Ambitions for the year

Last year was pretty crap on the plot. This year will be better. Better organised, for sure, and hopefully better produce. Today I received my seeds from Garden Organic: climbing French beans (Neckar Queen), broad beans (Super aquadulce), calabrese (green sprouting), leeks (bandit), turnips (purple top milan) and coriander leaf. And a sieve, which my daughter models with aplomb:

Cost: £17.32

Gutted

• The two B&Qs are closing and being amalgamated into a new one at Hermiston Gait
• My two bean plants shrivelled up when I was on holiday (I should have expected that)
• The Winter Spinach hasn’t germinated well

OTOH there’s some good stuff:

• after digging in leafmould on top of one of the beds, the soil structure’s great. It’s been on there for a month or so, and there were loads of brandling worms when I put it on
• err …
• that’s it

Progress

It’s quiet … there are 2 French Bean plants still to crop and a row of turnips have just germinated, but here’s not much else on the plot. I guess the knack of managing and allotment is ensuring that it’s not boom and bust. I spent an evening last week planning and now have a rough scheme for the Winter and into the next season. It’s quite a guddle, trying to get the rotation and timings in sync. Maybe I’ll be able to do catch crops if I keep an eye on the plot, but that seems a bit advanced.

Yesterday:

• planted 6 small lavender bushes I got from B&Q for a fiver. This is part of the plan to replacethe ugly chick-wire fence on the South side of the plot with a row of herbs, and it’s coming along OK. There’s chives and mint and huge amount of oregano already, and I’ve still to transplant a rosemary from the garden to the allotment. Just gotta think of something to plant in between a couple of the lavenders and it’s done; leave the lavender to bed in, remove the chicken wire, tidy up (and remove a bramble and comfrey), then put own a bit of brick and block edging that I’ve reclaimed from the plot. Simple!
• Planted half a bed of Winter Spinach. Had to dig down through the leafmould to get to the soil. The soil is moist and weed-free, which is good news since the water has been off on the site for a fortnight…
• Weeded the nascent turnips

Update

Another warning letter from the allotments officer, and this time it seems to have kick-started me into action. I’ve got two new beds dug, cut down most of the tall grass, and put lovely leaf mould on the new beds. Have sown turnip seed by the red shed, but amn’t holding my breath for them to grow — nothing else that’s grown from seed has worked this year.

• Two French bean plants (out of 20 double-planted sites) are doing well. Who knows if they’ll bear any beans?
• courgettes are basically slug food
• cleaned up the path by the South side of the plot
• Got a good idea for how to manage the plot.

Next up …

• Go through Hessayon’s book noting which veggies I want to grow
• Talk to LETS people about permaculture

two frogs and a newt

• saw two species of frog and a newt
• some pods actually arriving on the beans
• definitive proof that standard shears are way better than hand-shears — I’ve done more grass cutting on the path
• noticed that someones been chucking rose cuttings into my plot
• perhaps that’s why the jerusalem artichoke got knocked over
• made inroads to the old compost bins and hacked back the omfrey. Will need to make some fence if I remove the whole of that structure
• lots of stuff could be burnt … and I saw how to make a firepit at 60 South Clerk Street
• a bit of weeding .. isn’t there always?

a few beans, somewhat late

Well … it’s a plant that’s sending leaves up. Who knows whether it’ll provide me with any beans.

Feeding guests from the allotment

Sat 14: a couple of hours, weeding and picking fruit. Inordinately happy to be picking fruit form the plot, although I’m learning how to do things for next year. Fed houseguests this weekend with a Scottish dessert consisting of raspberries and blackcurrants from the allotment, strawberries from Fife and ice cream from Orkney.

Tried to get rid of some slugs that were hanging round the courgettes. Still a bit squeamish about killing them, although I have a new-found respect as they’re tough to drown, with one particularly big one which kept climbing out of the plastic water container. I eventually chucked them in the river.

And there’s one French bean which is holding out. A small tendril is curling up the bamboo, so there may be a few beans this year.

2 hours this morning. Felt dejected at first because all the plants I’ve tried this year have got problems: beans all eaten, courgettes with mildew, spinach bolted, etc. Also the weeds and grasses are all grown up. But when I got stuck in to pulling up fireweed I perked up. Comfrey cut back and put on the compost heap.

Brought a small punnet of raspberries back. Will head out later today (after the Tour) and pick up rhubarb. Would have liked to make jam today, but I need to buy enough jars/waxed paper circles/etc.

Work this week

Tuesday: met with the Allotments Officer. Nice to put a face to the name, nice to get some advice, and nice not to get chucked off the plot. His advice is to strim the lot, dig the plot over and then plant a green manure. I should still be able to plant some salad crops for harvest this year in the bits I’ve already dug over. He also reckons that one shouldbe on the plot for about 10 hours per week.

Poured my first comfrey tea around the plot. It stinks! A week ago, I noticed that the courgette leaves were looking pale yellow-green — something I believe is a sign of nitrogen deficiency. It’s a shame, since I’ve planted the courgettes on magic mounds which do contain a lot of B’s hedge clippings (nitrogenous waste), although it may not have broken down yet. BTW, the day after I planted the courgettes on top of the mounds, I read that they should be somewhere concave rather than convex, and there should be a surrounding rill to contain the water. Another lesson learned! Anyway … the comfrey tea went on the leaves; they were alredy looking proud (turgid).

Wednesday: went to the plot for an hour or so after work and team while the sun was still high over the prison walls. Put protection in for the beans, peas and brassicas; picked a few raspberries; blackcurrants still need a week or so. I think I need to make the front of the plot look tidy so I don’t lose the fruit to other plot holders…

Cut some grass by the blue shed in order to make a space As I clear the plot ready for strimming, I’ll need a place to put the planks, poles etc. that are littering the place.

Thinned out the peas when I put the protection in. It still feels wierd to pull up viable plants, but that’s small beer compared to the mouse that I killed at home. When I saw the mouse in close proximity to the daughter, I put the traps down with chocolate as bait. 5 minutes later: snap! Didn’t expect that to work so soon…

Mostly weeding and mulching

Been to the allotment twice today. Got there at noon and has a mooch around, planted a second row of spinach, attended to the French beans, and got a barrowful of leafmould, but it was too hot and I had forgotten to bring any water. So at 1pm I headed home, had some lunch and headed out to Redhall walled garden, met A+J at the Water of Leith visitor centre and then pottered around the allotment again, mainly to plant a tiny lavender that I bought from Redhall.