Well, after another long hard days work (well, sort of, we couldnt go to the plot until this afternoon as we had to wait for a delivery to arrive), the plot is finally completely tidy and ready for judging (almost, there's always something left to do on an allotment, and ours is no exception, I'm sure somewhere there will be a few weed seedlings hiding and ready to grow at an alarming rate, probably under the spuds, courgettes or cucurbits!!)
We got there at 2pm, and started by having lunch with Pat and Colin, then we started work in earnest!
Lee started clearing the nettle patch at the front of Plot 1 (I like them for the nettle tea and the wildlife that they bring, but judges dont always appreciate them, so as they were setting seed (and I dont want a plot full of nettles next year) it was time for them to go!), whilst I tidied the wood near the compost bin on plot2, moving it to the wood store (behind the shed), then I weeded the flower beds under the fruit trees on plot1, whilst Lee dug over the small bed next to the Fartichokes for the sweet potatoes to go into! I then potted up some volunteer foxgloves and poppies into the 2 empty planters next to the apiary on plot 1, then planted the sweet potatoes and finished that bed off with some leeks, whilst Lee weeded the new strawberry bed next to the 'fedge' that has strawbs that we've grown from seed in it!
After that it was time to finish the weeding with Lee tackling the 2 brassica beds at the front of Plot 2, whilst I watered the greenhouses, polytunnel and hothouse, then I went round and removed any weed seedlings / mares tail shoots from the path edges on both plots!
Lee then set to removing the few raspberry canes from the fedge that were growing out into the path at the side of the compost bin, whilst I removed the cardboard covering from between the bean supports, revealing lovely virgin earth with no weeds in it! The cardboard will go back in place after judging, but I thought it best to remove it whilst there's a chance the judges may come round!
Finally I gave everything another really good watering, and at 930pm we packed up and finished for the day, both worn ut now, didnt even get chance to harvest the first of the rasps or take any piccies, so tomorrow we'll be harvesting crops, taking some piccies and doing the weekly bee inspections, then a hearty meal and a day off on Thursday before returning to work on Friday!
An enjoyable holiday, if one of hard work!
Hope your plots are looking fab, that your veg is growing well, and the weeds arent being a problem!
2 comments:
Hiya, I hope everything went okay with the dentist. What you said about never being really finished when you have an allotment reminded me of a lecture I got from an old gardener where I worked when doing my training. As a garden innocent I one day announced at the end of a job that we had finished and he rounded on me stating that I would never make it as a gardener if I had that attitude because a garden is never perfect therefore as the gardener I am never finished. I thought he was being a bit hard at the time and got in a big sulk over it but since then, and since I’ve been made responsible for the gardens here his words, ‘A true gardener is never finished’ often ring out in my head like big loud bells.
Hi Shayla, yes, dentists was for a check up, and other than a clean, everything was fine, thank the Gods!
Sounds like a wise guy you had as one of your teachers, definitely a true statement tho, wish I coould say it wasnt, but there's always something still to do when you're dealing with Mother Nature!
Post a Comment