Mini greenhouse

I mentioned a few posts ago that I'd built the mini greenhouse. Well, here it is in situ. I've tried to put it somewhere where it won't blow over but there are no guarantees of that! The temperature does get quite reasonable inside there so I am hoping it will be good for getting seeds going. It's done wonders for bringing on the marigolds after only a couple of days inside it.
I've planted out a tray of chive seed and also put the basil plants in there to hopefully get them a big bigger.

I also spotted this little critter on the zip. It's a ladybird larva and welcome he is too! I popped him on a plant before I opened up the greenhouse.

1st spuds and other jobs

Ah, what a nice view. The photo above is the sight that awaits me as I pull up to the allotment. The sweet peas are glorious so I think I will have to have some of those in every year.

I thought I'd take a snap of that flowering shrub I mentioned in the previous post. Isn't it pretty? It says it grows to 30x30cm so I thought it would be fine in this old metal bucket. It makes me smile anyway, even if I can't eat it like most things on the lottie!

As I was tidying up the edges of the 'road end' bed and doing a spot of weeding, I noticed how many ladybirds there were on the plot. Of course, this is a good thing - I have plenty of blackfly they need to eat and they're just so darned attractive! This is a snap of one that I spotted (hardy ha!) on the runner beans.

Hooray! I got something ticked off my 'to do' list - I re-netted the broccoli as it was growing too big for the original net protection I put up. You can see the difference between the cauliflower (left) and the broccoli (right). They were the same before I re-netted. I don't think I need to re-net the cauliflower as they look like they're just about right. I did some weeding around the broccoli as I had the net off but I think I'll just leave the weeds under the cauliflower net for now. I noticed that all the plants had broccoli forming so I can't wait for that to be ready :)
I am getting a bit fed up with all the grass, and to be honest, a little embarrassed I'm not using all my plot for growing. Yes, I know I've not been there that long really (especially as I had most of May off!) and I am doing most of the work solo, but I am feeling guilty. I plan on putting 3 new strip beds in between the 'road end' bed and the 9-grid bed. I made a start on taking the turf off the first one in the stifling heat of yesterday. It was hard going as the ground is pretty rock solid from the hot weather and it must've been in the high 20s when I was digging. I did set up my chair and parasol with a big water-filled bottle for breaks but I didn't get as much done as I'd like before I started to feel a bit too faint to carry on! Ah well, at least I've made a start.

I'm a curious ol' thing and thought I'd take a peek at the progress of my charlotte potatoes. One of my allotment neighbours told me that once the flowers turn, the potatoes should be ready, apparently. My flowers on the pots were on the turn so I thought I'd take a peek at the new potato crop. This is what I found...Yes, there are potatoes to eat - and delicious they were too, but I think I'll wait a while longer before digging too many up. There were still quite a few tiny potatoes so I replanted one of the plants I dug up to see if it will keep growing. This is the 'haul' from 2 plants...

What's going on down't lottie?

So, as promised, here is a photo-heavy post about all the plants that are making progress in my plot...

the 'road end' bed. row nearest us: dwarf beans, hopefully on road to recover after they got a bit too much water, runner beans looking ok but got blackfly i need to attend to, 4 remaining pea plants looking a bit sad now. sweet peas in the background going great guns!

runner bean flower, plagued by bloomin' blackfly

sweet peas are always covered in flowers, even if i pick most of them the day before. my flat smells wonderful from all the posies i am picking :)

broccoli ready to burst! must re-net this asap. L-R: charlotte spuds, red baron red onions, broccoli (don't know the type), morning glory cauliflower

charlotte potatoes in full flower. might dig some of these up to see how they are doing. can't wait to eat these, especially mixing them with my homegrown mint from the 'shed end' of the allotment.

red baron red onions fattening up and starting to burst through the soil. can't wait to eat these :) this one is about 3 or 4cm across i'd say. yes, i need to get in and hand weed around these.

pumpkin flowers starting to form. there were some little pumpkins on these, like marbles, but they've dropped off. i think it is my fault from ham-fisted watering. i am now watering these very carefully. i'm still learning! very blurry photo!!

midnight courgettes flowering and another coming through on this plant. i bought these from the market and they've not been in long. they are already about 3 times as big as when i bought them!

chilli peppers seem to going really well so far. lots of flowers and quite a few fruits at the mo.

sweet peppers look like they are going to start flowering soon :)

was a bit worried about these 'sale' buy cherry tomatoes but they must be reasonably happy as they are starting to flower. phew!

sweetcorn (left back) and baby corn (right front). i usually weed mostly by hoeing but can't around the sweetcorn as they have shallow horizontal roots. will have to hand weed this soon.

this is the bed down the allotment from the 'road end' bed. it had parsnips and onions in it. i need to clear this and make another strip-shaped bed next to it to the right. it's on my 'to do' list. maybe this weekend?

ok, end of part one. part two to follow later! :)