Blackfly, Beans, Bottles and Booty

It's all growing but being attacked at the moment! Climbing french beans aren't climbing much, blackfly has invaded the broad beans again, turnips are being nibbled by something but the carrots are doing brilliantly!
Runner beans are also getting a fair amount of blackfly but I'm getting myself up the allotment as much as I can spray the buggers off with washing up liquid mixed with water. Broad beans have been hit hard and you can see the damage they cause in a week. Hate them!!
We stuck all the beer bottles and cans from the BBQ on top of the bean frame to keep the birds off - they poop on the leaves! Onions, courgettes, sunflowers and tomatoes are also doing rather well. Will have to stake the tomatoes before they get heavy with fruit and flop over. (One thing that annoys me about tomatoes is that they are a bit flawed - top heavy with thin stalks - daft really!)
The back of the plot is gradually being dug up and progress is starting to happen. Now that I have my booties I can squelch in the muddy bits and get all that couch grass out!
Both myself and Karl have picked all the strawberries (bucket loads!) and Karl is now making Strawberry Wine in his demi-john pot thing.

Climbing french beans...errr?

Nibbled Turnips

Prize winning carrots maybe?

Ill looking broad beans

The perils of blackfly - blackened stems and leaves

Runners gradually climbing

More carrots!

Onions & Shallotts

Sunflowers!!!

Yellow fruiting courgette - should be interesting?!

Bottles and cans keeping the birds off with their 'reflecting' qualities

Cherry tomato plant

Looking green and plentiful!

Strawberries Galore!

Strawberries which Karl is making wine with!

Get a welly on!

I've had to take a brave step and buy some plain old green wellies. No flowers or purple stripes, just plain old wellies. With so much rain going on at the mo I need something waterproof on my feet! I'm going to have to decorate them somehow tho!
Karl and Dave are off to Glastonbury so of course they're wellied out too! :D

Allotted Time

I've started reading this book called "Allotted Time" which I picked up in the Fopp DVD/CD Shop on Queen Street. It's actually a refreshing read as you can sympathise with the two guys desperately clearing land to grow veg.
They build a shed with the conditions that it cost no more than £10 and be able to house both of them to drink tea and talk bollocks. Their quest to define the difference between a shrub and a tree as well as their discovery of God who is in fact, Bob Flowerdew!
Recommended!!

Lots of space and lots of seeds!

We've managed another trip up the lotty!! All is going so well that we can even pick and choose our beds this year. It's great how far we've got getting the plot ready. I assembled this 8' x 10' frame at the weekend which is quite an achievement for a 5'3" short arse! I balanced on a chair to tie the tops!
I put the runner bean plants from the seed bed into place by the frames and gave them a good watering. There's manure under all of them so they should be good. Unfortunately a couple seem to have black fly so we'll have to spray them some time this week. :(
Karl put down some paths with some pine needles which were on offer at the bottom of the hill. Nice and spongy!
I took the nets off the broad beans and also planted some sunflowers by the greenhouse. Fingers crossed we get some nice tall ones this year!!
We've also scattered some pumpkins in between the black plastic at the back of the plot and put some butternut squashes in the middle of the bean structures. We have a teepee shaped structure at the front of the plot for some climbing french beans. The slugs seem to be hot on the trail of these seedlings tho so it's a bit of a battle!

Bean poles up and ready!!

Karl laying down the path

Pre-grown seedlings of runner beansTansy popped up for a rest after her and Karl's afternoon run.

Left-hand side of plot is doing spectacularly well

Our small teepee climbing french bean at the front of the plot

Greenhouse from the side

Hidden in the plastic we have pumpkins on the go....this will be interesting!

Cherries starting to show!!

