"Really!! Is that it..."

The sum total of my, oh so productive (!!), allotment year...

as you can see, on a plot of 3 poles (75m2) I had a lot of space left for my bonfire..

Making use of the useless...

I was lucky, or unlucky depending on your view, to have been paid to get rid of a lot of old wood. Being as I was unable to dispose of this wood I took it up to myAllotment. As you can see I have put it to good use...

bench, coffee, bonfire, bliss

Back again!!

Hello people!

I apologise for having let my blog go unattended for so long. I have had a busy gardening year and haven't spent as much time up myallotment than I would have liked, but I AM BACK.....

NEWS FLASH ---PUMPKIN CAM UPDATE-----NEWS FLASH

Where once was a pumpkin.

"If you didn't see it the first time, here's a close up..."

"We appear to have lost picture with Pumpkin Cam at the moment ladies and gentleman, I believe it is due to technical difficulties.... wait a moment.....

Pumpkin Cam 1

P C 2

Jakes pumpkin, he grew in class, now planted. Watered well, raised slightly from the ground ,as it can become water logged, then mulched. I used some of my more rotted compost and laid a 'straw type' barricade. Advice taken from plot 6 I believe x

'Home Sweet Home'

Aaah, its good to be back. Weeds and all!!

Just the one simple job today, turning the compost heap...

Half way

Finished

I chopped each fork full of compost up into smaller pieces to aid with decomposition. Turning the heap also creates pockets of air within the compost, aiding decomposition.

now just to wait a few months...x

Gardeners World Live 2012

 As you can see the cat wanted to come as well...

The Monty Don on stage....

Monty at the 'meet and greet'...

MontynotsoDon showing his intentions....

....oh, alright Carol, you can stay...

West Mills Allotment

On Sunday I was cajoled out of bed to work for a lady called Sally, who has recently taken on a plot at West Mills Allotment. She is situated about 10 metres from the canal and gets most of her sunlight after 1pm:

Sally, on the left, deciding where to start... 

Sally is going to grow a range of different cut flowers.

SALLYS TIP OF THE DAY

When you pick your potatoes eat them within 2 hours. They taste their best then and you only need to cook them for 8 minutes

I was asked to lay a base for her shed which was arriving at 7.30 the next morning.

Materials Used (based on an 8ft x 6ft shed):

450mm x 450mm slabs

14 bags of sharp sand

2 bags of building sand

ask for "3 x 4.2m 4'"x 1" treated timber"

Screws

2x spirit levels

Rubber mallet

Sunny day (not included)

Voila, 4 gruelling days later....

I will continue this another time, good night x

"look at the state of it...."

....Dads first comment as he saw my future greenhouse

See what you think...I think it has potential!!

Updated photos of 'Project Pumpkin'

Here they are planted.....

Pumpkin Cam

'Project Pumpkin'

Good Afternoon,

On Fridays I volunteer at The Castle School in Newbury, Berkshire. I am only there for 45mins a week but we have started what we like to call 'Project Pumpkin'

As you will know from my a blog earlier I have now dug in my mustard seed to increase the nutrients in my soil. As luck would have it, it has been raining very hard for a couple of days now so my soil is now well watered. Perfect soil for our pumpkins....

Lots of space, just in case they decide to grow!!

Pumpkin cam

I forgot to take any pictures of them planted :) but let me assure you I planted them with utmost care!

Fingers crossed x

viewable shed designs!!

Shed design?

Shed design ideas

Shed design roof idea

Its been a while...

Hey everybody!!

It has been a while since my last update, over a month I see!! Well, it has also been that long since I last went up to myAllotment. I would like to say I was driven there by the desire to get stuck in, check on my mustard seeds and prepare for my shed. I can't. I was driven there by the need to tackle the, now MASSIVE, grass surrounding my plot!
I received a lovely letter from my local council informing me of the "unacceptable length of my grass" and the impending inspection that is to come this next Tuesday.

AFTER my neighbour came by with his strimmer!!

On the right you can see I started to turn over my mustard seed into the ground. As some of you may remember, mustard is a very good green manure, once it has grown to a certain height we are meant to 'dig it in' adding essential nutrients back into the soil;

 "Oh yes mustard! That'll do... MUSTARD?  Now don't let's be silly...." 

And now for a freeze frame halfway through the digging. For blog purposes only you realise, not because I have taken up smoking again and needed to catch my breath!;

So, plot looking acceptable, mustard turned into the ground I am done for today! 

I shall be updating more regularly for a while as some of my ,thought about, projects are starting to happen.....watch this space!!

