Clear Paving

H is still away today. She was in Manchester completing the Shine Walk, click HERE for the website. Whilst H was away I had the morning to find something to do. I decided to go to the lottie and do a few jobs. I needed to sweep the paved area to clean up the last of the stone and dust from the wheelbarrowing yesterday. The weather continues sunny but with a cold breeze. Half the dust I dislodged with the brush blew away. I got another half wheelbarrow from the sweeping which I dropped into unfinished path.

Since I had moved the black compost bins a few weeks ago the contents of the bins in their original positions where still piled up like sand castles. I drew the wheelbarrow near and forked the compost stack into the barrow. I riddled the compost as necessary. The old black compost bins yielded six barrow loads. I tipped the barrows onto the top end of bed1. This where the Sweet Corn will be planted in due course. I was left with the green bin.

I had intend this bin which is 600mm square to be place in the free corner by bed4. I had to make a stand to provide a level footing for the bin. I found a pallet from which I could cut out a stillage. A few minutes with the saw and the stillage was ready. I found a couple of the bricks the level up the stillage then it was just a matter of reassembling the bin on the stillage. The green bin yielded another three barrow loads. I dropped these barrow fulls on the end of where the peas and bean trenches are to be dug. The compost was over a year in the making and was worth the wait. The compost was made from all the weeds from the plot. It was out with the brush again to remove the last remnants of the compost.

Which all this was going on a resolved to get rid of the bale of spoiled hay I had been given over a year ago. The hay had been getting in the way since then. I had left it on the paving for a few weeks to dry out. I got the brazier out fluffy up the hay and filled the brazier and set a match to it. it set alight but it burned slowly. During the morning a steadily fed the brazier as it burned down. The stiff breeze fanned the burning hay which did not get above a fierce smoulder but it was getting through the bale, if slowly. I had intended to put the ashes into the big compost bin but it had burned out by the time I had to leave although it was not far off.

I had one other job to do. I had brought the six bins I use in the greenhouse at home that I use for tomatoes. I got them out of Degsy and tipped them into the big compost bin. Then I went over to the muck heap and three quarter filled each bin with manure. After that back in Degsy with the replenished bins.

During the morning I managed to have a brew. I sat in the back of out of the wind but also out of the sun. I decide not to start weeding the top end of bed2. I just have half of bed2 to weed then the whole plot is cleared. I had time to have a walk round. I went over the back of the plots to have look round. Everything is getting established even though, in places, the soil is very poor not even soil really. You can see the difference in the quality of the soil in the growth of the plants.

Steve came down en famile to do a bit. The youngest, Miss M, got tired of weeding and came over to talk snakes. After Steve left John came down. We had a chat. He seems to have recovered from is illness. He was telling me he is really enjoying his plot. I have to say the paved area is looking great. It is good to see an expanses of clear paving. I have an idea to put in a flower bed and have some seating. I have not figure how it is going to work yet.

Plot visitors

Something has been upsetting the bird feeders. Each time I have come across the feeder screwed to one of the posts has been cocked eyed and empty. When I pitched up today something was sitting in the feeder. I could not see what it was. I was I got closer I saw it was a Grey Squirrel quietly munching on breakfast. The Squirrel is probably responsible for the broken feeder I found the other day.

Yesterday a Sparrowhawk tore across the plots. Given all the small birds around the plot I was wondering when he would turn up. The Kestrels have been seen floating on the breeze. In the background is the sounds of Buzzards calling and wheeling high in the sky. Although I have not seen them, two different people have reported seeing the Grass Snakes.

The Robins have been flitting into the plot as soon as I step away from my disturbing the soil. I quite like seeing the Yellowhammers. They fly along then fall to the ground as if they have been shot. Whilst I have not seen any of the Cuckoos they have been singing everyday. Some seem quite close. The Swallows and Swifts have arrived. It is nice to see them whirling about. The trees are in leaf so it is hard to see the birds but they flit about the feeders so I get fleeting glimpses of them. I have not seen a Blackbird for a while. Not such a bad thing since they dig up my plot in search of worms.

