of seeds. I have a greenhouse full of sprouting things. I am at a stage where I have to plant things out or get congested in the greenhouse. I was surprised to find the roof window on the greenhouse wide open. It took a moment to register that the automatic window opener must be working. I do not know why it should have been a surprise. Was it because it was cheap or because I managed to fit and adjust it correctly?

The Easter weekend came upon us and yet I still had not had any quality time at the allotment. I resolved to find the time. H & L had shopping to do on Saturday so whilst they were gone I made my escape. The quarter of the plot which was down the potatoes last year was covered in weeds however it was a very different covering to what I had experienced in the past. Instead of vigorous Dock, I had a low growing covering of Chick weed, Red nettle and assorted vetches. I called it my Camomile lawn although there was no camomile in it the effect was the same. In this bed was a single Broad Bean plant which had bee growing all winter. I had decided that the seed was probably pinched by a mouse from the actual Broad Bean bed ten feet alway. I guessed the mouse dropped it in it's flight from something. It just goes to show that we are not instrumental the cultivatation of plants. When I harvested the spuds last year I tidied up the bad by heaping the earth up to form deep "gutters" around the bed. I supposed the heaped soil would dry out quicker and some would wash in the gutters creating a flatter aspect in the Spring than in the winter. As it happened the weeds grew and served to hold the soil together which now means I have to weed the plot to:
A. removes the weeds and
B. allow me to rake the beds out to a growing surface.
The soil being quite dry on the surface allowed the Mattock to drive in up to the shaft with hardy any effort. I then just grabbed the weeds by the handful, gave them a good shake to remove the soli the then threw them in the waiting barrow. The bending over was the hard part but the work was easy and progress was easy. When I had filled the wheelbarrow I got the rake out and pushed and shoved the soil about until it was level. Ten minutes of energetic raking gave me a level surface with a fine tilth. One wheelbarrow full of weeds equals and area 12 foot by 15 foot and a stop for tea.

The flask has come into is own just recently. During the winter it was too cold to stop for tea. One went to the allotment. Got hot and sweaty doing whatever job was in hand and then one went home. A couple of hours outdoors was quite enough. Now the Spring is here the wind is still cold but out of the wind in the back of the car is quite pleasant. A nice cup of tea can be had in relevant comfort and allows me to stay out for longer.

If Easter Saturday was a treat, Easter Monday was like Christmas. The weather was sunny as Saturday but the wing had dropped. In time honoured fashion the tempreature shot up just as if one was at the sea side with the wind breaks up. A couple of hours were spent weeding and raking out the "camomile lawn". Then the bit I have been working towards for months, planting!
I started the bed with a row of Elephant Garlic and then three rows of "normal" garlic [Sutton white]. Next two rows of Shallots [new for me this year]. Next three rows of sets Red Baron [Red onions] and then three rows of sets of Sturon [white onions]. Then three rows of Parsnips. Each row had a second sowing of a catch crop. Parsnip take about a month the germinate so the catch crop has two jobs, one the mark the rows as the crop grows so I don't weed out thedelicate sub- terrianian shoots and two, to bag a crop from the same space. Each rows contained French Breakfast Radish, Red spring onions and Lisbon [white] spring onions respectively. And finally as time grew short and row of Sugersnax carrots. Last year as a joke as far as carrots where concerned. I had four goes at sowing seeds and only received a handful of mature roots. What I havested were very sweet and tasty but they most bizarrely shaped. The main cause is that I did not thin them out which made them compete and I think they could have done with more water. A general problem last year was that I planted everything to close together.

On another front the permanent beds of Rhubarb and Comfry are making themselves known. They both look healthy. The two Globe Artichokes have had different winters. One is dead and the other alive. It does not get any differnt than that. I have resolved to grow more Globe Artichoke. I had some whilst I was on holiday and though it very tasty.

The nights are stretching out so I much make use of them the get the final bed ready for the Brasicass. It just needs a going over to remove the couple of dozen docks. These are growing from bits of root left from last years weeding of the peas section.

