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!! 

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!

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!

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. 

The perfect summers day...

Today was the perfect summers day. A leasurly morning with the sun shining down. It was about 20 degrees here today so I got the bike out and headed up to the allotment. 

I was happy to see my aubergine and in fact all the greenhouse plants are looking happy. There's plenty peppers and jalapeños now, and even though I thought I wasn't going to get any tomatoes this year (plants given my a neighbouring allotment) they've finally decided to produce tomatoes; until now it was just the flowers!

I harvested a cucumber 2 days ago. I wasn't really sure when was best to harvest. But it seemed to have stopped growing and I was worried that it was going to go yellow and over ripen so I took the plunge. 

Perfect timing as well I think! It was perfect inside, so today I had some of it with my lunch which is always nice to do. 

I have been disappointed my the butternut squash on the plot. I have 2 in large bucket style pots which seem to be doing really well! Leaves are still green, they're flowering nicely and there's a few baby squash on each plant. I wish I had planted all five in the pots now (as I was originally going to do) but instead I put three of them in ground where the strawberries once were (though not for long) I'd been giving them plenty of water, as well as the rain we'd had, I'd also fed them a bit as I wasn't sure how much nutrients were in the ground. They seemed like they were going to do really well! Suddenly plenty of flowers appeared and a couple of baby fruits appeared but then over the space of a few days the leaves all turned yellow and today they pretty much looked dead. So really sad about that; but it is all a learning curve!! Just need to try and figure out why they died. Will give them a good look over next time I go- It may be a bug. 

I did enjoy spending time watching the pond today. There were frogs everywhere. I crouched down on the pebbly beach section for a while, and it almost seemed to become a game of 'Where's Wally?' It's sometimes quite hard to spot them hiding in the pond plants and in the grasses around the outside but it was really fun trying to spot them all. This little guy on the white pebbles underneath was hiding in the grass just before the pebbles, so he quickly hopped off when I arrived, though seemed to enjoy sitting on the pebbles for a little while; or as I call it, the beach!

 There were some quite sizeable frogs sitting around the outside of the pond. I feel really happy that I've been able to create a suitable habitat for a range of creatures.

Two days ago we also took an old rotting log along to put behind the pond under the bamboo plant. It has been sitting in my concreted back yard for about 2 years now and plenty things had already moved in due to the north facing but sheltered and damp environment it lived in. But I figured it can continue to rot down behind the pond and it can become a home for plenty insects.

 I'm also looking forward to creating an insect hotel. I've gotten inspiration from Pinterest for some really cute but rustic ones just made from things collected. So I will try and make one before the summer holidays are out. Only 3 more weeks left unfortunately. 

Sunday morning pottering...

It's been raining a lot. But it's actually been perfectly timed! After we lay the turf at the back of the allotment last week I was worried that it would dry out and wouldn't take- not just a waste of money but a waste of time too. 

 Though so far,  I've been pleasantly surprised. The timing was spot on as it's rained a lot since we put it down. We haven't had to water it at all.

 The problem with turf is it dries out very quickly, so the soil always needs to remain damp so the roots stay alive and can bed into your own soil. The first 2 weeks is crucial for getting your turf to settle.

If you haven't been lucky enough to get plenty rain, you need to make sure it's watered really frequently. And not just the top, but it needs to soak through to the soil underneath. If your grass starts to dry out before it's bedded in, it's really hard to get it back. Granted turf is fairly cheap- but you don't want to be laying it over and over again.

This morning the rain paused for a gory while, though it was a bit drizzly it was still warm. So I stuck my waterproof on and headed along. Glad I did! It was lovely. Really quiet (thanks to the drizzle) but it certainly didn't stop the bees from their busy morning. Plenty insects buzzing about and my usual froggies sitting with their heads poking out in the pond. 

I noticed how pretty the flowers were looking on the shed. I bought when I last went to Stanton Hall- about a month ago now? And they just keep looking better and better. Perfect for a window box! The violas are looking super as well!

Don't really want to pick them as I know the bees and hoverflies seem to be quite happy they're there!

I also noticed butternut squash have started to appear! I'm doing a little experiment, and while they've been grown from seed all in exactly the same conditions, I've put 2 in large pots outside by the shed- and I've put 3 in the ground. The soil in the pots was a fresh multipurpose compost with feed, whereas the soil in the ground is just the allotments clay soil, I've just added some straw around the plants in the ground so they're not sitting directly on the soil, and to prevent weeds growing so close to the plants. So far while the squash have just started to develop on the ones in the pots, there's actually a lot more flowers on the ones in the ground. Just not sure I it's all a bit too late in the year! I'm just hoping for a warm sunny September! You never know! 

It's also safe to say the Brussels sprouts are doing well. I've done literally nothing with these. From when they were put in the ground I've simply watered them when it's been quite dry (quite a heavy water right at the base of the plant) otherwise I've just left them. Don't think I've watered them for a good month or so now as we've had plenty of rain. While some of the leaves have been minced presumably by snails (there aren't many slugs on the allotment thanks to all the frogs!) there are still plenty leaves- and of a considerable size to keep the plant alive as happy. So fingers crossed for home grown sprouts for Christmas dinner this year! If they're a success I'll grow them again next year- though maybe not quite as many! 

