Thursday 5 January 2017

First visits to the plot for 2017


New Year's Day was a Sunday and although mild, compared to the weather of late, I didn't visit the allotment . I did however manage to fill 3 small plant pots with compost at home and on January 1st sown some Showmaster onion seeds.
 It was Tuesday before I returned to the allotment and I continued to tidy up the fruit cage concentrating on the left hand side. Weeding and removing the Fushia berry bushes in to the polytunnel. Emptying the vegetable peelings in to a black compost bin I left after 90 minutes work - darkness ending the afternoon.

Left-Hand Front of The Fruit Cage After Weeding 

The same area as above but with manure added.
On Wednesday I returned to the allotment just before midday. Manure was added to the area cleared yesterday in the fruit cage. The fruit cane prunings along with the remaining Jerusalem Artichoke stumps I removed today were burnt as previous attempts to compost these items have proven to take a very long time.
Fruit canes and jerusalem artichoke stumps burning on the front bed by the gate.
Whilst the waste was burning I collected up the Jerusalem Artichokes that had been exposed during the removal of the stumps for the fire, These will be stored in the shed for today as I haven't the time today to clean them of excess soil before bringing them home.
Freshly harvested Jerusalem Artichokes
 I also had time to trail an experiment I had in my head. My beds all have a 10 cm wooden edge topped with a 25cm high plastic coated wire fence. Over the years I have plucked many a pair of jeans on this wire fence due to sharp bits on the top edge. For quite sometime now I have been thinking of a solution and wondered whether it would be possible to top this fence with a hose pipe split down the middle. As luck would have it one of my neighbours was throwing out some old hosepipe and so I gave my idea a go on the bed in front of the polytunnel. I think I shall be continuing this process all round before spring arrives.  
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Sunday 1 January 2017

New Years Eve 2016

We've had a lot of ground frost and ice this week and along with other commitments it hasn't given me much of an opportunity to do much at the allotment . Saturday 31st December however gave me the chance to spend a couple of hours tidying up by pruning and weeding in the fruit cage , replanting some rhubarb at the same time .

 I attempted to clear the paths as wet leaves from neighbouring trees can cause the paths to become hazardous. Close to the shed I cut up the remains of  Jerusalem Artichoke stalks that had been pruned last month - these were put in to the rotating composter as the two black plastic compost bins are currently full and being used to process kitchen peelings,shredded paper and brown cardboard from home.
Hopefully 2017 will be a productive year and maybe all my maintenance projects will be completed leaving me with a tidy plot. We can all hope I guess. Thank You for reading and I wish you a Happy New Year too.

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