April showers

Having had no time, in the last few weeks, to blog or allotment made this weekend was a pleasant change. Saturday [01.04.06] The light pouring in through my bedroom window, despite the blinds, was the trigger to get up early and get stuck in. My daughter who had been away all the previous week with school at an outward bound centre in Wales was still abed. I breakfasted lightly, loaded the car and shot of the allotment with a flask of tea for company. For several hours I was the only one at the allotment which was a treat in itself.

I had decided that the last of the leek were to be harvested and the plot cleared. I had also resolved to clear the Sprouting broccoli patch. I had known the Pigeons would enjoy the broccoli if they were allowed too and that the winter storms might damage the plants. So to address the problem I fleeced the entire area. However the wind kept blowing the fleece off or ripping it on the supports. Either way the Pigeons had a feast through out the winter. It was with a heavy heart I removed the remains the "protection" only to find quite a few good looking plants. The shoots were fairly small but yielded a big basket full. I dug up the plants and confirmed what I had thought which was that I set them to close together. A lesson for this year! I lightly dug the plot over a removed all the weeds. Mostly Dock but very few. The broccoli must have out competed them together with my weeding.

The leek were rotting in the ground and it was a slimy job to removed them. Again a few leek were in good order so they went in the basket with the broccoli. I lightly dug that plot over removed the weeds. This quarter of the allotment is going to be Legumes this year. They a greedy blighters so a lot a manure needs to be dug in. I thought to myself that the compost bins, although looking a bit low must has a harvest to be had. Close inspection showed there was probably about ten barrow loads available. I have three compost bins. One is fully of horse manure. One had all the bits and bobs from around the allotment. I had just cleared this one out so a could start a new pile with the tidy up of the broccoli patch and of course the bin with last years compost.

I had thought it would plant my early potatoes and Garlic but it was dinner time and I had promised H I would take her to look at some bedroom furniture whilst the daughter was at her friend s for the afternoon. I checked the Rhubarb on leaving and am happy to report that one of the two plants is just poking its head through the manure blanket it has had covering it all winter. The Comfrey is sprouting. I intend to make Comfrey tea this year but I will have to find somewhere to put the water butt first.

The weather man promised a sunny start to the day and showers later. The Garlic and seed potatoes where put back in the car along with t tools and flask. Again I was first down to the allotment but not for long. I dug my potato trenches and drop a barrow of manure in each one followed by nine potatoes per row. A seven kilo bag did five rows which I find is a nice quantity for a harvest. The spuds are International Kidney which are marketed as "Jersey Royals". I have decided to call mine "Moira Royals". I should be able to harvest them found sixteen weeks onwards. I made a nice job of planting them if I do say so myself. I then thought that I would prepare the Legume plot. With the trusty Mattock is set about weeding the plot. It was a pleasant surprise to see how few weeds there were. The Parsnips that held that position last year made a good job of supressing the weeds. Having weeded and roughly leveled the plot I got busy with the rake. The soil came up light and fluffy and is now almost as level a billiard table. Then starting at the top of the plot I barrowed load after load of compost from the bins. I just dumped the compost on the soil by the path and spread the pile around with the fork. The compo was full of worms so I do not think it will take them long to drag the goodness into the newly tilled earth. Almost from the moment I got there spiteful light showers drifted across the sky. They gave me a moment to sit in the back of the car with car of tea from the flask to rest and survey the plot. The garlic which I have been growing in pots is no nearer being planted. That plot is the next job. That plot had the potatoes in last year and I did not make use of the space and now the chickweed has take hold with avengeance. As the clock ticked round to one PM a shower kicked in. I had seen the black clouds rolling in. Something had to be coming with such a string wind. I kept on barrowing and spreading thinking I could get the compo bin emptied if I ignored the shower. Then the sting of hail was felt on the my ears and then the down pour started. I got caught half way up the path with a full barrow. I had to dump and spread the load, then put the barrow away before I ran for cover. But where to go? There is no shelter at the allotment so I stripped off my wet overalls and got in the car as quickly as I could. The rain, as if knowing it had beaten me, kicked in an increase in the down pour. I turned the key in the ignition and made my way out. By the time I got to the gates at the main road the fury of the storm had abated but it was time to go home for lunch.