Bad Back stops play & Mr D is having to do it all!

Firstly an apology for the lack of updates, its been 10 days since I've posted anything, 10 days since the last piccies or updates, and I have to apologise for the laxness, unfortunately I've not been able to get to the plot, sit at the computer or do much of anything as I've had an extremely bad back, most of my hols were spent resting it and even after that it wasnt getting better, so after seeing my GP 2 weeks ago, he diagnosed another case of Sciatica, a bad one this time, and I've been litterally laid up for the past 2 weeks! Its slowly getting better, perhaps another week or resting it and I'll be able to get back to work, but until then I'm housebound n bored stupid!

Fortunately for me, Lee has been an absolute angel, not only nursing me, but also going to the plot, harvesting, weeding, looking after the bees (with Pat and Colin) and doing a bit of tidying, in fact he even took these piccies for me today so I could see how everything is coming along, and boy does most of it look fab!! (Ok, there's some weeds n some tidying up to do, but nothing too serious and mainly at the path edges)

So, Plot 1, the celery is flowering like mad, looks very pretty, cant wait to see how much seed we get, them its a case of making our own celery salt, cant wait! The broad beans are cropping like mad, we're taking a few lb's every couple of days, lots being blanched and frozen! The Garlic is just about ready, it'll be harvested after the judging (this week or early next), as will the fabulous overwintering onions (behind!) The strawbs are producing, as are the french beans and the runners arent far behind!

Celery flowering!



The Dwarf French Beans are cropping heavily, about 2lb every couple of days at the moment, the late broadies are almost ready and the early runners are flowering well!


Maincrop spuds are looking fab, as are the turnips, tho the neighbouring swedes look like they've been had by something, looks like we'll have to get them netted asap! The later planted peas and mange tout are coming on really well, as is the chard and spinach, and also the carrots and parsnips!


Plot 2 is also going great guns! Desnt seem possible that its grown so much in only 10 days, but the proof is in the piccies! The courgettes are cropping like mad, Lee brought 14 large courgettes home yesterday and says there's loads more coming on! The sweetcorn is really growing well now, as are the pumpkins and squashes, and the brassicas are looking amazing!

Biggets head of broccolli, looking great!

Another large broccolli!

Large Cauliflower, just about rady for harvesting! Looks like we'll be processing and freezing lots of things in the near future!

Finally, a quick piccy of the herb / flower bed we put in next to the pond only 2 weeks ago, tis looking great!

Altogether I'd say that we're looking at (touch wood, fingers crossed) our best years crops since we've had the allotment, its quite possible that we're going to end up with more than the £2000 of organic fruit and veg we did last year!

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

Total costs so far £317

Harvests 2009

Rhubarb (£1 a stalk in Sainsburys) £50
Spring Onions (£0.99 a bunch for organic) £7
Lettuces £9
Peas £10
Broad Beans £30

French Beans £20

Cabbages £1
Cucumber £5
Courgettes £28
Broccolli £12

Strawberries £35

Raspberries £60
Potatoes £35
Tomatoes £3

Total Harvests 2009 £305

So, just out of pocket to the tune of £12 so far, but that is definitely changing!

Hope you're growing and harvesting year is going well!

Beekeeping News!

Well, the hives now seem to have settled themselves down, Hive 2 is as busy as anything, we've (Lee, Colin and Pat) removed the feeder and put on a super, so we'll see how they are getting on with filling that this week, Hive 1 seems to have settled, they arent taking much of the feed in there now, so after this weeks inspection it may be time to remove the feeder and put a super on here too! Hive 3 now has a Queen, she was seen by Lee, Pat and Colin at last weeks inspection, all we need now is to et her mated and laying, which only time will tell! This Hive is taking feed like mad, perhaps cos they are using it to draw out the comb in the other 5 frames, wednesday we should know more!