Penellype's Allotment

[Bluenowhere]

Well done, the photos show how far you have come.

Remember to look back on these posts when frustration threatens to take hold.

[Penellype]

A much more cloudy day today and rather cooler as a result, at least until mid afternoon when the sun broke through.

I've been waiting for a cloudy day to cut the top of the leylandii hedge on the south side of the plot. I did quite a bit of this in the winter, but there were some big branches that I couldn't reach from the chair, and I didn't want to use my stepladder on the muddy grass. Now that the mud has dried hard I'm happier on the steps, although I won't go higher than 3 as I easily get vertigo. I managed to trim most of the new growth and 3 huge branches that I couldn't reach before. There are still some big ones on the far side of the hedge, but there is nothing I can do about those. As a result it is hard to see that I have done much for an hour's work, and there are still a couple that I can't reach that I really would like to get down. Such is life.

I shredded all of the soft growth, which went in the dalek, and cut the branches off the main stems of the bigger bits, but couldn't quite finish all of the shredding as my hand gets sore after a while. Still, I've not added too much to the leylandii pile having cut the whole of that hedge. Just the west side one to do now.

I also went round all the raised beds pulling out any new horsetail growth and weeded the path between the tunnel and compost bins. I pulled a bit of horsetail from the rhubarb and strawberry beds, but didn't make much impression on these.

The cucumbers in the tunnel have started to grow a bit after a slow start. I gave them some strings to climb up.

Apart from that I harvested a beetroot and ate a few more raspberries, and of course, did the inevitable evening watering.

[Penellype]

Made the most of a cloudy morning yesterday and trimmed the west side hedge. It isn't finished, as there are difficult bits particularly over the wood shed and behind the wildlife area, but I got the bulk of it done.

I also went round and pulled out a few bits of horsetail from the raised beds, and quite a bit from the tunnel (which was completely clear of visible horsetail only 4 days ago). There are also loads of annual weeds in the tunnel particularly where I have been watering the plants. I hoed the empty bits and paths, but I need to spend some time weeding the planted areas again and it was too hot in the afternoon. I picked some raspberries and sugar peas and went home.

As always I was back in the evening to water.

When people asked me why I wanted an allotment when I was already growing loads of veg in my garden, this was what I was thinking of when I answered:

[Penellype]

Not much time this weekend, but I did weed the tunnel and pull a bit of horsetail out from among the strawberries and rhubarb (plenty left). I also shredded all the bits of branches that I cut off the hedge on Friday, so my pile of leylandii trimmings has not got any bigger. It was too hot to do much else other than pick peas and raspberries and water everything.

[Penellype]

After a disgustingly hot and sticky night during which I got very little sleep, I was not in the best of moods this morning. In this sort of frame of mind, having a plan with a few jobs that I can do quickly and tick off the list tends to help. With this in mind I decided the first thing would be to get rid of the brambles that were growing strongly out of the roadside hedge. I cut those down and nipped off some new hawthorn growth (which was covered in aphids), but found my enthusiasm flagging when I set about the much bigger job of cutting down a horsetail infested geranium plant, and I soon gave that up for now.

I went round all the raised beds pulling out the last couple of days horsetail growth and found that every one of my new fennel seedlings had been destroyed by birds pecking at the raised bed. They have done this on and off for a bit, but I had put black cotton round and that had seemed to deter them, but now they didn't seem bothered. I was not amused. They had also had a go at the bed housing the tomatoes, so having removed the 2 turnips (one bolting, one for dinner) that were in the corner of this bed, I laid out the piece of netting that had covered them on one half of the bed and pegged it down. I found another small piece and pegged it down on the other side of the tomatoes, and put the black cotton round the bare bits.

That done I went to pull horsetail in the tunnel, but a cursory look at it told me this is not working at all. Less than a week ago (2nd July) there was no visible horsetail in the tunnel. I've pulled it up again once since, but it was everywhere. I have deliberately not been digging it up in an attempt to retain some moisture in the soil, but I now think that was a mistake, as I have simply allowed it to regrow. So I got my fork and dug over the unplanted part (all of the middle) of the shed end of the tunnel. I removed about a bucketful of roots. That part of the tunnel has already been dug over FIVE times.

