Allotment update after 2 week break

Things are looking grassy. Its not pretty.

I can't believe how much its grown in 2 weeks. Maybe if I was working on it full time, maybe I'd be able to keep ahead of the weeds, but I doubt I would have been able to anyway.

The wild flowers are loving it, as are the bees. So I'm feeling bad about having to dig them up. But I do not want them to go to seed for next year. 

At the least the carpet patch is doing its job!

Cleverly went to the allotment with my new boots. 

I had a quick check up on the tree cuttings I stuck in the ground.

 

Deed.

Again, things are looking bleak. I'd say most of the bits I put in the ground are dead. Fairly dead. I'd maybe need to plant them again at this time of year when the plants are dormant. However, nothing lost. It was worth a go.

There has been some success though! The American honeysuckle and the willow cuttings seem indestructible.

Hopefully by next year they'll start pushing up new shoots. Next spring, once the place has been rabbit proofed (the sooner the better really, I noticed a lot of the cuttings had been nibbled to death).

Speaking of rabbits, they have finished off all my onions that I put in the ground.
This is the patch the onions used to live in.

No onions. Replaced with poop. Probably infused with onions.

 

My brussel sprouts are looking good though! The lower leaves near the edges of their protective buckets are looking rather nibbled. However, they're looking so much better than they were a few weeks ago. Starting to really fill out. I hope they buckets protect them from the wind.

With any luck these nubbly bits will produce some sprouts! But we'll see. Ever pessimistic.

Back from holiday to a broccoli explosion

My partner and I have been away for 2 weeks to Tenerife. It was great, but towards the end I was looking forward to getting back to my plants.

It turned out that I'd totally forgotten where I'd planted broccoli and where I'd planted brussel sprouts.
The sprouting broccoli wasn't finished and there's now 2nd huge crop with much slower growing plants. Great! But many of them had gone to flower. If I'm extremely lucky I may get a few more heads before they die off for the winter.

Not only that, but I have 4 peas! Yay! I steamed them, shells and all, because to be honest I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with them, which variety I'd sown. After doing so, I can only assume they weren't designed to be eaten pods and all, haha. 

Broccoli bouquet

I thought I wasn't going to get any peas this year as I sowed them so late! But this is extremely cool. I know what not to do this year and so next year's will be better attempted.

Continued war on caterpillars and other Saturday shenanigins

Today my partner has the car, so I'm still at home in my pajamas.
Since I can't get to the allotment, I decided it was finally time to do some things in the post-stamp garden this morning. First task. Caterpillars.

I thought I'd rid myself of most of them after last week. But nope. I'd seen a few in passing to the compost bin a few days ago. But its worse than I thought.

I'm going to have to make a daily effort to go out and check that there aren't more fat hairy worms on my poor brussel sprouts. They're not looking happy.

I had less mercy with them this time. I put them in the compost bin. Probably not a good idea, as the bin is basically next to the poor plants BUT, I did do a lot of weeding and tipping out of wet old icky soil on top of the caterpillars, so they should be entombed. Even talking about caterpillars and I can feel them all over me. It makes me itch! Yuck.

Next up was onions. I wanted to dig them up. We're going away on holiday soon and I didn't want to leave them until I got back- although they most likely would have been fine. I have to laugh though as they're only about as big as they were when I put them in the ground.

This is due to the poor soil, the density of planting and the fact they've hardly been watered all summer. AND I pulled them too early. Its my own fault but it was fun to try. They're drying in the shed.
I never expected them to work properly in that location anyway. I'm going to try a lot harder this next year in the allotment with them.

I finally separated out the Rogue Pot and finally repotted my strawberry runners. If they survive, there will be 3 new strawberry plants from runners and 1 tiny strawberry from the rogue pot.

I also separated out the primroses into new compost. I now have 5 pots of primroses from the one rogue pot. Hopefully my rough treatment of them won't hurt them and they'll grow next year.

