Summer growth spurt

So summer is well and truly underway! The pond area went literally wild!! It needed some serious neatening up. At one point crouching down by the pond meant I totally disappeared. While it was lovely it was just becoming a bit crazy so we trimmed down just one little part of it. The rest is still really long though. And the frogs are loving it! 

I think it's safe to say the frogs love the plot! 

The apple tree is also starting to look like something this year! I'm really enjoying it- and little apples have now appeared!

I spent some time planting out some cauliflower and beetroot as well. There's also plenty white and red onions on the other side.

The bees are certainly enjoying the flowers on the plot as well.

There's plenty of things growing. The lettuce is happy. There's some courgettes planted out there too, as well as a greenhouse full of tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet red peppers and chillies.

There's still loads to do! But in just over a weeks time I'm spending 3 weeks in Peru taking some students on a school trip- so hopefully my husband will head down a few times and get his hands dirty!! 

Aaah deep Spring!

I love this time of year. Things aren't racing ahead and everything seems to suddenly become really green! 

I'm loving the pond at the moment- there's still a million tadpoles in there and on a sunny day we've seen plenty of frogs. The plant life is bursting to life as well!

The apple tree I planted last spring (too early- not realising there would be another frost- so last year it just sat in a huff!) but now- it's clearly very happy!

I have started to work back from the gate now and have covered that area in a weed preventative sheeting and bark. The gate area was just getting too bogged down with weeds it was getting very annoying climbing over them to get in and out! 

Another one of the Apple tree- I have a feeling we might get apples this year!

I'm also absolutely in love with the tulip zinc bath! How amazing do they look?!

Here is a closeup of the latest to open. The variety is called Artist- and you can see why!! I think they're amazing! I planted these ones lower than the purple ones in a hope that I'd get a longer tulip season- I think it's worked as planned as well, as the purple ones are just past their best now, just as these ones are opening! So perfect! I'll definitely do that again! 

Lots happening down on the plot...

Every Spring I take a walk around to an allotment that I know will be covered in tulips. And this year I was not disappointed! I don't know who owns the plot but it really is stunning and makes me smile every year!

I absolutely love tulips. They're one of my favourites (tulips and peonies are the top 2 for me) so I wanted to have my own on the plot.

So I was happy to see the other day when I turned up that the deep purples ones had all opened and looked stunning!! They really are so beautiful! 

A close up- no filter of any kind is needed for any of these photos as the natural colours are just so vibrant and beautiful. Definitely glad I went for the zinc bath idea! I'd love to plant tulip bulbs of all different colours around the grass area so they all come up together. These ones in the tulip bath I planted 2 different kinds, one kind (artist) slightly lower than these purple ones so they'll come up a little later!

I also had a pleasant surprise when I went to take a look in the pond! Last year I was given a little clump of Snakes Head Fritillary and planted it out by the pond. It didn't seem to last long before it died off so to be honest I wasn't holding out much hope for this year- in fact, I'd forgotten all about them! So despite the thick long grass around the pond, I was very happy to see it had managed to fight through again this year! 

My allotment is quite a sun trap though and the soil is a fairly thick clay soil so it does retain the rainwater really well, without getting all waterlogged- so I was also happy to see the alliums are already pushing out their flower buds.

I still make a beeline for the pond every time I get there. It doesn't get old at all! And it's different every time! There's still masses of tadpoles and everything is looking so healthy.

If you look at the last blog post you will see a photo of the marshmarrigold- and this photo is of it this week- so it's already putting out a lot more leaves and a lot more flowers! I love it! 

As well as having a jam packed greenhouse at the moment I've also got my windowsill in the house full of seedlings. The tomato seedlings are doing really well. I've got a lovely bunch of parsley and basil growing from seed, and the chillies and pepper seeds have recently come through as well!

After work the other day my husband and I went to the allotment and did a bit of work, including planting out the onions. Excited for this growing season to get underway!

Spring is taking hold!

So Spring has definitely taken it's hold on the plot! Absolutely loving it at this time of year despite how much absolutely needs doing!

 A selection of photos to show where I'm at:

 Marsh marigolds are now popping up.

The pond is looking awesome and is absolutely full to the brim of tadpoles.

The tulip bath is on he verge of bursting into colour (this photo was taken today)

Beautiful flowers have started to appear. The alliums have also started to come up- and are now several inches tall! 

And the greenhouse is looking good! I've currently got lettuce, onions and cauliflower in there, I've also got tomato seedlings, cayenne pepper, sweet red pepper and bell peppers sitting on windowsills at home. 

