22 July 2012 - Transplanting update

Here's a little update on how those plants transplanted in January have been doing.....
If you didn't see the original posts, you can read about them here

Gooseberry, Redcurrant & Blueberry

The berry plants have done really well in their new spot, we had some redcurrants which went into the delicious summer fruits pudding that Mike made for me!

Not had many gooseberries and I think the too-much-rain we've had got to any blueberries, although I haven't actually seen any.

Asparagus

The asparagus is at the other end of the berry bed, and as you can see, it didn't show up at all, not sure whether this means we've lost them - there should be 3 or 4 rows here. 

We'll leave them in and see if there's anything going on next year, afterall, it's not the plant's fault it was moved, maybe just napped this year?

Garlic

This was the garlic that I dug up from the end of this bed - I split the cloves and planted them out, wondering if that'd work or not because they weren't in a state fit for cooking with.

Looks like we've got a lot here and I've found a recipe for a garlic pesto which I'm dying to give a go!

5 Feb 2012 - Tidy up time - Part 4

 Today's job for me was to finish the new strawberry bed that I started on Friday in the freezing cold.... 

strawberries - after

strawberries - before

Mike was going to prune the blackberries and move the tool box so there was a bit more room for walking round.  He even had time to sort out the wire "fence" between our plot and Vic'n'Karen's.

behind the beans - before

behind the compost - before

And here's the final result, quite happy with our work, feeling like we're getting somewhere and it's all coming together nicely ;-)

31 Jan 2012 - Tidy up time - Part 1

I've got a few days off, so thought I'd tackle the jobs on the to-be-put-off-if-you-can list, but one job at a time, it's not so bad.

Today's job was to clear out the dead bits between the blackberries (still not thornless) and do a bit of pruning. Sounds easy - until I got stuck in.... forgot that we don't keep the secateurs there, so I used the rake instead.  Then found out that this little area isn't quite so little - we could get about 3 or 4 more beds in here if we wanted!  Also, it's been the previous owner's dumping ground for pruned branches (trees and blackberry) which has all been grassed through.

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with what I got done - took a couple of hours, which was longer than I planned, but who's ever stuck to a timetable at an allotment?! Here's a few before and after pics, I hope you can see the effect, but it's not very clear, because I did leave the live blackberries in for fruit collecting later.

before

after

before

after

compost full

findsies

Success!  We've got a full compost, to start off - free supply of the browns and greens, just need the heat and a bit of water to sort it out.  Also found lots of stuff in the pile by the compost bin.  Not rubbish - in there was netting, wire mesh, wood stakes, piping for netting, spare tough bags for use and the shelving/frame of a mini greenhouse!  I'll get some old net curtains and make a cover for that!


Right, I'm off for a cuppa.....until tomorrow, that is.

my Christmas present from a friend - a hug for my mug!