Creme brulee.

Yesterday I hit the sales.
Bought a bag of 25mm fencing staples and four chesnut fence posts from my local fencing supplier.
Four bags of seed potatoes, a canister of Bordeaux powder for dilution and a 75% off nice candle for her indoors from Van Hagues.
Some packets of onion seeds and a Sulphur Candle for the greenhouse from Harlow Garden Centre.

Then I went and fitted the four posts to my fruit terrace for the original raspberry row and for a new as yet unplanted row. Used some of the staples to fit a second higher wire to the existing posts and a pair of wires to the new posts.

Rhino is still barred from contact sports following his broken arm on 3rd November, cast now off, but today I went, sans Rhino, to watch the B team play Welwyn at home, they lost 22 - 5.

Back at home I weeded, de-suckered and dug over another inter-raspberry-row area, so I have now done 5/8ths of my fruit terrace.

Why creme brulee, well that was the ground conditions today, a thin crisp frost over the sticky mud, which is what defeated me today by sticking to the spade like limpets.

Two years in forty-eight hours.

Went to the allotment again today!

It's ok blog readers, pick yourselves up and have a cup of tea.

Cut out last years canes on the three remaining rows of last years raspberry planting, just leaves the original row from three years ago which is a bit strawberry infested with some weeds also.

Removed the suckers between the rows, that is two gaps, then use some to fill in blanks in the rows, heeled the rest in in my raised bed, good friable soil in there.

Dug the gaps over,found some bindweed roots in four places so will need to have a glyphosate hand spray available next year, unwind bindweed, lay bindweed on ground, spray bindweed.

Dog preferred sitting on the damp grass the other side of Karl's allotment to watch the playground, over sitting on the cunningly constructed insulated doggy perch with less of a viewty 100L plastic bag, doubled over brillopadtype carpet underlay.

Now what will be the best way to dispose of the now unwanted strawberry bed? I have one established down in the sunlight and want to remove the one on the fruit terrace to acommodate another row of raspberries. Problem is the terrace is very heavy clay, I had to scrape the spade clean every three spits or so as otherwise the fourth spit stayed stuck to the spade. Can't beat an old handleless cheapo pressed sheet steel hoe for this job.

Out with the old

Well with the old dead bits on the herb patch, which today had its annual trim and as per usual has left a reminder in one of my fingers. shouldn't complain, it reminded me to blog.

Also worked on the fruit terrace, cutting out the dead on a raspberry row, dug out the suckers on one side and inserted them back in the row where bits had died. Then dug another eighth of the fruit terrace, one quarter done.

Green housing.

Today I tidied up the greenhouse and the outside gow bag house.
The frost had finally killed off the peppers and tomatoes.
So I used the secatuers and snipped them into a pop-up canvas tidy bag, then I took out the canes and put them on the supports in the roof to dry out. Put all three grow bags outside to get really cold so I can add them to non-potato non-tomato growing areas next year as soil conditioner. Weeded the in-ground beds in the greenhouse and emptied and redundant pots in with the weeds to the tidy bag. Ended up with a nice full bag which was emptied into the old coal bunker I use as a compost bin.

Now all that is needed is a nice frost and builder free area to move my onions to, so that I can light a nice sulphur candle or two in the greenhouse.

Faint remembered thing!

Today I remembered that I have an allotment, had some difficulty recognising it, finally realised that the brown oblong thing with green and brown things sticking out of it was mine!

Also remembered that my blog is about gardening, of which I have done odd bits since July, my how time flies. so what have I done since then:

• got a day where I was able to glyphosate spray plot 18's weeds, which have (mostly) died off.
• the tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse have done well and are now due for final harvest and removal before we get a real hard frost as the greenhouse is unheated.
• had a pathetic squash harvest of three usable fruits, none much larger than eight inch diameter.
• harvested my "Pigletwillies" with quite a variety of shapes and sizes, they are in storage for re-planting next year for a harvest and hopefully some seeds.
• harvested a poor to reasonable onion crop.
• watched the Kale and PSB grow nicely. Picked the first of the kale today and had it with roast beef and all the trimmings.
• decided that the weather this year has really stuffed up things that normally do ok, such as carrots which were useless, sweetcorn ditto, french beans ditto, squash especially ditto.
• as a committee member of the allotment association I have obtained thirteen notice boards to errect at our sites. So far I have put up two experimental ones at my site, trialing metal versus wooden posts, wood gives a sturdier result and put up two at John;s site on the other side of town.

