A little bit of shopping

When I was in the supermarket I thought I'd have a look at the seeds they had in. I bought a few things and when I paid, got one pack free! Wasn't expecting that (there were no special offer signs) so that was nice :)

I got dark sunflower seeds: black magic f1, sweet peas: giant wave mixed (which i am going to grow over the shed to replace the defunct kiwi), peas: kelvedon wonder, broad beans: bunyard's exhibition (don't like them bit maybe home-grown might be nice? my folks love them though so i can always pass on the crop), and fennel: (florence) chiarino.

I also spotted this magazine too. It seems pretty interesting so I snapped it up for a peruse later :) Anyone else read it?

Sunday wasn't a day of rest!

So, first things first - I've been away for a week, skiing :) Had a lovely time and contrary to this photo, it was glorious sunshine most of the week. In fact at times it was too hot! I'm the one in the pink, my little bro is next to me, and his girlfriend's the one on the end. I missed my usual ski pal though, my dad, who couldn't make it this time. Next time eh, pops! ;) x

I was still feeling pretty healthy and energetic, the sun was out, so I went to the allotment for a dig on Sunday. It is official - Spring is here! I have evidence...

These pretty purple and yellow crocuses are growing next to my shed. They're so lovely :) Anyhoo, back to digging. Yep, I dug myself a new bed. Aren't I good?! So far I've just de-turfed it. I am going to bury the grass, grass-side-down, a spade's depth in the bed. (I read that is what I need to do!) That will be next weekend's task. I got a bit bored of digging after two hours and had some other tasks I wanted to do too. However, I was very proud of my achievement :) Look what I made...

Yes, it is a pile of turf and a muddy strip in the grass, but it is just so noble and magnificent... :P

Here, I took another pic of it to show the position, next to my two other strip beds at the 'shed end'. The ground was nice and soft to dig, which was a relief. (Cath - I used your Xmas pressie spade. Worked a treat and easier to use than my bigger one, which I try to load up with too much at once!)

Next came the fun part - having a fire. This went reasonably well, until I got a little nervous when the flames got pretty big and I suddenly realised I hadn't got the two watering cans of water ready in case it got out of control! I ran into the shed and got that sorted just after I threw some damp grass on to calm the flames :) Phew! Clears a lot of space, having a fire.

While the burning was happening, and I kept one eye on it, I had a poke about the rest of the 'shed end' of the allotment to see what was coming through, as well as tidying up and throwing any dried dead stuff onto the fire. I was very pleased to see some of the annuals starting to show new growth:

Both the lupins are coming through again, one more advanced than
the other. They were really pretty last year so I am happy they
made it through the snowy winter.

Mrs Bradshaw, my double geum is also showing strong signs of life.
I look forward to enjoying her again this year :)

The aquilegia is also emerging. I have now pulled off all
the dead stalks from last year's growth.

I was concerned last year that I'd wasted my money on the
caraway plant I bought. It spent most of the summer being floppy
then died back to nothing in autumn. However, it seems to still be
alive and has put on some healthy-looking growth already.
Let's hope it fares better this year :)

The tree onions I moved last year are making an
appearance, so they're still happy.

I wasn't expecting to see the spring onions, already in the allotment
when I took it on, coming through again. Hopefully they will be ok.
I'll see, andif not, they will have to go.

The three globe artichokes are all coming through again. I love the
thistle-type flowers they put on and they taste lovely so I look
forward to munching these when they are ready :)

In the strawberry bed there is this line of daffs. They were
flowering when I took the plot over almost a year ago so I
was expecting to see them again.
Note to self: change straw under strawberries once you've weeded ;)

And look at this - the garlic I planted before Xmas is making
a strong start :) The other bulbs I put in at the same time are
all coming through, some slightly more advanced than others.
Photos will be taken to show their progress.

This is a snap of the herb bed, next to the shed. I have now pulled out the dead growth and have tidied it a little. I managed to edge one side and will do the other next weekend. The caraway can be seen on the bottom edge of the photo - a bright vibrant green. I am still surprised to see it!

Another job I did was I finally trimmed out all the old wood from the raspberries and pruned the black/red/whitecurrant and gooseberry bushes, so this summer I can actually walk around them to harvest the fruit, without being impaled so much! They did fight back though and my arms look like I've lost a fight with a cat! I know really I should've done this job in the autumn. I didn't get round to it then, but I found it easy to spot the new canes v the old canes on the raspberries, as the new ones had buds on, the old ones didn't. The buds & new growth on the currants etc also showed me where to cut the branches back to. Maybe I've mucked it all up but there is only one way to see - wait a few weeks :) I am hoping that it is all pretty resilient and I've not messed up the growth too much, if at all.

I worked right up until it went dark and felt a big sense of achievement. Seeing the new growth coming through and anticipating the new growing year ahead I am now officially excited :)

I took my seed box home with me to plan what to do over the next few months. I can see I need to buy some seeds, as well as wait a while and cheat with some seedling plants. ;) I've been perusing my allotment books and I look forward to going down again on Saturday (still too dark in the evenings at 6.30pm when I get home from work). This time I'll have a helper so I should get twice as much done!


