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| Plots 1 & 2 from the road nearest the gate - showing how they lie next to each other! |
So, an unexpected day off, a chance to relax, to get some washing done, a bit of tidying up, cook a nice meal and to get to the plot for a bit to do some harvesting!
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| Plot 1 - 1st August 2010 |
Both plots are looking quite good, there's a few weeds we need to take care of this week, but the plants themselves are looking nice and lush, methinks all the recent rain has let them grow as they want! The courgettes are still producing a lot of fruit, although I'm trying to harvest them a bit smaller, so today was able to get some more reasonably sized fruits! The 3 later sown plants are just about to start producing now, there's lots of small courgettes behind the female flowers that should be open in the next few days!
The early sown broad beans are almost finished now, as are the early sown peas, but with another 2 successional sowings of each just about to start cropping, we should be ok for peas and beans through the summer, and depending on the late yields, possibly even through until next year! The victorian purple podded peas are about ready for harvest now, so I think we'll be taking a decent crop off those this week (although I did sneak a few for tonights tea! Lol!
The Borlotti beans are coming on nicely, looks like a possible good harvest from these this year, which will be good as we did poorly with them last year!
The early sown runner beans are just about ready for first takings, so I picked about 10 small pods for tonights tea! Give it a week or so and we'll be innundated with runner beans! Lol!
The brassicas are also doing well, I took another cabbage for tea tonight, about the size of a bowling ball, nice n healthy on top, but signs of clubroot under the soil, so I guess they wont stand for as long as we'd like! I also managed to harvest a lovely big head of broccolli for tonights tea, our first of the year so far! Mind you, with another 50 plants in the ground, I guess we should be able to get enough to freeze some as well as eat it fresh!
The new strawberry bed (from seed) has really come on well, in just a few short weeks they've filled this old cold frame, we're going to give them a feed of well rotted FYM this winter, and then hopefully bumper crops of strawbs will be ours next year!
The tomatoes in the greenhouse are also starting to turn, we had the first 5 or so this week, but theres another 8 turning nicely now, with plenty more to come behind!
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| Plot 2 - 1st August 2010 |
Plot 2 is also looking good! There's some more broccolli nearing a harvestable size at the front, so looks like we'll be having it for tea later this week!
The sweetcorn and pumpkin / squash are also looking really good, we may have a problem in storing or eating all the corn if it holds up to its current promise!
The maincrop spuds are still looking good too! The late earlies and early maincrops are still struggling with blight, but these maincrops seem to be coping ok, only time will tell though what sort of harvest we get from them!
This week we'll also be taking out the last of the onions, there's some still stood up, but the majority have now fallen over, so its time to remove them and dry them ready for storage through the year!
So, apart from the weeds, the plots are still looking good, plenty of crops growing well and lots of promise for another years decent harvest!
Balance Sheet Update - 1st August 2010
Total Veg Plot Costs 2010
Rent + Subs for 2 full plots £100
Seeds £20
Seed Spuds £20
Onion Sets £6
Growbags £15
Chicken Manure Pellets £8
Plastic 'wannabe' Polytunnel £61
Bamboo Canes £8
Flower Plants £28
Scaffolding Boards £100
Watering Cans £8
Total Costs £ 374
Total Veg Plot Harvests 2010
Rhubarb £ 35
Fartichokes £ 4
Volunteer Spuds £15
First Early Spuds £15
Lettuce £11
Radish £10
Garlic £85
Strawberries £65
Raspberries £30
Peas £32
Broad Beans £36
Courgettes £58
French Beans £36
Red Onions £10
Cabbages £2
Peppers £2
Tomatoes £1
Turnip £2
Runner Beans £2
Broccolli £2
Total Veg Plot Harvests £ 441
So, we're in a positive as far as the balance sheet goes, by a total of £ 67 , but saving money isnt really why we grow our own fruit and veg (although it is nice to know that we are saving money and not putting extra profit the way of the big supermarket corporations), for us both GYOing is about much moe than saving money!
Its about having the connection to the land, feeling nature all around you, working with the land to care for it and safeguard its future, reducing our impact on the planet by reducing the food miles that we consume, sharing our enjoyment and companionship with other likeminded friends on the allotments, producing some amazingly tasty, ultra fresh organic fruit and veg, and of course eating some wonderfully tasty fruit and veg!
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