The Good Life

We’ve finally completed the digging, hurray. It’s rained hard for the last few days and the ground was really soggy, so this prevented us from rotivating and properly weeding the last bits, but the plot is now complete.

Rob brought some celeriac and planted it at the bottom end and I have sown some more peas. The strawberries have suffered quite badly but new growth is starting to come through and the rhubard is well on its way. So it’s looking good.

At home my flat looks like a nursery and I’ve re-potted the courgettes, cucumbers and peppers. The tomatoes are growing well but I reckon another week or so before they need re-potting.

Tomatoes:

 Courgettes and cucumbers:

Nipped down today and dug a couple more bits. The bit with the carpet is the only ground left to dig which, weather permitting, will be done before the weekend is out.

I got an email at work yesterday:

Dear Phil,

I know you do not believe in me (or any other gods or goddesses either), however I have watched you and your friend Rob toil at the allotment for many months now, and with great interest.

I saw you gazing over towards Oakwood with great yearning this morning, and I have granted you the following gifts as proof that god loves ALL creatures on earth, regardless of whether they believe in him.
Gift One: A SHINING PATH OF WOOD AND BRICK

Gift Two: A CRUMBLING AND WEEDING OF SOIL

Gift Three: A BRAND NEW VEGETABLE PATCH OF HOLINESS

I hope you will accept these gifts in good faith (haha), and perhaps I might one day see you in one of my many curches on the Sabbath.Yours all powerfully,

GOD

Got up to the allotment early today. I started to clear the pea plot for the cold frame and lo, there were peas growing! Unfortunately their fate was already sealed so I looked away while I stomped the ground flat.

The cold frame was a bit twisted from the strong winds the previous week but is now firmly set in the ground with the glass on, so should be ok. There is a severe storm warning this week so fingers crossed it doesn’t blow away.

Rob arrived later and rotovated the ground which has really sorted the soil out. It looked like a ploughed field afterward.

I planted another set of peas and this time my faith will not waver,  while Rob planted some onions and beetroot. I brought the seed potatoes up to plant but because there is a risk of snow/rain in the next few days I haven’t planted them. I’ve left them in the cold frame so hopefully the mice/weather won’t get them.

The rhubarb is now coming up in its new home and I brought a couple of crowns back for my mate Dan.

Got some courgettes and cucumber set off at home along with some more tomatoes.

Next week: The final dig.

Well it was a bit of a gamble planting those peas so early, even if they are frost resistant. After some serious cold weather (-9 one night) I have to concede they may not germinate. The upside is that the cold frame which was looking for a home can go in their place and I’ll plant some more next to it once the weather stops playing silly buggers.

Another productive weekend has passed. My seeds arrived on friday so I’ve set some tomatoes and onions off and today we’ve been doing more digging while my dad built our cold frame.All thats left is one last bit of digging, some rotovating to get the big lumps broken up and start setting more seeds off.

My dad did an awesome job today and we now have cold frame with a small utility cupboard stuck on the side – just enough to fit Rob’s wellies and a few tools in. And maybe a few beers.

 The cold frame under construction.

Tea has saved us both today – Rob from Real Ale overdose, and me from the aches and pains of a full days’ dig.

I got down the allotment early today and turned over and weeded the ground and I also started off some early peas and moved some rhubarb to a new spot next to the blackcurrant bush. The soil is really starting to change now we have dug manure in and turned it a few times – you could almost forget it’s heavy clay the way it now breaks up.

Next week we can think about sticking our early potatoes in and the week after we’ll set another row of peas off.

Rob turned up a little later in the day, excusable as he had been at a real ale festival the day before. He’d drunk too much of Jollye Friars Heade Fooke by the looks of him but a flask of tea soon put a smile on his face and stopped the dizzy spells. He brought a load of strawberries from home which are looking great in their new home already.

So, we’ve now got the plot planned out, seeds ordered, and by 4pm today had most of the ground dug over. All that remains is to dig the last little bit, make a cold frame and over the next month or so get our seeds going.

We’re back on the job again. Started digging the manure in and managed a good couple of hours hard work today. Rob got our salad plot weeded and dug over and stuck some garlic in, I spread some muck over the main strip. Our allotment is going to beat the Nile delta for fertility.

Managed to evolve the manure spreading technique. Halfway through using a rake I figured out that if you put a big lump of manure on the end of the fork and twizzled it about it flung little chunks everywhere. I then realised that’s how a muck spreader works. Next week we will invent some sort of agricultural vehicle to help us. I think the name tractor has a nice ring to it.

We plan to have a meet up at the pub this month and figure out what’s to be grown.

Well, Santa has been and left lots of goodies for the coming year. I’ve got some seeds, a box of seed potatoes and some tools. And even though I hate his guts, Im glad to have got Jamie Olivers’ new book because it gives you loads of recipes based on what you grow in your allotment. Rob’s got an allotment book too, so we are all set.

Not been to the allotment since November, partly due to the weather, partly due to me knacking my bike up. We’ve got a ton of manure still to dig, and half the plot to turn over, but im sure we’ll do it in time.