"A little rain never hurt anyone" said Ezekiel to Noah

In beautiful England with its rolling hills and delightful beaches we have been getting wet. It has rained and rained and rained and rained!!
Not drizzle, not light showers but tipping it down. In plain English "we have got pissed on" for about 3 weeks now.
Today however I had had enough; with my wet weather gear on, a flask full of freshly made coffee and bursting with determination I pushed myself out the door.....

So what has been going on:

 My mustard seed has started to grow but not much. Maybe an inch at most.

As you can see I have more weeds than everything else but where the fork is and the left hand side of the bed closest to us is scattered with the mustard seed. Now I had surveyed the scene time for a break....

Deserted allotment + hot flask of coffee = Bliss

A trick learnt on the building site; how to use a wheel barrow as a seat  ( remember to remove coffee first) 

In the background is the start of my compost heap...

da daah!!

As you can see I used 5 pallets. I tied them together with a tough garden string, then fashioned stakes out of some 2" x 1" ( 2inch by 1inch) wood. I hammered these in down the side of the pallets for a little extra stability. Being a gardener I gather a lot of other peoples green waste, perfect for my compost...

A good few hours graft. Now on to the shed. I have looked around and have decided that for the money it will be cheaper for me to build my own. I shall of course capture my efforts and share them with you every step of the way. 

Take care and carry on Gardening x

"Every man needs a shed"

I have an urge to get a shed. It feels like more than an urge, it feels like a desire. A place where I can hide my secret obsession to have plant pots of all sizes. Somewhere to house my deck chair. I want to own one. I want to become a fully fledged Allotmenteer.

Oh yes, sod the weeding, tarpaulin the ground, level me some earth, I am getting a shed x

RHS Wisleys' allotment

Just returned from RHS Wisley garden. Fantastic day. I would recommend checking it out, the size of the place makes my allotment look like a pixel on a postage stamp!!

See below the photo's of their allotment;

as you can see, something to aspire to....bring it on!!

The sun has got its hat on....

I have found the author of "Minding my Peas and Cucumbers".....Kay Sexton.

Off to the RHS Garden Wisley today to gain some inspiration, a talk about sustainable gardening. It is a lovely day and I know I should make an effort to go up to myAllotment but I am in no rush. Do you remember the story of the Hare and the Tortoise.......

Day 1 part 2...

As you can see some of beds have been dug over. The reason for the rest not having been done is down to boredom! I am gardener by trade so turning over all these beds in one go is not something I wished to do....

In one of the many books my mother sent me was one called "Minding my Peas and cucumbers" which typically I cannot find now to tell you who the author is. However, within its pages it is suggested that before I plant anything I wish to later eat I should plant some mustard seed. You allow the mustard to get to about 8 inches and then dig it in. This will, apparently, improve the nutrients in the soil increasing the chances of a good yield.

I have now done this on the 2 beds that have been turned over, liberally "dispersing" seed so the ground was covered evenly. I await the results with anticipation....

Day 1

Follow the Link below to see my plot and the task ahead....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihQL4zWyhO4&feature=g-upl&context=G2276987AUAAAAAAAAAA

....then I shall begin;

Well here I am. 


Day 1 of myAllotment and myAllotment blog.


I recently decided to apply for an allotment, thinking I would be waiting at least a year to get my hands on a piece of these sacred grounds. I managed it in only 2 months.
           Great you may say, should be glad, "I would love that". Well yes, yes and yes but now I actually have to DO something with this piece of land! 


3 poles I was offered. Yes I was clueless too as to how much a pole is. I can tell you now that 1 pole = 5x5 meters. So I have 75sqm of ground to call my own!!


I personally think that is the best bit!! Having recently been "removed" from my rental house for the landlords soon-to-be married son, I was cursing the fact I have nowhere to call my own. Then up pops 3 poles of weed strewn, stony land that for 21.60 a year (I know I can't believe how cheap it is either), I have somewhere that I can call my own!! 
Now what to do with this ?? I have a desire to grow something. Not sure what. Not sure how. 


So I tell my mother of this great excitement in my life and mum being mum soon sends me enough allotment manuals to fill a good sized compost bin. (Not where they ended up Mum). Then I receive seeds, seed name tags, seed storage packets and finally, to celebrate, some elderflower presse!!  Right, must make something of this then. Can't just let it wilt like all my other great ideas. So I decided to offer my mother a plot of land on my allotment for both of us to plant on. 
I should probably tell you my mother lives in the US of A and so our time together is limited. This would be something we could "do" together. Hence the Blog. 
Having written this intro. I am aware that my mother will probably be the only person reading this, so "Hi Mum" 


Now enough rambling on, off to "my place" for some garden r&r......