The culprit is unmasked!

I have conferred with Ron next door and he has no doubt that the culprit (see the last post but one) is a Badger! Apparently this is common practice for them. Mystery solved!

All the beds dug

All 10 beds have now been dug over and we are nearly ready for the winter break. The jobs that still need doing are as follows:

1. Adding manure to all the beds


2. Edging all the beds to prevent the couch grass encroaching


3. Weeding the beds where we have crops planted and in the tunnel


4. Harvesting the salad leaves. There is far more than we need, suggest we give away to neighbours as it will run to seed soon

"Log in a Blog" or "Turd in the Hole"

A couple of days ago, I noticed that some animal had been digging a hole, about 5 inches wide and 3-4 inches deep. I thought nothing of it except to wonder what animal had dug the hole, fox, badger, rat or vole. Anyhow, today (3 days after the it was dug) the hole had an object in it. Now, whatever it was, it must have had an excellent aim, as it managed to get the stool into the hole precisely, and I don't mean the type of stool you sit on! Does anyone have any knowledge of what animal it might have been and if it normally conducts itself in this fashion?

Manure, Onion Set & New bed

For those that have not seen it, it's big, warm, steaming and has some flies attached. Yes, It's the manure heap, delivered from Holywell Farm. Richard & Jonathan bravely managed to transfer some to two beds this side of the tunnel.

I have planted about 70 onion winter sets in the bed where the manure is and staked them out with 3 mini posts to show where they are. Will need to decide if we need netting when they start coming through, if not before!

Finally, a new bed has been completed on the other side of the tunnel, leaving us with 3 beds still to complete

Compost bins and runner bean frames

I have managed to piece together a pair of compost bins from the boards acquired by Jonathan & Irene and painted them an organic green. Here is a picture!

The next thing is a frame for growing runner beans constructed from some old garden posts from Chez Tetard no longer needed. With help from the 2 neighbouring plots, I managed to borrow step ladders and a big hammer from Ron Gamble. Both of these are in the shed, so if you see Ron, please give them back!

The last things is a picture of the inside of the polytunnel, which is now blessed with a lot of salad leaves. It is deceptive how much produce we have grown, so please help yourself to more.

Polytunnel - second bed now cleared

At last, the strawberry side of the polytunnel is cleared and ready for anything we wish to plant. There was a degree of guilt in that we had to evict a family of frogs (of all ages) in the process - and to make us feel even worse, every time we placed them outside, they kept coming back!

Positively, a surprisingly large population of snails and slugs also got their eviction orders and were treated to a free 'river cruise' for their troubles.

I've moved the paving slab at the backdoor of the polytunnel - again, it was hiding a number of well fed slugs. My view is that the more we minimise the 'hiding places', the less of a problem they'll be. Seems to have worked well with the purple sprouting as some of the more munched plants are recovering strongly.

Irene has managed to secure some wooden panels from work. These are now up against the side of the shed. Once we've levelled that heap at the back, we can get the compost bin built. They should be good in that unlike a lot of pallets, there are no gaps in the slats, so we can 'hot compost', which takes a considerably shorter time than 'cold composting' - allegedly.

Have finally started to see some aubergines developing at last. Gave them a feed, so hopefully they'll continue to develop.

All in all - looking good ! Don't forget to take the mixed salad leaves - there's plenty now....

More plantings

Geoff and I bought some more produce from the man on the market. We planted the seedlings out. You'll see outside that we've planted some purple seedlings, 15 in all. These are kale, which should be ready early next year. Alongside are a couple of rows of chard and a few lettuce seedlings.

We've bought some finer mesh in the hope that this will be more successful in detering pests than the mesh inherited from the Trevors.

In the polytunnel, we've planted out the remaining chard. It apparently can be cut early, like salad leaves. We also bought and planted some more lettuce seedlings, some of which (but I can't remember which) are cut-and-come-again. Finally there is a row of mizuna, easily identifed by its spiky leaf.

Geoff has some onion sets. We were advised to sow these at the end of the month.

Update and Cabbage whites

The trench is now being filled in after spreading 2 bags of the bagged manure from the shed. Jonathan has been working hard in the polytunnel clearing the strawberries that have become inextricably linked to the twitch roots, but creates some space. Plan to but some Bok Choi, onion winter sets and other seedlings from market on Thursday for planting.
Jonathan & I watched as a cabbage white butterfly found its way through the netting and settled on our broccoli. Obviously the mesh of the netting is too wide! We will probably soon have caterpillars competing with the slugs for our greens (provide the slugs can evade the newly distributed slug pellets!)

Bay, Rosemary and Weed Prevention sheets

We hope to have the 5th bed dug over by the weekend; the soil on the other side of the ploytunnel is much better to work, so we are over the really tough bit, just need to keep the soil weeded and hoed in preparation for the spring plantings. Bought 5 Weed Prevention sheets from Tesco reduced from £3.49 to 61p each and one covers a bed! If we want any more there are still some left.
Planted a rosemary bush and Bay Tree which have outgrown Chez Tetard.