Carrotts getting a bit bigger

Uncovered broad beans

Everything is growing!!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Having moved house and bought a new car I've been delayed on the blog front so I'm a bit behind! Luckily - Karl has been an eager beaver and has been busy tidying up the plot by digging and planting. He's done a stunning job and everything is starting to pop up! :)
The broadbeans that I planted are about a foot high already - incredible! I've plonked in a few more seeds where some failed to grow. The shallots are sprouting nicely...we had fun keeping these seeds in the ground as the birds kept pulling them up! (Mistaken identity for a worm we think!) Turnips are coming up but the moluscs are having fun snacking on these as they're right by a wooden step which I think the sluggys sleep in. They're the first thing they see when they wake up! :(
The brocolli has gone to seed with lots of small yellow flowers and the strawberries have flowered too. Even the carrots by the greenhouse are doing rather well and you can just see their tips poking through! Apples are starting to grow too....the joys of spring!

Sprouting Shallots

Turnips, Kohl Rabi & Fennel

Brocolli in flower (we'll save the seeds!)

Strawberries in bloom

Broad beans coming up

"Les carrottes"

Early Apples

Surprisingly productive

Despite Karl having a nasty accident on Friday night and needing A&E treatment plus his car breaking down on the A470 we have managed to still get up the allotment!!
I decided to cycle up (which nearly killed me!) and I managed to get a decent frame of netting around the broad beans. I've also replanted where the beans didn't quite make it through.
Karl carried on digging, hoeing and planting whilst Emily joined us for the afternoon and helped water all the seeds and detangle some wire. I think we will have good broad beans this year - I can feel it!
I've also put some seeds in trays in the plastic greenhouse: Mostly Leeks, Cherry Tomatoes and Pumpkins at the moment. I plan to do some french beans, butternut squashes and some peas soon. :)

The onions are doing well despite the birds constantly popping them out thinking that they are worms!
Netting has helped quite a lot!

Against all odds

Me and Karl have excelled ourselves this week. We've replanted the turnips which died, added some kohl rabbi (??) and some fennelly stuff. Don't ask- Karl planted it!!
I've replanted the parsnips where the soil had previously dried out and also put in shallots (red and white), onion (red and white), spring onion and garlic. :)
We have a few more bits of land ready too for potential sunflowers by the greehouse, plus raspberry canes and we're still thinking about where to put the Leeks.
It hasn't all been smooth running however, I'm currently looking for a new pair of wellies as my car was stolen and the wellies went with it! Left them in the boot unfortunately. :(

Soooo...need a new car and new wellies. All whilst moving house - joy!

Wind wreaks havoc

I went up the plot on Saturday to do some digging but found to my horror that my polytunnel had vanished! My brand new lovely tunnel had been blown away. No holes in the ground from where it had been - no marks of any kind. I was furious. Apparently anything that is not pinned down with bricks is prone to disappearing as we are on a very windy part of the plot. One of the committee members said that every year he hears about poly tunnels disappearing and said that he had 37 bean plants blow away in the night. He has now resorted to cementing his posts into the ground.
I noticed that the fleecing had also shifted and had exposed the newly tipped broadbeans which were peering out. They are doing well but they were now exposed to birds so I built a frame. It was admittedly a bit tall but I made a temporary measure until the next day as I had to get back for the rugby.
By the next day the wind had snapped one of the posts and the netting was all over the place. The fleecing had moved again and I was losing my temper rapidly. Whilst I tried to put things right the weather decided to turn to the worst and rained heavily for a while before hailing a bucket load for about 20 mins. I sat in the greenhouse getting more and more annoyed.
I hate this sodding country for the damn weather at the best of times but now...now I'm MAD!!

I've decided to not bother with the frame as apparently another frost is on its way and I couldn't find the saw to make the posts shorted. I got as many stones as I could and pinned the fleece down yet again. I also put some fleece over the area where the poly tunnel was protecting the turnips. It's a last attempt in vain to try and save the little turnips. (Deep down I think they are dead but this is my last attempt at hope.)

I've also put down some long stems of holly to keep the cats off the parsnips. The little buggers have been using my freshly dug soil as a place to sit and generally annoy me. It was either holly or an air gun.

The wind damage caused in 24hrs

Poly Tunnel no more :(

Later than late brocolli

Bare plot

Rhubarb popping up

Cats can keep off my parsnips!!!!

The only good news I 'might' have is that I know someone who works on building sites and has said that he can get some: Bricks, Rubber tubing and maybe some wood for me. Now that would make me happy. :)