Last weekend we managed to ship the children off to Grandma's for the weekend, and spent two days on the plot. Three to four hours on Saturday and the same again Sunday.
Result? The top patchg is now entirely free of all weed life, grass etc. We took pity on a couple of rosemary bushes, a bay tree and some lavendar - but aside from that we went Agent Orange on the place (organcially speaking).
After that, we grubbed up a row of blackberries, pulled out two delapidated fruit fences and started to re-dig last years potato patch.
It is amazing how much you can get done with a lot of focus and no children. It looked great.
This weekend I spent two hours on Saturday on the plot with my eldest, who was content to dig, wash old potatos and play in a shelter while I started double dugging that cleared top patch.
This morning there was another two hours on the patch, this time just me and my iPod.
I've managed to get a fifth of the top patch dug over now, but it's a race against time.
We want to get it in a good condition so we can get some plants in now. I reckon another nine to 12 hours and it will be good to go. The weather report doesn't look good for the week though - rain and even sleet up till Wednesday.
Next weekend, Easter, we have family down and they will be here into next week - so it could be a fortnight before we get a decent block of time.
If the weather holds, now the evenings are lighter, I'll try to get an hour or so up there each day before dark.
Plans for the top plot, which is fairly shallow thanks to tree roots, are leeks, onions and garlic.
Fingers crossed!
For years allotments were out of favour. No-one wanted them, and patches of mud with a shed at one end and weeds everywhere else went to waste. Then suddenly gardening became the new rock and roll, and everyone who didn't want to dig up their lawn wanted their own council-run patch of mud. The waiting lists grew faster than the cabbages. Now, after more than three years on a waiting list, Neil Shaw has been given his own patch of green and pleasant land.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Monday, 8 March 2010
Sprout surprise
It's been a while, but we finally managed to get back on the plot this weekend - and it wasn't as bad was we'd feared!!
There was a combination of reasons for taking a couple of months out, and the first point to make is that it wasn't planned.
We didn't get up there for a couple of days, then it rolled over to a couple of weeks, then it was a couple of months.
Behind it all was the daunting task facing us, and the relentless nature of it. No sooner have we cleared one patch, then moved on to the next, and then the first one is covered in weeds again.
After a while, a thing like that can grind you down.
On top of that, our youngest was just six months old when we first took on the plot. We'd been on the waiting list for four or five years and the offer came at the worst possible time. It meant that the whole family couldn't get up to the plot at the same time.
We tried it a couple of times, but the place just isn't baby proof. So most of the time one or the other of us was ploughing a lonely furrow.
On top of that, it was just a question of time, and life. We both work full time so weekends get very busy with everything else that isn't work. The allotment was on the to-do list most weekends, but just kept getting knocked off the end.
Any way, we're back, and the winter weather seems to have done us a favour. The few months break hasn't seen the place overcome as we'd expected, and no-one has raided our shed.
Part of the problem has been trying to fit in around the architecture of what was left behind on the plot.
It had been divided into several strips, with some fencing, half a fruit cage, some stones and bits of wood.
We've been trying to clear around that to keep anything of any use. But it just didn't work. It was a very inefficient way of clearing the plot and preparing it for planting.
So the new plan is seek and destroy. I spent Sunday afternoon redigging the top plot and taking down the fruit wire cage the divides it from the plot beneath.
It was a liberating experience, opening up the space made it seem much more logical, and gave a clearer idea of the task ahead. Now the evenings are getting lighter we will be able to spend a couple of hours a day up there and we aim to have a lot of the plot back in use within weeks, rather than months.
One pleasant surprise of the weekend trip was sprouts. The first thing I spotted on the plot was two green spikes crammed with brussels. Interesting, as when I planted them I thought they were kohol rabi.
I dug them up, took them home and we had sporouts for tea - the best tasting sprouts ever!
The benefits of an allotment - exercise, fresh air, a hobby, meeting new people and (best of all) fresh, organic, local produce you've grown and nurtured yourself from seed far outweight the hard work you have to put in.
