The spring hasn't been great for us on the allotment this year. It has been so dry that seeds have struggled to germinate and the young plants I have put in have needed almost daily watering to get them to establish. The chard plants have started to bolt already, although that isn't a problem as I cut the flowering stem out and they do re-leaf. It has also been incredibly windy this last week which really dries the soil and plants out. However, we have persevered and the plots are looking okay. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) This first pic is taken at the top end of allotment number 2 looking down over the squash patch and the remainders of the garlic plants. As you can see, the garlic has really struggled due to the lack of moisture. In the left hand corner you can just make out James's allotment patch where he is growing peas, lettuce, spring onions, carrots and sunflowers. He is following in his mums footsteps. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) My trusty wheelbarrow nestling in the nettle bank at the side of my shed. Well, the slow worms, grass snakes and adders have to live somewhere and the nettles are a good food for caterpillars - I would rather them on the nettles than on my brassicas. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) This third pic is of my tomato house. I grow my toms under a roof as it slows down the spread of blight. The blight spores are carried in water and rain splash can be a culprit so I have a leaky hose running under weed suppressing membrane giving them plenty of moisture at their roots without any water splashing about. It also heats up under there, even though it is just a plastic roof, so I do see results earlier than other growers on the plot. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Strawberry porn. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) My baby squash plants again. You will see I have planted them through weed suppressing membrane. It saves me time, which is precious enough, and it does keep the ground damp, even after prolonged dry spells. You will probably spot a few leafy growths....ahem...they are volunteer spuds that got left behind last year. I normally weed them out as I spot them, but I haven't here. Some of the squash I have grown are Turks Turban, Atlantic Giant, Marina di Chioggia, Hooligan, Sugarsweet, Butternut and cobnut, yellow and green courgette, marrow, 4 different variety of cucumber, watermelon, galia melon, uchiki kuri and an array of gourds like speckled swan and cavemans club. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) As you can see, we ran out of room in the squash bed so Mark filled the compost heap with steamy horse manure and we planted some more in there. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Here are our sorry spud plants. I am hoping the rain and watering that has occurred in the last 24 hours will help boost them so we get a usable harvest. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) This photo is from our shed looking towards our apple trees on plot number one. This is my seed bed with lettuce, fennel, spring onions, carrots, turnips, parsnips etc. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Me, all windswept and interesting with weeds a plenty. Mares tail in one hand, dandelions in the other. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Here you can see the Lollo Rosso lettuce, they always do so well for me. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Plot number one again, but from the Jerusalem Artichokes. I must reduce these next year as we don't like them, and only grow them in memory of a gardening friend who died shortly after sending me a bagfull to grow. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Here are the first lot of garlic I had to dig as they had started to die back. This variety is called Marco. It is perfectly usable, just on the small side. Hopefully the other variety that is still in the ground will be a little bulkier. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Our Sunday bounty. Strawbs, white strawbs, sweetpeas, lettuce and broadbeans. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) In the coldframe are early cos lettuce which have lovely hearts and are perfectly harvestable. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Another view of my tatty shed and the squash filled compost heap. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) This is the brassica bed. Hard to see them at the moment as they are just little plantlets but I have kale, cabbages, broccoli, white and purple sprouting broccoli, brussel sprouts and caulis. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Here you can see my beetroot plants. These were grown in cells and planted out as little plantlets. Two varieties, Boltardy and Bulls Blood. Boltardy for great roots, Bulls Blood for the delicious leaves. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) Runner and Borlotti beans. ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) An overview. The orange netting is to try to keep the muntjac deer off as much as possible. There is now a small family group, which is adorable, and a complete nuisance. They eat anything, including the rhubarb leaves. Pesky nature! Our bounty - Sunday 22nd May ( photo / image / picture from EJ's Garden ) And again, this last shot is the weekends bounty, including our quail eggs. As you can imagine, we are eating well in this house.
Hi EJ, a very well organized plot,..great variety of veg,..and of course the Strawberry Porn, ,..just looking at your flat roof and the fact you save the rain water,..very good!,..and a great sized water container. You certainly wont lack in fresh veg or fruit,..all looking healthy,..i am sure you worry about the deer getting into your plot,..probably have nightmares thinking about them?,..knock on wood. Our weather is as erratic as yours,..lovely sun,..then for too long without rain,..then but too much,..plus VERY strong winds,..but when things are good in the garden,..they are VERY good.
