Six weeks on and things are progressing nicely

I have now had Plot 6 for almost exactly 6 weeks and a lot has happened in that short time...

Thanks to Ernie I have a shed!

Thanks to my Father-in-Law Ernie I now have a shed to shelter when it rains thanks to Sally a waterbutt to collect rainwater from it's roof. I have lots of guttering ready to install on the shed but I haven't got around to connecting it all together yet.



The allotment is now over two thirds dug and I have planted Potatoes, Dwarf runner beans, Leeks, Salad onions, Carrots, Beetroot, Courgettes (2 varieties), Pumpkins (for carving) Butternut squash, Winter squash, Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and Purple sprouting.

A couple of weeks after I had started digging, the council provided a trailer load of well rotted manure for anyone to use, so I dug two trenches and put a 6 inch layer of manure in the bottom of each. One trench has the beans and squashes planted over it, and the other has the courgettes and pumpkins. Hopefully this will provide them with nourishment through the growing period, and also retain some moisture for the roots.

As we seem to be in an unseasonably dry period, I have been watering everything intermittently and weeding every weekend so that nothing gets too overgrown. I find that hoeing around the plants breaks up the soil a little which aids the water to get to the roots, and also gets rid of the weeds at the same time. The potatoes are coming along nicely, and I have ridged them up which in theory protects them from greening, attack by insects, and high temperatures...

Ridged potatoes...

The brassicas (cabbage, brussels, sprouting) are covered in anti-butterfly netting for the time being which prevents cabbage white butterflies from laying their eggs and also stops birds from eating the leaves, however it does make weeding a bit of a pain as I have to remove half the net to gain access with the hoe. Next year I hope to create a more permanent netting structure with a door for access.

Other plans for next year include the creation of a few raised beds to grow root crops, salad leaves and asparagus. I was going to use recycled scaffold boards but with the price of decking timber being so low I am now planning to use that instead.

First Courgettes appear

I am very keen to get my first crops to the table, and so I was very excited the other day to notice that one of my courgette plants has started to form it's first fruits and I am hoping that within a week or so I will be able to pick them. Iain has been keen to point out to me on many occasions that anything that I manage to harvest in the first year is a bonus as my allotment was in a pretty bad way when I took it over.