But sometimes, when faced with an overgrown weed patch that looks like someonthing from a rainforest documentary it is hard to remember that.
There was a combination of reasons for taking a couple of months out, and the first point to make is that it wasn't planned.
We didn't get up there for a couple of days, then it rolled over to a couple of weeks, then it was a couple of months.
Behind it all was the daunting task facing us, and the relentless nature of it. No sooner have we cleared one patch, then moved on to the next, and then the first one is covered in weeds again.
After a while, a thing like that can grind you down.
On top of that, our youngest was just six months old when we first took on the plot. We'd been on the waiting list for four or five years and the offer came at the worst possible time. It meant that the whole family couldn't get up to the plot at the same time.
We tried it a couple of times, but the place just isn't baby proof. So most of the time one or the other of us was ploughing a lonely furrow.
On top of that, it was just a question of time, and life. We both work full time so weekends get very busy with everything else that isn't work. The allotment was on the to-do list most weekends, but just kept getting knocked off the end.
Any way, we're back, and the winter weather seems to have done us a favour. The few months break hasn't seen the place overcome as we'd expected, and no-one has raided our shed.
Part of the problem has been trying to fit in around the architecture of what was left behind on the plot.
It had been divided into several strips, with some fencing, half a fruit cage, some stones and bits of wood.
We've been trying to clear around that to keep anything of any use. But it just didn't work. It was a very inefficient way of clearing the plot and preparing it for planting.
So the new plan is seek and destroy. I spent Sunday afternoon redigging the top plot and taking down the fruit wire cage the divides it from the plot beneath.
It was a liberating experience, opening up the space made it seem much more logical, and gave a clearer idea of the task ahead. Now the evenings are getting lighter we will be able to spend a couple of hours a day up there and we aim to have a lot of the plot back in use within weeks, rather than months.
One pleasant surprise of the weekend trip was sprouts. The first thing I spotted on the plot was two green spikes crammed with brussels. Interesting, as when I planted them I thought they were kohol rabi.
I dug them up, took them home and we had sporouts for tea - the best tasting sprouts ever!
The benefits of an allotment - exercise, fresh air, a hobby, meeting new people and (best of all) fresh, organic, local produce you've grown and nurtured yourself from seed far outweight the hard work you have to put in.
But sometimes, when faced with an overgrown weed patch that looks like someonthing from a rainforest documentary it is hard to remember that.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Mint - it absolutely will not stop, ever.
Weeds have developed a range of strategies for ensuring their survival; scratching, stinging, poisioning, stinking - even biting.
Mint seems to have gone down the route of tasting good, and smelling great when you rip it out of the ground. Not particularly effective.
It did make the weeding job last week more fragrant than usual. Perhaps the mint was thinking that by making itself useful we wouldn't pull it up. But it spreads so quickly and so far that unless you have use of industrial quantities of the stuff it must be destroyed.
I did briefly consider trying to sign a deal with Wrigley to supply flavouring for their gum, or bulk-buying vinegar to produce a liftime supply of mint sauce, but there isn't enough lamb in the world.
I'm certain it will be back, like The Terminator (though hopefully not as rubbish as Terminator 4), but for now the patch of ground between the compost bin and the potatos is clear.
It took five hours of solid digging, hacking, slashing and ripping to get it clear. Then more digging, a bit of raking and I managed to get eight more plants in - sprouting broccoli donated by Chris the Gardener.
Half of that patch is still weed-logged, but I hope to get back up there this week and finish that bit off - probably to be greeted by a patch of mint grinning back at me like I'd never picked up by fork in the first place.
Mint seems to have gone down the route of tasting good, and smelling great when you rip it out of the ground. Not particularly effective.
It did make the weeding job last week more fragrant than usual. Perhaps the mint was thinking that by making itself useful we wouldn't pull it up. But it spreads so quickly and so far that unless you have use of industrial quantities of the stuff it must be destroyed.
