June 16th

Another Harvest

Strawberries look ready to pick. I netted the bed this year and could see some red ones under the mass of leaves. In the middle if the bed I came across this, a pile of unripe strawberries. How weird is this ? Who or what could have done this, and why ? What a mystery.

Onions and garlic ready to pick, chard looks so fresh and ready to be eaten, and then I spotted some turnips that had come to the surface ready for picking.

Chard

Garlic

Today's harvest.

Not bad first turnip harvest.

Good harvest of strawberries. I just hope the rest coming through in the bed are not piled up by a strange predator before they are ready to pick.

June_ first Harvest

Wow

The onions and garlic are ready for harvesting.

Lots more to pick yet.

More hedge trimming to do.

June

Not done much during May. Started beetroot in trays and planted them out and they seem to have taken root.

Beetroot plants coming through surrounded by lots of weeds...

So lots of weeding to be done.

Managed to de-weed most of the bed today. I am sure the next time I come, it will be covered in weeds again....arghhhhhh.....

The beech hedge definitely needs a BIG trim, so that is a job for Mr S.

A row of greens beans planted.

Pumpkins, and squashes planted, looking neat until the pumpkin and squashes go rampant.

Just a couple of tomato plants. Last year all the tomatoes got blight and did not do well at all, so not really hoping for much this year.

Ready for planting

I decided to try out turnips this year. So planted the seeds in a tray and very soon there was a mass of seedlings germinated. As soon as they were big enough to be handled I transferred them into bigger deeper trays. There were so many plants !

Turnip planting

All turnips plants in

I even had a few plants to give away.

Now to get the pumpkins and the squashes in the soil.

Lots of hard digging

 

Strawberries seem to have taken over. To protect them this year I am going to net them.

Turnips have taken root and the plants are looking good. There will be lots of turnips.

May

Getting Ready for Planting

April brought a lot of rain, so not so not many good days to be at the LG.

It is now May and its seems to be a very slow start for us this year.

The beans I planted in trays have not done well. The pumpkin and squashes seem to be doing OK and will be  ready to go into the soil soon

Lots more tidying up needs doing.

Onions and Garlic planted December 2017 doing well

Apple tree with blossom, pear tree and cherry tree

Strawberry bed

Raspberries have gone wild this year

Building a structure for pumpkins and squashes.

2018

Its is now June and I am about to give an update on what has been happening at the LG.
February to March the weather was very cold, and there was lot of snow during March.

At the beginning of April it was time to start tidying up the beds and plan what I was going to grow in each bed.

I have only just started to propagate the seeds in the conservatory - the usual green beans, pumpkin and squashes. Decided just to have a few of these.

The broad beans that I started off during December were ready to put in the ground during late February, and then with all the snow and cold weather none survived.

Ready for 2018

On Gardeners World, Monty Don suggested that when planting things in your garden or allotment, plant stuff you are going to use and eat.

Well, it will be two years in April since we have had our LG and I plant things that I quite fancy or want to experiment with, for instance Artichokes, Asparagus and sweet corn.

The artichokes got black fly and the whole lot of plants just died, and then in the autumn seem to have new growth and may be OK for next year.

The asparagus - well that is an experiment. It takes 3-4 years to establish the plants and its growth, before asparagus can be harvested.

The sweetcorn grew well and we had quite a few cobs and then suddenly most of them were eaten, we reckon by mice... Will try growing them again, but I will have to cover the plants with nets.

The strawberry bed this year was covered with strawberry plants, but we did not get any strawberries. Lots of flowers produced strawberries but none to to be harvested. All were eaten, by who knows what ? Another bed will have to have a secure netting.

Over the last two years I planted about 4-5 plants of pumpkins. Although great to see them grow to the size they become from a small seed, they take over all given space. We end up giving them away as they grow to be so large  - up to 20kg - and are far too much for two people to consume.

So, next year I will maybe just grow one plant and just have a couple of pumpkins.
The squash planted this year did well and I enjoyed cooking them and sharing them with friends and family. The taste was just amazing.

The courgettes did not do well this year at all. It could it be that I planted, pumpkin, squash, and courgettes in the same bed and the whole lot just grew like the triffids and the plants got mingled with each other and grew over each other.

Last year we had a real glut of courgettes from just5 plants. Every visit to the LG during harvest time we came home with several kilos of courgettes and gave away so much too.

Next Year 2018

For next year, I have purchased lots of seeds from Kings catalogue that specialises in seeds for allotments.

I think I chose stuff that I know I  would like and will eat and share with friends and family.

Here is an example of the seeds I purchased. Certain stuff I have I not planted before, turnips, a variety of beans, chilli peppers, beetroot, fennel, caraway and bergamot.
Looking forward to spring next year to get the seeds planted.