I have also seen a couple of solitary Lapwings flapping across the sky. When looking across the pond Steve and I saw a wader picking its way along the margin. Steve said later that it was a common sandpiper. Not so common round here. The pond on the adjasent to the lottie has been pulling in water fowl. Nothing out of the ordinary, Mallard and Swans. It is a small pond for Swans.

What I have not seen is Toads or Frogs. The winter must have done for them.

A spot of rain

Since the last time I went to the lottie there has been one light shower. Not even a shower really. It was enough to stimulate the weeds. In the three days since my last visit the weeds in bed 3 has gone from a green fuzz to a foot high. The spuds still planting but the weedy bed3 needs dealing with. I took the same approach as with bed1. I got down on my knees, it saves my back, and used the green spade as a hoe. I grabbed handfuls of the hoed weeds and threw them into the nearby wheelbarrow. Where I came across tap rooted weeds I stood up and dug them out. It took most of the day to clear the bed but it completely clean. The black compost bins are filing up but are not yet full.

I had all of today to play with. I was at the lottie for 8.30. I started on bed4 which is the spud bed for this year. Back on my knees to clear the weeds. I did a wheelbarrows worth of weeds and consigned then to the compo bins. The clear area let me plant three rows of spuds. Then another barrow load of weeds. More trenches, more spuds. By 12.30 I had eight rows of spuds in, having shifted four wheelbarrows of weeds and four wheelbarrows of manure. I had a break for dinner. I went home made a sandwich and a brew as I watching the MotoGP from Estoril. Pedrosa won but he was not going to plant the remaining spuds for me.

Back at the lottie I finished off the two remaining rows of spuds. With weather being so dry I having give each trench a watering cans worth of water, 10 litres or 2 gallons in old money. The water went in after the manure and the spuds were set. In less than two days I have transformed half the plot. It was windy but sunny and I still loads of time left. I looked at the big pile of the stone that had been deliver to the end of my plot.

It was intended be my path long the side of bed2, the dividing path between beds 3 & 4 and as much of the the side paths alongside beds 3 & 4. The pile had not compacted since it had only been there a week so it dug easily. I just loaded the wheelbarrow and pushed it along the paths to the point by bed2 where the new path filler stopped. This where I got to the last time. I just tipped the barrow loads one at a time. With each loads I just kicked it about to rough level then did the gardener shuffle to compact it. When I finished the twenty odd loads to complete the bed2 path I gave it a light raking a shuffled the surface again. Next I filled the path between beds 3 & 4. This was a deep path so took some filling. After giving the this path the same treatment as the other I moved onto the path alongside bed3. More of the same, shovelling and wheelbarrowing. The big pile disappeared over a couple of hours. I finished just after 7pm.

In all this digging, wheelbarrowing, planting and shovelling my mind was clear. Uncluttered by work issues. At the end of this and last weekends work the plot has come together. Allotmenting is just a question of making an effort.

First opening of the Bees

I took the first proper look the bees last weekend. One box has always been stronger than the other. I decided to tackle the weaker box. The bees were feeding on the candy. The bees looked fat and healthy. I popped the crown board off and looked in. There was an earthy smell mixed with the normal warm wax and honey smell. I checked the super frames and found then fairly full and capped. That is not that a good a sign . Having removed the super and queen excluder I pulled out a couple of the brood frames from the upper of the two brood chambers. There was no new eggs or brood just dead bees, head down in the cells. A sign of starvation. I puffed a little smoke over the frames to clear the bees and removed the upper chamber. The lower chamber contained new brood and I saw the queen which was a relief. I removed the brood box to expose the floor. I cleaned the dead bees and detritus off the floor. The bottom brood box was restored to its position. I then took out the a couple of old frames replacing them with part drawn frames from my stores. I cleaned up the queen excluder and placed on the brood box then put a super back on, crown board next and the eke to space the roof above the candy. The verdict...a close run thing.

The stronger hive got the same treatment. As the stronger hive it is in better condition but again it was a close run thing. This hive has more brood, more new bees, more new honey and pollen. In rebuilding the hive I brought it back to a single brood chamber in the hope the colony will spread across the frames before moving upwards. Only the summer tell what happens.

