Around the corner from my house are some beautiful old allotments. They're privately owned, and I would imagine the waiting list is huge as there aren't many. But I have always loved taking a walk around the back of them. So one evening about two weeks ago I did just that. And came across the most beautiful allotment I've ever seen! Mind you, I didn't see a vegetable at all but it didn't matter. I love tulips and as you can see the plot just looked stunning. I stood looking for quite a while before my husband dragged me off, but it inspired me!
I want flowers on my allotment, granted not like this, I don't have the space for this and veg, but I have dedicated the back of my allotment for the pond and a grassy/flower area. So I started looking into various things. I think I am going to start planting flower seeds all around the outside of my vegetable beds as well, it seems like a really good way to attract pollinators, it looks amazing and they can also be cut, and taken home, which would be another wonderful bonus.
In terms of vegetables however, you read of my pumpkin disaster? Well I wasn't disheartened, instead I popped out to get more pumpkin seeds but came across butternut squash seeds instead. I use a lot more butternut squash than pumpkin so it only made sense really. So they have been sown and you can just seem them growing quite tall behind all the Brussel sprouts! They were desperate to be planted out so that was todays job, however like I said I learned from my past mistake!
I live by the sea. Our frosts stop really early in the year, but my allotment is 1 mile inland, and they have frosts a lot later into the year. I didn't think of this, which is why the pumpkins were a disaster. So, to make amends, I purchased the poly tunnel type things you can see below. I found them in Wilko's for £10 each. They're 3 metres long by about 1 metre wide when they're domed over. They are like a pop up tent. They're fab! You get tent pegs with them, but as I had turned the soil over about 3 times and mixed in compost before I put these down the pegs were a little useless. Thankfully I have a fair few spare bricks lying around so they did the job. But I put them down to warm the soil underneath. Today they have been down about two weeks, and the soil felt lovely and warm underneath when I went at 8.30am this morning.
As you can see behind the poly tunnel things, I have also planted strawberries. Given to me by my allotment neighbour a week or so ago they have taken really quickly and have already started flowering, so will need to think about getting a net for them soon!
All the potted herbs are doing fantastically well too! Which is always good news.
So the photo above is when I left this morning. It's looking a lot better than it was a few months ago but still rather rough around the edges. I planted the Brussel sprouts under the poly tunnels, so will check on them frequently and I'm hoping to take the covers off in around a week or so. The strawberries behind are doing really well, and to the left off the bottom of the photo the potted potatoes are doing really well too.
The right hand side of the allotment has sort of been left for now. That's my summer holiday project!
This was my pond today too. We had an explosion of algae the other day, which I read about and was told to expect it. I also read that after a few days to a week or so it would all suddenly disappear and the pond would go really clear, so when I went along this morning that had happened! No algae at all, and instead a super clear pond! I spotted a few tadpoles sitting just under the surface sunning themselves, and a few pond snails dotted around. The pond plants seem to be growing nicely now as well, with new growth on the lily and the oxygenators underneath. The grass around the outside has started to grow nicely now too, and I noticed a few of the wildflowers making an appearance which is really exciting! Can't wait to go back and see it all in bloom! Mind you, we have had a lot of rain lately and that's clearly helped the grass settle!
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