Weeding, weeding, weeding!

With the warm sunny weather, combined with a couple of haevy rain showers in the last week we now have weeds germintaing all over the plot, normally not too much of a problem, as we hoe them regularly, but with the Trafford Allotment Judging starting tomorrow, it looks like we've got some work ahead of us to keep the plot weed free!

The allotment judging can result in a few awards, the most basic of which is a Commended certificate, which is supposed to mean that they acknowledge the hard work you have put in and that it is visible that you are fully working the plot. Next comes a Highly Commended, which means not only is the plot being fully worked, but also has some good crops growing on it and has impressed the judges. Above that is Very Highly Commended, which means they think you have an exceptional plot. Some of the plots on our site have had commended, highly commended and very highly commended, but we've never had anything!

We've had the plot fully cultivated for the past 3 years (well, apart perhaps one or two small messy areas at the back or sides, but they are now sorted), yet we havent even had so much as a Commended certificate! Its become a bit of a sore point now, we're not sure if its because the two plots are being judged separately, and as such there isnt the mix of produce in each individual one (we tend to do a full column of each veg type as it keeps crop rotation simple), whether they dont like the fact we have an apiary on the plot, or that they dont like our make do and mend attitude (and would prefer to see bright shiny new things that had been paid for with hard cash)

Whatever the reasons, we're determined this year to present the plots to their best, and if we still win nothing, then thats ok, as we dont grow for the judges, but for ourselves, but it would be nice to at least have our hard work acknowledged! Another plot holder who has a great looking plot and has also never even gotten a commended has also said that if they get nothing this year, then they are going to complain, as it always seems to be the same folks who win it! Anyhows, I dont suppose its all that important or meaningful what some petty minded buerocrat from Trafford Council thinks about our efforts, but it would be nice to be at least acknowledged for our hard work!

So, yesterday we spent a full day weeding, Lee sorted out inside the glass extension to the shed (that was full of some prize winning nettles, lol) then gave me a hand pulling the red onions that had gone to seed and then sorted the last small bed at the front of plot 1, ready for some more french beans to be planted!

This was the disappointing red onion harvest, 100 onions sized from marble size to tennis ball size, but as they had started to go to seed, then they wont store, so I'm going to be processing them, some will be frozen but the rest I think will become Red Onion Marmalade sometime this week! We also got a meal or two's worth of volunteer new spuds from this bed too!

I carefully transplanted the poppies from the onion bed, then planted more parsnips in there, with radish interplanted to mark the rows.

Next Lee started weeding from the front of Plot 1, whilst I weeded inside the polytunnel and the hot house, much tidier now!

The peppers, chillies and aubergines seem to be doing much better in here than in the greenhouses with the toms, possibly because they can get a lot more light as they arent being shaded by the toms!

Next Lee weeded the strawbs and the first bed of cabbages, these were planted through weed control fabric, and weeds havent been too much of a problem, just compare it with the next bed where the planting was done without weed control fabric!

This cabbage bed is one of my first jobs for today, we've got about 2/3 of the plot to weed today, plus an organised Site tidy up for a couple of hours, followed (weather permitting) by a BBQ, which is always fun!

Some of the beds on Plot 2 are ok, having recently been weeded, such as the salad bed behind the large greenhouse, but there's still a lot of weeding to do, so methinks its going to be a longish day today!

Mind you, the last 3 years we've been one of the last allotment sites to be judged, so although we will have the plots looking great by tonight, I have a feeling that as we are back at work on Friday, if they come at the end of the judging (in 2 1/2 weeks), then we could loose out if there's plenty of rain and the weeds germinate before we get a chance to clear them!

Hope your weeds are behaving and not becoming a nuisance! More updates to follow soon!

20th May 2010 - A 'wannabe' polytunnel!

Ok, piccies and update from last weeks 2 days on the plot!

As we lost all our outdoor tomatoes last year to blight (the damp british summer stuck again!), we decided that although we have 3 greenhouses (2 on the plot and 1 in the back yard at home), we still wanted more protected space to grow toms and chillies/peppers/aubergines in, safer from the ravages of blight! The chillies/peppers and aubergines have gone into the 'hothouse' we constructed last week, so all that was left to find a home for was the rest of the toms that Lee planted ('they wont all germinate, will they?) and that we havent been able to fit nto the greenhouses or the back yard!

Although we'd love a 'proper' polytunnel (the bigger the better), they arent allowed on our allotment site, so after successfully seeking permission, we got ourselves this 3.5m x 2.2m x 2m plastic ploytunnel! Its easily big enough for me to stand up in, and holds another 16 tomato plants around the sides and back (I wanted to put a further row up the middle, but Lee was worried we'd get lost in the jungle like foliage if we did that!) Around the outside (on the rain flap and to aid in holding it down) we put large pots of lavender and lemongrass, as its located next to the second apiary the bees should find the lavender of use, plus it looks and smells divine when in flower!

The area we chose to put the ploytunnel in is the last uncleared area of plot 1, the only space we arent already using for growing (or keeping bees!), and is where the compost bins have been for the last 2 years (so there's some lovely soil thereabouts!), so our first job was to move these to the walkway at the right hand side of the plot!

The 3 new compost bins fit nicely on this path, and also have the benefit of looking a lot neater (and being more out of sight)!

So, as can be seen from the front of plot 2, we've got the beanery (peas and all the beans) in this row of beds, with the hothouse behind, and the polytunnel beyond that, next to the apiary and in the most sheltered area of the plot!

We've grown 3 types of lavender from seed this year, and this has been planted in the large planters along the rainflaps surrounding the polytunnel!

Inside the ploytunnel we've laid down weed control fabric, then planted the toms in 'ring culture' thru the weed control fabric, supporting them with string from the frame of the polytunnel to direct their growth upwards!

Thought I'd also include a couple of piccies of the pepper 'hothouse' that we constructed from the frame of the plastic walk-in greenhouse (the brackets and cover were damaged beyond repair this past winter)! Its 9' long, 4' tall and 4' wide, and again we've covered the ground with a couple of layers of weed control fabric.

We've planted peppers, chillies and aubergines through this using the 'ring culture' method, lets see if growing away from the shade of the tomatoes in the greenhouses gives us better crops in here!

So, things are beginning to take shape on the plot, we've lots of plants ready to plant out this week (41 squash and pumpkin, 141 sweetcorn, 24 sprouts, and a lot of cabbage, broccolli, cauli and assorted other brassicas), all hardening off in the back yard, so we face a big job to clear the last 4 brassica beds and the 6 pumpkin/sweetcorn beds, which we are hoping to make big inroads on this week, weather and bees permitting!

I hope you're planting and clearing is going well, and that you havent fallen behind like we have thanks to the poor winter weather and the late frosts!

More updates to follow soon!