Cucumbers

We both left for work this morning, leaving a healthy looking cucumber plant behind. We have returned to Audrey II for "Little Shop of Horrors"! It's HUGE! And it has a spectacular curly bit on the top!I'm *such* a proud parent.

More growth...

A quick visit to the allotment tonight to water and check on everybody. Progress is good, especially with the radishes (see below) and onions, which are now managing to disturb the earth they are so active! (See below once more). In fact, growth is everywhere. The photos (starting from top left an moving across) are of: an onion emerging, our lettuces (which are significantly bigger), a host of radishes, the chives (which, in a surprising turn, have started to bud), Si with the herb garden, which is developing well, and the onion patch, which must have a huge amount of activity going on underground as it is well and truly disturbed!
For our first season, it is currently going well (touch wood!).
Green me up, Scotty. B x

Plot Cam 8

Real radish shoots

Chucklevision?

We didn't have very nice weather today, so we just popped down to check the plants were all watered. We had been away all weekend (for Lizzie's wedding, details probably appearing on our sister blog "Si's Daily Musings" soon) so we wanted to check all was well. Things seem to be ticking along, although one variety of alpine flower appears to be struggling, whereas others are booming.
On the way home from the wedding, we popped in for a lunch date at Barton Grange, partly because it's a very nice place to mooch around, and partly because the lunches are excellent. Si isn't very good at mooching, he prefers to have a purpose, so we had to dose him up the cups of tea first, and he coped admirably. We made several purchases, the most exciting being a very comprehensive set of seed trays (with lid). We are currently deciding what to put in them first. We also took delivery of the lightweight greenhouse, which is a very exciting step, but we are planning to invest in some heavy-duty weighing down equipment beforehand.
Another advantage of having some outside space is that we have room to tend to our indoor plants. For this reason, we packed the yucca up into the car (not an easy escapade, and involved a lot of negotiation of the "to me, to you" variety) and took it down to the allotment to be re-potted. It has been looking like it wanted a bit more room for a little while, and it looks much happier now.
Our photo today is not actually of the allotment, it is of one of the most exciting moments of the weekend. When we returned, our inside plants (3 varieties of tomato, 1 chilli and 1 cucumber plant) had grown significantly within 48 hours. They are doing very well indeed.

BIG NEWS

Well, we have had our first growth. The radishes are breaking through, as are the onions and the garlic. It was a very exciting evening down on the farm, as we realised just how much new growth we have had. We also planted the potatoes, which have been gently chitting on our windowsill. (On that note, thank you for all the amusing comments about chitting. Unfortunately, there isn't a joke you can think of that we haven't already cracked. But don't let that stop the rum-fuelled efforts, DAD.)
We have celebrated the breakthroughs this evening with wine, which was also partly due to my nearly being at the end of my very good first week in my new job, and the start of the celebrations for Lizzie's wedding (which we are very excited about). We are planning another trip to Barton Grange on Sunday, partly because we need a few bits and pieces, partly because I love it and partly because they do excellent scones. And Si hasn't been.
So I leave you on a very positive note. There is new growth, and the home-grown plants are exploding! Si will be uploading the photos tonight, there are some technical hitches but I am assured they are on the way.
Si is now making noises about making our own bread, Soon, we won't even need to leave our own flat. (As long as we can survive on cucumbers, tomatoes, chillis and bread. Oh, and well-chitted potatoes).
Grow strong my children, grow strong,
B x

Plot Cam 7

Making progress...

Just a quick visit last night to water the lettuces etc. last night. A lot of them seem to have settled down now they are in the ground and are looking a bit perkier, as are the alpine flowers. We now also have garlic, beetroot, onions and radishes waiting to come up, as well as some other flowers. On the home front, the tomato, cucumber and chilli plants are doing well and getting very tall. The potatoes are also chitting on the guest bedroom windowsills. So it's all go! Back down to the farm tomorrow to do some more planting. B x

Plot Cam 6

Plot Cam 5

Can I just say; I use my phone to take the pictures but they're not the best quality, sorry.

Planting!

Planting was always going to be one of my favourite parts of the process, and I had been excited all day at work at the prospect (much to the amusement of certain colleagues, who shall remain nameless). After a mammoth shopping trip to Barton Grange at the weekend, accompanied by mum and grandparents, we had a lot of pre-grown plants and seeds to get in. So far, we have managed to start off the herb bed, and I have a small alpine garden at the front of one of the beds. It was very satisfying to see the farm taking shape. We also potted up some of our more delicate plants, so we have some tomatoes, chillis and cucumbers on the way. However, they are a bit too delicate to last at the mo, so they have returned to the homestead in order to develop a bit more. We've come home, in order to finish off a full plan of all the beds and write a list of what we need to do, as we were getting a bit confused this evening. We need to plan where our greenhouse will go, and allocate space for the rest of the flowers. The dahlias my grandad is currently cultivating on our behalf will have pride of place at the front of the middle bed, as they are my favourite. We are now waiting for our lasagna to warm up whilst watching "The Apprentice". It's been a bit rushed this evening, as we raced home from work and rushed out (only slightly hindered by forgetting the key and having to turn back). So it's a well-earned tea for two hungry gardeners! B x

Bindweed

Another visit to the plot today, and the lovely weather made it very pleasant. I did some digging over, but I suspect Si feels this is not where my strengths lie, and is quick to allocate me other jobs. To be fair, he is a very good digger so I am reluctant to stand in his way.

