Allotments in 2014

Progress of Our Allotments throughout the year of 2014.

Already Its April and the seeds are being planted in the allotments as yet another planting season is under-way.  

May 2014 Progress

The weather has been just right for planting out.. I took these pictures over the weekend.. But since then Hubby has planted the sweet-corn plants and the runner beans have gone in.  As they have now hardened off from the green house..

So today I am taking you on a different walk.. As I take you down to our allotment garden

Above you will see there  are two rows of parsnips then shallots and onions..

On the left here are the Swedes and under the netting is Curly Kale, cabbages and broccoli..

The nets are in place to stop the White Cabbage butterfly from laying her caterpillar eggs.. which last year had a scrumptious feast on our mature cabbages…

We are hopeful this year our Strawberries will yield more fruit I moved the strawberry bed last year and replanted the new shoots out.. We only had a few helpings of strawberries .. But this year by the look of the flowers. I hope to have enough to make some jam too .. Fingers crossed …  I need to get some straw to put under the forming fruit to help keep clean and to stop rotting if we get lots of rain.. 

 

In the cold frame lean-too on the side of the shed.. are some outdoor Tomato plants..  you can also see a tray of leeks..

 

 

 

 

Below you can see how we showed our Granddaughter how a seed started to grow.. Thanks to Jack for this idea too..We used a Runner Bean on a damp paper, also a Potato in a jar of water to show how it would sprout and know how to send roots down and leaves up!.. Amazing even now if we think about how each cell knows how to multiply into being a leaf or a flower.. Even more so when you think of the Human body and how each cell splits and knows what its going to form into! .. Makes you think about the Miracle Life really is..

 

Below is the Gooseberry Bush.. Looks like we will have enough for that Gooseberry Fool too this year.

 

 

We also have 6 rows of potatoes in this year.. 2 row of early ones and 4 main crop.. We have grown less potatoes this year, as last year we planted 10 rows.. and although none got wasted, last year and they saw us right through winter, ( We gave loads away ) This year we are planting other things such as chard, squash and Spinach. So  we have not used up as much room..  In this next photo you can see the potatoes, 2 rows of peas and the sheds at the bottom of the allotment.

 

On the left is Runner Beans and below is Sweetcorn

 

Below  you can see the sheds and the shrubs of fruit, the Raspberries Redcurrants, Logan Berries, Blackcurrants.

Above you can see pot plants such as Gladioli, and lupines also dahlia’s mixed in is Marigolds.. Which we have planted too among the Vegies ..

 

I hope you enjoyed your walk in the Veggie Garden..

Thank you for reading

~Sue~

 

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June 2014 Update
After 4 days and 3 nights of constant rain and cool winds, the Sun is now shining and so I went to the allotment with my Camera to show you how things are progressing.

Its amazing what some rain can do and then some warm sun, how it brings things along.. You wouldn’t think how in a matter of 2 weeks how things alter and grow..  Below was the peas and potatoes two weeks ago.

Now look at them… You can also see we have added French Beans and between the cloches are Courgettes, Also Runner Beans and sweet-corn. 

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You can see my Hubby in the distance busy at work. I went into the allotments Sunday afternoon, and weeded out the Strawberry Beds and put straw around them to help protect the fruits from the soil when it rains so hard… Last year we didn’t have many fruits as these were only young plants that I had replanted from new shoots. But I was disappointed at how many had got spoiled with contact with the damp soil from all the rain.. So I hope the straw helps this year.

I also want to show you the Blackberry bushes.. these have grown wild and rampant  between ours and and our neighbours allotments. We Both love these fruits and so although hubby cut them back as they swamped the wood shed last year.. You can see how much flower is already on them.. So a Good crop I think this Autumn ..

Also this year I am going to collect the Elderberries from a tree which grows between our allotments on the other side.. I found a great Recipe for Elderberry Cordial Syrup .   This syrup is great for colds and flu and more Health Benefits of Elderberries can be found HERE . 

The tree is laden with flower at the moment, and you  could make Elderflower Wine with the flowers. My Aunt always made loads of it when I was a child and I have a memory of it still… Hubby used to do a lot of wine making at one time.. Parsnip Wine is good but the best wine he ever made was Rhubarb Wine and a Strawberry Wine. .. However if memory serves me well, and I asked Hubby it took a lot longer for the Rhubarb to clear.. around 2 yrs in demi jars.. But it was the very best of wine we ever tasted.. And that strawberry wine.. was brilliant too.

Now not everything in the allotments is weed free.. In fact there is a patch behind the shed that really needs tackling.. But even Nettles have their uses..