Salad Leaves

Some of the salad leaves in the polytunnel have taken quite well, especially the mixed salad leaves. These might be ready for eating now, so please feel free to try them out (and report back).

I've planted some more salad seeds today. Counting from the immediate right of the salad leaves, there are now two new rows of more salad leaves, followed by two rows of rocket.

I'll continue to sow salad stuff throughout September in the hope that we get better germination rates than so far.

Spreading the muck

Had an interesting adventure. Ron at Plot 39 told me that a Mr Smith at Holywell Farm was able to supply a load of well rotted manure. Try finding a Mr Smith in the Telephone Directory or on the Net!! So my adventure took me along Ashby Road in the Shepshed direction, between a layby and the BP garage is a track. House is about a mile up there.
3 very big noisy dogs greeted me and suggested that I did not exit the car. A very nice Mrs Smith took my details and said that delivery would not take place until Oct/Nov and they should call me first. Cost per load about £20.
Their details
Mr Richard Smith
Phone # 01509 239277 Mobile# 07703 583997

Update weekend of 19th August

Thought we'd just add where we are this weekend - more of a timestamp than anything else.

Added 23 leeks to the space left in the polytunnel - adjacent to the aubergines and chilli plants. Dad had just planted some of his out and these were what he'd got left over (and more besides). Be interesting to see how they compare to those outside.

The strawberry side of the polytunnel has started to be dug over. This is twitch heaven - we've been pulling out roots three foot long. That said, soil again looks great once cleared. Leaves from inside are now in Geoff's trench. We've also moved the chicken feed and manure up to the shed, out of the way.

Nettle from front of polytunnel entrance has been cleared on one side. 'Twas a monster and I'm sure it will be back in Terminator fashion. Will tackle other side shortly.

Hosepipe has been brought over from East Leake and left in polytunnel. Looks to be a good length with a nozzle attachment. Have not yet attempted to fit it anywhere. Thanks to Ma & Pa (now avid readers of the blog!).

Further oberservations. Looks like Richard has dug out bramble roots between the redcurrants an Geoff has continued his undertaker training by beginnning another new trench adjacent to the one recently finished by Richard. Finally, looks like Mike/Geoff have filled the various holes and runs around the polytunnel entrance. Have to say it makes a massive difference not to be forever checking where you put your feet.

As Hanna & Barbera would say, 'That's all folks'.

Oh, and I think we've got slugs attacking the purple sprouting (certainly looked to be more than just caterpillars). Remedies ?!

Photos Sunday 12 August

See the progress we have made!

Warning - once bitten.....

Jan got bitten on her leg whilts at the allotment. I got a similar bite a couple of days later at a barbecue (admittedly nowhere near the allotment!), and this was the result. It might be prudent to slap on some anti insect stuff before each visit to stop the pests getting their retaliation in first!

Mike's new salad leaves looking good. Watered early (mid afternoon) but did everything twice so should survive the heat over the rest of the day. J's trench getting v anty, but another 6 feet turned and twitch removed (next year's weeds according to one Martin who introduced himself. He also told me about the geology of Loughboro and that there are 101 varieties of potato in Peru. So quite an afternoon.)

Shed gets a coat of paint

Hi all

Di took advantage of the good weather this afternoon to slap a coat of Cuprinol (thanks for the paint, Geoff) on to the shed. Looks much better! Hope you agree.

Di and Mike

Further plantings...

Quick update - have added a butternut squash to the outside bed and will train up and down as witnessed on other plots. Also added 12 leeks to the bed - see how they come along. Plan is to place a couple of aubergine plants in the polytunnel bed on Monday evening.

Have watered today (Sunday) and Irene hoed the weeds in the tunnel. We'll water again Monday night as well unless advised otherwise.

Other plan for us this week is to try and complete the second outside bed - remove the twitch and style as per bed 1.

Regards, J&I

Good afternoon

Right then! Back from hols and the great work undertaken by you all inspected this afternoon. An absolute transformation, and next door looks much less of a seed/weed threat than it did. Thanks for all the hard effort. We'll get the garden tame again and then give a hand. see you all tonight!

An expert opinion...

My dad passed on some of his wisdom the other week concerning how to pick the right sized allotment. I thought it was worth sharing...

"Never choose an allotment that is larger than your wife can hoe in one day..."

Wise words indeed !

First plantings!

Geoff and I have planted out some broccoli (a mixture of purple- and white-sprouting). Its all we could find at Picks: we were told that the sprout and leek sets had all already gone! The broccoli has gone into the first trench that Irene and Jonathan dug (trench no.2) and we've protected them (hopefully) with some netting and an organic slug deterent. So, using Jonathan's classication, row 2 is the brassica row!

