Live Blog Diaries

Dear fellow allotment lovers,

This week I signed the contract on this lovely overgrown abandoned plot!

I've read Dowding's advice: clear perennial weeds, cardboard and cover beds to smother annuals. I'm an allotment cyclist so large bags of compost/ woodchip/ horse manure will have to wait till I can invest in a bicycle trailer. But... 

What advice would you give to a first time allotment holder (who has time for 5-6 hours of attendance per week)? 

It's been a few weeks since I posted but most of our crops are thriving with the amount of rain as well as some warm days that we've had.

Some, however have been slow such as the dwarf beans, sweetcorn and pumpkins yet they look healthy.

The polytunnel has been amazing and has powered everything up - it's getting very tropical in there with plentiful foliage. Also had some wildlife but nothing to cause concern. We've been leaving the door open during these warmer days and it seems that bodiversity has been working well with ladybirds and other bugs eating the flying ants...

We have cucumbers growing now and plenty of salad vegetables outside, which we've started to enjoy with our earlies. We have green tomatoes, and the chillies are flowering.

https://ferrymanpolytunnels.co.uk/

With dodging rain, working and a half term holiday thrown in we have been so busy playing catch up with the allotment plot.  The polytunnel is now taking shape with the tomatoes, chillies and strawberries settling in nicely. The cucumbers and melons will be next to go up in large pots.  

I've sown seeds directly into a raised bed within the polytunnel for swede.  We haven't had much luck growing swede, so nothing to lose trying them in there.  I also have some celeriac seeds in propagation trays before planting outside.

For now, the plot is generally weed-free and tidy, grass mown and most crops in situ. We have onions, leeks, sweetcorn, parsnips, carrots, dwarf beans, potatoes, radishes, beetroot, spring onions, spinach, lettuce, rocket, asparagus, pumpkins and sprouts. We also have some fruit bushes at the bottom - raspberries, more strawberries, gooseberries and blackberries.

We've tackled our messy composting area and spread some lovely composted soil across our beds. We plan to sow some wildflowers on a patch also. We have a 'new' compost 'pile' but do need to address that with something 'proper' and more permanent...

Another job to tackle is an irrigation system for the polytunnel, we also aim to expand the use of it by adding shelving/workbenches. We've had a move around and tidied the shed and used some of the polytunnel for a little storage - it's so nice to actually be able to walk into the shed now and sit down! 

Well, it looks as though we're in for yet another wet week so we will see what we manage to get done!

This growing season has been so difficult up to now. The damp chilly weather has meant rust on the garlic, poor growth even in the greenhouse and huge volumes of slugs and snails! 

One thing that has romped away is the raspberries, with my early summer varieties producing already. The strawberries too are producing a great crop but I'm having to harvest them at only semi-ripe stage to try and outwit the snails and slugs. 

My potatoes, stalwarts as ever are looking good and I hope that the the healthy looking foliage is indicative of the tuber growth beneath the soil. This year I'm growing Pentland Javelin, Kestrel, Picasso and Marvel (a new variety supposedly well suited to the unpredictable British climate). 

Finally my climbing beans are out, I'm growing several varieties, including Greek Gigantes for drying and storing. So far they are coping fine with no slug damage so far and my dwarf peas are under a wire cloche to offer a bit of protection and are starting to flower. 

My courgettes and pumpkins will have to go out as they're outgrowing their pots but the overnight temperatures are still poor, getting down to 7, which seems low for this time of year in Greater London/Surrey. 

The tomatoes are looking good, most of which will stay in the greenhouse apart from a few bush tomatoes designed to be grown somewhere sheltered outdoors.

Here's hoping the weather settles for the remainder of June and growth can catch up!

So last weekend we had glorious sunshine - if anything it was a bit hot for construction but we were very lucky to receive a polytunnel from Ferryman Polytunnels We are so excited to begin this journey, having never had one; or a greenhouse before so now we have plenty of scope for growing more exotic crops, to have a longer growing season and 'power' up young plants before directly planting on. Oh and also a bit more storage room as we have a tiny yet packed shed AND shelter from the rain showers!

After Shane roped in a 'handy' friend who also has a van, we shipped up 12 packages of polytunnel parts and instructions and etc and set to work!

