Allotment Progress in Pictures

A photographic diary of the progress on our Allotment in Knotty Ash, Liverpool.

1st February 2012 – most of the allotment is dormant at the moment but the Broad Beans sown early autumn are doing well as are the Sweet Peas, Onions and Garlic. Quite pleased with progress as this is the first time I’ve grown crops over the winter. We also still have potatoes in the ground which, so far, haven’t been eaten or rotted off so we should have them available up to the next set of crop. George at the allotment has his seed potatoes available so bought a bag of Maris Piper which are now chitting in the shed.
4th October 2011 – at this time of year there isn’t a lot going on at the allotment. We still have potatoes in the ground and hopefully they will be OK for a few weeks yet. The pumpkins and squashes are still doing well and should be a nice size for Halloween. The recent sunshine will have done them a power of good but I have now covered them to keep the worst of the weather off them for the rest of the month. The peppers and chillies in the greenhouse are just ripening and will probably be over by the end of next week. Pleased with the crop. I have harvested most of the ripe chillies and have pickled them to preserve them over the winter. I am still waiting for my onion sets and garlic bulbs to arrive so I can plant them out for a spring harvest. I have also sown a few salad leaves to see if I can get another crop before winter truly sets in.
20th July 2011 – The main star on the allotment at the moment has to be the pumpkins and squash. They have tripled in size in the last three weeks and have flowered wonderfully. I’m not sure how many fruits there are but more than enough for us as long as I can stop them rotting off. I’ve lifted as many as possible onto beds of straw so hope that will do. Potatoes continue to do well and are beginning to die back, good harvest again today. Also harvested quite a lot of tomatoes, a lettuce, another beetroot and a good sized bouquet of fragrant sweet peas.
18th June 2011 – the salad and veg under our netting is doing really well and we have harvested some lettuce and carrots already. We have planted more strawberries in this tunnel but will move them into the fruit cages next year. The pumpkin seedlings have been thinned and are doing well, I suspect I’ve planted the pumpkins too close together but I’ll worry about that later. The new rhubarb have been planted, two are doing well but one is still dormant and may even be dead. The potatoes are all doing well but we are quite a way off harvesting I suspect. All the fruit trees have settled in well and the gooseberries, blueberries and strawberries are all fruiting. We’ve managed to harvest a few strawberries already and there are lots left. The tomatoes, peppers and chillis have been repotted into larger pots and are looking really healthy. The tomatoes are flowering so as long as we keep on top of the watering they should produce a good crop of fruit. Just hoping the greenhouse is hot enough for the peppers and chillis. Some of the roof felt was blown off the shed roof a couple of weeks ago and the rain has been getting into the shed. Allan managed to replace some of it on Wednesday before the heavens opened! We’ve still not finished painting the shed which we must do before winter. We also need to put some guttering up to stop the rain dripping down the sides of the shed.
19th April 2011 – The skeleton of the fruit cages is up, we just need to attach the netting but there’s no rush to do that. We’ve planted the Walnut Tree and under planted with some strawberries and gooseberry bushes. The Cherry and Plum Trees will go into the same bed along with more strawberries and blueberry bushes. Anything low growing will go under the trees. We think there will be enough light. The Asparagus bed has been planted up and the first spears are poking though as you can see below. Next to the Asparagus we have a general growing bed which currently contains Garlic, Lettuce, Carrots and Spring Onions, the Onions will go in next along with some Beetroot. The next bed is growing Rhubarb, Squash and Pumpkins and the final bed is for potatoes. The next row only has one bed at the moment which needs digging over, once this is done we will put in some Tomatoes and Brassicas we think. As well as sowing seed and planting out we have also painted the shed a fetching green colour and begun to add netting supports to the beds.
February 2011 – Three tonne of top soil delivered and used to fill up the 4 raised beds nearest to the shed. Garlic planted in one bed along with some carrot seeds sown. Furthest bed is to be used for the asparagus which is currently at Allans garden. Allan also built two new raised beds which will be used as fruit cages.
December 10th 2010. Allan and I built the shed on one of the coldest days of the year. Once complete we lined it with insulation material and added some flooring to help keep it clean and dry. Shelves are now in.
May 2010. The base had been laid by Allan and his father in law and Allan is now building the greehouse. Three beds already built and poly down to keep the weeds away.
June 2009. Allotment is ours and we’re marking out the positions for the shed, greenhouse, beds etc.

 

 

 

Read more about the progress of our allotment.

Allotment Update – Late May

Netting is up on one of the fruit cages; have had to order some more to complete the other one!

The new Walnut Tree from http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk has three tiny fruit on it already and the Plum and Cherry are doing well.

Strawberries are all doing well and the new ones from the Allotment Plant Sale have been planted too so we should have lots of fruit this summer.

Salad crops doing well along with the Onions and Garlic.

Leeks planted out today along with more Onion sets and some Cauli seeds sown too.

New Rhubarb, also from http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk is settling in fine and the Pumpkins and Squash are doing well too despite Monty Don saying it was too early for them to go out!

All potatoes now well in leaf and looking healthy.

Very pleased and proud of our allotment progress this year, couldn’t have done it without Allan.

New photos next week.

Allotment Update for May

Everything at the allotment is doing well except for by brussels sprouts seedlings. This is the second lot which has withered and failed so I think I am going to give up on them for this year. I will buy some plug plants to put in later in the month.

I finished the caging for the main bed so sowed more onions sets and planted out more lettuce, carrots and some beetroot. I also sowed beetroot seed for a later crop.

The soil is so hard at the moment it’s difficult to plant or sow anything.

The new fruit trees have settled in well although the plum and cherry will need to move to their final position in the autumn.