In the polytunnel, we've sowed 2 rows each of: rocket; spinach; salad leaves; and lettuce (variety is bionda lenta). There's still space to repeat that in maybe a couple of weeks time. At the opposite end a couple of chilli plants and a tarragon bush have gone in. Please keep an eye on the moistness of the soil. It can be watered using the overhead watering system. It mostly works. Just plug in the yellow hose connector (in a flowerpot inside the polytunnel) between the water tap and the hose running up the side of the plot.

In the next few days, Geoff and I will reroof the shed and secure it, and lay down tarpaulin behind the polytunnel.

Mike

Quick update...

Work on second outside bed has begun, measured up to same dimensions as first (ie. 23 x 4). Although it looks like good progress, ie. halfway through, it's only been single digging so far. We're trying a new approach where we turn the top layer clear, break it up and clear of twitch and then we'll go back and turn the second deeper layer. If nothing else, it adds variety to digging !

Depending on weather, may get down Thursday. If not, it'll be Saturday.

Some assorted images from the weekend's work...

First bed complete...

Our first beer...

Polytunnel dug, raked and ready...

A lovely barrow of twitch...

All 'twitched' out

Afternoon, all.

Update from our weekend workings. First bed is is now complete - may want add some manure/fertiliser/improver. Other than that, it's seems to be in good shape. Polytunnel has also been tidied up, with the non-strawberry bed dug over and de-twitched. I'm sure we'll be dreaming about it (twitch) tonight ! Soil is in good shape - appears more moist towards the far end (Sandalwood side).

DECISION REQUIRED ON WHETHER TO COVER OVER OR PLANT. We did pick up some seeds at the weekend (rocket, radish, spinach and little gem lettuce), but didn't want to plant without consultation.

Met both Gerald and Les (previous tenant), who came to dig some more spuds (left a row, but he'll come back for them). Had a good conversation and can understand why Les is no longer able to carry it on. We did invite him to come and see progress whenever he felt like it. I suspect he'll continue to pop down, if only to keep up with some of our allotment neighbours.

Gerald pulled a couple of spades from the shed and a half-scythe. He's happy for us to keep the scythe (now inside the polytunnel) since they no longer have a use for it. Could do with a little sharpening, but you'll see it's pretty effective from what I've taken down towards the shed-end. I've said that if we find anything else of value (tools) in the shed, we'll let him know, but he had a pretty good rummage around, so what's left is for us to use.

The beds far side of the tunnel were rotavated last year, growth is 12 months only. Gerald felt that they would be an easier option to refresh. He has a rotavator and did offer to rotavate for us. We said we'd confer and let him know.

Other neighbours met were Lee and Madge on Saturday (on the rotavated plot). They've now planted out some of what they rescued from their previous plot. We also have a Gerald next to us, who shares some of his plot with Howard (who has the next one down after Gerald's. Also met a Judith, whose husband she referred to as 'Digger Dave'. All very nice and friendly.

We also had our first beer and picnic at the allotment on Sunday - outstanding ! Good as being on holiday...

Talk to you all soon, J&I x

Previous tenant

I've spoken to Gerald Trevor, the son of the previous tenant, Les. It seems that Les has had the plot for 30 years and was reluctant to give it up. However his health has deteriorated recently.

Gerald was surprised we had already taken it over. I explained that the Council had repeatedly been in touch with his father, who took his failure to reply and his age as indication that he was relinquishing the plot. Gerald has attempted to work the lot in recent times. However he now lives in Hinckley and, as we talked, seemed to become reconciled that the plot needed handing over to new tenants.

Here are a couple of notes that may be useful. He bought the polytunnel 3-4 years ago as a present for his father. He has installed an overhead sprinkler system in it, but this is not needed every day, as the soil retains moisture well, even in high summer.

He had treated the soil under the tarpaulin with leaf mould, and says its condition is now much better than previously. (That explains the rotting bags of leaves in the polytunnel)

He says they have not experienced flooding of the plot since the Council installed land drains several years back.

Gerald mentioned the rows of remaining potatoes. I said he was free to dig those up at his convenience

Gerald will empty the shed in the next few days.

Geoff and I today (Wednesday) continued the clearing out of the polytunnel. We have potted a few strawberry runners in the hope they might take - and be replanted when we know what to do with the polytunnel next year.

Mike

Double digging for beginners...

Clearly a job for masochists. That said, soil in the first bed now underway appears pretty good. Bit of clay, but given the rain we've had, remarkably un-waterlogged. Adding to Mike & Geoff's good work from earlier today, we're about three quarters of the way to having our first 23 x 4 foot bed dug over.

