Penellype's Allotment

[Penellype]

Really interesting as ever, Penellype. Thanks for posting.

I had no idea rhubarb likes shade. I'd love to be able to grow it but after a few tries I gave up as it dies in the summer. I can provide a nice shady spot (sunny from sun up to about 11 am in summer). What do you reckon? Is it worth a try? Does it need lots of water?

Out of interest, when is your last frost?

I would think it is definitely worth a try in your shady spot. Rhubarb does like quite a bit of water - it has large leaves, which means there is a lot of surface area for evaporation in hot weather, that's probably why you are finding that it dies in summer. Shade should help.

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks. If anything, I possibly overwatered my last attempt... Will give it a go in the spot I have in mind. It's sheltered from the worst of the wind as well. Thanks again.

[Andraste]

Looking good Penellype

You're usually 2-3 weeks ahead of me (weatherwise etc.) but I'm slacking this year on the sowing front - you've motivated me to get myself into gear so tyvm for that too x

[Penellype]

Spent yesterday and today replacing the old net on the tunnel and attempting to improve things in the process. The old system used 2m wide debris netting, with a piece either side and one across the top, which was in 2 pieces. I decided to go with 3m wide netting and use 2 pieces joined across the top. I've had all winter to think about how to do this, and this is the result:



The 2 sides are joined across the top with the sort of plant ties that twist and lock, which will allow me to open it up and fold the sides back to the level of the top cross bar, where the net is attached firmly to the uprights with cable ties. The bottom of the net is secured with bricks and there are no low cable ties so the edge of the net can be lifted for weeding.



The end pieces are separate from the sides and have to be attached to the frame underneath the side nets to enable those to be folded back. The door has much the same design as before, with a pole attached to the netting and secured with a spring clip screwed into the wooden pole. The top of the door is tricky - it needs to be able to open so it can't be attached to the frame, and the over lapping top net can't be secured permanently because it has to be folded back. Sorting out the tops of the doors took nearly as long as the rest put together.




The shed end now has a door as well. This will save me carrying watering cans from the IBC right round and into the tunnel when I run out of water in the bins. I used a spare short piece of the white piping for the upright, clipped to the wooden pole in the same way as the other door.



This is the shed end door open - the white circle near the pole is a cable tie attached to the net, which hooks round the top of the wooden pole to hold the top of the door net up. Unfortunately at the other end the top of the pole is shorter and this is not possible so I am experimenting with different ideas.



I've closed the top of the tunnel using the twist and lock plant ties, one either side of the central pole. I'm hoping these will be strong enough to hold it together in the wind. Plan B if that doesn't work is to use a piece of fishing line and sew the nets together as I did before, but this is fiddly so I am trying the plant ties first. At least if I do have to use the fishing line I only have one seam to do instead of 2.

I'm very pleased with the result - I think my DIY skills are improving!

[Nicos]

Wow Pen…..that’s absolutely fantastic!…very professional
You deserve to be really chuffed with that!
Well done x

[Snoop Puss]

That's amazing, Penellype. Hope you have a happy growing time in there.

[Penellype]

Thanks both of you. I think a professional would have made a neater job of the doors, but I had to use what I could easily get and deal with - making any sort of proper door frame is beyond me.

[Penellype]

May



Rhubarb is being harvested and raspberries are getting ready to flower.



Nothing yet in the hotbed, cauliflowers and florence fennel behind.



The spinach in the hotbed is ready to eat. Onions and peas are growing well - the peas have plenty of flowers.



Peas under the green net are also starting to flower. There is also beetroot under there. Potatoes in the bed behind are growing well. The wheelbarrow is in position to catch any (unlikely) rain.



The PSB under the white net is almost finished. Strawberries in the growhouse behind have flowers.

[Penellype]

In the tunnel



The west side bed is still mostly empty, with a lone self-seeded lettuce growing. The plank at the far end covers a row of parsnip seeds in an attempt to prevent them from drying out. Peas in the middle are main crop Hurst Green Shaft. 2 sowings have been planted out and there is room for 2 more at teh far end.



The east side - nothing in the cold frame yet - I will probably grow a cucumber in there again. Strawberries are flowering well and there are turnips under the net at the far end.



The west side from the shed end.



The east side from the shed end. The apricot tree at the far end is looking well, but has no fruit.