I had a very good time raking bed B, which is almost ready for planting, and then I conducted a thorough inspection of bed A, as we had noticed it had traces of bindweed. I think I managed to find the source of the problem, and spent a lot of time raking through the rest of the soil and extracting anything which was, could be or probably wasn't bindweed, in an effort to eradicate it. I will do this again to make doubly sure. Apparently, there are certain species of bindweed which are endangered. I think I can safely say this was not one of the endangered varieties, and I'm not convinced endangered bindweed is a bad thing anyway. It's important we get rid of it as we're almost ready to plant, although we are leaving that until after the weekend because it's going to be very cold.

I think the nicest part of the day was sitting in the boot of our car with a flask of tea whilst admiring our progress. It was a very well-earned cuppa. 

Some updates on the plotcam today, with me looking a lot like the lady of the "Dig for Victory" posters. Except that she didn't have pink gloves on. 

Stay Green, 

B

Plot Cam 4

DIG FOR VICTORY!

What to buy?

Yes, seeing as we're new to this and have very little gardening equipment please leave suggestions for a shopping list, click on the comments link below to add yours.

And then we went shopping...

When faced with a new idea, hobby or experience, I generally have one immediate reaction: buy a book. No amount of financial constraints, common sense or complete lack of need has ever stopped me doing this. Nor has the fact that my dad brought me up with the mantra "you don't have to buy books, just get them from the library". In fact, my incessant book-buying is probably the closest I have ever got to full-scale teenage rebellion against the parentals. 

A new book is the nicest feeling in the world, and so, as a result of the allotment, I went to Waterstones. I'll be honest, I had been secretly planning this trip since I first even considered an allotment, although obviously I presented it to Simon as "I was just passing and thought I'd pop in to see what they had to help us." The range was quite impressive, although as we already had an allotment we were a bit ahead of the game as the first third of most of the books was about applying and securing an allotment.  Also, a lot were basically recipe books which suggested you could grow some of the ingredients yourself if you wanted. Or not. Whatever was right for you.

Happily, I stumbled across this gem: "The Allotment Book" by Andi Clevely. It is a valuable addition to our gardening library, with a very user friendly format for beginners. The pictures are beautiful and there is a huge amount of information, including a very useful calendar-style section so we know what we should be doing and when. It will also be transferrable to when we do not have an allotment, but reach the dizzy heights of a vegetable patch in our very own garden. 

The "Vegetable and Herb Expert" has been immensely helpful so far, but hasn't quite grasped that the way to entice me down to the allotment is to show me pictures of attractive people reclining in a small forest of flowers in the sunshine, sipping refreshing beverages. Rather, it takes the more scientific view and thinks I will be enthralled by pictures of the fungal infections potatoes can get.   

More shopping will take place on Sunday, with a trip to a big new garden centre in Preston. I don't want to get my hopes up, but there are rumours of even more pink gardening accessories.....Simon is preparing a list for me to take but, worryingly, it so far does not have anything pink on it. 

A day in which Waterstones has been visited is always a good day.

Keep it green folks, 

B

Plot Cam 3

My first visit...

Today I made my first visit to the allotment as an allotmenteer, rather than just a visitor. I am now officially a member of the Association of Manchester Allotment Societies (link and newsletter on the right). I am member 93. The last member 93 died, but it turns out she was 87, so it's probable that being member 93 wasn't actually a factor in that. 

I carried on where the boys had left off by turning the top spit over. (I have no idea what that means, but I'm reliably informed that's what I was doing). Apparently, I have surpassed expectations as a gardener, but my digging is "a bit girly". I shall work on this.

Our plot is looking very good now we have removed a lot of the rubbish (including a bracelet, a piece of decorative ceramic and a Connect 4 game piece). Simon made a start on the mud at the back of the plot which is a bit harder. We are also developing a path system to allow good access to all areas of the patch without having to trample potatoes. This also frees up extra soil for the aforementioned potatoes. 

Unfortunately, we were defeated by the light and had to turn home at 20:00, but I feel it was a very successful first visit. The pink gloves were broken in and did very well. I was a bit reluctant to leave my tools down on the allotment and wanted to bring them home each time. However, when I saw Simon shovelling manure into the poor quality soil at the back, I realised that the spade was never going in Ruby ever again. For those of you wondering, I did indeed shovel some manure and even wheeled a wheelbarrow with some of it in. (And thanks go to Don, who has 2 plots, for letting us borrow his 'barrow until we have one of our own). 

Once we have finished this bed, the next stage will be to plant some potatoes in it. Thankfully I have 4 days off after tomorrow which will allow me much more time to devote to my allotment. I'm now of for a shower and some cocoa.  

May the greenery be with you,

G'night

April Showers

I invited Matt to help do some digging, he's pictured in today's PlotCam, see below, helping to fork out the annual grass. We've pretty much finished the front section. Next we've got to turn over the top spit on the front and raise some beds. We were thinking 3 beds running longways down the plot then we don't have to walk all over them. We've a few options open now we've got a blank canvas.

Plot Cam 2