A Real Allotment

One month on and things are really starting to grow now. We have harvested our first crop - granted you can't really fail with radish, but never the less they were extremely yummy.

We are having to cover absolutely everything with netting, I made the mistake of planting out some cauliflower and not covering them. Even with CDs hanging over them by the next day the wood pigeons had annihilated them, leaving me with some poorly looking stalks. Luckily my mum had sewn a full packet of seeds (over 100 cauliflower) so we are not short of seedlings!

We have managed to acquire a huge amount of wood from a friend, enough to make a shed. Luckily my dad has offered to help so on May Day Bank Holiday we started by clearing the ground and laying some slabs.

Less than a week later we have a 7 foot shed, we certainly won't be short of storage space now. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera so I will post a picture next time.

One of the most satisfying plants I have grown from seed this year must be asparagus. I saved some seeds last year from the plants I have in the garden at home. We planted them in a seed tray, not expecting much but 6 weeks later we have baby asparagus plants. I will have to wait several years before I will be able to harvest them, at the moment they are a couple of inches tall. They look like little Christmas trees in the photo but they are really soft and feathery.

Planting

Things are moving along quickly now at the allotment and I have not had time to update for a while so I think a list is in order.

1. Seeds planted in the greenhouse by Mum - Basil, Coriander and Tumbling Tomatoes courtesy of Gardeners World free seeds hanging basket trial. Plus Sorrel, Cauliflower, Leeks, Courgette, Chard, Peas (so the mice don't get them) and Cardoon (I've never tried these but they look great, apparently you eat the stems of the leaves)

2. Thomas planted potatoes, onions and shallots, and now considers everything he plants to be his - although he has consented to share with us!
3. More digging and path laying (see the labels on the left of the path where the potatoes etc have been planted). As we haven't got enough wood yet to put in edging for the beds we are just using planks to walk on whilst we plant. Not ideal but it does allow us to put in plants and then think about the layout when we have finished digging.

4. Radish planted in the bath - just until it is time to put in the carrots. Apparently if you plant carrots in a bath they don't get attacked by carrot fly, something to do with how high they fly off the ground. I'll let you know if it works.

5. A week after planting the seeds have sprouted in the greenhouse - these are the peas (and cauliflower above them). The weather over Easter has been so hot and sunny we have been everyday to water the seedlings and open the greenhouse.

6. And the onions are sprouting.

7. The weed pile grows bigger still. I am in the process of reading up about companion planting and have discovered that the Mexican Marigold effects the growth of couch grass and bindweed, plus has a insecticidal effect on keeled slugs - sounds a winner to me, must see if I can source some. Has anyone got any other tips for companion plants that subdue the growth of weeds? I need all the help I can get!

8. Spring has well and truly sprung.

Happy Gardening