Friday 17 May 2013

Blooming Flowers and sprouting veg!!

Well as has become the usual with me I am still running around playing catch up with everything but I think I am now nearing the end of the busy period and hopefully after this weekend I will be nicely caught up with all that needs doing, not only on the allotment but also in the garden and with the housework too. To be honest I should probably be ironing right now but hey, the computer is free at this precise moment so I am taking the chance to get a post written and to catch up with some blogs that I am getting withdrawal symptoms on immediately after!!

So I got lots of planting done last weekend. The peas, mange-tout and sugar snap were all sown directly to the ground and have already started coming through. The French beans and ying-yangs were planted out along with a couple of other varieties and the broad beans were planted out. I didn't have quite enough broad beans for two rows so I put some seed into the ground too and hope that these will germinate to fill in the gaps.

Most of the potatoes have started to show above the ground though I still have the job of finishing digging up those that I have left from last year in order to get the rest of the roots in the ground....hopefully a job for this weekend.
The onions (both red and white) are starting to sprout and the garlic looks really healthy. 

So all this on top of work and home and you can imagines it's been a pretty busy time for me, but I bet it's been just as busy for all of you as well with Spring arriving so late.

It is lovely to bike to work and see the trees blossoming though, especially the magnolia which always look glorious. On the down side the rape fields are now nearly in full flower which is playing havoc with my hay-fever, hopefully when I get my bees I will have some rape honey which will hopefully help somewhat with that!!

No activity this last week on the bee plot...I will be getting onto that again after all the planting is finished!

I don't know whether I mentioned it before so forgive me if I am repeating myself. Anyway, my Friend and plot neighbour Kate is unsure whether or not she wants an allotment any-more so this year has paid for the land and I am working it so that she can take a year off and see if she misses it. This has left me with another half plot to work and it is where I am going to put the squash plants this year. This means I have sown more squash than I usually would purely because I have the room, it also means I've been able to space the rest of my allotment out a little more for easier access/weeding. Anyway within her half plot is the strawberry patch which has rather been left to it's own devices for a while....

Strawberries, dandelions and weeds
Strawberries, dandelions and weeds
As you can see above it is rather weedy but due to the strawberries everywhere I can't dig the weeds out so I have gone through carefully with a knife and sliced them all off at the root just below the ground. I know this isn't the way to deal with them but the strawberries are in flower and I don't want to not have a harvest from them this year.

A dramatically cleaned up strawberry bed.
A dramatically cleaned up strawberry bed.
So as you can see above I have made a pretty good start and freed up the plants so that they can flower and be pollinated...I can taste the strawberries now...YUM!! I don't know what type they are a Kate was given these plants by another allotment holder but I have eaten them before and they are delicious, I also presume them to be ever bearers as they flower and produce fruit right up to the autumn!!

So things are going good and hopefully I will be able to tick lots more off 'To Do' list after this weekend. Of course I still haven't told you much about my bee course but this weekend I will be suiting up (weather permitting) and visiting an apiary so I am hoping to take the camera and then I can fill you in a bit on what I have been learning!

I just realised...I'm British and yet haven't mentioned the weather once!! Can't leave you all without a mention now can I. Everyone was complaining how dry it was and I did have to fill my water butts last weekend with a hosepipe which took rather a long time. But of course the weather has cooled down considerably and on Sunday it started to rain, then it rained again Monday and then Tuesday it rained in earnest. Wednesday and Thursday were just a few short showers but today is wet and miserable. It is good to see the grass starting to look more on the green side though and it will do wonders for the gardens so I'm not going to complain at all. Just hope it stops for Sunday so I can get a look at the bees.

Mouse nest Update... 

Just so you all know I carefully checked the nest last weekend. The babies are no longer where they were. It's possible Mum has moved them deeper into the compost bag, to an entirely new location or , on the sad side eaten them. All I know is that I did the best I could. If I see any further movement on the subject in the future though I will let you know.

Pray for good weekend weather everyone!!
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18 comments:

  1. I hate the oil seed rape fields as they re the only thing that gives me a touch of hayfever. We are surrounded by the stuff and the horrible yellow fields just glare at you.