Irene's started clearing the polytunnel. Some work required, but probably not as bad as it looks. Strawberry plants look pretty good and one or two fruits on the way. Having got the measure of it, I think we can crack on pretty quickly - job for the weekend, weather permitting.

One suggestion - at some point, we ought to start filling in some of the holes/drainpipe sized ruts around the plot. If we don't someone's going to break an ankle. Not sure whether it has any drainage properties, or it's just a sunken border (believe the latter), but we could always simply gravel it.

We'll also get in touch with a local timber merchant to figure out how much raised beds are going to cost (Harlow Bros.). Will advise accordingly.

Meet the neighbours

I met a couple who are taking the site next to ours (the one that's just been rotovated). They are called Lee and Madge and have rented it with another couple, one of whom is called Heather (not sure what her partner is called). They took over another plot near the Forest Road entrance some 10 weeks ago and it was completely waterlogged and they lost everything. They have confirmed that all the council did was to rotovate all the weeds into the ground, there was no surface clearance first. Armed with this information I tend to side with Jonathan's view on rotovation.
They also said that as far a drainage is concerned, they think there are land drains under the plots that drain into the brook, but these may have been blocked by the two road tracks and the installation of the water. Our plots are therefore not affected by either of these and should drain better.

To Rotovate or not to Rotovate...that is Geoff's question....

Have to say, our first thoughts were what a great job. However, the more I (Jonathan) thought about it, the more I thought it best not to rotovate. Reason being that as we create the various beds, unless we lay new grass for paths, we'll be tramping through mud all the time. On our plot, by only clearing the areas we want to cultivate, at least we will already have the basics of a grass path around them to work from. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to avoid the dirt...just not go home covered in it !!

Another opinion, but if consensus is to rotovate, I'm relaxed about it.

As an aside, we took various measurements last night. I'll try and present graphically, but textually:

1. The plot is 23 feet wide and and 33 feet from the path to the polytunnel. If we go with 3 foot paths and 4 foot deep beds, we could do 5x2 (ie. 10) beds of 10 foot (wide) by 4 foot (deep), with a pathway up the middle and along the length of each. Certainly enough to get us going !

2. Polytunnel is 11 feet wide.

3. There's a further 30 feet to the brambles. Using the same principle in 1, we could have 4x2 (ie. 8) beds 10 foot by 4 foot, with requisite paths.

4. Brambles are 5 feet deep.

5. There's a further 15 feet to the fence, but it's fairly uneven and probably only good for storage, compost, etc. And maybe a new shed and incinerator (Geoff !!)....

Ciao for now....

Look at the work done on Plot 40

The council have done an excellent job on Plot 40 and have cleared to whole plot and removed ll the debris apart from a few things that the new allotment people might want.

This might make us re-think on whether it should be rotovated.

OK, we know that some of the weeds may have been dug in, but look at all that time saved!

New 'Library' Resources

Forgot to mention, we also ordered a couple of books. In the end, we decided to get different ones to J&G. Details are as follows (hopefully save anyone buying the same unintentionally):

1. "The Allotment Keeper's Handbook: A Down-to-earth Guide to Growing Your Own Food"by Jane Perrone

2. "Allotment Gardening: An Organic Guide for Beginners"by Susan Berger

Anyway, they both get good (occasionally mixed) reviews on Amazon, but at least the latter should aid our organic credentials !! Will let you know what they're like and share around...

As it was in the beginning....

This shot is taken from the north end

This second shot from the south (brook) end

Another of the workers

One of the workers

Minutes of first Allotment Club Meeting 15 Jul 07

Allotment Meeting 15 July 07
Swan in Rushes

Agreed we will try initially to cultivate allotment using organic methods.

Preferred crops:

• Potatoes
• Asparagus
• Beetroot
• Broad beans
• Peas
• Agreed we may also grow flowers.

Richard has kindly offered his garage as storage space for tools etc.

Mike to be treasurer for first year.
Action: Each family to donate to Mike £75 initially for allotment fund. Mike to use this to reimburse team for any outgoings

Action: Mike to confirm allotment, decline offer of rotovating and request neighbouring plot.Plot 41 confirmed. Council this morning have refused to give us neighbouring plot because of long waiting list.

Action: Geoff agreed to produce a work book of work to be undertaken throughout the year.

Action: Jonathan agreed to set up a blog, accessible by all so we can report action, progress. Done!http://allotmentadventures.blogspot.com/

Action: Polytunnnel to be tidiedNew plot to be dug, where black tarpaulin currently lies.Patch behind polytunnel to be strimmed (Action: Mike)

Action: All to consider what first crops might be so we get early results, ideally with Xmas in mind.

Well, here we go....

A first blog on the road to home grown fruit and vegetables...

So on behalf of Mike & Di, Jan & Geoff, Caroline & Richard and Jonathan & Irene...here begins our grand Allotment Adventure !

Keep posting and think of the harvests to come....