Tomtatoes!

Actually I grew these at the front of the house on the first floor ledge.  But they are nice anyway!  They came from "seeds of hope" that the Red Cross gave me when I became a supporter earlier this year.

Gourds coming on really well now

I went and had a tidy-up today.  There are several large pumpkins coming and I harvested some courgettes.  There is one butter-nut squash as far as I can see but lots more on the way.  I also harvested a pumpkin that was looking cracked and I reckon would rot or get eaten by pests if left.

This might be slightly cheating...

Winter brassicas looked good at the garden centre at the weekend and were three for two so we bought some broccoli, purple broccoli and cauliflower seedlings and I've planted them today.

I also cut a couple more lettuces and pulled some beetroots, which were tiny.  I dug up a bit of the horseradish which is smelling fantastic and will make some sauce with it later.

A quick strim around the edges

Just a quick visit tonight to tidy up the edges of the plot with the strimmer.  Looking much better now!

Lettuces gone to seed and the start of the gourds

A visit today after a long absence.  The lettuces have all gone to seed.  I should have pulled them up before holidays really.  I did a thorough weeding of lots of the plot actually.  It certainly needed doing.  I'll go back with the strimmer tomorrow and have a go at the edges.

I've harvested all the onions and put them in the conservatory on some newspaper to dry out.  They have done really well.   The courgettes are finally growing and indeed I harvested a few huge ones today.  I hope some more will now grow so we can have them small as they are much sweeter then.  The pumpkins are also starting to appear and there is one that is the size of a small bowling ball already.  I've put a bit of paving slab under it to keep the nasties off.

The first squash

Tom has been looking after the allotment while we've been on holiday and he's kindly sent me this picture of the first squash to appear.  I'll be back there next week to do some weeding which I suspect will be overdue!

The potatoes that were not meant to be!

I did a couple of hours of weeding and tidying on the plot today.  The onions are looking great so I pulled about 10 of them just in case anything bad happens to the rest while we're on holiday.

The new raspberry bed seems to have courgette plants, tomato plants and loads of potato plants growing.  I dug them all up and got quite a lot of potatoes.  The tomato plants I have taken home and put in pots and the courgette plants were discarded as I have others growing in another part of the allotment.

I also planted some more lettuce seeds as the ones I planted earlier in the year have now mostly been consumed (by us) or have started going over.  I must try to plant some beans before the hols too.

Swaps!

My lettuces are being quite prolific so I swapped a couple today with David on the plot opposite for some lovely-looking redcurrants.

More weeding and watering today too.  It's been an incredibly dry and warm June

Watering and more weeding

I think we had a bit of rain last night as things are a bit damp this morning.  I watered the newly planted seedlings anyway (sure to make it rain today!) and pulled a few more weeds out.  They do come out rather easily when the ground is a bit wet!

I also found a courgette plant among the raspberries.  It must have self-sown because I certainly didn't plant any there.  It seemed a shame to pull it up but it wouldn't do the raspberries any good if I left it.

Planting planting...

I planted the cucurbits today as well as the bok choi (kindly donated by Denise in the office).  I've planted  four Courgettes (All Green Bush), four Butternut Squash (Avalon F1), three Pumpkin (Hundredweight) and four bok choi.

More weeding

Well the plot was pretty weedy after nearly a month of neglect.  I've now pretty much cleared the front quarter so the lettuces and onions are largely weed-free again.
 

Fruit, lettuce and weeds!

I've been a bit busy what with being a new councillor so the plot has been a bit neglected.  I harvested some gooseberries (about 1lb), blackberries (about 2lb) raspberries (4), rhubarb (about 2lb) and lettuces (6) today and they are looking great.

There are lots of quite big weeds too though but they thankfully haven't flowered yet.  I'll go back tomorrow with something to dig them out and the hoe.  I've also got all the cucurbits to plant.

The christening of the petrol strimmer

Mum and Dad bought me a petrol strimmer for Christmas and I finally used it today. It has made a fantastic job of the edges and I also had a pretty thorough weed and water. Plot looking much better now!

Oops - where did the month go?

I visited today and found things growing nicely but rather a lot of weeds.  The rhubarb has gone crazy too!

Lettuces and Onions seem to be coming on nicely as do the potatoes.  There are lots of fruits on the fruit bushes and I picked a few gooseberries as a sneak preview.

I did some weed hoeing but need to go back tomorrow to do some more.  I'll also take my new petrol strimmer to tidy up the borders.

Weeding and watering

A visit for watering and weeding. Typically, as I've planted seeds and put onions and potatoes in it hasn't rained for days. It was good to see that the onions and potatoes have started growing. The redcurrants and gooseberries are also looking great. I picked some Rhubarb too.

Planting lettuces

I planted three rows of lettuces today, next to the onions. I've never planted seeds straight outdoors before but the weeds are much better under control this year so they might have a chance. We'll see.

Planting onions and preparing cucubit bed

I gave the second quarter of the plot a good hoe today and then covered it with mypex to keep the weeds down while the curcubit plants grow indoors ready for planting out.

I also had a go at re-defining the front edge of the plot by cutting out some of the grass. I've planted 48 Onions too (Stuttgart Giant). They have string tied over them with bits of foil wrapped on it. Hopefully this will keep the birds off.

Seed sowing

I sowed tomatoes today from a pack given to me by the Red Cross for becoming a supporter. Also Courgettes (All Green Bush), Butternut Squash (Avalon F1) and Pumpkin (Hundredweight). I sowed some seeds from the nice chillis I grew indoors last year as an experiment. These all went in root trainers in the propagator and up to the top bathroom where it is warm and sunny.

Also sowed some brussels sprouts for planting our later in the year and some bedding plants for a bit of decoration.

Planting potatoes

I went back to the plot today and planted two more rows of potatoes. King Edwards and another red variety (a first early). Did a lot more hoeing too. The weeds are back with a vengeance :-(

Planting the raspberries

The rain finally stopped so I went back and planted some raspberries. I enriched the soil with fish blood and bone and compost from the home composting bin. Tom came and helped with some hoeing too.

The types of raspberry are:
GLEN COVA - Early (June/July)
MALLING JEWEL - Mid Season (July/August)
ZEVA - Late (September/Early October)

But I'm not sure which as the labels had washed away! They are all the same in each row though.

It's too wet!

A short visit with my sister Emma today. It is now chucking it down with rain and we're both very muddy. We managed to plant six seed potatoes.

Maybe not today

Allotments site is very pretty with snow but I don't think I'll be doing any work up there for a few weeks!