----------
Edit: Oh, I didn't mention that I noticed John, my next-plot-neighbour @ the 'shed end' must be giving up. I didn't see him much over the late summer. His sheds have gone and his plot seems pretty much abandoned. :(

I also managed a whole lottie time without being interrupted, just me and ma tunes! Huzzah :) Get so much more done like that. I will be more sociable soon, I'm sure!

New post coming!

Ow. I am aching! I went to the allotment on Sunday - a glorious sunny day - to finally get started on digging, pruning, etc. I was away last week in Austria, having a whale of a time skiing. I still felt energetic so off to the allotment I went. I dug a brand new bed at the 'shed end' for 2 hours, then spent the rest of the time tidying dead stuff, burning waste and pruning. No planting but I felt a great sense of achievement with what I did do.

I'm going to post properly with lots of photos, but my camera was playing silly beggars this morning. Hopefully I'll sort it out and get a pic-heavy post ready for tomorrow.

I hope you've managed to get some work done at your allotments. I look forward to catching up on other blogs to see what people are doing, now spring is almost upon us :)

Spring's coming

I've noticed the nights are finally getting lighter now. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can go to the allotment after work and be able to see what I am doing!

Tut tut

So, I thought about going to the allotment but I didn't. Saturday I didn't have enough time/light, and Sunday I have to admit to being hungover. I thought I'd prob fall over in a crumpled heap so to save embarrassment I stayed in/went to see 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief', which I enjoyed. Even with Pierce Brosnan's horse legs!! hehe!

Here's a funny photo of me from Sat night, trying my friend's Chilli Pepper cocktail. It was totally revolting! She liked it though.

And thank you for all your comments on my last post. It is heartwarming to know you read my waffle, and most are in the same boat, not quite started either!

This season I shall mainly be growing onions

Yep, onions it is. I found these did really well last year - and they were a cinch to grow. Plant, water hardly ever and leave to grow :) I also use onions in my cooking all the time, and they last well. Why wouldn't I grow them again?! Last year I just grew 'Red Baron' red onions and they did really well. I am now down to my last 2 in the store cupboard. This time around I've got more to go with the white onions and garlic I planted before Xmas. The packs in the photo are the varieties I'm putting in this time: more Red Baron, Stuttgarter & Centurion. Yes, I'm the last of the big spenders! ;)

I would like to grow peas again this year, and fine/french beans. Might give the runner beans a miss this time around as they were super-prolific! I couldn't keep up. Hmm, maybe I could try them in a simple wigwam with just three plants rather than the full row I did last year... I mean, I like runner beans, but not that many! They did surprise me though - I'd never eat them raw from the supermarket, but like a lot of things grown fresh, they were nice eaten raw when they weren't too big :)

I will not be bothering with broccoli or cauliflower again - too prone to bugs & netting is a pain in the butt! However, I will try chillies again as they did well, as well as sweetcorn I think - give it another try. BUT NO MORE TOMATOES, that is for certain! And definitely more flowers. It was so nice to pick a bunch for my table :)

I am planning on going to the allotment today after a bit of an absence. Hope things aren't too wild down there!

What are you doing at the lottie at the mo?

Twitter tweets

Well, I've decided to give twitter another go. Not sure if I will keep it up but I'll see how it goes. So, to keep up with one-liner descriptions of my day to day life, follow me here:

https://twitter.com/timefortweets

Bloody weather!

Grr. When is this nasty wintery weather going to stop? Not had chance to go to the allotment because of all the snow we've had lately. Everything had just thawed but today, snow again!

I know with the ground frozen it would be pointless trying to dig my new beds but there is still burning & pruning I am behind on. The fruit bushes are too big to harvest the crop so I wanted to cut them into more manageable shapes. Hey ho, maybe soon I will be able to get on with my lottie jobs.

Stay warm :)

Hope you had a lovely Xmas

Here are a couple of festive photos from my flat. I had a lovely time as host with my family. We played games, over-ate and made merry. All great fun :) This is my first day alone and the place seems really quite empty. I hope all of you had a lovely time whatever you got up to.

Sending you Happy New Year wishes :) Here's to an exciting and eventful 2010!

Winter wilderness

Aww, it looks so sad at the moment at the allotment. I am currently juggling a zillion things I need to do before Xmas but I had a day of holiday from work today so I took the chance to get up to the allotment. I did some clearing - piling up dead vegetation to make the site look a bit more presentable. I just wish I had more time to devote to the allotment as the light faded before I could get everything done I wanted to. I really get into it when I am down there. That is, once all the chatting with other plotholders is over, which is lovely, but takes up precious time! I don't think they realise what little free time I have. It is easy when you're retired! :P

I did get the bulbs in that I'd bought, which was an important job to do. Below is a little plan of what went where. I'm pleased my verbena and lady's mantle is still going strong :)

I really hope I can get down there again soon but there is so much 'life' to get on with it is always hard to find the time. I need to prune the fruit some more, and all that grass HAS to go!

If I don't blog again before - HAPPY CHRISTMAS! x