Andy's Allotment Year 1 (2010)

Andy's Alottment Blog from start 12/11/09 to finish............

The Man Himself

Me Thinking 'what have i gotten myself into now'!!!! This is the land i have aquired lets see what i can do with it!!

Tuesday 2 November 2010

my first burn

Posted by baldrobins at 10:38

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Andy's Allotment Year 2 (2011)

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intro for video's

Well here we go got the keys for my allotment on the 12/11/2009. Oh the excitment!! I waited a year to get one and at last it came.. And since i first got the keys all its done is bloody rain!!!!!!

And So It Begins!

Well here we go look at the mess ive been given. Its been a long wait and here it is. You will see me work this bit of land until its a really good plot. Eventually it will grow an array of fruit and vegetables. (he says convincingly!!)

The Begining 12/11/09

What a lot of work to do.

17/12/09

Base for the new shed looks very flat lol...

17/12/09

Made a start on the beds...

Found that the soil is different in the beds. 2 beds are nice full of humus and 2 beds are slightly clay so will have to get some manure and green fertilizer.

17/12/09

There is alot to do during december and january ive goto get sturdy planks to section off the different beds and make the pathhways better. Also erect the shed (somewhere to hide in the rain and have a cuppa!) And ive started thinking of things to do with the scaffolding i dismantled.

SNOW

Winter

Well not alot i can do as the snow has set in Brrrrrr! Still havnt put the shed up! Will have to wait now till the snow passes......

January 10

Bloody Snow

shed

At last the shed is now up

The Shed!

THE SOIL!!!

The Soil

Well its March 26th and im well behind because of the weather and work !!!!!

But ive made a start on some of the beds, will be getting some well rotted manure next week to dig into these beds.....

Beds

Hoeing!!!

I thought digging was hard work but hoeing is a nightmare! bending down to pull out the weeds its backbreaking stuff!

Manure

Well at last ive found a good source of manure locally, through a friend.
So hopefully be spreading some well rotted 20 year old manure on here soon.

chippings

Much better than getting mud everywhere!!

Chance

Walking up to my allotment yesterday the council were driving up the lane in a cutting machine clearing the lane of overhanging branches and stuff.
So i asked them what they did with all the chippings when it was done. Lo and behold they piled them on the lane for me so ive barrowed them onto my plot for the pathways..

TADAAAAAA!!!!

In hindsight i think the shed is not situated in the best position for my land so am thinking about moving it. Will have to rope in a couple of mates to help me do this lol!

Shed

I think i better move my shed! Gonna build something on that spot!

Manure at last!

As i previously mentioned i found a place to get manure, the problem was getting it to my plot! no-one wanted to put it in their vans or trucks. But eventually i convinced a friend whom picked it up in his landrover......

As you can see its making the soil darker and i should be able to start planting soon. :)

Manure

Chitting

Got to get these seed spuds in!

7th april 2010

so far!

First early potato's

I was kindly given 2 types of first early potato's off my fellow allotmenteers. So eagerly i planted them today 7th April.....

potato

planted some first early's and prepared bed 2

onions

Onion set 14/04/2010

This is my first early Onion set. After a good hoeing and raking of bed 2 i planted me onions. Hopefully ive done this correctly (asked a fellow allotmenteer how to do it) lol!!!

In Situ

Erection!

work in progress!

Courgettes

Kindly donated off my allotment neighbour

Pea's 15/04/2010

Now i was watching 'The Edible Gardner' last night and watched as she planted her pea's, so decided to get mine in. Think ive done this right but if they dont grow will try again eh!

pea beds

made 2 trench's for my peas

put some compost in!

scattered some pea's in

stuck in some birch for the pea's to climb up.

covered them up to keep them warm

Pea's

Well here ae my pea's just poking through the soil. I must have planted them correctly cos they are actually growing!!!

Pea's

24/04/10 Peas starting to poke through top of soil..

Spuds

And here are my first early potatoes poking through the soil... Big Phewwww! As i thought i planted them too deep i didnt think they would grow but lo and behold here they are!!!

Potatoe

At last!

Wasp

24/04/10 Me n the mrs took a romantic stroll tonight and we popped into the allotment on the way home. When entering my shed we found this wasp setting up home on the ceiling!!!!
The mrs ran off shouting obscenities lol !!! So myself a knight in shining armour came to her rescue....... Well lets just say it isnt there now!!

Wasp

Caught this in me shed!!!

Cut and come again salad leaves

Well my salad leaves are starting to grow, got these from the BBC website 'Dig In' always up for a freebie me...... lol

03/05/2010

Salad

Peas

My peas are looking good now but i think i better get a different kind of support as i dont think my birch branch idea is going to work very well!

