Paul - Plot 4:
You can't have too many onions can you? Yesterday we potted up 240 onion sets (photo on the left), 160 New Fen Globe and 80 Red Ray. Do you pot your onions first or just plant them direct? It's certainly more work to pot them first but then we find that the birds don't pull them out for fun when they are already rooted. We had such a good crop last year (photo on the right) that we thought we would do exactly the same this year. We are down to our last 3 or 4 Red Ray now, so they keep well too! It's the first day of spring today and it really feels like it. What a lovely day. We did a bit more on the central path today and we are now almost done. We are just waiting for a bit of rain to wet the ground and we will then sow some grass seed. Hopefully all will then be lovely for the summer. It is coming up to the busy time now so it will be brassicas next for us. We will soon be sowing in trays in the cold frame and then potting up when the first true leaves start to grow. We have already prepared the ground by walking all over it to harden the ground. This stops the plants from moving about in the wind. We have also put lots of lime down as brassicas love a limy soil. Hopefully we won't get the dreaded clubroot this year.
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Paul- Plot 4:
You may of noticed that the central pathway is in need of repair after all those heavy tractors had churned it up. We started work on Saturday. It was pretty muddy after the snow and rain so we started by forking along each track to drain any excess water and also to loosen the ground. We then brushed a layer of sand in the holes. Pete Owen (plot 8a) kindly delivered some much needed top soil and grass turf for us to use. We will be filling in the biggest holes with this shortly. Work carried on during Sunday. It was a beautiful day so it was really pleasant to work in the springlike weather. What made it more pleasant was that Fiona (plot 3) had dropped off a homemade, delicious Swiss Roll for us to share. It went down very nicely with a cup of tea. Thanks Fiona! We are dodging the weather at this time of year so the work won't be done overnight. Please bear with us until it is finished and ready to look beautiful for the coming season. In the meantime, if you see any of us tolling away on the path, feel free to put the kettle on and make us a brew:-) Paul - Plot 4:
Don't you just love leeks? We do. I sowed mine on the 11th February in a propagator and they are already about 3 or 4 inches tall. If you haven't got yours started yet, now is a good time to do so. This year I have sown a tray of Musselburgh and a tray of show leeks, Snowdon. Musselburgh are a reliable leek of a medium size but our favourite is Snowdon, which grow to about 4 cm in diameter. You can buy them online from Kings or Plants of Distinction. Anyway, in about a week's time they will be ready for transplanting. I usually transplant them into 9" diameter, deep pots and put about 15 leeks in each pot. You can then leave them until the end of May when they should be about the width of a pencil. It will then be time to plant them so watch this space for some good tips on how to do that. What a funny week for weather! It went from spring sunshine to winter snow and back again in three days. Check out the gallery for some pictures which have been taken on the allotment over the last couple of days. |
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May 2022
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