The kit included:

Foundation Tubes
Hoops
Ridge Tubes
Diagonal Brace Bars
Timber Door Frames and Single Hinged Doors
Polytunnel Cover
All the fittings, nails & screws in a box
Construction Instructions (importantly on paper)

Tools required to use were a drill, screwdriver, hammer and a spade for digging in the frames and bars into the soil. The time it took two men to construct was a good day at it - For us it was spread over Saturday and a few hours on Sunday but with an early start; especially if you know what you're doing, you can get it done by early evening latest.

The polytunnel is 12ft x 10ft x 3M and has a door on one end and a sliding door on the other. It has sturdy poles and frames and we're confident it will withstand the open space and windy conditions.Interior-wise, very roomy and the support poles (crop bars) across the top can be used for support lines, water irrigation pipes or hanging baskets and so on. There is the opportunity to add work benches and shelving to create even more space and also controlled ventilation.

Just transferred my Oca into their final pots. 

First time I've grown these and was really surprised they all germinated.. 😃

Shane and I have been snatching time here and there in between working/home life and the rain! Finally, we have the plot all completely dug over.  The soil needs breaking down more and compost added before planting but the rain will help with the breaking down bit.  All weed-free and ready to go! Just need things to warm up now for some direct sowing!

The over-wintering spring onions pictured below have done well AND we have wild rocket growing back! It's so fragrant! (Pictured below).

Other jobs on the horizon are our compost area, which has collapsed. The fruits need pruning at the bottom too. Our 'rustic' plot is pictured below.

We also have a polytunnel in several parts in and around our house, scheduled to be taken up and assembled next weekend weather-permitting!

The shed needs some TLC too...I wish I hadn't started to think about the endless tasks needed but I know I will feel differently once I get some free time on a warm and dry day!

Can't wait until all of our sections are thriving with life instead of this bare soil; although there is something very soothing about freshly dug earth!

Oh! and we have all of our earlies and main crop in now too (we don't earth up until the plants have grown a bit) Not that you can see anything!

Finally, the sun has been out long enough to dry the soil out a bit to dig - our soil is clay and can be far too sticky to dig or concrete!

Today it was perfect conditions to finally get stuck into turning over the soil in the beds and start tidying for this year's direct sowing and planting on.

I tidied around the over wintering onions too. We have a way to go, but not too weedy just several hours of digging to freshen up our 10 pole plot.

I call it 'achey April' 

It's been a few weeks since I posted but most of our crops are thriving with the amount of rain as well as some warm days that we've had.

Some, however have been slow such as the dwarf beans, sweetcorn and pumpkins yet they look healthy.

The polytunnel has been amazing and has powered everything up - it's getting very tropical in there with plentiful foliage. Also had some wildlife but nothing to cause concern. We've been leaving the door open during these warmer days and it seems that bodiversity has been working well with ladybirds and other bugs eating the flying ants...

We have cucumbers growing now and plenty of salad vegetables outside, which we've started to enjoy with our earlies. We have green tomatoes, and the chillies are flowering.

https://ferrymanpolytunnels.co.uk/

With dodging rain, working and a half term holiday thrown in we have been so busy playing catch up with the allotment plot.  The polytunnel is now taking shape with the tomatoes, chillies and strawberries settling in nicely. The cucumbers and melons will be next to go up in large pots.  

I've sown seeds directly into a raised bed within the polytunnel for swede.  We haven't had much luck growing swede, so nothing to lose trying them in there.  I also have some celeriac seeds in propagation trays before planting outside.

For now, the plot is generally weed-free and tidy, grass mown and most crops in situ. We have onions, leeks, sweetcorn, parsnips, carrots, dwarf beans, potatoes, radishes, beetroot, spring onions, spinach, lettuce, rocket, asparagus, pumpkins and sprouts. We also have some fruit bushes at the bottom - raspberries, more strawberries, gooseberries and blackberries.

We've tackled our messy composting area and spread some lovely composted soil across our beds. We plan to sow some wildflowers on a patch also. We have a 'new' compost 'pile' but do need to address that with something 'proper' and more permanent...

Another job to tackle is an irrigation system for the polytunnel, we also aim to expand the use of it by adding shelving/workbenches. We've had a move around and tidied the shed and used some of the polytunnel for a little storage - it's so nice to actually be able to walk into the shed now and sit down! 

Well, it looks as though we're in for yet another wet week so we will see what we manage to get done!

This growing season has been so difficult up to now. The damp chilly weather has meant rust on the garlic, poor growth even in the greenhouse and huge volumes of slugs and snails! 

