Springing into Spring

I don't know about you but i just am not sure what plants to set off when.  You would have thought that a good old diary would be worth keeping rather than scrappy pieces of paper that are incoherent after a summer and winter use.

needless to say  i have set off some tomatoes indoors, some rare peppers, cauliflower, beetroot, peas, chillies, sweet corn, sweet peas, broad beans and chitting of potatoes.  I had a bit of planting up session last weekend using homemade compost, left over grow bags and the masses of vermiculite if bought from the allotment shop.

All seedlings are in the conservatory or on a north facing windowsill... This weekend i think i'll set some Brussell Sprouts off... and hopefully prepare the allotment beds for the soon-to-be-delivered asparagus crowns

Tomatoes

Sweetcorn

Cauliflower & Red Cabbage

Beetroot

And the Rhubarb keeps growing...

Living in a Fedge, living in a Willow Fedge

A living hedge / fence aka "Fedge" is a woven living creation, made from a range of material, in my case willow.  Having been given access to a small willow plantation deep in the west riding of Yorkshire the potential to kit Al and Lotty with some water sucking, green lusciousness, bendy willow fence excitement sounds like a win win scenario.

There are plenty of examples around the internet of living hedges, and plenty of tips on how to plant and create a Fedge

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=588

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/400468591851625526/c 

So after a few hours of harvesting and an hour or so of plugging (my word for sticking then willow whips in the ground).......

More photos to follow....

2016 in the Rear View Mirror

Well here we are another year has flown passed, and yes nearly 6 months since the last blog.  so what's been going on?  

Well i had the pleasure of giving a 5 minute speech at Groundworks' South Yorkshire Annual Conference about Lotty and Big Al!  a few anecdotes and some photos seemed to keep the crowd in order.

Mr Barnsley Allotmenteer 

So Groundworks have been converting 2 former grazing paddocks into 30+ new allotments...  I managed to speak to some "newbies" who had taken shovel to their new plot.  Very exciting times, especially as this will reduce the waiting list to practically zero when all the plots come on line.

Partitioning of new plots

Big "Al" our new plot is going to take a bit of work to get on top of!  having cut down the grass and weeds and got rid of some rubbish (thanks Groundworks!) and a bit of weeding we are getting back to soil.  it will be a long process but hey ho, Rome wasn't built in a day




So with the new year upon us may i wish you all a Happy One and remember, the seed catalogues are exciting but you must resist.......

May your 2017 planting be enjoyable and fruitful 

How bad am I?

So it would appear that no blogging has occurred overt the last 8 weeks, rubbish.  So what's new down the lotty?

well i purchased some netting (http://www.scaffolding-direct.co.uk/garden-allotment-netting/ ) and acquired some water main pipe from a friendly local civil engineering contractor (http://www.henrybootconstruction.co.uk/). It was destined for the waste pile so 30m of HDPE 36mm pipe was cut and forced into the back of my rather small car. As a result we now have protection against birds and other rodenty things

Oooh we have managed to clear the bottom bit of the plot and plant an apple tree. Mrs Barnsley Allotmenteer and Junior Allotmenteers help wheel barrow the tree from home to the plot as the tree had grown too much to fit into the boot.  An interesting 1.5 mile journey attracting a few strange looks no doubt!!

as for the planted stuff - all is well toms, squash, courgette, chard, beetroot, cucumber are all in and growing well
  

Update......

So it's been a while since the last blog. So what's been going on?  Rain mainly. Every time there is a chance to get up to Charlotte it is raining. Although the last week or so the weather has been kind to us

Tasks to date have included the

1.painting of around 100 fence slats reclaimed from a neighbour's dilapidated fence - we hope to replace about 20m of joint fence - not had to buy any wood for the exercise yet!!

2. installation of drainage to try and lower the water level (water strike at about 200mm!)

On the upside the daffodils and tulips that we planted in the autumn have provided some early spring colour... summer is on the way

Back at home we have a tray of beetroot planted - hopefully ready to transplant in 2 - 3 weeks, the pumpkins, courgettes and butternut squashes have been started off from seed

Loads more of seeds to start of, a feeling of aaarggghhh what to plant where and when (direct, inside, outside, in cold frame or greenhouse)

one tip I have picked up is to cut up old milk cartons to use as plant markers.  A pair of scissors and a permanent marker!!

                                                                                                                

Ssssssh Dunt tell anyone ought

In my previous post I referred to my colleague being my Allotment "Yoda"  Well perhaps he is a bit more Han Solo but you get my drift.  Having been party to many a lotty tail he also revealed that his allotment had its very own shop... Now it turns out that there are several allotment societies that exist locally that carry a limited stock of those essential bits and bobs that  you need to help the  plot along, without all the fanciness of the garden centre.... "Tha wants canes, lad, we got 'em" Type, thing.

So imagine my excitement when a fellow office allotmenteer (now he would be Luke Skywalker) who lives locally told me of the Barnsley Allotment Society. #Shock 

How had I not heard of this place?  Been here 16 years and I didn't know that the allotment society based on Racecommon Road has its own little shop!!  for the annual membership fee of One whole Pound (100 new pence, 1 squid) you too can be an Associate Member.

So last September I picked up my Kings Seed Catalogue and piggy backed on the large order placed by the society - I reckon my cost of seeds was about 50% the RRP from the garden centre.  #Winning

So my eagerness to be all things allomenty this season got me up there last weekend.  Now there are no thrills to the pre-fab shed and yes the price list is written in chalk on the board but they have loads of stuff. Things are stocked such as "Dithane 945" (a post grunge-core metalband?), "Armillatox" (didn't they support Kings of Leon recently?) and "Derris Dust" (Though the GP prescribed that)

So not really needing anything I opted for "A kilo of your finest Vermiculite" for £2.60 and made my leave.

If you are interested they are open 10:30 - 12:30 Saturdays and Sundays
Happy Hunting click for location

Back from the Dead

Have you got any yet?  What, I hear you shout what should we have got?    Seeds - yes we have those...., the new gadget from aunt Ethel that is supposed to make dibbing easier - yes check

No.... buds on our raspberry sticks!!

After sticking some rather dead looking sticks in the ground in mid November the sticks have risen from their comatose state and started forming buds... hurray summer is here, well not quite. 

A picture paints a thousand words so here are 2000 words for you lovely people. Until next time, dig, dug be good