Alot of my time has been taken up with preparation for a house extension, which is now in full swing with the ground floor walls up and steel girders laid in on Friday for the first floor walls to go up. Amazing how much stuff you find you own when you need to clear terrace, garage, shed, rooms etc for builder access.

I was anticipating only being able to squeeze odd hours in at the plot over winter and having to pick up the mess in spring with mechanical resources, but the rhino broke his arm (ulna fracture) last saturday in a school rugby match and is off rugger for six weeks at least, so that could mean sunday gardening. Mind the silly boy said consistently that it did not hurt much and subsequently played three practice sessions and another school match before ending up at A&E due to a Westie biting him hard in the leg on the way to the match, which he played with a bandage round his leg. So in A&E he asked about his arm which had started to hurt alot more during the match and an x-ray showed a lovely break.

Rhino and I went and watched his teammates play a really hard match, which they lost, against Harrow. On the way home we got a new bathroom light switch, annoying when the cord snaps off inside the switch, which I fitted when we got home. Then I went to the plot and:

• took down the firework display ads from my notice boards.
• pruned my two espaliers.
• pruned my currents and gooseberries.
• dug one eighth of my fruit terrace over roughly with a spade to prepare for a good dung mulch.
• admired the growth on the raspberries and some useful looking out of row suckers.
• weeded and hoed my coldframe.
• weeded and hoed my raised bed.
• took down and stored my bean poles.
• cleared weeds from around my hopeful looking brussells.
• dug up a half row of spuds.
• harvested a nice wadge of curly green kale.

Hope to do more next weekend.

At last, an update.

My surgery incisions have finally, after a post operative infection in two of them, healed sufficiently for me to take an active interest in gardening things again.

Last Monday I did manage to do all the strimming and mowing, just in time for the annual site and plot judging. Though how well they could judge in the rain remains to be seen.

Inbetween whiles I have picked raspberries and strawberries and noted the phenomanal growth the weeds are achieving this year. My sweetcorn is almost submerged in weeds and has grown poorly, my carpet mulch is working well, as usual, around my squash, which have hardly grown at all since being planted out. The chickweed and others between the potato rows have grown to the same height as the haulms. The climbing french beans emerge from the weed growth like broadcast masts from thick fog to shuffle their way to the pole tops.

Finally felt up to some proper gardening today, weeded my cut flower patch, a shamefully small single square yard and all 90 odd of my "Pigletwillies" (Banana shallots grown from seed supplied by the inestimably helpful Pigletwille on GYO forum). Some of the Pigletwillies have vanished, one looks to have been dug out by a fox in search of something, some are huge, none seem to have gone multi-bulb yet. Garnered about a daleks worth of weeds which I left to dry in the sun, however it has rained again this evening, so heigh-ho. Looking on the bright side, at least I have not had to water stuff much this year.

Moved the square of carpet I had chucked down onto an unplanted corner along to cover the next bit, revealing some convulsed white snakes of bindweed which I will allow to "green-up" before treating them to a little feed of glyphosate based weed killer. Also need to get some more spare carpet out to contain the other weeds as I do not think I will be able to dispose of them quickly enough to prevent them seeding.

When I did the strimming I topped off plot 18 ready for some glyphosate, but have not yet had a day that combined lack of rain with sufficient lack of wind.

Despite good pickings I have had more strawberries rot on the plant this year than I have picked, but on the plus side the raspberries have been superb, combining heavy fruiting with good cane growth ready for next year.

I have shamefully to admit to buying in some kale and cabbage plants from a garden centre to try and at least have some winter stuff from the plot. Not sure if I have left it too late to sow some leeks, but that is the next thing to try in this direction.

In the greenhouse today I tied in and de-shooted my tomatoes, reapplied slug control as two peppers were suffering, planted out some more peppers and watered at deluge levels as the borders were wuite dry. Also repotted the scented jasmine which was looking tired outside the front door , until the dog knocked it over yesterday and broke the pot!

Owwwww!

Post keyhole surgery last Thursday I am just about able to supervise a single offspring picking strawberries. My wounds are bloomimg though, purple and yellow.

Steaming.