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    1. They make my hay-fever quite bad but to be honest I don't mind the look of them....it is nice to be a little 'sunshine' from them and it is a spectacular view on a sotrmy day with black clouds overhead...maybe I'll try getting a photo of it sometime to see if I can change your mind on their appearance!!

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    2. That would be a losing battle Tanya as it's the shade of yellow that I find incongruous to the landscape scene. I used to drive between fields of it on my way to work and the smell just took my breath away!

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  2. It's great to get on top of some jobs, isn't it? I've still got a list as long as my arm, but everything will get done eventually. I'd miss my allotment if I gave it up now, but I think Kate's being sensible giving it a year to see what she thinks then, it would be awful having to go back to the bottom of the waiting list if she found she'd made a mistake. Hope you get a great squash harvest from it in the meantime.

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    1. Yeah...I guess you just have to find someone willing/mad enough to take on a bit of extra land for a year...lol

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  3. the contrast in colour can be beautiful...
    You are doing well with your extra space, I am eyeing up the allotment next door which is currently reverting to pasture, I need the space!
    Thank you for posting by the way, it helps to have an eye on what everyone else is doing,
    I am off to check on my baby squash seedlings now...
    and enjoying the sunny weather too

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    1. I thought it would give me the chance to grow a few extras, and the beauty of squash is they give such great ground cover it will keep the weeding down...at least that's the theory!

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  4. The one thing I noticed was your mention of biking to work. I used to bike to work years ago. I always remember that so fondly. People used to ask me if I'd rather have a ride in their car. They never understood that I had my own car and I was doing it for the pure enjoyment of it all.

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    1. Biking is more of a means to get from A to B quickly than enjoyment for me Ratty. Now I do love to walk though, so much time to take in the beauty around you!!

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  5. with all you've been up to it's no wonder you haven't had time for blogging. my to do list keeps growing here with nothing ever getting crossed off.

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    1. My to do lists only seem to get shorter for a little while...and then grow longer than before I started yet again!!

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  6. Dear Tanya, You sound wonderful. You sound filled with excitement and pleasure. You really are enjoying all that you do. I am happy to hear this in your voice. Just remember to get some rest. I hope that you get to have good weather on Sunday and tell all about the bees in your next post.
    The weather here has been cool too and rainy for the past three days and supposedly most of the coming week.
    There still is so much to do here. I am not sure I even want to finish. I hear that this fall is supposed to be very active with hurricanes. I will have to start all over again and am not sure I want to, nevertheless I will have to meet that challenge once again.
    Blessings dear friend and a hug. Catherine xoxo

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    1. I do often need the rest Catherine...but it gives me such a sense of accomplishment when I go all out and although I am weary at the end of the day and need that long soak in the bath, that also seems so much more pleasurable thinking about all that I have done!!

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  7. I expect by now you've had lots of rain! Hope you had some sunshine, too. It's a busy time for gardeners isn't it? Here we have lots of tomato plants in the covered way and it looks like a garden in itself. In the garden we have grown beans in big boxes. My husband is the one that goes to the allotment when he can so I'm not up-to-date with the potatoes, beans etc. down there. We have been enjoying rhubarb crumble several times a week! Your strawberries will be delicious when they fruit. You sound as if you have a lot on so all the best and look forward to seeing the post about your bee course!

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    1. Weather has been a real mix for us, we may not like it too much but the gardens are doing well.

      Bee post coming soon.

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  8. Hello - I was interested to read about all the activity on your plot (and the other plot you're looking after). We haven't much oilseed rape locally here this year (unlike last year); I can tell because my own bees haven't found any. They seem to be bringing in mainly pollen.

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    1. At least your bees are getting out and about now though. How long have you kept bees and what sort of hive do you have?

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  9. Dear Tanya, I think we all are just too busy!! You have gotten so much done and it seems you are right on top of things. I am putting along and hoping for the best with my garden. I do hope I have better luck than last year!
    The weather here is still quite chilly and very rainy and foggy.
    Perhaps the weekend will be better. Blessings dear. Catherine

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keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!