The previous weekend I had a little time available and spent it in the back garden with all the hive spares and supers. I checked out the floors and doors were in good order. Then set the roofs aside. One needs a spacer fitting. I had some timber of the right dimensions. I cut it to size and nailed in position. So that is the top, middle and bottom of two hives. I reserved two crown boards. Next I went through the suppers making up full sets. I damaged a number of super when extracting the honey last season. I had to dismantle the damaged frames, removed the wax and clean the slots in the side bars. Not a hard job just time consuming. I had to refurbish 30+ frames. When I finished I had ten complete supers. I had to refurbish a number brood frames and makes up two brood chambers. I also had six frames in each of the two of the nucleus boxes. I made up spares into two hives.

I took the spare hives, with just one super each, up to apiary. The screwed the alighting boards to the stilage then placed the hives upon the alighting board. I grass the weeks were shooting up round the stilages so I took the billhook to them. With a few minutes the area was clear and completed the preparation of the apiary for the new season. I took a few minutes watch the bees. They had settled down quickly and going about their business. A few bees were buzzing about hive checking out the site, others bring in pollen and honey, no doubt.

Planting time

Last weekend we spent in Manchester with Miss L and her Gran. We went over to Liverpool to look at art. We went to the Walker, Fact and the Tate. H was much taken with all the galleries but Miss L was taken with the Tate. The river Mersey was looking great in the spring sunshine.

I had managed to get my early spuds in over the last few weeks but my main crop spuds, Cara, are chitting like mad so need to go in soon. The plot is looking weedy so it need fixing. I need to plant my peas and beans so I decided to start with clearing bed1. I started with spot weeding the dock and thistle. After that I got on my hands and knees and used my green spade as a hoe. The "hoe" cut a swath through he Red dead nettle and Chickweed. The Chickweed is coming into flower so the chickweed needs to come out. I cleared the plot up to the half way point and the double row of bolted Swedes. I went back to the bottom of bed1 and dug a trench, 12 foot long, 6inches wide and 8inches deep. Into the trench I tipped a wheelbarrow full of manure. I raked in half the soil from the trench back into the trench. I tipped in two watering cans of water into the trench. With the soil well soaked I sprinkled in handfuls of peas and pulled over the remaining soil. Then another two watering cans of water.

I repeated this process another four times. The first trench contains Twinkle peas, the next trench has Petit Pois, the next Witkem Broad Beans, the next Optima Broad Beans. In the final trench I planted out the Deadnought Broad Beans that I had propagated at home. The air was not very warm but the sun was bright and made for very hot working conditions. The last thing I did was to harvest the leeks that managed the over winter. It is suprising what good condition they are in. There is no sign of virus and the shafts are nice and solid.

Today I went back for more of the same. I did the poo run first. I did more of less the same process, spot weeding followed by clearing surface weeds. I cleared the bolted swedes, chopped them up and dropped them into the compo bin. There were a dozen or so Parsnips that had over wintered. Again they were in good order, no canker. It is a pity they did not decide to grow last year. I took out another trench, same as the day before, and planted out the other two trays of Dreadnought Broad Beans. If anything it was hotter today than yesterday. Sweat was dripping off the end of my nose and my clothes were soaking wet. H popped in early in the afternoon with sandwiches and tin of lager. Very nice on a hot day. Once H had left I set the onions. Planting of the onions is well overdue. I gave the area a good soaking. I pulled a few stalks of Rhubarb and trundled home.

Spuds v Chickweed

Saturday went off well. H raised a few quit to go that which she had already raised. The Sharpes Express seed potatoes have been chitting in the greenhouse. I resolved to get up early on Sunday and plant spuds. I even managed this time. I was at the lottie for 9am. It was sunny and pleasantly warm. The gentle freeze was quite cool. The winter had been so long and snowy I was not able to do my usual tidy ups. It has been fairly dry of late so the piles of wood that I made have dried out. I set up the brazier, screwed up the newspaper I had brought with me , broke up the small wood into sticks and set a match to the paper and stood back. The fire took hold and I fed it for the next three hours, in and out of the other jobs.

During the winter I decided to move the black plastic compost bins from the paved area. I tried the empty compo bin in each corner of the plot. The compo bins are different sizes and shapes. The two smaller round black bins ended up in corner by beds 1 and 2. The bigger round black bin went in the corner by bed3. The square green bin will go in the corner by bed4. I put the three black bins in their new position. The plot looks a bit odd with the bins in the corners.