03/05/2010

Peas

Spuds

And my potato's are coming up a treat.. Im gonna plant some more soon for my main crop as you cant have to many spuds eh.

03/05/2010

spuds

Lettuce

Planted some lettuce today which were kindly given to me from my mate Ron,he also gave me some tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn and this morning he popped down with a melon plant! (sorry 'Lee Mad' but he said he wants to help as im new to all this growing malarkey!!!!) Thanks Ron :)

03/05/2010

Lettuce

03/05/2010

mini polytunnel

6 Months On

Its now been 6 months since i first got my plot and i must admit i have enjoyed everything from digging to preparing the soil and getting manure but so far by far the best part is planting and watching things grow.Obviously just cos its growing dosnt mean im gonna get a bountiful harvest but i will persist until i get it right!!

The Story So Far

Comfrey

For feeding my veg!!

My Runner Bean Wigwam

Only a small one this year!!

New Beds Dug!

Phew Backbreaking stuff Digging!!!!

Radish

Planted 2 types of radish. These dont half grow quick!!!

Beetroot

Here are the first beetroot coming through..

Salad leaves

These are starting to pick up now

Sweet Corn

Swwt corn will be going in about a months time!!!

My Plot

Its all coming along slowly....

Runner Beans

Planted runner beans today

Onion Bed

De-Weeded!!!!! looks better now..

Lettuce

Lettuce is growing very quickly will be eating these very soon me thinks..

Runner Bean

Looks like my runner beans are starting to climb the bamboo now.

Courgettes

Had to re-pot the courgettes as they were getting to big will be planting these two very soon.

Sweet Corn

And looks like my sweet corn can be planted soon as well. ( i love sweet corn)

Tomato plant

Tomato is looking good now this one grows big fat beefeater fruit...

courgette

Planted a courgette that i was given today

The Story So Far

Courgette

My first courgette woo hoo!

Plant Pots

Lots of plant pots building up spose i best plant that sweet corn today :)

Lettuce

This is for my first prawn cocktail..

Prawn Cocktail

My first prawn cocktail of the season.. Yum Yum!!!

Sweet Corn

Sweet corn is now in planted in a block to help pollination.

Radish

My first produce the humble easy to grow radish!! yummy

All starting to grow now!

Comfrey

The comfrey i got off my dad is now growing well this plant will feed alot of my veg in th future.

Carrots

These are now coming through.

Runner Beans

These are climbing quickly now.

Pea's

My peas are now forming!

German Radish

This is a real hot radish but yummy

My Plot

Looking like an allotment now 22/06/10

A Small Harvest

Picked some new potatos a lettuce and some radish for a BBQ.

Courgette

Apparently you can eat these courgette flowers but i think they look too nice.

tomato's

cherry toms coming soon

sweet corn

not happy with my corn i dont think this is gonna privide any fruit

Beetroot

these are swelling now too

Pea's

Harvesting lots of peas yummy

Carrots

Will have to thin out my carrots soon

My Plot 05/07/10

All growing nicely....

Runner Beans

Starting to get some beans now

Runners

Getting lots of runner beans now.

Potters Corner

Was bored so built a potting table

Carrots

Still need to thin these out!!! keep forgetting.

A small Harvest

Dunno what to do with these large corgettes!!!

Plot

Its all growing well now

Harvest

Some beets, onions, and marrows....

Carrots

And here are some yummy carrots that i grew in a container...

Sweet Corn

My Sweetcorn didnt really fruit this season (my first season) So these 2 baby's were given to me by my allotment neighbour Roy!! thanks mate they were sweet as can be..

End of Season.

And so this season comes to an end 24/10/2010. Picked my last beetroot today and that leaves nothing in the ground!
I have enjoyed this years gardening journey immensley, From the chilly start in November right through till this November. As you know this was my first growing season and ive never grown a thing in my life. But what an experience! Im already looking forward to next year and have alot more knowledge now, so i hope to grow even more next season.....

Back to just soil!!!

Its sad to see the plot like this after it being full in the summer but its now dug and all im going to do now is cover it in manure and sprinkle some lime on until february next year!!!

Wood Chippings

29/10/2010 Covered the paths on the plot with wood chippings that the local council dropped off. About 50 wheelbarrow journeys!! Backbreaking stuff!! but will supress the weeds and grass.

Chippings

Started to cover all the paths with chippings now to suppress the weeds!!

Shed

'Cuprinoled' my shed ready for the winter months

Winter On The Way

Well winter is now here and there is nothing for me to do on my allotment 'vegetable wise'. So am thinking of some construction !! I think im gonna design a makeshift greenhouse to start off my seedlings and such..... Its gonna be a long winter for me this year but next year ill be growing winter veg too...... Need some more chippings though so will berate the local council...