I did briefly consider trying to sign a deal with Wrigley to supply flavouring for their gum, or bulk-buying vinegar to produce a liftime supply of mint sauce, but there isn't enough lamb in the world.
I'm certain it will be back, like The Terminator (though hopefully not as rubbish as Terminator 4), but for now the patch of ground between the compost bin and the potatos is clear.
It took five hours of solid digging, hacking, slashing and ripping to get it clear. Then more digging, a bit of raking and I managed to get eight more plants in - sprouting broccoli donated by Chris the Gardener.
Half of that patch is still weed-logged, but I hope to get back up there this week and finish that bit off - probably to be greeted by a patch of mint grinning back at me like I'd never picked up by fork in the first place.
Monday, 29 June 2009
A fool and his gooseberries are soon parted
Hour on the plot on Sunday morning ripping out vegetation - and this time it didn't go straight to the tip.
Thanks to the netting and a contraption made from canes and bottles the fruit is safe, and I managed to harvest a kilo of gooseberries and half a kilo of raspberries.
Some of the raspberries made it to the freezer, while our one-year-old ate the majority.
The gooseberries had a quick wash, topped and tailed, simmered for half an hour in water with a little sugar then mashed and mixed with custard and cream to make a gooseberry fool.
Awesome end to our Sunday lunch with friends.
Now to start planning what to do with all those apples.
Thanks to the netting and a contraption made from canes and bottles the fruit is safe, and I managed to harvest a kilo of gooseberries and half a kilo of raspberries.
Some of the raspberries made it to the freezer, while our one-year-old ate the majority.
The gooseberries had a quick wash, topped and tailed, simmered for half an hour in water with a little sugar then mashed and mixed with custard and cream to make a gooseberry fool.
Awesome end to our Sunday lunch with friends.
Now to start planning what to do with all those apples.
Monday, 15 June 2009
Burn while you learn
The anti-weed matting is down, the canes are in place and the saved plastic milk bottles are perched on top - we now have the skeleton of a fruitcage surrounding our raspberries and gooseberries.
Once the netting is sown together we can throw that across the top, and then spend the next few weeks wondering just how the birds got inside to eat our crop.
It was a busy Saturday on the plot, resulting in not just a skeletal fruitcage but also a couple of insect bites, several scratches and a sunburn (lower back, right arm).
Our neighbour also took pity on our weed patch and donated eight infant kohlrabi to the cause. After weeding the potatos (again!) I dug the end of the final row and dropped the turnip/cabbage hybrids in there.
Previously my only experience with kohlrabi has been transfering them straight from veg-box to fridge drawer to bin, but if they grow, we'll eat em!
Taking a break from getting sunburn, lunch on the plot was spent in the shade of our tree, looking down to the seafront, eating a steak pasty and a cake.
This has to be the real goal of the allotment, to get it into such a state where we can go up there and do nothing! Isn't that what it's all about?
Perhaps the most productive part of the weekend was finally discovering what the holes in a fork are for - apparently they are designed to let weeds through.
No matter how I use it, the only thing a fork seems capable of lifting is good quality topsoil, while the weeds stay firmly in the ground.
I finally gave in and resorted to ripping the evil plants out by hand - very satisfying and you get the whole root.
I thought we may have secured a victory several weeks ago when we liberated the potatos from the tyranny of weed rule, but every time we go back there are increasing attacks from enemy insurgents.
Grass is bad, bindweed is worse but what I really fear is IED (Improvised Explosive Dandelions). I'm fairly convinced if we don't get them all before they turn to seed we'll be picking dandelions from the plot till the end of time.
Not that it's driving me insane or anything but while earthing up the potatos I was moulding the mounds into Close Encounter mountain shapes.
Ah well, back to work for a bit of a rest.
Once the netting is sown together we can throw that across the top, and then spend the next few weeks wondering just how the birds got inside to eat our crop.
It was a busy Saturday on the plot, resulting in not just a skeletal fruitcage but also a couple of insect bites, several scratches and a sunburn (lower back, right arm).