The main job was to plant spuds. This year the spud will go in bed4. I had to weed the line of the spud trench before actual digging the trench. I used my narrow spade to pull out a trench 10inched deep. The spud trench cut across trench for last years beans. The manure that went into the bean trenches was still discernible in the soil. Even the lack of rain in recent times did not have a great effect on the soil. It is in good heart and moist where it counts. With the trench opened I put in half a wheelbarrow of manure from the manure heap I have been minding since last autumn. Then ten seed potatoes spaced evenly long the trench. Next I used a rake to back fill the trench. I did another four trenches with ten spuds in each one. Each time I came up to the muck bin I fed the brazier. When the five rows were done I gave the inbetween rows a good hoeing. The hoeing removed the last vestiges of last year humps and hollows of the bean trenches as well as what few weeds remained.

I managed to squeeze in a few brews with a slice of cake. Each time I sat on my deckchair, in the shade of Degsy, the have my brew and watch the birds. There are quite a few Yellowhammer around this year. Bed2 contains the over wintering onions. Unfortunately they are swamped with Chickweed. I got the three pronged cultivator out of Degsy. I used it to rip up the Chickweed. It was very hard work. A small area gave two full wheelbarrows of chickweed. The weed went in the newly placed compo bins. I think I have only discouraged it. The area is going to need turning over before the main crop onions go in. I did a bit of spot weeding to clear the few bigger Docks and Thistle. It was 1pm by this stage and it was very hot toiling under the sun.

My Savoy cabbages, which had weathered the winter, have bolted. I have left them in until next week. They are about the flower so a week or so of flower will give the bees and bugs will a little nectar. I do not mind a few spring weeds. They fuel the bumble bees.The two Sprouting Broccoli that barely weathered the winter have given a small crop. We had them for tea. The buds on the grape vines are beginning to swell despite the savaging I gave them with the secateurs. The Garlic is going great. I hope they fill out properly. If this works well I shall be planting Garlic in the autumn from now on.

I seem to have swapped weeds. It was Dock, then Thistle, now it is Chickweed. According to Mr Internet Chickweed is edible as a salad. I might have to have a try. I don't think I can eat my way through an allotment's worth of Chickweed. I wonder if anyone would buy chickweed?

New compost.

H's charity afternoon tea is taking up time as is finishing off the little jobs in the dining and in a busy time at work and the new allotments it is a wonder I have not passed out. I had the ticklish job of fitting the door threshold strips to do. It is slow and fiddly work.

A more pleasing job but even more fiddly was making a frame for a mirror. I got a frameless mirror from B&Q. I had the Oak strips cut down from the big plank a few weeks ago. There was lots of cutting, planing and sanding before I had a frame to suit the mirror. Having glued, screwed and set the frame aside to dry there was nothing that could be done until the glue had dried.

Sunday was Mothering Sunday, H's first without Miss L. H and I went down to the car boot then for a long walk via Albert village and Booththorpe but not before I gave the mirror frame a good coating of Danish oil. It was a beautiful day. It was good to be outside. Since Christmas I have spent every day either in the office at work or in the dining room at home with very few exceptions. We had a spot of lunch on our return home. The frame had taken the oil well. I put up the pegs to hold the mirror the wall then hung the mirror. H had a few picture that wanted hanging. Apparently this is called dressing the room. Having discharged my duties I got a brew and wandered off to the greenhouse.

Everything I needed was waiting for me, seeds, compost and trays. I filled a dozen or more deep trays and pillaged the seed box. I sowed Broad Beans, Leek, Sprouts, Calebrese [a special request from H], Parsnips, Rainbow Chard, Spinach, Kale, Swede, spring cabbage and Sweet pea. I also potted up eight Lavender and six Rosemary cuttings that had over wintered in the greenhouse. I am trying a new seed compost which is part soil based and cut with garden compost. It certainly wets better than peat based compost. It is good to see the shelves of the green house full.

H was out walking on Wednesday evening. I had another session in the greenhouse. This time Tomatoes, Red Alert. I think it is too late the sow vine tomatoes but I not fully decided. I sowed little gem and Cos lettuce as well. The broad beans have already started to crack.