The turnips under the net. I have dreadful problems with cabbage root fly in turnips, so these have been covered with an extra layer of ultra-fine insect mesh.

[Penellype]

I thought it might be interesting to have a bed-by-bed walk around the allotment, rather than just picking out a few plants. It has taken me years to land on a sensible bed identification system for the raised beds - I tried labelling them 1-8, but could never make it seem logical, so I have now labelled them E1-4 and W1-4. These are the east beds:



The bean bed at the road end. The pieces of path are an attempt to keep the cats off and the copper rings are waiting to go round the plants. One of the tripods will be runner beans and the other climbing french beans. The tripods have been left from last year and need straightening up a bit - the blue string was an attempt to stop the whole lot blowing over last year.



Bed E1 The rather unexciting hotbed, covered to keep heat in and cats out.



E2 - cauliflowers and florence fennel. The cauliflowers in this bed were planted out the day they arrived, when they had about 4 true leaves and were in small plugs. The fennel was grown in modules from seed Both are surrounded by copper rings and slug gone pellets, but even so the plant in the top right corner was eaten off by slugs within a few days of planting. There are 2 small dishes which contained a yeast mixture to trap slugs - I haven't replenished this as the dry weather means there are not many slugs about.



E3 - the growhouse is emptier than usual - I normally bring down trays of plants to harden off, but I am cramming them into the greenhouse at home instead, where there is access to mains water. I think the 2 lots of strawberries in here are getting too hot and too dry - they are no further forward than the ones in the tunnel. Sometimes I get an earlier crop from this method, sometimes not.



E4 - the 4 PSB plants that have managed to survive being flooded over winter are now flowering. There will probably be a couple more cuts of small shoots before the plants come out to make way for courgettes.

[Penellype]

The west beds:



The small bed near the raspberries. Over wintered spinach is starting to bolt now but has produced plenty of leaves.



W1 - the hotbed. 2 rows of spinach, on the left direct sown and next to it transplanted from modules. The module grown plants are bigger, but one of them is already showing signs of getting ready to bolt. There are 2 lettuce plants in amongst, the rest of the row succumbed to the cat. Pea Half Pint in the middle is flowering and I am hopeful of some peas soon. The onions are growing well



W2 - 6 cauliflowers and some kohlrabi. These cauliflowers were potted up and kept in the greenhouse for about a month before planting out, as their bed was not ready. They are bigger and look healthier than the ones planted straight away.




W3 - potatoes. The 4 buckets in front are Lady Christl, the 4 behind are Desiree. The cover remains available in case of the threat of frost.



W4 - Meteor peas, the earliest (on the left) are beginning to flower. In front, but not very visible is a row of red beetroot in the left half of the bed and a row of direct sown yellow (Boldor) beetroot on the right. There are more yellow beetroot behind the peas.

[Penellype]

Round the edges



The roadside hedge from the west end, with the small bed near the tunnel entrance on the right - currently contains leeks which are about to bolt. I am struggling to find something that likes this position as it is not very sunny and is full of blackthorn roots.



The west hedge, with forget-me-nots, daffodils and crocuses (both finished) and honesty. The nearest of the compost bins on the right will be used to grow a courgette later.



Rhubarb growing under the hedge, both in and out of a pot near the woodshed. It appears to be happier in the pot.



Blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes against the north side of the fence (apologies for the photo quality). Both are flowering, with the blackcurrant absolutely covered with flowers.



Chilean guava and rhubarb at the east end of the fence.

[Andraste]

I enjoyed the bed-by-bed walkaround - your tunnel (& everything else) are looking awesome

[Penellype]

More bits and pieces



The new fruit bushes at the fence end of the plot.



The old blueberry bush (spartan) and a new one (Alvar) bought mainly as a pollinator.



The horsetail is invading from next door's plot despite my best efforts to keep it back.



Someone is looking for a nice, soft raised bed to poo in. Sorry, no vacancies here - go next door please!



The plot seen from the gate to the road. The hedge is growing fast and I am going to have to cut it back again. The source of my horsetail problem is obvious. This photo implies the plot slopes from left to right, but in fact it is the opposite, I am just not good at holding the camera straight.

[Jay22]

Fantastic Penellype!!! Must be such hard but rewarding work.