Socially distanced gossiping

Now things are starting to ease up a little we can now meet some of our friends that we haven't seen sine the start of the lockdown. And what better way than a cuppa and cake down the allotment.

Fortunately there is plenty of room to spread out. So, whilst The Wife and Friend are chatting away, I can get on with some real work. Like pulling weeds and such. Notice the difference?

No, neither can I. This damn grass grows all over the place and unless you can get the roots out, it just keeps coming back. Despite a few hours in the baking sun, there does not appear to be a noticeable difference in the weed count. But the piles in the wild area tells me otherwise. As does my aching back.

Weeds, watering and... waiting?

It's going to be a hot "scorcher" today. That means an early trip to the plot. We were onsite by 7.30am. It was cool, calm, and the birds were singing. Just a perfect time to sit down with a cup of coffee and enjoying the silence (apart from the birds that is). I dragged one of our patio chairs out, and The Wife sat in her usual flowerbed seat surrounded by flowers and the gentle buzzing of a rather large number of bumblebees.

We have our first strawberries of the year.

Only two, but there are plenty of others promised for the future.

Our main job today was more weeding and watering. We won't be back until Wednesday night, so we have to make sure that everything has enough water for a couple of days, through some pretty serious temperatures according to the weather forecast.

The apple tree is starting to form loads of little "applelets". We can't really count them as proper apples because at present all the apples are growing upwards, which is the same as the apple blossom. Then there is the "June Drop" where the weight of the growing fruit makes them hang down, and if the apple tree does not have enough sap and strength, then those which can't make it, fall off.

So whether this year will be a good apple harvest remains to be seen. It's certainly promising a good crop, but we'll see. It's all a matter of waiting.

Woodchips, Weeds and watering

Just as well I grabbed a few barrow loads on Thursday. They're all gone now. That's what happens when you get a whole load of allotmenteers starved for manure and woodchips. It's a somewhat vital part of growing on the allotment.

Anyhow, the pile I did manage to get has been liberally spread around (most of) the goat paths. But before that was done, I had to remove all the invasive grasses and weeds. So most of the day was spent digging out weeds. But now, the plot is looking a little better.

After that, it was case of watering, watering, and more watering. We haven't had rain now for, I'm guessing, about 2 months. The soil is like dust. Whenever you water it hits the surface and then runs away. So the only way you can make it stick is to rake a few small furrows in the soil (when you're weeding) so the water drains into them. Then allow it to filter down for a while, before going back and watering some more.

Mind you, this heat is being loved by some of the plants. Most notably the Chillies. They're coming along just fine since being potted on.

Elsewhere in the greenhouse, our spare courgettes are looking rather yellow. Not only their leaves, but they have also started producing flowers. A sure sign that they're under stress. Most probably from the fact that they're pot bound. I guess I may just pull them all out and throw them in the compost bins.

But one which we threw into a bucket half full of manure, and topped up with compost and kept in the greenhouse is looking really good.

Outside, the netting which I put over the Kale decided that it was going to all fall down. The trough is empty and as such it's rather light. So we've had a stiff wind blowing around the plot and it fell over and took all the netting with it. Well if it wants to fall over, then let it. I dragged one of the other spare trough over to join it and then re-arranged the netting.

At least it'll keep the damned pigeons off.

Woodchips: Now you see 'em, now you don't

When we popped along to do some evening watering on Tuesday there had been a delivery of woodchips. Great, we thought. We can do the paths at the weekend.

Roll on Thursday evening trip for watering, and that pile of woodchips was almost depleted. So cue me going into manic mode to make sure that I at least have enough to do the goat paths between the beds. So I scraped about 8 barrow loads off the floor of the woodchip bay and dumped them into the middle of the plot.

The chips are quite leafy. From the shape of the leaves I'd hazard a guess at Chestnut. Sweet or Horse I couldn't tell you. Either way, hardwood chips are nothing to be sneezed at. Even those I did sneeze at the dust that I dragged up. I just wish it would rain a bit. But at least I have some woodchips for the weekend.

Quick visit to plant Beetroot

So whilst The Wife is doing the shopping run, I'm off to the plot.

The Beetroot which survived the munches of the Mouse is getting a little pot bound. So it's time to get it out into a bed. I tried my usual method of digging a hole, dropping the plant and then watering them in. Unfortunately the bed that I'm putting them in hadn't seen rain or a hose pipe in well over a month so it's a bit more like a dust bowl than a bed. So instead I had to give the bed a good soaking before I could actually plant anything.

So I only have 20 beetroots. I was expecting more, but since mousie had his breakfast, I have to make do with what I can get.

I'll leave you with a picture of yesterday's sweetcorn, since I forgot to take a picture yesterday.

This is the bed that has two beans planted under each transplant. Whether it works, who knows. But it's worth a try.