By the time I had finished it was nearly lunchtime so I picked some peas and raspberries and pulled one of the new crop of yellow beetroot for lunch. One thing the allotment does grow extremely well is beetroot

I went back for a bit in the afternoon to pick some sugar peas and shred some of the leylandii pile, which stubbornly refuses to look any smaller.

In the evening I went back to water and found that despite my efforts the birds were doing their utmost to dig up the bush tomatoes. As I was tired, hot and grumpy, and thoroughly fed up with lugging water about, the air was blue. I stomped off to the woodshed and pulled out 6 pieces of 1x2 inch timber about 3 foot long, and banged them into the ground around the tomato bed. I'd got an old fruit cage net which I'd brought to the plot earlier in case I needed to cover the raspberries, but so far the birds have shown no interest in those, so I used it to cover the whole of the tomato bed. I've no idea how big the Red Alert tomatoes grow (they are growing fast at the moment) but that should keep the wretched birds off for the moment, while allowing insects in to pollinate the flowers. I used the smaller piece of net to make a tent over the fennel, which I resowed this afternoon. I can't cover that bed as it houses the sugar peas and runner beans, which are far too tall to net.

[Penellype]

Today I spent most of the time digging the bare areas of the middle section of the tunnel and removing horsetail. This has been dug a little more recently than the shed end and there were definitely less roots in it, which I think proves my point about it regrowing. The difficult thing is dealing with the bits that have been planted, but I will just have to pull the stuff out of those bits and dig them when I can. Some of the veg (cabbages and kohl rabi) at the shed end are about ready to harvest.

I harvested some more peas and raspberries, and when I went back to water I planted 2 broccoli plants in the middle of the tunnel, in the bit I dug yesterday. These were protected by copper rings and slug gone, so hopefully they will survive the slugs and snails. The carrots I sowed in there are gradually decreasing in number, and I noticed another had been badly chewed tonight.

The birds have moved camp to the onion bed. I have another fruit cage net which I should be able to use to cover them. At least the onions are big enough to cope.

Maybe I just need another tunnel!

[geepee]

If it helps Pen'....a photo of Red Alert attached.
Gp

[Penellype]

Thanks Geepee - I think they are going to get too big for the net (one of the flowers is already poking through) but at least the net is keeping the birds off for now.

[Penellype]

First job yesterday was to finish digging the bare part of the tunnel. This was the bit near the entrance so it had got rather compacted, but I got it done and a load more horsetail roots out.

Next job, empty the big water butt so that a new tap can be fitted (already nearly empty). This was easier than I expected using a square bucket.

By the time I had finished this is was sunny and I was getting rather hot, so I picked some peas and a beetroot and went home for lunch.

In the afternoon I went round the edges of the plot pulling out horsetail before cutting the grass, which was still growing in places. I'm trying to get as little horsetail as possible into the compost bin with the grass, but I'm sure plenty will have ended up in there. There are a few long bits of grass that need tidying up, but it looks better and I was too hot to tackle the edges at that point.

The birds have started serious digging in the onion bed now, so when I went back with the water in the evening I took my other fruit cage net with me and covered the bed using the frame from the tunnel that was over the hotbed. I couldn't use this for the tomatoes as it wasn't high enough. I disturbed a blackbird, caught in the act, when I arrived. No doubt the little blighters will start digging somewhere else now, probably the raspberries

I also found a cabbage white butterfly in the tunnel - not sure how it got in. I hope it hasn't laid eggs all over my brassicas.

Finally I planted out some swede plants in bed 4, which is the one next to the raspberries that I dug over thoroughly a few weeks ago. So far, touch wood, no horsetail has appeared. I am not stupid enough to think that I have managed to remove all of it!

[1Bee]

Can you check your brassicas for eggs? Very satisfying when you can remove them...

[Penellype]

Can you check your brassicas for eggs? Very satisfying when you can remove them...

I will do, but as it was a small white any eggs are likely to be scattered widely. Large whites are easier as they lay loads of eggs in one place. I'm hoping it was a male butterfly, but not sure how to tell the difference, and its gone now anyway!

[Penellype]

Less time than I had hoped for today due to work, and I really only had about an hour at lunchtime. Not a huge amount got done as a result.

I pulled out a few handfuls of horsetail from various parts of the allotment - it still seems to be growing strongly despite my efforts and the dry weather.