One last little pond photo- I feel like I need to keep taking photos of it because not only do I think it looks beautiful (I may be a little biased!) but I also find every time I go it looks different! There's always new flowers popping up- particularly poppies, which I love! And it's a good job too- there seems to be a lot of poppies on my plot, they randomly keep popping up in vegetable beds between the onions and in the middle of the path. I never pull them out- they genuinely make me smile when I see them- they're such hardy things despite their really delicate petals- and the bees absolutely love them too!

All in all, a pleasant Sunday morning!

Creating the garden part of the allotment...

So thanks to the typical English summer, there has been a lot of rain and not enough sunshine! Thankfully today, the clouds finally moved off and we were able to get something productive done

 As I've said before I've always wanted the back part of the allotment to also act as a garden and a place to relax. We live in an old house and our backyard is tiny and North facing, so I really wanted a place to relax. 

 Next to the wildflower and pond area we spent this morning turning over the rest. Thankfully thanks to all the rain it made turning the patch over incredibly easy so we were able to get it all sorted before noon!

So my next job is to get even more plants and flowers around the grass area and pop up the rest of the little blue fence.

We also found the cutest little (though quite large) hawk caterpillar hiding in the turned over soil. We decided to move him across to the wildflowers instead. 

We didn't seem to have any success with the strawberries I was given from an allotment neighbour. We only got a few and they were pretty short lived. Though I decided that I didn't want to grow strawberries in the ground again next year so I weeded the strawberry patch and removed the strawbs. Instead I used it as an opportunity to put three of the butternut squash into the ground. So fingers crossed they will turn into something. There's a fair few flowers on all of the plants and a few have started to form into fruits in the pots, so fingers crossed they will become an edible fruit- though there doesn't seem to be much to summer left! 

 Fingers crossed we get more decent weather before winter begins! 

A cloudy but productive Saturday...

Well, the sun may not have been shining so much today, and it may not have been as warm as it has been, but I still managed to spend 4 ours at the allotment in my t-shirt today. 

Yesterday I took various things to the local tip, leftover rotten/scrap bits of wood from when the shed was built, a large compost bag full of rubbish that had accumulated over the last few months (we find a lot of glass and metal on the allotment still) and we had a large double glazed window that we needed to take along as it had cracked along the middle and water had started to get in. So- after the tip run we stopped at a can and carry like shop to pick up a few things, compost, a few paving slabs and a little wooden dividing fence.

So today I got to work putting things in place and doing some more organising! 

I painted the little wooden diving fence blue- the same colour as the shed and gate of course! I wanted that put down just to edge the wild area as things had started to creep over into the celery bed. 

I've discovered in photos the allotment is quite deceptive: 

It doesn't appear to be in any incline at all- but when I photo is taken from the gate you really don't seem to be able to tell how long it is. I always think the pond area looks tiny from this angle - but when you get up there and stand at the edge of the blue fence, there's another 3 metres until you reach the back of the allotment. Strange how it does that! 

I also placed the 4 paving slabs I bought down (4 for £12) I think I'll buy another 4 for in front just to define the area a little more- it will still allow me to either plant things along the fence in the ground or put pots along there too.

 You can also see to the left of the photo in the yellow buckets- I planted out 2 of the butternut squash plants. They're verging on flowering and were clearly too big for their little pots so this is quite a change in size! So hopefully they will grow on ok. 

 I think I am going to take up the strawberries as well and plant the remaining butternut squash plants into the ground. The strawberries haven't been great- I was given them from a kind neighbour but for some reason the yield was very small and other creates often beat me to the ones that were there.

 I think next year if I grow strawberries I will do it in pots on/around the shed. 

And here's a final photo today of the pond in all it's glory. If you look carefully you'll be able to see a few frogs. I counted six at one point. Two didn't move an inch the whole time I was there. But it seems really healthy! There's still plenty of pond skaters on the top and the plants are all looking really good. We keep having to remove some of the green plant from the top of the water- we're quite ruthless when we do, as it grows so quickly I don't want it taking over and suffocating everything. Though I always leave plenty for things to hide in and under. It seems to be working out though! Next plan for next to the pond is to weed/turn over and get some turn to turf the back right area of the allotment. After all, I don't have a garden at home, so I was determined to have a garden area to relax in as well as a growing area for veg and as many flowers as possibly for the bees and other insects that need them. 

 I've still got 6 weeks left of the summer holidays as well, so plenty of time to get things done! 

A completed shed & a happy wildflower spot...

Today I spent another lovely and peaceful 4 and a half hours at the allotment. I really love the summer holidays! It's lovely and quiet down there and I was able to potter about and get some useful things done!

My shed is now completely finished! I now have two hanging baskets on the side filled with violas which are on the verge of flowering. The box on the front of the door seems to be doing really well too! I think next year I might use the boxes and baskets on the front for strawberries. 

I also got the gate painted (to match the shed of course!) and the inside of the door needed a few coats of blue as well. I'm really happy with the blue and cream combination. 

 I also got all the gardening tools hung up and even cleaned the windows inside and out! It's now spotless! 

The plants on the inside seem to be pretty happy as well. Plenty chillies, cucumbers and peppers coming along nicely. 

I noticed some of the sprouts have started to properly show themselves as well! Hopefully I'll get a decent return on them- the plants are pretty big now!

And here are just a few photos from around the pond of the wildflower section- I think it's looking pretty awesome- exactly as I wanted it to be honest! And every visit something new keeps poking it's flowery head above the rest.