May 2008
This month started off so promisingly with some glorious days of sunshine and warmth, crops were growing quickly, weeds were still at a manageable level and there was no particular pest damage to speak of.
We managed to complete the frut cage by adding the nettng and the door creating a safe, birdless environment for our precious beloved little fruits to ripen.
During this brief period we were able to add more sowings of crops and seedlings to the ground into thier final positions. To protect the brassica seedlings from thier favourite predators, I.e. the local pigeons) we created some rather ambitious frames for netting which filled us with some high hopes for keeping the winged vandals at bay this year.
Other pest prevention took the form of the reinstatement of our rabbit proff fence, hoping to deter any hoppy, long eared critters which might fancy a chew at our veg.
We also found the time to create a simple Rhubarb leaf storage facility. As they are generally too acidic to be added into the compost bin in large ammounts we decided to dedicate them thier own little area to rot away in, and at the same time create us some especially acidic material with which to condition our soil or treat problems as necessary. This took the form of several dis-used car/tractor tyres into which the leaves are crammed for rotting down, the height of this compost bin will hopefully increase over the summer and prove useful later in the year. We also tended to some of the strawberry runners we cultivated last year, which are now ready, and waiting to replace thier reather aged forbears at the end of the season.
Another suprise was to be had when we decided to mulch our potato drills with wet leafmould, after wetting and tossing the leafmould into piles down the trenches, we noticed something move in amongst the damp leaves. On further inspection this revealed itself to be a rather friendly litte grass snake who certainly was not shy at having his photo taken. Just a little reminder of how close to nature you are always working, and how much care should be taken at all times. We returned him, undamaged and very carefully handled, near to the spot where he had been shovelled up during our leafmould gathering, we do hope he hangs about to rid us of unwanted pests and vermin.
Finally, in about mid may, everything seemed to be just coming together and looking excellent, we began thinking "weve really got it down this year". We also had some pretty displays of flowers to plug the gap between the spring and summer bulbs and annuals.
THEN began a series of rather unfortunate events to blow that theory clean out of the water.We returned to the plot one day to find all our onion and shallot leaves having been thoroughly nibbled and looking very unsightly, little did we know that this was just the start of our problems.
Due to the then, wet and windy weather, germination was proving difficult, even under glass at home, with things rotting off or getting waterlogged due to the persistantly humid weather. Another result of this was the weeds practically having a party at our expense. Very quickly (especially at the rear end of the plot) they seemed to take hold and cover EVERYTHING!! It took several hard weedings to finally get them under control and the plot into some semblence of order.
We decided to erect a small, plastic greenhouse at the rear of the plot to replace the monolith. This was inexpensive but looked substantial and once put up and tied to some buried breeze blocks, seemed very sturdy indeed. These hopes were dashed quite shortly afterwards however, thanks to some heavy winds which turned this exciting looking structure into a broken and crumpled heap on the floor. It was up for so short a period, we didnt even manage to get a picture of it!!! As such we are still very unsure how or in what we are going to manage to grow any tomatoes or chillies this year!
On the same visit as the bashed greenhouse we also discovered that a rabbit had got into one of our brassica cages and made its way through all of the brussels sprouts. We also feel that it had its way with our blueberry bush, which previously sported a healthy set of leaves and flowers now only existed as a rather chewed limbless stump.
Then came the plagues, yes the infestations for 2008 have already begun, first whitefly on the cabbages, then blackfly on the broad beans, delightful!!!!
We also discovered a few rather unusual things on the allotment which we have never seen before and are unsure of during this period, and we would greatly appreciate your help in identifying them if possible. Take a look at our Can You Help Us? page and see if you can help us find out what they are.
As a result and maybe rather expectedly, we felt very subdued by all this woe relating to our efforts this year and somewhat flat in being able to motivate ourselves to actually do anything about it. However, as with all aspects of life, you gotta be made of tougher stuff to be a sucessful allotmenteer, so we picked ourselves up, fixed what needed fixing, attempted to make life more difficult for the local pest population and eventually, were rewarded. Gradually as the plot seemed to become more managable agan and we replaced our losses, things seemed brighter and easier to handle. However one thing this year has been made clear, there is no point using half measures to deter pests, as soon as you think you have one licked, another comes up to annoy the hell out of you. So, all we can really say is keep on your toes, keep your resolve and you'll win the day.
Lets all hope for a less turbulent June!!!!