I repotted my loganberry that was looking very sad in its current pot. It was very root bound and I should have done it months ago. I'm hoping the discoloration isn't due to something more malevolent like vine weevil.

Bees are still visiting the garden. 

Chicken pals and endless weeding

"You left your hand coverings on the ground. I don't like them."

Meet Jemima, the mud-diggin' chicken. ;)

This isn't her official name, only my name for her, as I'm fairly sure she isn't named. Nearly every time I've been out at the allotment recently, she's joined me to help 'dig'.

The routine is, I arrive with my car and collect my tools from the shed adjoining the chicken coop. The cockerels kick up a fuss at the sight of me, to which the entire flock joins in, squawking. I head off to start digging. As they calm down, Jemima sneaks away and quietly appears beside me often making me jump.

The rule is, its my job to turn over a patch of earth, then its her turn to dive in, pecking away the worms and other undesirables. Teamwork. Not so fun for the worms, but I'm sure there will be plenty survivors from her massacre.

She has only eaten one worm from my hand so far, so quite a ways to train her before we're best buddies. In the past I've had chickens so tame they'd hop on my lap and fall asleep. Thats the goal.

However, I'm quite worried that she'll never get used to my voice. Every time so far that I've been out to the allotment so far, I've been listening to an audio book read by Ian McKellen. She knows his voice! Whenever I talk to her, she gets startled and looks at me funny.

To her, I'm a magical digging machine that unearths bugs with the voice of Ian McKellen. There could be worse things than being a Gandalf, the Worm Wizard to a chicken, I suppose.

"No worms?! Work faster human!"

Having a dirt bath with one of the jealous cockerels trying to take her back to the coop

The compost pile is growing. I'm not sure how many barrowloads of weeds are still left in the field, but would easily be upwards of 20.

The worst offenders are chickweed, deaf nettles and creeping buttercup. Creeping buttercup is by far the worst thing to deal with. Their roots hold onto the earth so fiercely. Other weeds taking hold include a few rogue dockens, daisies and thistles. No nettles yet, thankfully. 

Deaf Nettles by the millions

Chickweed

A few weeks ago I went on a mission to acquire some old carpet to lay as a temporary weed killer. Anything to help reduce the workload of the whole area will help.

The plot as a whole is still a long ways from being finished, but its getting there. I'll keep chipping away at it.

The Rogue Pot

Oh really? 

When my mam was making room for more seedlings in her shed, gave me a pot to take home. It was one of my wild primroses she grew for me from seed. She nabbed the rest of them for herself.

I took it home and a few weeks later, it started to look a bit odd and sprouted some other things. I left it to its own devices to see what it would do. Apparently the wild primrose is sharing its house with a strawberry plant (that I nearly pulled out thinking it was a weed!) AND a corncockle.

It certainly wasn't as advertised. I'm not sure what happened in quality control when this one was potted ;) Free strawberries!

Some people have fitness goals, I have veg growing goals

Wednesday 12th August was the Cunningsburgh show. I took a half day off work and my mam, brother and I drove down. As the Voe show had been cancelled this year, this was our only agricultural show 'fix' for this year.

Previously I'd never cared about the vegetable and produce displays. In fact, I'd always thought they were the dullest part of the show. I'd drag my poor mam away from it as quickly as possible. Why would you go to look at them when you could spend time with the animals instead. 

How times have changed, haha.

I was so impressed with the variety selection that won. 

My rhubarb at home is more like the one on the right.
Look at the COLOUR of the left selection. Beautiful.

I loved the raspberry display. I could definitely do this.

My leeks are still the size of pencils. I can't believe how badly mine compare, haha

Herb display. This was the only one at the show!

Blue salad potatoes. Another thing I want to try to grow.

The most interesting thing was the presentation of the vegetables. Using sphagnum moss and heather to decorate the containers was a common theme. Wicker baskets and old ceramics was another.

Just LOOK at the olive eggs in the center. To die for.

Someday I'd love my own hens to compete in this too.

I'm going to try my best to compete in the Voe or Cunningsburgh show next year. I can definitely do this.