Last day of 2011

Here we are on the last day of 2011 and what a peculiar year it has been!   Weather has played havoc with seed sowing and planting out, so much so that having to seriously reconsider what we grow on the plot this year.   My chard which normally romps away has struggled this year, repeated sowings of spinach have failed and sweetcorn was a disaster.   However looking on the positive side raspberries crops  were good, rhubarb fantastic and the sprouting broccoli is holding its own against all odds!   Also it has been a pleasure to wander round the allotment and chat to my fellow plot holders, seen some wonderful sunsets, listened to the various birds that live around our plots and for someone to spot a bird of prey that hopefully will help us in our fight against the delightful but hungry voles!     Some plot holders have decided to go, and that’s sad and we will miss them, but very pleased to welcome new ones to our site.   New people bring bags of enthusiasm and at this time of year that’s always welcome!  

This time of year can be depressing but each time I go out of my backdoor I see my Blackcurrant Sage that has decided to buck the trend and flower for all it’s worth! Reminding me that after all I may think they germinate and grow because of me  but I really play such a small part in it all and actually it's probably inspite of what I do!

  So to all you enthusiastic gardeners out there put the failures of 2011 behind you, have faith that 2012 will be the best year ever for allotments!

  Happy New Year and good  gardening!

Heritage Seed Library

The under-gardener is a member of the Heritage Seed Library, a brilliant scheme run by Garden Organic the national charity for organic growing.  Like a lot of HSL members he is concerned about the loss of biodiversity and by the control big business has over the food chain. The Heritage Seed Library works to safeguard rare and endangered vegetable varieties – vegetable varieties that our grandparents will have grown and loved and that were once the mainstay of gardens and allotment plots in Britain, Europe and America.

As a member of the Heritage Seed Library you are allowed to make 6 choices from this list of vegetable varieties which are no longer commercially available, and you can choose whether to receive a ‘Lucky Dip’ packet as well.

Then only a few days later, which is amazing given the busy Christmas postage period, the package from Ryton Gardens pops through the letter box.  Inside are the brown paper envelopes with the precious seeds which will hopefully flourish on the plot in the coming months.

This year the under-gardener has chosen

n  Beetroot – Avon Early

n  Broccoli – late White Sprouting

n  Dwarf French Bean – Hutterite Soup

n  Dwarf French Bean – Magpie

n  Kale – Vate’s Blue Curled

n  Lettuce – Brown Bath Cos

And the ‘Lucky Dip’ was Kale Madeley

I will try to provide a bit of information about the history of these varieties and what makes them special in future blogs.

More information about the Heritage Seed library can be found online at http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/hsl/index.php

All I want for Christmas...

Well I've got what I want for Christmas..........our website finally gone live today!   A lot of hard work was put in by my brother who is a website whizz and has the patience of a saint and is actually quite handsome too.  
Come and visit us and see how much our allotments have progressed in the past 2 years, our album says it all and being a work in progress can only get better.

Only one week to go!

Well seven days from now it will be Christmas day and I will be eating my precious parsnips and leeks - if the ground doesn't freeze between now and next week.   Didn't bother with potatoes this year for Christmas, think I got so fed up with the blight that demolished the majority of the crops on our site that I lost my faith in them..........still with the gardeners optimism I feel 2012 will be better.   Looking at the seed catalogues strewn over my floor makes me forget last year's failures and believe that we may actually get a good summer in 2012.  
One of the jobs for over the Christmas period is to bring all my tools home and clean them ready for next season,  I think there is also some minor repairs to do - like repairs to the secateurs that I left out in the rain last week and no longer spring open easily.   I know my under gardener (in real life my husband)  told me to check I'd brought all the tools in but...........it was cold, the wind was blowing, it was getting dark and I can think of lots of excuses but basically I forgot!   Oops! And now I've a job to fix them....or hope Santa can replace them for me!

more pics

Managed to download some more pics of the 'allotment revellers',

Xmas night pics

 One  of the many pics from our night out at the Falcon - more to come when I've had time to sort my camera out!   .

Night out

What a fantastic time we had last night!   There were about 30 of us brave souls that fought the wind & rain to get to the Falcon in Wadebridge for our xmas meal.   The food was good, the company was excellent and the location spectacular - when the weather is more favourable that is.   Thanks to Mike & Ruth for organising this do for us and thanks to the youngest members of our allotment for such good behaviour.   Was up the plot the day before but think it will be some time before I get there again, still time to sort out the seeds for next years growing..........and contemplate the fantastic summer we are due for!

cold weather

Was up the plot on friday and, thanks Tom, made use of the free wood chippings deposited in our carpark.   Topping up the paths but keeping them away from plants due to the laurel content.   Also 'scooped the poo' left behind by people who had ordered manure but not collected it and as Mike asked for it to be cleared so as to stop the grass being  burned off - my Wyatt's rhubarb and raspberries are extremely grateful.  Amazing how excited you can get about manure, when asked what I wanted for my birthday I replied "a load of manure" and my son thinks that the old dear has finally flipped!    Looking forward to our 'xmas do' on the 12th and yes Mike we will behave...

Sad time

Weather has been not been good recently and it seems to be in sympathy with how a lot of us from the allotments feel at the moment.   Last weekend, after a relatively short illness, we lost a very good friend.   I personally had only known Viv since taking on the plot but she was always cheerful and ready to help anyone anytime.   We will all miss her smiling face and readiness to chase you for raffle tickets at the BBQs.   She won the prize for the best plot two years running and so it's been decided that in future the cup awarded for the best plot will be the 'Vivienne Brock Memorial Cup'.  

 

We think that's the best way of remembering her and her contribution to the association and all the people lucky enough to have met her.

Notice the deliberate mistake!

Opps!!! Should have read 'Myatt's' Victoria not 'Wyatt's'........

Digging again

Wow! What a difference a year makes to digging the plot.   This time last year I was still fighting with couhgrass, docks, thistles and lots of nettles but now I actually feel in control of the soil and not the other way round.   Who would believe the difference in the amount of worms in my soil, I now know what the worms get up to on those cold winter nights...............Really pleased with my first 'crop' from my compost bin too, the raspberries will feel the benefit  this winter and I'll crop the benefit next summer.   Winter crops are looking good and I've planted some different varieties of rhubarb this year so will be good to see how they do.  Some new faces on the allotment now, sorry to see people go but no-one ever said running an allotment was an easy option.   Hope the 'newbies' settle in and look forward to seeing them at the next meeting or even in the shed sheltering when it rains!

Sunday morning

Been a while since I've ventured onto my plot, work always seems to get in the way!  But today the sun was shining and the sky was clear blue so popped up to see if it had survived without me.   Everything looking good but still can't figure out why my summer raspberries are still flowering - don't they know it's nearly winter and time to be pruned and mulched ready for a nice sleep before giving me lots of sweet raspberries next year? No time to stop there today though as off to the parade at the war memorial today.   Still, made a mental note of the jobs to be done and will think about them over a cup of coffee and seed catalogues!