Our neighbour also took pity on our weed patch and donated eight infant kohlrabi to the cause. After weeding the potatos (again!) I dug the end of the final row and dropped the turnip/cabbage hybrids in there.
Previously my only experience with kohlrabi has been transfering them straight from veg-box to fridge drawer to bin, but if they grow, we'll eat em!
Taking a break from getting sunburn, lunch on the plot was spent in the shade of our tree, looking down to the seafront, eating a steak pasty and a cake.
This has to be the real goal of the allotment, to get it into such a state where we can go up there and do nothing! Isn't that what it's all about?
Perhaps the most productive part of the weekend was finally discovering what the holes in a fork are for - apparently they are designed to let weeds through.
No matter how I use it, the only thing a fork seems capable of lifting is good quality topsoil, while the weeds stay firmly in the ground.
I finally gave in and resorted to ripping the evil plants out by hand - very satisfying and you get the whole root.
I thought we may have secured a victory several weeks ago when we liberated the potatos from the tyranny of weed rule, but every time we go back there are increasing attacks from enemy insurgents.
Grass is bad, bindweed is worse but what I really fear is IED (Improvised Explosive Dandelions). I'm fairly convinced if we don't get them all before they turn to seed we'll be picking dandelions from the plot till the end of time.
Not that it's driving me insane or anything but while earthing up the potatos I was moulding the mounds into Close Encounter mountain shapes.
Ah well, back to work for a bit of a rest.
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Get by with a little help...
We finally found the only tool that works on an allotment as overgrown as ours - help.
Last weekend the mother-in-law gave us a whole day of her expertise and labour and really turned things around.
Not only does she have university-level gardening knowledge, she also has a lifteime of experience and an abundance of enthusiasm.
The potatos are fully weeded and earthed up, and a whole load of new plants are now in place, while a whole bunch of weeds have breathed their last.
This weekend a couple of friends gave up half their Sunday to help us out.
Chris is a professional gardener who usually charges £12 an hour. I think we may get off with a Sunday lunch and a bottle of wine.
Chris and Bev cleared out what was once the flower and herb bed but had rapidly become one of many of our weed beds.
Having a couple of experts on the scene is great news. Not only do they get the job done, they show us how to do it and dole out plenty of advice that will prove useful for years to come.
MIL helped us identify a lot of plants - including those with irriant sap, and those which may produce nice flowers but would only last for a day or two.
She also showed us a whole host of gardening techniques.
Chris let us borrow his petrol strimmer to take down another patch of weeds, while he put in the hard labour turing out that patch at the top of the allotment.
Inspired by the surge forward, I built the compost bin on Sunday and filled it with the assorted vegetation we've pulled up over the last couple of weeks.
We've also managed to clear out all the weeds (mostly grass) from among the well-established raspberries, blackberries and gooseberries.
I've ripped out all the carpet that was laid between the rows. No doubt at first it kept the weeds away but in recent years it seems to have become nothing short of the perfect growing medium.
Now we need to get weed-proof membrane and a fruit cage over the lot asap.
It was also a good weekend on the plot for the young ones, with a lot of wildlife on hand to keep them entertained. Crickets, grasshoppers, ladybirds, butterflies, frogs - they loved the lot.
The fruit harvest is starting to look very impressive, so the priority now is protecting it all from the birds - I'll let you know how that goes (just like The Apprentice you can guess the outcome, the birds will win).
Last weekend the mother-in-law gave us a whole day of her expertise and labour and really turned things around.
Not only does she have university-level gardening knowledge, she also has a lifteime of experience and an abundance of enthusiasm.
The potatos are fully weeded and earthed up, and a whole load of new plants are now in place, while a whole bunch of weeds have breathed their last.
This weekend a couple of friends gave up half their Sunday to help us out.
Chris is a professional gardener who usually charges £12 an hour. I think we may get off with a Sunday lunch and a bottle of wine.
Chris and Bev cleared out what was once the flower and herb bed but had rapidly become one of many of our weed beds.
