Not lost the plot...

....yet! But this year has been a struggle to grow anything at the allotment!

 The random changing of the British seasons from one week to the next (sometimes even from one day to the next!) and the prolonged wet and cold spells when it should have been warm meant that lots of plants are behind in their growing season. 

I have also had lots of problems with slugs and snails who have been enjoying the wet weather! They ate all my courgette and squash plants (even all the replacement ones I planted too!)  Luckily I friend who gave me some of her spare plants which are finally bearing fruit!

We have had a good crop from the potatoes and peas. I still have 4 rows of potatoes to dig up yet!

Work on the plot will continue and I hope the rest of the plants will come to fruition before winter sets in!

What a difference a couple of weeks makes!

This photo was taken at the end of May just before I went on holiday for a week. We had had a few weeks of hot, dry weather which was then followed by lots of cold rainy weather! 

I managed to plant a few more things and tidy the plot before I went away.

This was the plot today! The combination of the hot weather followed by rain and me not being there means the weeds are starting to take over again!

A couple of hours weeding with my "helpers" (who don't return to school until tomorrow) and we only just managed to weed the front 2 bed and trim some of the grass! Hopefully if I go back this week without my helpers I will get more done!

The weeds are not the only thing growing well now, the onions and potatoes are both doing well (which cannot be said of my courgettes which are looking a bit sorry for themselves!)

Best laid plans...

My original idea of covering part of the plot so I wouldn't have to dig it up until autumn has gone a bit awry!

I spotted green shoots pushing up the weed suppressant fabric last week. The shoots were that strong they have pulled all the pegs out of the fabric where they are growing.

As I recognised them as potato leaves I decided to uncover them and let them grow. 

I don't know what type they are so unless I can find out from the previous plot holders (who we know) it will be a surprise when we dig them up!

Work on the plot continues to be slow. I am slowing digging over small bits at a time but the weeds are starting to grow quickly!

I am hoping to get some plants in soon but the weather is so bad at the moment I am worried they will be killed off in the cold! Although we had a couple of lovely days this weekend for the allotments annual plant sale!

On a rainy Bank Holiday

What better thing to do on a rainy bank holiday when you have poorly children than to sit planning your allotment! I have been playing around with a garden planner at GrowVeg.com

The full plan for our allotment can be found here

One of the biggest problems with the allotment is the shear amount of space I have available to plant things especially after being limited to a small back yard for the past few years. The planner shows me just how many of each plant I could put in the plot. This has been a real eye opener for a novice like me! I know we will probably not plant as many plants as the plan suggests.

The seeds are already being planted (at home in the mini greenhouse in the back yard) I am trying to remember to stagger the planting so the plants don't all bear fruit at the same time! That is a mistake I made last year with my cucumber plants that resulted in a glut (and no-one but me to eat them!) I did find a recipe for pickled cucumbers which is delicious though!

I will pin a copy of the plan to the shed door to inspire me while digging up bucket after bucket of weeds!

Week 24

Things have been busy down at the allotment for the past week, the unseasonably warm weather has meant I have been able to get a lot of work done!

One of the big jobs I have tackled is behind the shed. Over the years it appears soil and rubbish has just been piled behind the shed. This has meant that the soil was higher than the bottom of the shed, someone had placed wood against the shed to prevent the soil from touching it but they were damp too. This has resulted in bottom the shed being very wet and rotting.

I started by taking the wood out and started to remove the soil. In the process I disturbed lots of frogs! Most seem to have found a new home under the shed or on neighbours plots.

After half a days digging I managed to clear an area away from the shed to allow the wood to dry out enough to paint. I have now given it a quick coat of paint but need to go over it again.

After another half a day we have a more or else level area behind the shed! It was a lot of hard work and has taken at least 3 trips to the tip so far! We still have a little more levelling to do by the side of the shed so we can accommodate the water butt and compost bin.

Once the shed has been painted fully all over we can then put up the guttering ready for the water butt.

Not all the work has been going on around the shed, we have been slowly weeding some of the plot that was under the black plastic. This is where my potatoes are going hopefully!

The weeding is very hard work, it is a case of digging, digging and digging again to get all the little bits of roots out!

I am hoping the warm weather stays with us a bit longer so we can continue to make progress!

Week 20

I can't believe it is week 20 already! Not much has been happening on the allotment over winter. We didn't go there much due to Christmas, illness and it being too cold and frozen!

Now we are heading towards spring it is time to get back to it!

One of the things we did do over winter was to fix the shed roof (or rather my dad did it for us!) It was in a quite bad state of repair with several rotten boards hiding under the felt that was letting in lots of water.

The boards have been replaced and new felt put on.

Yesterday I started to repaint the shed. It still needs another coat on the sides and back but I will have to wait for another dry day!

There are signs of life in the front patch where I planted onions and garlic before winter set in.

The never ending battle with the weeds. I have lost count of the number of buckets of weeds like this we have pulled from the plot. Hopefully one day we will have pulled enough out that the weeds will no longer be such a huge problem!