A really busy weekend.
Friday evening I planted out the rest of my Pigletwillie banana shallots seedlings, should have done them sooner as the earlier planting has romped away compared to the pampered potted ones.
Saturday I did what should be the final two hour session of lawn mowing at my late mothers place, should exchange contracts on it by Tuesday, leaving just the inheritance tax bit to do. It was really hot and sunny. Liberated the last cowslips I'll have from where they had seeded themselves in the front lawn from the haymeadow section.
Went back home and after planting out hald the cowslips I took a couple of hours break from the sun, before I got stuck in at the allotment later on in the early evening, when I strimmed the car park / wild flower meadow. Ideal time of year for this as the hay making allows the hay meadow flowers to drop their seeds and discourages the rank weeds like nettles. From July onwards it will be regularly mowed. Then went and topped the weeds on plot 18 and edged both 17 & 18. Finished the evening with the first strawberry picking of the year with my daughter, sad to say none went home.

Sunday got on the plot around ten am and finished at four thirty to go and swap my offspring at father in laws boat, traded lovely daughter for the rhino, as she has an inset day Monday and he does not, nice way for her to spend it, sailing with Grandad.
On the plot I:

• planted out most of my squash after arranging my carpet mulch.
• hoed and weeded my :

1. flower patch.
2. onion bed.
3. banana shallot bed
4. sweetcorn.
5. french beans.
6. fruit terrace.
7. strawberry bed.
8. empty ground.

• planted out most of my sweet peas after building a "tent" for them to climb over.
• mowed the main path and my side paths.

Reading the above it does not sound like much, but it took a long time, I have a blister on my right hand from the end of the hoe handle and all the exposed bits of me are showing signs of sunshine.

So I left a largely weed free plot 17 and gained a largely empty greenhouse bench, it is too hot in there for pots now, the squash got scorched and had to be dunked to survive. I think that when I get electricity fitted to my greenhouse I will, as well as getting a larger heated propagator, get an automatic watering system. Shorter term I can feel an order to NH Kays coming on for two more vent openers.

During the week I hope to plant some more seeds, now the soil has some moisture I may be more successful than my miserable showings of earlier in the year.

Might not be much gardening action after Thursday for a few weeks as I am having my gall bladder out on Thursday afternoon.

Bit of break lately.

Since April I have been rather busy with clearing my late mother's house prior to contract exchange. Much ebaying, freecycling and bonfiring. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were a major blitz which completed the process with a skip and a hired van.

Yesterday I had a relaxed day of not really doing anything.

On the gardening front, between my last blog and todays I have planted out my sweetcorn, climbing frencg beans and some of my Pigletwillie banana shallot seedlings.

Today I are mostly been gardening in my greenhouse.
Which, fortunately for me has only one slight drip point and is very windproof.
I have:

• dismantled the inner sanctuary, removed the growbag house to the path and disconnected the temporary leccie supply.
• planted four bought in tomato plants in the side bed.
• planted three peppers, hot, across the side of the end bed.
• planted three more peppers, hot, in a growbag in the greenhouse.
• planted three more peppers, hot, in a growbag in the growbag house.
• potted up all my Crown Prince seedlings from tray to 3" pots.
• potted on all my Butternut from 3" to 4" pots.
• potted up my Sweetpea seedlings.
• un-potted and discarding any duds sorted my spring bulbs.
• planted ten French Marigolds amoungst the tomatoes and peppers.
• potted up my sweet pepper seedlings, discarding all the smallest ones.
• planted three sweet pepper seedlings straight into a growbag in the greenhouse.
• potted on my daughters pet geranium, bought a few weeks ago.
• potted on my "Queen of the night" succulent cactus.
• sorted out the hose and soaked all the greenhouse beds, as well as watering all my potting / plantings.
• filled all my watering cans and placed them in the greenhouse to get warm.

Starting work on the onion bed, hoeing out the potato harvesting ridges, nicely weathered by the frost.





























Here it is planted out and with the transplanted garlic, just after being watered.




















Also a long shot showing the four potato rows and the nicely cultivated area between them and the onions.















The Herb Patch, Dalek sanctuary and shed after the squash plot carpet had been gathered up.














The Fruit Terrace , nicely weeded.














My skip winnings.















How to insert a fence post.
First you twists the auger in the ground eight twists,



















then you pull's it out.