Having a couple of experts on the scene is great news. Not only do they get the job done, they show us how to do it and dole out plenty of advice that will prove useful for years to come.
MIL helped us identify a lot of plants - including those with irriant sap, and those which may produce nice flowers but would only last for a day or two.
She also showed us a whole host of gardening techniques.
Chris let us borrow his petrol strimmer to take down another patch of weeds, while he put in the hard labour turing out that patch at the top of the allotment.
Inspired by the surge forward, I built the compost bin on Sunday and filled it with the assorted vegetation we've pulled up over the last couple of weeks.
We've also managed to clear out all the weeds (mostly grass) from among the well-established raspberries, blackberries and gooseberries.
I've ripped out all the carpet that was laid between the rows. No doubt at first it kept the weeds away but in recent years it seems to have become nothing short of the perfect growing medium.
Now we need to get weed-proof membrane and a fruit cage over the lot asap.
It was also a good weekend on the plot for the young ones, with a lot of wildlife on hand to keep them entertained. Crickets, grasshoppers, ladybirds, butterflies, frogs - they loved the lot.
The fruit harvest is starting to look very impressive, so the priority now is protecting it all from the birds - I'll let you know how that goes (just like The Apprentice you can guess the outcome, the birds will win).
Monday, 11 May 2009
Weed Wars
There was a time when I wondered what the difference was between a weed and anything else.
Now I have an allotment the answer is obvious. A weed will grow where you don't want it, a plant won't grow where you do.
Back on the plot in the glorious sunshine this weekend for weeding duty.
The potatoes are coming up nicely, but are surounded by couch grass and bindweed.
After trying a hoe, a spade and a fork I found the best way was to get my hands in the mud and rip out the offending vegetation by the roots.
Hopefully another two or three years of this treatment and they will give up.
The patches we haven't yet given so much attention to are now thriving - though again with weeds.
Among the tall grasses and brambles we are fairly certain there is a substantial growth of raspberries and gooseberries.
I'm itching to get in there with an industrial strimmer, a flamethrower and a rotavator - but the other half has her heart set on cultivating the crop for a year's supply of jam and frozen fruit.
Hmph.
Now the weather has warmed up it looks like we'll need to get up on the plot at least once every couple of days just to keep the weeds in check, let alone getting any more plants and seeds in place.
At least my recent birthday brought in a crop of anti-weed mats, so if we do get the jungle back in check we will at least have a fighting chance of keeping it that way.
We did manage to harvest a good crop of mint and rhubarb this weekend - so it looks like we'll be eating some mint-based fruit crumble dish for the rest of May.
I'd say Heston Blumenthal eat your heart out, but he probably would.
Now I have an allotment the answer is obvious. A weed will grow where you don't want it, a plant won't grow where you do.
Back on the plot in the glorious sunshine this weekend for weeding duty.
The potatoes are coming up nicely, but are surounded by couch grass and bindweed.
After trying a hoe, a spade and a fork I found the best way was to get my hands in the mud and rip out the offending vegetation by the roots.
Hopefully another two or three years of this treatment and they will give up.
The patches we haven't yet given so much attention to are now thriving - though again with weeds.
Among the tall grasses and brambles we are fairly certain there is a substantial growth of raspberries and gooseberries.
I'm itching to get in there with an industrial strimmer, a flamethrower and a rotavator - but the other half has her heart set on cultivating the crop for a year's supply of jam and frozen fruit.
Hmph.
Now the weather has warmed up it looks like we'll need to get up on the plot at least once every couple of days just to keep the weeds in check, let alone getting any more plants and seeds in place.
At least my recent birthday brought in a crop of anti-weed mats, so if we do get the jungle back in check we will at least have a fighting chance of keeping it that way.
We did manage to harvest a good crop of mint and rhubarb this weekend - so it looks like we'll be eating some mint-based fruit crumble dish for the rest of May.
I'd say Heston Blumenthal eat your heart out, but he probably would.
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