Mr H's Plot

[It never rains..it pours]

I agree on Charlottes, only dug last of ours up in December (removed tops long time before) and were in near perfect order. They go from boiled at start of season to jackets now

[Mr H]

I agree on Charlottes, only dug last of ours up in December (removed tops long time before) and were in near perfect order. They go from boiled at start of season to jackets now

Have to agree they are very versatile. Hope the Red Duke of Yorks I'm also planting this spring will keep as well

[Mr H]

Potatoes

After last year's successful trial, first time I'd ever grown a potato, we are aiming for close to self sufficiency this year.


24 Charlottes
36 Red Duke of York

To add to this a quiz night question asked what are Pentland Javelins, surprisingly - certainly to the rest of the team I got this right. Roll forward a day and a quick nosey around the farm shop and voila they are selling Pentland Javelin seed potatoes right next to the Charlottes I bought. Guess the subconscious was at work, so as a reward I bought 4 Pentland Javelin's to plant next to the Charlottes next month. We'll see how they turn out. Will have to give a party bag to each quiz team member at the summer BBQ I think.

[Mr H]

Storm Ciara

Well Ciara put paid to any hopes I had of finishing off bed preparation at the allotment.

That said 19e is pretty much done bedwise. The list of works includes a new fruit cage and paint the shed. Plenty of time for them

7g is a bit behind but even that only needs preparation for beans and squashes so I think I'm ok.

Instead of spending my time out in the fresh air I had to catch up on decorating jobs in the house. Give me fresh air please.

[Mr H]

Storm Dennis

So with last weekend completely washed out and almost blown away I was looking forward to this weekend getting back to the plots.

No such luck according to the weather people it seems Storm Dennis is coming to take over where Ciara left off.

I fear another weekend of indoor painting coming my way

[Mr H]

Onions

To cheer myself up for not being able to get outside for most of this month I have finally ordered the last of the onion sets I want to grow. c70 Red Barron on their way to me by the end of the week.

Something to look forward to.

[Mr H]

Under glass

Well I've finally succumbed - and ordered a greenhouse to go in the garden at home.

It's not too large, 6'6'' by 6'6'' and according to Mrs H it looks very smart. Looks are important when it comes to things in the garden

There's about a 10 week order period so I might just about get delivery for Easter. That will give me time to sort out the corner of the patio that it's going into. Yes I know it's not the perfect position; there's a fence on two sides, an Oak tree overhead. But it does get sun in the early afternoon and the tree will give it natural shading. I'm convincing myself it will be ok, I know it's not perfect. It will however meet our needs which are:

Somewhere to overwinter all our patio potted plants. That will save me having to buy new ones every spring.
A chance to grow some tomatoes and chillies - maybe if the sun filters through enough
Grow our own bedding flowers next year
Some lettuce and fresh herbs.

{I have plenty of lettuce and fresh herbs at the allotment but that's 2.5 miles away and a bit annoying when you need them and haven't planned for them}

Any way I'm excited to be getting a greenhouse, although the thought of handling all that glass to put it together is a little scary

[Mr H]

Planted purple sprouting broccoli on my original plot last year from seed



Here we are the start of February and there's not a single broccoli floret, purple or otherwise, in sight.

Maybe I'm just impatient but I had expected some veg to harvest by now.

Will leave them in place until the end of March but by April they have to be out as I need the space for this year's beetroot.

Update - still no sign of anything edible 10/2/20

[Mr H]

Psb

Finally my PSB has little buds on it. hope its a quick developer as the space they're taking up will be needed soon.

Anyway just pleased that there are finally signs of something edible.

[Mr H]

Jorge

What a month February was. First Ciara then Dennis and finally Jorge. Fortunately Jorge arrived early and Sunday morning was actually not raining and the sun came out.

After 4 weeks it was time to get back to the plots.

Building a fruit cage on plot 19 has been on the to do list since I took on the plot last March. Sunday saw me starting work on it. Managed to get 9 2.4m stakes into the ground. First gave the bottom 60cm a coat of wood preserver then dug 9 60cm deep holes. That was pretty much the limit to dig as the water table is high and the bottom of the holes were filling up at this point. With the posts there was still time to start mending the fence that the deer and badgers love to knock down.

Finally time up fill the wheel barrow up with manure and finished preparing the beds for potatoes.

Glad I got ahead of myself in January. Next weekend I'll carry on with the fencing and who knows maybe the shed will finally get a coat of preservative.

[Mr H]

Onions

I planted onions to over winter in the autumn. They were slow to start off and now with all the rain this winter I think only half will survive.
A little disappointing so I picked up a bag of sets at the weekend to replace the failed ones. Different variety but at least we should have enough onions by summer

[Mr H]

To do list

Continue building the fruit cage on No 19
Replace about 6 fence posts on No 19
Start sowing early peas in pots. I'm going to try Penelype's pea method this year.
Prepare the area for beans and squashes. Need to dig out the couch grass roots and nettles then add manure
remove weeds from fruit cage at no 7
mulch the rest of the fruit bushes

paint that shed

burn the rotting wood left over from the previous tenant

[Mr H]

Peas

so my first Pea seeds have been in a plastic box on the windowsill since Friday. added damp kitchen paper and by Monday they've started to sprout.

Ordered pots to plant them in which have arrived so first batch of seeds will be potted up this week. not quite sure how tall they need to be to be planted out. will have to find Penellype's post again that i forgot to bookmark.

at least the space for them at the plot is all ready waiting

[Penellype]

I plant mine out when they are about 4 inches high. If you leave them to get much bigger they start climbing up each other making the pots hard to separate and they can also fall over.

[Mr H]

Update

Has a good day at the plot on Sunday. Actually found time to go both morning and afternoon which is a first.

As a result I made real progress with fruit cafe on plot 19.
I attached batons horizontally half way up and across the top of the posts. not only will this help support the posts it will also make attaching the net easier once bought.

after that I replaced 3 of the six broken fence posts. then I replaced the gate post that had rotten through. I'm amazed the gate stayed standing through all the storms. gate is now firmly attached to the new post.

there were too many showers to paint the shed though