Weeding the brassicas

Still not too sure what these are but it seemed only fair to weed them and keep them looking good.

Is it possible for cauli's to be 'blind' this bed has been planted up since October/November last year and you would imagine that something would be happening by now. I have had four of the plants produce some fab purple sprouting brocoli, but the other plants which are supposed to be cauliflowers and white sprouting brocoli are growing - very healthy - but no sign of producing any veg.

Do any of you have any experiance or ideas as to what is going on ?

More sunflowers

My daughter and I went a bit sunflower crazy this year we planted about 40, all germinated, but the slugs have enjoyed quite a few these were a few stragglers left behind so a good dollop of compost and in they went.

Blackcurrant

The blackcurrants are starting to turn a yummy looking colour a bit of sun should see them right - who am I kidding - sun it is Welsh Summer Time !!

Foxglove patch

The foxgloves are looking good, as soon as they die down I will lift them and move them down to compost bins and the baby bath pond under the elder flower tree and they can self seed and flower away to thier hearts content.

Pumpkin in the compost

The Atlantic Giant pumpkin in the compost bin seems to settling in nicely and if the slugs will allow it my daughter should get a great big pumpkin for Halloween !!

Weeding .... again

Now that most of my plants are in, its time to turn my attention to the weeds. Although technically the foxgloves are weeds they are too pretty to get rid of, I imagine the birds have dropped the seeds for me and this being their second year they are flowering beautifully. When the big clump at the bottom of the picture has died back I will dig it up and move it but at the moment I am enjoying them.


I only had an hour to spend at the plot last night and made a start at the side of the brassicas. I can only be general and call them brassicas as I am unsure if they are cauliflowers or white sprouting brocoli, the purple sprouting brocoli has been and gone so I can rule that out but even though I have been peering at the heart of the plants there is no sign of anything. I am not desperate for this patch of land so I will leave them until the end of August and if there is still no action they will have to come out - they have been in since before Christmas so its only fair to presume they should have produce something by now !

It was only a small bit of clearance as I mentioned I only had an hour but it has been well dug and checked for weed roots so should be OK.

Anyway a little and often is a better than standing around bewildered as to where to start as I did last year !!

More pumpkins and sweetcorn

Went down the plot on Monday evening and planted two more tomato plants to even out the row. I have also planted three atlantic giant pumpkin at the edge of plot with the idea that they can ramble along the path. It shouldn't pose a problem as the path is between me and the fence between the horses field so it will not bother anybody else as only I use the path.


I have given this plot a good sprinkling of chicken manure to help things along and I also gave it a good watering as it has been so dry - as a result it absolutely stinks !

You can the chicken manure in tonights photo it looks like rabbit pellets when it has got wet hopefully it will start to release its goodness and make my plants grow.

Sweetcorn and pumpkins

As mentioned previously this was going to be an emergency spot for my remaining potatoes, but when I checked them over they had been waiting to long and gone rotton, so that idea was scrapped.


I had already turned over most of the section but when I was away my Dad squared it off me and it was ready to go.




I dug it over again to loosen it up raked it out as level as possible on a Welsh hillside and laid out the sweetcorn and pumpkins for planting. Sweetcorn needs to be grown in a grid formation as oppossed to rows as it is pollinated by the wind.




I managed to cope without the aid of string or a safety net and got kind of straight rows ! I am not sure how sucessful the pumpkins will be as they are saved seed from a pumpkin I bought from a farm in Somerset they could be F1's and may not come true but we will see. To be on the safe side and to ensure my girl gets a pumpkin for Halloween I have planted six Atlantic Giant seeds and the plants they have already turned into are quite scary - thay are huge, one is being planted in the compost bin and the rest I will plant on the edges of the plot so they can ramble along the paths.

Whilst I was out shopping for pea net I came across a product that is alleged to be safe for pets and children will kill slugs and then you can dig it in and it will help condition the soil - sounds a bit too good to be true to me but we will see.

Planting out time

This week is going to be a busy one. I have lots and lots to plant out. I have grown almost everything in cells a t home even runner beans and broadies and peas. Last year I had almost zero germination with seeds that were direct sown into the ground so I wasn't prepared to take any chances. All of the plants have out grown their pots and are desperate to be out in the real world.


This is part of the ground that Dad dug over for me whilst I was away, so all I had to do was turn it over bash it about and it was ready to go.

I certainly didn't trust myself to guestimate a straight line - you know my track record - so I relied on string markers to help me out ! Three rows of broad beans should keep us going for a while !

Long shot of the plot so you can see how its coming along. Runner bean frame is still standing !! Three days and counting !

I ran out of time on Tuesday night, so on Wednesday I went back down and put another row of peas in. In retrospect I think I have been over generous in the space between the rows so I think I'll fit some lettuce or radish to fill the void !

This part of the plot is full so all that needs to happen is for the slugs to keep away, the sun to shine and the rain to calm down and all should be well - oh I forgot I live in Wales that will never happen !!

Runner bean frame ... sort of ...

I enjoy browsing a few forums for gardening and allotment and one that I frequent Allotment and Vegetable Gardening http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2100&highlight= There are 12 pages to wade through but its well worth it to see other members constructions. They are a friendly bunch and one of the members Munty has developed a different way of supporting runner beans. This is my feeble attempt at a Munty - pop along to the site and have a look at other members efforts - much more sturdy and sensible than mine - but what else would you expect from me !!!

Genie's magic

Whilst I was enduring what felt like storm force gales one day and sun burn the next on my half term holiday ....


The Genie was hard at work finishing my patch of digging, playing with his new petrol strimmer to cut down the grass on my paths and digging over another patch of land down the other end of the plot.



This piece of ground was very compacted and I was having trouble getting through it so I was very grateful when I go the plot yesterday and found that the very heavy digging had been done for me.

As well as doing the hard dig, Dad has also been looking after my plants for me whilst I have been away so these can go straight into the ground he has prepared !!

Raspberry plaqnting and a special helper

The Autumn fruiting raspberries that my Dad had given had to be planted before I went away for my holiday, I dug over a small part of the area marked off for them but had to finish turning it over and weeding it before they could go in .....






.... I had a little helper who was busy having a picnic and checking that Mam was doing the job properly ....

..... bed dug and even though you cannot see them the canes are in, I don't expect to get anything from them this year but hopefully next Autumn will be brimming with raspberries !!

my helper was determined to be helpful so I put her to work giving anything and everything a good soaking

This is a photo taken by my daughter of her favourite thing on the allotment - the strawberries she cannot wait for the berries to ripen so that she can gobble them up !!!