Everything looks great EJ! We are so far behind you here in Ontario. It has rained, and rained, and rained. The soil is still so cold and wet that I can't even work the soil. I did manage to get a bit of it planted last weekend but we just got another 2 days of torrential rain. Tell me, are Jerusalem Artichoke's popular there? I was asked to plant some in the veggie plot at work and I'm having a hard time finding any!
This is what I've been waiting to see! As usual, you are two (or more) weeks ahead of us here in Nederland. I enjoyed seeing all the shots of your lotties from different angles....the harvests and I have to tellya--it makes me more than a little jealous. Say, how old was that horse manure that you planted your courgettes in? I liked the Lathyrus as well. Beautiful colours and those lovely, long stems--excellent. Mine are still in the root trainers. Yeah, this was a good posting! Well done.
Wow! Look at all of those gorgeous veggies! One can tell that you've put a lot of work and love into each and every section. Hope you get some of that elusive rain to help everything along a bit more.
I just love agricultural tours, now I have a better picture of the allotment. Nice pictures. Nice veggies. Jerry
It makes me tired just looking at all the work you put into it...but it sure does taste better when you grow your own...great pictures.
Philip, we have no piped water on our allotment site so we have to save every drop we can. The huge water tank is a recent aquisition, recycling at its finest. Stratsmom, my allotment neighbour first gave me a little white strawberry plant, and every year I split it so now I have a nice corner of them. The berries are small, like alpine strawbs, but oh so sweet and perfumed. Netty, Jerusalem artichokes are quite popular - a bit of an acquired taste. I am not keen and I will be reducing the patch dramatically this autumn and winter. (They are also known as Fartichokes as they do make one incredibly windy!) Sjoerd, that manure was fresh and hot from the stable. You would think it would burn those tender roots, but we have done it before and it works a treat. The plants on the main bed are also planted in a mound of the stuff. The ones of the compost heap were left overs so they might as well be planted in the compost rather than just chucked on it. If we get one fruit from each plant, then they are a bonus. As for the sweetpeas, sown directly in September for flowers now. I also have some I sowed in March and they will be giving us flowers in a month or so. Cherylad, we got rain, and more today also. Hoorah. Jerry, I love me allotment, it isn't as pretty as Sjoerds, his is such a lovely garden, mine looks more like a farm, but I adore it. Sherry, freshly picked crops are the best, the sweetest and the quickest to cook. Thanks everyone for your kind words.
What a yummy place you've got there. Very organized too by the look of it. Me neither. I think I need to find some, just to try.
I adore it too, EJ. I think this is fascinating to look at. Every time I look at the pictures again, I notice something different. It's wonderfully well tended... wish I could see it in person.... I learn so much here.
Hi EJ...enjoyed seeing you allotment area, how far is it from your home? Very nice posting. Thanks for sharing your photos.
Gfreiherr - my allotment is only about a 5 minute drive from my home. It is down a long, windy, country road and set in the middle of nowhere really, bordered by the unmade road one side, the site secretaries garden the other, farmland on the third side and the farmyard on the fourth. There is a small stream, more of a ditch at the bottom end between us and the site secretaries garden - she has a small bridge over it as she also has a plot on the site. I have an array of waterbutts to try to save everything mother nature provides. My permanent plantings are 2 apple trees, raspberries, currant and gooseberry bushes, rhubarb and strawberries. I imagine there are about 20 plots in total on our site - I will have to get the kids to count one visit, and a lot of us long time plot holders have 2 plots. Each allotment costs just £5 per year, not bad when you think the next nearest site charges about £10 per month.
Thanks for the detailed description and information. I only have some tomato & Pepper plants and some herbs. Wish I had a good location for more. Glad you get so much pleasure from your allotment, I have to go to the farmers market for my fresh produce.
Hey EJ--I forgot to ask--can you put some names to those long-stemmed Lathyruses? Those are very nice for vases.