Added a couple more strings to the supports for the bush tomatoes as there were some new branches. Having the net over them is a pain and they are already starting to grow through it in places.

Went round the edges of the plot chopping off the long bits of grass. This never does a particularly good job and I always see some I have missed as soon as I put the shears away, but it looks better than it did.

Apart from that, harvested a few peas and a beetroot and ate a few of the raspberries. And watering, of course, always watering...

It looks like I will have some runner beans soon

[Penellype]

Yesterday was a leylandii day.

I'd intended to go to the plot early and pull out a load of horsetail, but a call from work scuppered that idea. I had to put a stop to it at about 10.30 as I'd arranged to meet Geepee, who had kindly brought his loppers on a pole to tackle the big branches on top of the leylandii hedge, which I had tried and failed to reach from my steps.

We had to be careful not to cut anything that would drop into the gardens behind, as we had no idea what we would be hitting, but we managed to get most of the bigger stuff to fall to our side. It is far from tidy as the people on the other side need to cut their bits, but it will let in considerably more light now than it would have done, which will be important when we get to autumn. We also got rid of some large branches that were overhanging the woodshed. The leylandii bay in the compost area, which was just about getting to a stage where I could think I might be able to finish it, was quite full again by the time we had finished.

We also had a look at the water butt with the broken tap, which also needed levelling. We levelled it, but decided to leave the tap, basically because I hadn't got a spare because I didn't know what size would fit. Its an old water butt and I haven't a clue about these things. It doesn't leak, and I can get the water out from the top, so we decided to leave things as they are for now.

In the afternoon I went back and started to tackle the pile of newly cut leylandii. It shreds best when it is really fresh, so I want to finish dealing with it this weekend, before it (possibly) gets rained on. I spent a good hour on it, concentrating on cutting all the side branches off the thick branches, which I then added to the wood pile. Anything small enough went into the leylandii bin, everything else into a pile in the compost bay. By the time I had finished I had removed all of the big woody stuff and had 2 piles about the same size, one of new and one of old, of varying sizes but nothing huge.

Apart from that I harvested some raspberries and the best cabbage from the tunnel, and did the usual evening watering session.

[Penellype]

It was far too hot to get much done yesterday, but I wanted to make an impression on that pile of leylandii. I went down to the plot early and spent an hour or so chopping up the smaller bits, then brought home a beetroot for lunch and the first courgette, which was a very strange shape. Apart from delivering water on the way to the stables that was all I could cope with until late afternoon, when the compost area was in the shade. I went back and finished chopping all of the new bits, so the leylandii pile is now the same as it was on Friday morning.

Apart from the fact that it chops much more easily when very fresh, there was another reason for getting this done quickly. I have another compost bin and that part of the compost area is the logical place for it now that I won't need such a big bay for huge leylandii branches. There are 2 possible uses for the new bin - my big bin is nearly full and could do with turning and the oldest compost needs putting somewhere else to make room for new. But I will also need somewhere quite large to store the contents of the raised beds while I dig out the horsetail once the crops have finished. In some cases (particularly onions and peas) this will happen quite soon. The first bed I dug left me with 4 tubs (probably 25 litres each) of leftover compost, as digging the compacted soil fluffed it up and filled the raised bed more. Storing the leftovers from 8 raised beds while they settle could be interesting.

In the evening I watered everything and brought home all the ripe raspberries. I'm starting to find a few raspberry beetle larvae, although at the moment most of the fruit are undamaged.

[Penellype]

Too hot. Much, much too hot.

I managed about an hour this morning, pulling horsetail out of raised beds - its been ignored for a whole 2 days so it is rampant again . I also chopped a bit of the old pile of leylandii. But by 10am it was stiflingly hot and it was all I could do to pick a beetroot for lunch and stagger home.

I took some water down in the car on the way to the stables, but I couldn't manage much gardening at my friend's either.

I'd been meaning to go back to the plot this afternoon, but ended up sitting staring at Wimbledon instead. I did walk down and pick a few runner beans for tea but couldn't face anything else. By evening it was so hot and sticky that I couldn't face lugging the 10 litre containers around, so for the first time since I started taking water down in the car, I left them at home. There was enough water at the plot to water the plants - I keep some spare in case of emergencies and I can top it up tomorrow.

This is what 30C does to me - it makes me completely useless for anything.