One thing that has romped away is the raspberries, with my early summer varieties producing already. The strawberries too are producing a great crop but I'm having to harvest them at only semi-ripe stage to try and outwit the snails and slugs. 

My potatoes, stalwarts as ever are looking good and I hope that the the healthy looking foliage is indicative of the tuber growth beneath the soil. This year I'm growing Pentland Javelin, Kestrel, Picasso and Marvel (a new variety supposedly well suited to the unpredictable British climate). 

Finally my climbing beans are out, I'm growing several varieties, including Greek Gigantes for drying and storing. So far they are coping fine with no slug damage so far and my dwarf peas are under a wire cloche to offer a bit of protection and are starting to flower. 

My courgettes and pumpkins will have to go out as they're outgrowing their pots but the overnight temperatures are still poor, getting down to 7, which seems low for this time of year in Greater London/Surrey. 

The tomatoes are looking good, most of which will stay in the greenhouse apart from a few bush tomatoes designed to be grown somewhere sheltered outdoors.

Here's hoping the weather settles for the remainder of June and growth can catch up!

It's been a few weeks since I posted but most of our crops are thriving with the amount of rain as well as some warm days that we've had.

Some, however have been slow such as the dwarf beans, sweetcorn and pumpkins yet they look healthy.

The polytunnel has been amazing and has powered everything up - it's getting very tropical in there with plentiful foliage. Also had some wildlife but nothing to cause concern. We've been leaving the door open during these warmer days and it seems that bodiversity has been working well with ladybirds and other bugs eating the flying ants...

We have cucumbers growing now and plenty of salad vegetables outside, which we've started to enjoy with our earlies. We have green tomatoes, and the chillies are flowering.

https://ferrymanpolytunnels.co.uk/

With dodging rain, working and a half term holiday thrown in we have been so busy playing catch up with the allotment plot.  The polytunnel is now taking shape with the tomatoes, chillies and strawberries settling in nicely. The cucumbers and melons will be next to go up in large pots.  

I've sown seeds directly into a raised bed within the polytunnel for swede.  We haven't had much luck growing swede, so nothing to lose trying them in there.  I also have some celeriac seeds in propagation trays before planting outside.

For now, the plot is generally weed-free and tidy, grass mown and most crops in situ. We have onions, leeks, sweetcorn, parsnips, carrots, dwarf beans, potatoes, radishes, beetroot, spring onions, spinach, lettuce, rocket, asparagus, pumpkins and sprouts. We also have some fruit bushes at the bottom - raspberries, more strawberries, gooseberries and blackberries.

We've tackled our messy composting area and spread some lovely composted soil across our beds. We plan to sow some wildflowers on a patch also. We have a 'new' compost 'pile' but do need to address that with something 'proper' and more permanent...

Another job to tackle is an irrigation system for the polytunnel, we also aim to expand the use of it by adding shelving/workbenches. We've had a move around and tidied the shed and used some of the polytunnel for a little storage - it's so nice to actually be able to walk into the shed now and sit down! 

Well, it looks as though we're in for yet another wet week so we will see what we manage to get done!

This growing season has been so difficult up to now. The damp chilly weather has meant rust on the garlic, poor growth even in the greenhouse and huge volumes of slugs and snails! 

One thing that has romped away is the raspberries, with my early summer varieties producing already. The strawberries too are producing a great crop but I'm having to harvest them at only semi-ripe stage to try and outwit the snails and slugs. 

My potatoes, stalwarts as ever are looking good and I hope that the the healthy looking foliage is indicative of the tuber growth beneath the soil. This year I'm growing Pentland Javelin, Kestrel, Picasso and Marvel (a new variety supposedly well suited to the unpredictable British climate). 

Finally my climbing beans are out, I'm growing several varieties, including Greek Gigantes for drying and storing. So far they are coping fine with no slug damage so far and my dwarf peas are under a wire cloche to offer a bit of protection and are starting to flower. 

My courgettes and pumpkins will have to go out as they're outgrowing their pots but the overnight temperatures are still poor, getting down to 7, which seems low for this time of year in Greater London/Surrey. 

The tomatoes are looking good, most of which will stay in the greenhouse apart from a few bush tomatoes designed to be grown somewhere sheltered outdoors.

Here's hoping the weather settles for the remainder of June and growth can catch up!