Summer Veg Update

courgettes

onions

runner beans

Brussels

Summer 2008

Well after the rubbish summer and the last month of constant down pours the chicken run began to smell . This was down to the layers mash they eat once it gets wet it goes sour . I have changed their diet and put a plastic roof on the run and have put bark Chipping's on the floor this seems to have done the trick

Chicken coop update

Well it's been all go this weekend. On Friday I decided that I was going to build a chicken run as I was obtaining 10 free, ex battery chickens. So Saturday morning came and off I went to buy some materials, just for the job. £120 pound later, with 14 posts and 75 meters of chicken wire I set about constructing the Hilton chicken hotel. By teatime I had dug a trench one foot deep around the parameter to keep the foxes out and knocked in the posts.

Sunday morning came and the weather was terrible, it was thrashing it down with rain, I felt like staying in bed but the chickens were coming on Tuesday so I had to motivate myself. Off I went down the plot at the shocking time of 8 in the morning. It wasn't long 'till I got moving and by dinner I had built the roof beams and fitted the door at the front of the pen, before long it was three in the afternoon and as I had to go to work I had to call it a day.

Well, with the weekend gone and only one day left 'till the chickens arrived I had to get a move on. So I finished off wiring the pen and by midday it was finished. I'm still waiting for the coop to arrive so I have borrowed a large fox trap to home them in until the coop arrives, which is still better then the appalling conditions they are use to in these battery farms.

Chicken day arrived and by eleven I was down the plot and waiting for the delivery of the birds. They were soon here and in better shape than I had imagined, a couple of them have their neck feathers missing, I believe this is due to them putting their heads through the cages to reach the food. Also one of them has a bright red behind where it has been pecked at for what looks like quite some time. I'm sure that after a couple of weeks and lots of worms and slugs they will be fine and back to their former glory

As an extra bonus I found two eggs in one of the delivery boxes. I put these on top of the pen and off I wandered to talk to my neighbour, (big mistake). The next thing I saw was a dirty big black carrion crow fly past with an egg in its claws! With shock and horror I looked over to my plot and saw a further two more circling my last remaining egg. Off I sprinted shouting my head off to protect my dinner. So on the first day I'm down 50% on losses, its my first lesson I've learnt in the art of keeping poultry.

I have been down to check on the veg after the harsh weather we have been having and all looks good


potatoes

purple sprouting broccoli

onions

Its alive

Please check out this web site for any help or information on growing fruit or vegetables . It has a great online community with lots and lots of knowledge

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk

Its spring

So the time of year has come again where we have to get all of the plants and seeds into the ground .

I assembled a mini team just for the job , And on todays list of jobs to do was ....

Plant potatoes

plant broad beans

plant onion bulbs

weeding " and lots of it "

Fruits of the loom

Well after my recent development on the plot i thought it was about time that i went out and bought some cuttings for my fruit patch .. After searching through all of the different kinds i have ended up getting a Black currant and red current bush i also purchased a couple of strawberry plants ..

To make sure that these don't get attacked by the weeds i dug a square trench out and sieved the soil to eliminate any roots they will come back to haunt me one this was done i then soaked the cuttings in water and then transplanted them into the soil ...

Now they are in place i will leave them for a week so that they set ok in the ground them im going to cut out some membrane and put it around the base on the bush as a second defense system from the weeds .....

Today i have dug over my new vegetable bed again to remove any weeds or roots i missed the last time . I have also been on a website and ordered a Instant Small Vegetable Garden pack which should be Suitable for filling a vegetable patch approximately 10m²

The kit contains

Rocket x 20
Mixture of lettuces x 40
Dwarf French green beans x 12
Runner beans x 8
Beetroot x 10
Cauliflower x 6
Cabbage mixture x 6
Courgette x 3Organic seed potatoes x 20
Carrots x 20
Giant Red Mustard x 10

Here is a plan of how the patch should be planted

Jobs to do until my vegetables arrive

Membrane all of the paths

fix shed windows

Tidy up remains of the old greenhouse

Buy and plant fruit bush's

Well after a long winters break i decided i had to go and face up to the plot . I was dreading going there seeing how bad it had become .

I called a favor and borrowed my friends rotorvator as it would mean less work for now but lots more work in the long run .. There are so many for's and against's when it comes to using one ... But the main thing is that it makes the job easy .

All i needed was the weather on my side and we were looking for a go . I woke up about 10 and things were looking good , We picked up the rotorvator and off we went .. God what a shock i was in for once we had the beast up and running , talk about hard work and heres me thinking this would be easy the beast had me all over the place getting stuck and going where it wanted , you had to wrestle with the damn thing but hey its still easier than digging ...

My plan is was not to rotorvate the whole plot as i want to be able to keep on top of it this year so ive done three sections which im hoping i will be able to keep on top of ...

...........................................................................................................................................................

Plans for the coming week

BED 1 this will be kept weed free until i can fill it full of potatoes

BED 2 as this is the less weeded bed and has great soil this will be my veggie patch for the year

BED 3 not sure what to put in here yet .......

more updates to follow

They say a picture says a thousand words

Well all this one says to me is

OH DEAR

I had put all of my plans into action that this weekend was going to be the takeover of the plot and rescue it back from the nasty weeds

But the weeds used there secret weapon yet again Mother nature and her dreaded rain so it looks like it has got the better of me and my petrol strimmer yet again . I think im going to have to sit it out with a few cans of carling and maybe one or two magners and see what tomorrow morning brings ...

New update will follow soon ....................

Not enough time

Unfortunately i have let the plot get out of order and it is now looking like a wildlife sanctuary . I have let work and other hobbies take over my life and have put the allotment to the back off my list .

I think i have visited it about twice in the last 3 months and that was just to fetch some tools which i left in the shed down there .

Also the weather has been a big factor of why i haven't visited but that is no excuse .

I am just waiting for the rain to pass and i will nip down there and take some pictures to show what poor state i have let it get to .

Here are a few pictures from around the plot to update you since the last lot














Now im sure there's something wrong with these next pictures as im working and my mates chilling mmm im sure it should be the other way round

Also we had the young one down there with us it wont be long till we can get him digging and earning his keep hahaha ( child labour )

The start of the growing season is here at last .

So i thought i would go down and plant my broad beans. The soil just needed a quick going over with the hoe to break up the big lumps and then we transplanted the broad beans into there final position.

There was 28 plants altogether which we started off in my grandads greenhouse.

The first plant to go into the ground since I took over the plot so hopefully in two years time I should have some good rhubarb ready for picking.. ( mmm rhubarb crumble )