Allotment Week Day 1: Brambles and Beds

Today, as promised, we went down to the Lower Morden Garden Centre first thing. Had a spot of early lunch whilst perusing the wares. Just some compost this time, but a voucher for £5 if we spend £25 within the next month. Like the man says "I'll be back."

Down on the plot, it's a glorious sunny day. But there is still a lot to do. Good job I have the whole of this week off work and can get cracking. So much to do.

First off, we have an infestation of brambles. Along the southern border. Though it would be nice to have a Blackberry wall, these are just too much of a nuisance here. So they really have to be cut down to size.

Easier said than done. There is a lot of long, dead grass mixed into it all. The thought occurred to me, why not burn it out. Or at least burn back some of the dead grass to see where you're cutting. So I liberally sprinkled some of my cooking juice over the area and set a spark against it. Much easier on that clump.

Unfortunately I can't do the same on the other clump as it is right next to next-door's beds with the weed fabric covering. If I were to torch this, then it might burn the weed fabric too, which is not something I want to do. But in the end, after four barrows of spiky bits, I got most of it down to ground level.

Meanwhile the wife was getting her flower bed ready. She's going all out on flowers this year (I'm still a veggie only guy. I don't do flowers unless they're edible).

She planted Lily-of-the-valley and Ranunculus, but has a whole load of other bee-friendly flowers ready to go in. It's going to be a right old mixture this year.

In the greenhouse, the infamous Courgettes get planted.

Well at least the first wave of them. We still have loads more seeds.

Spuds are starting to chit.

But outside, there is sooo much to do. Got to get new beds made, the mound needs sorting out. No courgettes on there this year. It's probably going to be green manure and meadow flowers.

So long as Mr Fox doesn't dig them up.

And yet more to do tomorrow, if the weather holds up. But at least the Strawberries seem happy.

The seeds have sprouted

Last weeks seeds have germinated. Well some of them have. Most notably the Purple Cauliflower and the Cornflowers.

But there is something odd going on here. Look at the colour of the water that has drained off. Perhaps a better angle will help.

It's a bit brown. Almost coffee coloured? Well that's hardly surprising really. You see the compost we are using to the start these seeds is one third sieved compost from last years compost bin. One third commercial compost (left over from last year), and one third compost from work. Yes the work compost is made from left overs from the canteen, which includes the coffee dregs from the morning fresh brew that I always start the day with.

The wife has expressed concern over whether such a strong coffee mix is suitable for these seedlings. Well it remains to be seen, but we do have spare seeds if necessary. Perhaps "watering" down the coffee based mix with a little more commercial compost may not be a bad thing. What do you think?

Elsewhere in the greenhouse, the Blueberries are in full flower.

We're hoping for a good crop from them. Mind you, this will only be their second year so we're not sure whether they'll produce. I've been told that Blueberries take at least three years before they really get going.

But outside the Leaf Beet that survived the winter has took off like a shot. Guess what's for dinner?

Seed sowing

And they're off and running. First out of the trap is Purple Carrots, followed closely by Cherry Tomatoes. Whilst in the floral colours, Nasturtiums takes an early lead from Sweet Peas. Cornflowers seems to have fallen asleep and Campanula Bell makes a solid start.

But wait, here is a surprising move by Pak Choi, whilst Purple Cauliflower is still plodding along at the rear. The surprising winner here is Ginger with Peach being a rank outsider.

You can see all today's racing action right here...

Waiting in the wings for warmer weather are the beans of various sorts. But at least the Daffs have made an appearance to cheer on the newbies.

Meanwhile outside, it's time for the old compost bin to be emptied and sieved.

The compost has done a good job breaking down. Not perfect, because I never turned the pile. There are still lots of stalks from where I trimmed the vines. But those will all go onto the new compost pile. But there are loads of worms, and even more wood lice in there. They're going to have to find a new home.

Cold day down the plot

I was on shop duty first thing this morning. The day started off clouded over, but gradually cleared throughout the day. But it was still pretty chilly.

The Rhubarb seems to have made a start. Well, the "small" rhubarb at the back of the plot (the one that I almost pulled up) has certainly got off to a good start. Pretty much the same as last year.

The the big one seems to be lagging somewhat. Maybe it just can't decide whether to get going.

The beets seem to have survived the winter mostly intact. In fact one of them has taken off with great guns.

Mr. Fox has been enlarging his den somewhat. New Front door...

and back door...

Meanwhile I emptied out the last of the carrot bags.

A bit misshapen. Needs to have more sand in the bags next time. Although I did sieve the soil before going into the bags, I didn't count on the effect the British Weather had on them. The soil basically compacted inside the bags, leading to a firming of the soil which accounts for the splits and twists in the carrots.

I've had the courgette seeds laid out on a baking tray in the greenhouse for the past couple of weeks. The are now dry and loose ready to be planted. Anybody want about 100 courgette plants?

I guess most of these will be given away to friends.

The Edible Garden Show

Today we went to the Edible Garden Show at Alexander Palace. It seemed like a good idea for a day out.

The view from the top

The whole show is based around growing things in your garden and, of course, allotment. So it seems ideally suited. There are a number of companies there who are big names in the allotment world, like the NSALG and seed providers like DT Brown, Kings and Thompson and Morgan. As well as small companies wanting to show off their goods and products.

There are also a number of demonstrations and talks. Which covered a range of topics such as cooking...

... and chickens...

As well as livestock... (courtesy of Surrey Docks Farm)

So was it worth it? In my opinion no. We won't be going again. The entrance fee is quite steep £20 (£40 with the wife) and the actual show is really quite small. The talks were unscripted and un-practised, which meant that technology broke down (or wasn't available) meaning that it was hard to hear what was going on.
The size of the show was such that you could walk from one side of the hall to the other in 30 seconds, and maybe a minute the long way. Not that all the exhibits went to the edge of the hall. Yes, hall singular. Although there are lots of halls available at Ally Pally, only one small one was in use. As such I felt it was somewhat of a disappointment.