So it's all looking really great! There is a lot of ground work that needs doing though- and I need to get the potatoes in the ground pretty soon! Lovely time of year though- beautiful when the sun is shining!

Fun morning on the plot and making a terrarium...

So this morning was quite nice! It was quite grey and drizzly, but once we got out there it was fine. We were determined to finish the right side of the plot- and we succeeded! 

We had loads of bricks on the plot, but now that we're going to create timber raised beds we have no need for them really. So instead of spending money on paving slabs (which may only be say £5 a slab, but when you need around 15 it soon adds up!) we decided to use the free bricks to make a "patio" area. I say that quite loosely as you will see what I mean in the photo:

It's not a huge area but it's big enough. The left hand side where you see the soil by the fence will be planted with some perennial plants come the spring time. We are then going to cover and bark the whole entire plot (apart from the garden and pond area at the back of course) this will then mean we can essentially create the raised beds off site, bring them along and just stake them into the ground then fill them. It will make the whole thing much more manageable and means we won't be fighting with weeds growing through the thick clay soil.

Pretty happy with how it's going now! I'm really feeling as though we're achieving something and the left side isn't looking so scary now! 

I also spent the morning on the plot making a Victorian style terrarium! I've been meaning to make one for a while but have gradually collected the materials together. I had a suitable vase for years I just wasn't sure what to do with it! I wanted to do a Victorian style terrarium so that it can basically take care of itself. I find it quite fascinating!

 I have researched it a fair bit so I knew what I was doing (ish) so here's what I needed and what I did:

• suitable vase- that you can get your hand in if possible! (It's hard work otherwise) 

• something to seal the top- I got a cork

• pebbles

• activated charcoal

• compost 

• moss 

• plants (slow growing plants that like high humidity- I used small Peruvian plants)

• something decorative (optional)

What I did:

1) Clean the vase.

2) Pour in a layer of pebbles on the bottom of the vase.

3) Put in a layer of activated charcoal. I ordered it from Amazon. The charcoal keeps the water and air clean and stops mould or algae building up.

4) A layer of compost. 

5) Plant your plants out- I used three slow growing Peruvian plants. One will go red in the summer for something a bit more interesting to look at. 

6) Place your 'decorative object(s)' this isn't essential- but I added a little rock in there just for aesthetics

7) Cover the ground area in moss, covering a fair bit or all of the moss.

8) clean the inside of the vase and place on the cork. If the things that have gone in are dry it will need a light water/spritzing. The soil and moss I used were moist enough. 

9) Check on it over the next fortnight or so to make sure there's not any mould growing or too much constant condensation. However, condensation is normal, as how a terrarium works is as the plants respire, the air condenses on the sides of the vase, it then dribbles down and keeps the plants moist. The cycle just continues. 

There are different kinds of 'terrariums' a lot of them are made using succulents or cacti- but remember these should not be sealed as they're not jungle plants and therefore do not need a high humidity or a damp surroundings. 

Autumn is most definitely underway!

Well- it's been a month since I added an entry, but that's really because not a lot has happened, and I sort of feel a bit guilty about it. As Autumn has settled in I've figured doing too much on the allotment is probably a little silly as we plan on overhauling the whole plot this winter to create raised beds. So when it comes to cutting back the greenery and putting in some elbow greece I've really not had the inclination thinking that winter will soon set in and things will stop growing anyway! 

In the mean time I've been popping along every now and then which has been quite nice to see the season take hold. 

 Pretty much everything in the shed-come-greenhouse has been harvested- but for some reason everything seems to have decided to have a second flourish which I wasn't expecting! I've not got another cucumber in the making- and a lot of flowers on the plant waiting for their turn. I've also got a second flush of jalapeño flowers & my aubergine plant has even decided to sprout a fair few flowers with some little aubergines appearing. Not what I was expecting at all but it must mean the shed-come-greenhouse has been a good & useful creation of I have draw out the growing season so much! Hopefully I'll be able to start really early next spring too!

My butternut squash unfortunately hasn't really become anything! I had these two, and that was it! (The snails demolished the ones in the ground from the roots up) but then my husband ended up snapping off one of these two by accident- so now there's only one left! And it's not really doing that much to be honest so they haven't been a success. 

The carrots have been quite good, especially considering we just scattered random seeds into the thick clay soil. I'm quite impressed they didn't all come out looking like strange hands- and the lovely thick green tops have been very much appreciated by our bunny! 