The allotment had their plant sale open day on Saturday so I bought some strawberries to add to our collection, should have quite a good harvest come the summer.

The pumpkin and squash seeds have all germinated and are quite big already, we will have to thin them out shortly which seems a shame. The three rhubarb crowns we planted in March rotted off so I’m trying to get a refund from the company we bought them from then I will buy new, more established, plants to replace them.

The early potatoes are doing very well and have been earthed up a few times already. The heirloom varieties and mains are still to come through.

My nephew Jon, who is three years old, sowed some sunflower seeds a few weeks ago and they are now about 10 inches tall so he “helped” to plant them out and luckily they have all settled in well.

Latest from the Allotment

Spent a few hours at the allotment yesterday with Allan and managed to complete one of the fruit cages and painted half of the shed. Allan also cut and fitted the plastic panels in the greenhouse door and I planted our Walnut tree, a couple of gooseberries and some strawberries.

It is beginning to look like a proper allotment now! I’ll try to remember to take some photos next week.

Flowers for Young Children

Question:

I am planning to make miniature gardens with young children and would like to use petunias ans Impatiens (bizzie-lizzie). I just wanted to make sure that neither of these plants is poisonous.

Answer:

Petunias and Impatiens are not on the poisonous plants list. However, if eaten most ornamental plants will cause sickness in children and some adults. You will need to keep an eye on the children when they are in the garden or consider planting edible plants. Here’s a selection for you to consider:

• Nasturtiums – colourful and quick growing
• Alliums – taste of onions with purple or white flowers
• Rosemary – grows quite big but can be pruned down. Smells great. The flavour is strong so the kids won’t like it anyway!
• Mint – lots of different types with slightly different minty smells. They can take over so it’s best kept in a pot
• Violas and Pansies – cheap and easy to grow
• Parsley – annual only but easy to grow in a sunny spot
• Try planting strawberries or small tomatoes in hanging baskets

Questions for September 2007

Question:

Could you let me know how to prune Iceland Poppies?

Answer:

Iceland Poppies are Biennials which means that they flower the year after they are sown and then die. Therefore, they do not require pruning. Once they are past their best pull them up. They often seed themselves so you may get flowers year after year.

Question:

I have a strawberry barrel.  Can I pot on the runners which appear to have small roots and do I leave them attached to the main plant until established?

Answer:

Yes you can pot on the strawberry runners as long as they have rooted. Just detach from the mother plant and put in small pots with a good quality potting compost. Give them a good watering to get them going. They should be OK outside in a sheltered spot but if you have a cold greenhouse that would be good too.

Question:

I know this is probably a stupid question but I am a beginner gardener I was wondering whether I could plant a Christmas tree in the garden that I have bought from a garden shop and will it still grow many thanks sorry for the silly question

Answer:

Good afternoon, thank you for your email. It is not a silly question really as it does depend on what type of Xmas tree you have. Although the majority of Christmas trees are sold with a cut trunk but some are sold in pots with their roots intact. Although they tend to be more expensive, they do last a lot longer and have the added advantage of being able to be planted out in the garden. Follow these guidelines for the best chance of success:

• If it has been kept indoors it will need to get used to the cold weather before planting it out
• When you are ready to plant it out stand it in a bucket of water, still in its pot, until it’s thoroughly wet It will grow very big so choose its final position carefully
• Dig a hole twice the diameter of the pot and the same depth as the pot
• Add some organic matter into the bottom of the hole e.g. well rotted manure or good quality compost If you’re planting in the spring sprinkle in some general fertilizer too
• Remove the plant from its pot
• If it is pot-bound (the roots are tightly packed in the pot) tease out a few of the biggest roots
• Stand the plant in the hole with its best side facing the direction from which you’ll normally view it
• Check that the top of the rootball is level with the surrounding soil, and that the plant is standing upright
• Mix more organic matter with the excavated soil and fill in around the rootball
• Firm gently with your foot
• Water thoroughly
• Spread an layer of mulch
• Keep well watered for the first few weeks regardless as to whether it rains or not

Overwintering Strawberry Plants

Question: Could you please tell me the best way to store new bought strawberry plants over the winter. Answer: Strawberry plants do fine outdoors during the winter, mature plants will die down and re-emerge in the spring. If you have only just bought the plants and they are very small you may be best giving them some protection. If you can, keep them in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse. If this is not possible put them in a wooden or plastic box with some sand underneath and around the pots. If they are new this year but are of a decent size, either in pots or in the ground, they will be fine outside. If they are in pots and you want an early crop next year just bring them into an unheated greenhouse in February. In either case don’t let them dry out but don’t over water them.

Strawberry Runners

Question:

I have a strawberry barrel.? Can I pot on the runners which appear to have small roots and do I leave them attached to the main plant until established?

Answer:

Yes you can pot on the strawberry runners as long as they have rooted. Just detach from the mother plant and put in small pots with a good quality potting compost. Give them a good watering to get them going. They should be OK outside in a sheltered spot but if you have a cold greenhouse that would be good too.

Strawberry Plants

Question:

On yesterday’s screening of the BBC TV programme “The Great British Village Show” by Alan Titchmarch, a lady making strawberry jam is shown picking the strawberries from an avenue of plants growing at shoulder height. IE the plants appear to be growing at the top of a tree trunk. Is it likely that what were shown were simply containers mounted on wooden posts or have plants been developed that grow at shoulder height.

Answer:

I didn’t catch The Great British Village Show but I’m sure that the strawberries must have been grown in raised containers or hanging baskets. Elevating the plants means that the fruits are not resting on soil and are therefore less likely to rot. They are also easier to harvest. Looks like an excellent idea.