Tag Archives: march

First germinations

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I have been down to the allotment this evening to take some wood I have collected from a friend. I will be making a leaf compost bin out of it so look out for a how-to post in the near future.

It was a little difficult in the dark, but by torchlight I noticed that several onions are poking through, the garlic is about an inch tall, some carrots are starting to push through, although i would have expected some more to be showing by now.

I am going on holiday on Saturday so will not be able to get down to the allotment for the next two weekends so it was good to visit and check up on things.

Video – Progress on the allotment 15th March 2009

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Here is a short video of the progress on the allotment this weekend. I have managed to get in another row of Early Potatoes, Early Carrots, another two rows of onions (one red one white) and setup the cloche.

I am please with the progress of the Rhubarb, which has surprised me again this weekend. I suspect that given another week or so there will be fruit ready for picking.

We are however, away from next Saturday, taking a working holiday to Hawes sorting things out for our wedding! So for the next two weekends I will not be able to get down to the allotment. I hope to get down late this week to check on things and then I will no-doubt be straight down there when we get back!

Gooseberry, Blackberry and Black Current Planted

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I managed to get three more fruit bushes for the soft fruit area. Homebase are doing a 3 for £10 deal for good sized year old plants.

I bought the following

Gooseberry – Hinnomaki Green
Blackberry – Waldo
Black Current – Ben Lomond

I got them planted today and the soft fruit area is now looking good. Just need to get some strawberries to fill in the gaps and provide some fruit this year as most of the fruit bushes will not fruit this year.

Soft Fruit Area - Rhubarb, Raspberies, Blackberry, Black Current, Gooseberry

Soft Fruit Area - Rhubarb, Raspberries, Blackberry, Black Current, Gooseberry

The Rhubarb is coming along fantastically. I would guess that another couple of weeks and we will be picking those first tender shoots… Mmmmmm!

I am presently surprised at how they are coming along. Just two weeks after been planted, two weeks after being split and all this after they had been dug up and left in a bucket for two months!

Rhubarb Progress 7th March 2009

Rhubarb Progress 7th March 2009

Video – Progress on the allotment – Saturday 7th March 2009

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Here is a short video of the progress on the allotment this weekend. I was hoping to get down there today, however, we took Eva to The Deep and then the weather turned against me.

I have planted 3 more fruit bushes, more about that in a forthcoming post, planted a row of beetroot, erected a cane support for the beans, and prepared the ground for the cloche.

Preparing the Bean Support

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Although it is not the time to be planting Runner Beans or French Beans, I decided to prepare the support for them. This is a fairly simple task that many people take to an art form. I however and more interested in getting the job done and making it functional.

First insert two parallel rows of canes (8 foot canes) with the rows about 50cm apart and the canes similarly spaced in the rows.

Firstly tie the top of the two opposite canes making an arch, then place another cane along the top of the arch and string it all together.

The plants will be planted at the bottom of each cane.

See the photographs below of how I did it.

I did realise that I have done my compost trench slightly wrong. I should have done two trenches, one for each row of canes. However, I think this is a great opportunity for an experiment. I will plant both sides and see which does the best. This is not a scientifically accurate experiment as the aspect will have a great deal to do with it, however I may be able to see some differences, especially in the water retention of the compost trench.