Today I came across these pumpkins- unfortunately not on my plot! But it's made me realise (due to how unbelievably cute they are!) that I want to grow munchkin pumpkins next year! 

These two photos were taken earlier today at about 5pm (it's rather dark already!!- and the clocks haven't even gone back yet!) but as you can see- we have clearly given up on it for the season.

 We did make a point of pulling the taupawlin back that's been lying over the ground for months- we were worried frogs would start hibernating underneath it so wanted to take it up before that happens- luckily we were there in time! The frogs are still having a bit of a chill out around the pond which is still lovely to see- so I'm definitely expecting (and hoping) for frogspawn next spring. 

 We also spent some time today removing the dead leaves from the bottom of the sprout plants (they have been a success!- we've harvested some already and they're delicious- and still plenty to go!) We also harvested the last of the carrots so now that area is ready to cover for raised beds to begin at some point. 

My bird feeder has been a perfect addition- meal worms are the definite favourite as you'd imagine- there's a hedge row that lies on 2 sides of my plot and plenty birds sit in there watching the food get put out. So I'm glad I put that in place. Perfect timing for the winter months! I'll just have to remember to keep going along to fill it up! 

 

Need to stock up on bird food now!

Autumn has now set in, so plenty work to do...

It's frustrating that as soon as I go back to work at the start of September everything else just seems to be put on the back burner. Work exhausts me so by the time I get home on an evening I just want to sleep! 

Little bits have been happening at the allotment over the last few weeks, though not as much as I would have liked. 

I had a lovely brown and red onion harvest earlier in September. They're all sitting at home drying out to store- had the first one last night with our dinner and it was delicious. I'm just trying to think of a sensible way to store them when I've dried their skins out. 

My Sarah Raven order came in the post the other day too- so I've now got plenty tulip, alium and crocus bulbs waiting to go in!

This was my rather pathetic little greenhouse harvest the other day. The tomatoes have been an absolute disaster. There are still a few ripening on the plants at the moment but it really hasn't been worth it. They were given to me by an allotment neighbour at the beginning of summer, so might be more selective next year and grow my own. 

The cucumbers have been a success all summer though so can't complain there!

Last night my husband and I spent a fair bit of time on the allotment. After an insanely busy week at work I initially couldn't be bothered, but when we got there I really enjoyed it. It was a lovely evening, frogs were constantly appearing and I had to refill all the bird feeders- they've clearly been spotted now!! The mealworms are a clear favourite!

My husband began pulling back the tarp on the right hand side of the allotment- I wanted to get started on that sooner rather than later - basically before all the frogs move in to hibernate! Though as we started to lift it back there were already 3 frogs warming themselves at the edge. 

I had fun taking all the dead leaves from the bottom of the brussel sprout plants and collecting a few of the bottom sprouts to test those out.

I had heard mixed things- some people saying wait until the first frost, some saying it makes no difference. So I've taken this pile and I've just popped them straight into the freezer so I guess that will have to do! Will probably try and test them out on Sunday dinner this week. 

Next job is to keep working on the tarp area of the allotment, clearing that back and then starting to make raised beds over the Autumn/winter.

I also need to get some compost and gravel so I can sow my crocus and alium bulbs. The tulip bulbs will need to wait until the frost starts to plant though. 

I also need to start making my way around the pond pulling out the dandelion leaves and other weed like plants I don't want around there. Then I will be cutting it all back a bit waiting for the spring time when I can scatter new wildflower seeds and let Spring do it's job! 

August almost over...but still plenty going on...

I can't believe August is almost over. Despite being off over the summer I just find the time flies by and I always feel as though I haven't quite done enough. This summer has been my first with the allotment though, so it's been great seeing how it copes as the season passes.

Every time I go to the plot I automatically walk to the back to see the pond. I always hear half a dozen (sometimes more) splashes into the water as I walk up the path. I can't remember the last time I was there when I didn't see a frog though which is great! I also noticed last time I was there the arrow head flowers have started to open. I wasn't sure if they would this year but they look beautiful. The marsh marigolds have come into flower as well, which is just another reassurance that the pond is pretty happy. 

I also spent some time weeding the onion/carrot bed. I took up some of the stragglers from the edges and decided to take them home to pickle them. No idea what they'll be like, but thought it was worth a go! I'll give them a taste in a couple of months. 

The shed/greenhouse has also come into it's own over the last few weeks. I've been harvesting plenty of cucumbers and jalapeños (I decided to pickle those as well) and my tomatoes have finally decided to fruit! 