So here is our Nettle patch behind the shed.. Note how the Dock leaves grow among the nettles. And if crushed and rubbed on the sting of a nettle help relieve the pain of the sting… The reasons why are discussed Here I also read that bathing in Milk soothes too, but when walking in nature we seldom have access to milk straight away! So always look for the Dock Leaf!

I drink lots of Nettle Tea, so why not make your own? Here are several  different recipe’s made from nettles, The nutrition value is amazing in high concentrates of vitamins A, C, D, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. 

Enjoy your week.. And thank you for reading.. And Welcome to all my New subscribers.. I hope you enjoy browsing. 

Blessings Sue

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August

You win some and you lose some.

Speaking of which  I will give you a picture update here now of the allotments and how things are coming along.. We have had some very heavy storms with flash flooding with heavy rains yesterday, and we have been told by the UK Met Office to brace ourselves for more storms and heavy down pours as the tail end of Hurricane Bertha will hit Sunday, today.

Due to the fluctuating weather of dry the wet, many of the allotment holders have suffered Potato Blight We spotted it as soon as it started to appear on the foliage so we cut the tops off to stop it spreading to the potatoes.The potatoes are fine underneath thank goodness.

   

The cabbages got hit too with root fly so you can see the missed spaces here under the netting.. The Cabbage White butterfly didn’t get to them but the Cabbage root fly did..  You win some and you lose some. That’s how it is when you grow your own.. We do not spray anything.. But next time we will remember to put a circle of card around the new plants as the fly lays its eggs at the base of the cabbage, the maggots then can’t  go down and eat the root as the eggs will often dry off and die.

  The onions and shallots have dried out beautifully and were left on top to finish off drying.. Unfortunately we missed not going down to the allotments for just one day, but someone obviously needed some extra onions that day and helped themselves to the biggest Onions across the rows…. ( I do not like to think of another allotmenteer  could do this, but we also had lots of garlic taken earlier this year. Some one likes their onions!  

A success story though is our dwarf beans and runner beans.. loads have been frozen, and are now stored in the freezers. ( and yes we have a back up generator just in case of emergencies ) As we have had one or two unexpected power outages recently due to storms.. 

       

The Sweet corn has gone to seed earlier than expected and many cobs are not fully mature, but having said that we have got quite a few large ones off already.. It seems everything in the allotment this year is around a month early for harvesting. The Courgettes too have been abundant.

and we are just getting the Butternut squash forming.. This is a success too as we hadn’t tried growing this before..

We also have had lots of Raspberries too off the bushes and lots still to come on later flowering crops. So these have been made into delicious sweet deserts some  of these recipes I will add to my recipe pages later..  The Blackberries too have been yielding Pounds of fruit and I am keeping my eye out for the elderberries which are just about ready for turning on the trees.. I want to try my hand this year of making Elderberry Syrup which is good for keeping those colds and coughs at bay..

Above  are the Gladioli’s which I have grown to have as cut flowers  to display  indoors..

Well I hope you enjoyed my Relaxing Days, I started with the New Moon and my altering my Intentions and the Full Super Moon is going to be a super one too, so Enjoy! Click the links to find our more..

And Thank you for reading..

~Sue ~

October 

The weather here in the UK has taken a turn for the worse as Autumn is making her presence known. Last week we were basking in glorious Sun of temperatures in the 20’C  and this week its plummeted to average of around 14’C  going even colder at night.. So the jumpers are back on and the stew pot of veggies have been on the menu.   The weather really turned for the worse for those living just a few miles down the road from us.. As a Mini Twister tore roofs off homes in the Derbyshire town of Alfreton.  To see pictures of the damage caused the link is here....     These types of ‘Twisters’ are unusual in the UK..  We have been busy getting the allotments sorted and storing and freezing.. So lots have kept us busy. Below is a picture update.. 

The Allotments in October 2014 in Picture Format . 

Long view, Hubby walking towards the Sheds

 

Fruit Bushes, Black and Red currant and Raspberries, this is the view from the sheds looking back up the garden.

Leeks and Red onions. Freshly weeded and raked. by Muwwwww.

Butternut Squash, we have now gathered in.. And stored, Frozen some in cubes… Comes in handy for cooking that way

Parsnips and Purple sprouting Broccoli. These will be our over winter greens and veggies…

Brassica’s Curly Kale, Swiss Chard.. Enjoy your Greens.. They are good for you

Didn’t We weed Well! 

This is a new piece dug over next to the strawberry bed.. We are intending to plant some apple and pear trees along here.

At the Back of the shed the old rubbish heap is going to be levelled. This is where we intend to grow our Butternut squash next year. As the allotment next to us just put his squash on old soil and left them.. They were 3 sizes bigger than ours.. So here they will have room to spread out to their hearts content 🙂

 

Here is just some of the Garlic we harvested .