Well, we're now into the second week of our holidays, yesterday was just too darn hot, so apart from putting up Fester (our scarecrow - something we've been meaning to do for a while but never quite got round to) and making some new wooden bed labels (with whats in the bed and the varieties on them, ready for the allotment judging in the next 2 weeks), we didnt manage to get much done apart from a little bit of sowing, weeding and harvesting (3lb of first early spuds, 3 courgettes, 3lb of rasps, 1lb of strawbs, 2lb of broad beans and 1lb of peas), so we decided that today we'd get up extra early and get to the plot whilst it was still cool to give everything a good watering and then get some serious weeding done!
We got to the plot for 615am, lovely and cool, but also overcast, and we then spent the next 12 hours dodging rain showers, attempting to get as much of the plot weeded as we could, giving everything a really good watering (it takes 1 1/2 hours to fully water now with the hosepipe - yes, it did rain today, but none of the rain was heavy enough to properly water our crops, so we still had to water) and once again harvesting for tonights tea!
By the time we called it a day (6pm) we'd managed to weed the garlic, 4 beds of onions (the ones in this piccy), the carrot bed, the courgette bed, 2 beds of sweetcorn / pumpkins and 1/4 of one of the brassica beds, so still lots left to weed before the judging starts this coming monday!
Doesnt look like we're going to make it to Shell Island this year unfortunately, but we should be able to get a day out on Thursday, though we may be moving the other hive from the apiary where its colony was from, down to our apiary on Thursday night!
Plans for the rest of the week then are shopping tomorrow morning (Wednesday), followed by the afternoon on the plot and then doing the weekly inspections on the 2 beehives (the girls on our plot have been mad busy, lots of bees coming and going, mainly collecting poppy pollen by the looks of things!), Thursday will be a day out, followed (we hope) by moving the other hive, Friday will be a full day on the plot, then Saturday also will be another day on the plot, though we will be helping out with the allotment tidy up before the allotment BBQ later in the afternoon! Then Sunay Lee is back at work, so hopefully I'll be able to finish any weeding and tidying ready for the judging, then back to work on Monday for me!
Last picy for today, Fester and Lee, can you tell which one is which??So, onto the balance sheet!
Total Costs 2009
Rent + subs for 2 plots £85
Debris Netting £70
Seed Spuds £20
Compost £20
Seed Compost £5
Seeds £20
Plant feeder / feed £12
Growbags (4 for £5) £15
2 Apple trees £30
Herbs and Flowers (for underplanting 3 beds of fruit trees) £40
2 Apple trees £30
Herbs and Flowers (for underplanting 3 beds of fruit trees) £40
Total costs so far £317
Harvests 2009
Rhubarb (£1 a stalk in Sainsburys) £50
Spring Onions (£0.99 a bunch for organic) £5
Lettuces £7
Peas £8
Broad Beans £15
Cucumber £3
Courgettes £8
Broccolli £3
Strawberries £15
Raspberries £22
Strawberries £15
Raspberries £22
Potatoes £5
Total Harvests 2009 £141
So, still out of pocket to the tune of £176 so far, but that is definitely changing! Hope you're growing year is going well!
I'll try and get another update done tomorrow, on the Beekeeping we've been doing, hopefully with a bit of info about how a hive is constructed and what beekeeping actually involves!
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