 We've had a fair few storms lately as well, a lot of heavy rain, wind and thunder and lightening over the last couple of weeks- so there was a true test on the shed which I was happy to discover it held up perfectly. So it was definitely will built and it now gives me confidence for the winter. 

My husband and I also installed a bird feeding station next to the pond. Complete with fat balls, seed, mealworms, peanuts and fresh water. I'm looking forward to visitors turning up for a feed. 

Plans for Autumn/winter

Well, it's safe to say that on lovely sunny summer days I'm glad that a turfed garden area was part of my plan. 

My husband has decided he finds the wheelbarrow to be a comfortable seat. He may get a little upset when I bring just a regular garden table and chairs along!

But after a bit of work on the allotment the other day it was time to lie on the grass, eat some blackberries and read my Kindle. Perfect!

I am now planning on installing a bird feeding station, an allotment away from mine is lined with older trees and we can always hear plenty of birds in there. So figured I'd continue to do my bit for the local wildlife and feed the birds. 

So, my to-buy list this week is:

• bird feeding station

• individual seed/food holders

• plenty of bird food

• manual hand-push lawn mower 

• lawn rake

The last 2 things on the list is because I couldn't have asked the grass to take any better than it has! So very happy about that- though now it's starting to go to seed so it needs cutting this week! I'm glad it took so well though, for the grand total of pretty much £20 it was totally worth it!

I've also developed an obsession with Sarah Raven. I ordered the autumn catalogue so I can plan my bulbs for the spring time. The website and catalogue is amazing. The colours are just beautiful so I plan on getting plenty tulip bulbs, albums, crocuses and bluebells. Can't wait to see the allotment in spring time!

We've also been planning our raised beds for creating in the autumn/winter so they're ready for spring planting. So another job this week is to removed all the weeds I'd put to dry out (which I'd left on top of the tarpaulin) onto the compost heap. There's plenty of bricks/stones on there too so it won't be the easiest of jobs but it needs to be done. I want to lift the tarpaulin and start making the raised beds on that side of the plot before the frogs decide it would be the perfect place to hibernate!! 

Dodging the rain showers...

Today the weather doesn't seem like it knows what it wants to do. One minute it's lovely and sunny and the next it's chucking it down. But- knowing I have thirsty plants in the greenhouse-shed on the allotment I popped down inbetween rain showers. 

Every time I get to the allotment I always have a look around the pond first. Now when you walk up the plot you can hear all the frogs jump into the water. There was loads today! Though some still had their heads poking out when I got there. 

Considering we created the pond in April/May I really wasn't expecting much from it this summer. But it seems, if you build it, they will come! I have been amazed- and every time I go there's more to look at. 

Beautiful flowers pop up all over the place around the pond it's just lovely to see, and lovely to see the bees, hoverflies and butterflies (as well as other insects) keeping it all well pollinated. 

My window box on the shed is looking beautiful too! These flowers which I paid about £3 for (and have some growing around the grassy area at the back too) just keep looking better and better! I don't actually know what they are- but I really need to find out as I'd definitely buy them again. I've literally just watered them a few times and that's it. Well- apart from admired them!

But I really do think it's important that we have areas full of flowers and areas just left to nature as much as possible. I don't think we need places to look immaculate and clinical. If you just let nature do it's thing (to an extent anyway) it can be beautiful. 

I seem to have poppies popping up all over the place. Along the pathways, and in the onion and carrot bed apparently. There's a few growing in here- it doesn't bother me though, I'm just leaving them to it! I love them- and as soon as they flower the bees are all over them! What's not to love?

 In fact today I went around harvesting the heads from the dead poppies so I can dry them and get the seeds for next summer...i'm going to be covered in them!! 

In my last entry I wrote about my butternut squash. I've grown them from seed and didn't know what to expect having never grown them before. I'd looked them up online and of course read the back of the seed packet and it said they needed loads of room! I'd left them in their little pots for quite a while, mainly because I didn't have anywhere to put them at the time, and I noticed they'd started to flower. So after giving away a few plants (I had far too many) I planted 2 in large bucket style pots and 3 in the ground. The ones in the ground, as I said last time, have pretty much died! However the ones in the pots are looking fab. As you can see some fruit has started to appear on both. 

Inside the shed/greenhouse is looking great too. (I never know what to call it!!) but there's a perfectly lovely aubergine in there, with a couple more flowers appearing. We have peppers, jalapeños, cucumber and tomatoes- which I noticed yesterday have 2 little tomatoes on! Sounds pathetic but I was getting the impression that I just wasn't going to get anything from them!

At least I'll get a few peppers!!