|
|
Progress and Events 2006 Take a look at how we did and what we managed in our very first year of allotmenting. January 2006 We obtained the plot from Northamptonshire Borough Council and set about clearing it of all rubbish and debris. The howling wind and rain did us no favours, but eventally we were able to get it in a state fit for rotorvation and some initial crops. Rotorvation First Crops February 2006 This month all the family pitched in to get the rest of the allotment looking spick and span, ready for the spring. We made a flower bed at the front of the main growing area and planted some flowering bulbs to attract polintating insects and add interest. We painted and repaired the Shed, cleared and cleaned it inside and out, installed two new watter butts, repaired the guttering, built two large compost bins and finally added a rustic washing area by the side of the shed consiting of a rather battered and ressurected Belfast Sink. After all this hard graft the place was looking much more serviceable and we were able to plant a few new crops including the ealy potatoes, we also began a fruit patch whos plants included Rhubarb, Raspberries, Redcurrants and Blackcurrants.. Water Butts Compost Bins March 2006 March was another very active month and consisted of more additions and alterations to the site, such as another compost bin, edging and bark chips on the path which had appeared down the centre of the seedbed, the repair of the old wheelbarrow found on our plot, the purchase and renovation of old tools from local tips and the improvisation of some seating made from a block of wood and two large stones. At home we were sowing seeds indoors, growing them to a good size and then hardening off outside to be planted in the milder months to follow or to be repotted. 
Bench April 2006 We saw our first Harvest in April, the broad beans were ready for picking thanks to some early spring warmth and were a big hit with our friends and family thanks to the intense flavour of organically home grown vegetables. The only care required of this crop was to pinch out the growing tips to prevent blackfly (which later colonised anyway) and regular harvesting to ensure the beans did not get too big and coarse. The rest of the crops were also off to a flying start by this point and we werw able to add radishes (which did not take long to get to an edible size), spring onions and Celery to our already established onions, parsnips and Garlic.  
Broad Beans Raging Rhubarb May 2006 May sees the onset of summer and thanks to early planting of our seed potatoes, the first crop of "Earlies" off our plot, we were sequentially planting crops raised from seed and those to be sown directly into the ground. We also added some Annual flower seeds to our front beds and Sweet Peas to the side of the shed. I was also able to construct (with the help of my family) a makeshift, movable 3 sided poly tunnel my family labelled The Monolith, two meters wide, two meters high and one and a half meters deep, in which to grow and house my tomatoes including Sungold and Alicante varieties. There were also sowings of the latest seeds such as Swedes and the final seedlings of Corn, Pumkins, Squashes and Celeriac were placed in thier final positions. Croppage Monolith and Spuds June July and August 2006 The summer months on the allotment were mainly a sucession of watering, harvesting and weeding. We cropped the rest of the potatoes which kept late into October, collected runner beans repeatedly as well as tried to keep the rabbits off the celery, brassicas and tender salads. These months were quite dissapointingly lean on fruit however, the gooseberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants were investng thier energy in growing, the whilst the Raspberries and strawberries had all been hammered by some pest or another. If it werent for our Rhubarb then I am sure we probably would not have had any fruit from the site at all (with the exception of a basketful of of blackberries kindly donated from a neighbour). We were also able to dig up some onions to begin drying on the surface of the soil, which were later put into a pair of old tights and hung in the shed. This method preserved them excellently and we are still eating delicious, firm, flavoursome onions from that crop to this very day both in fresh and pickled form. Our flowers were also looking beautiful and adding a welcome slpash of colour to our lush green surroundings. However also in this period there was a minor disatster concerning the Monolith, surprisingly it had withstood various summer storms with fairly minimal damage, however the gale force winds during the middle of the season resulted in one visit to the plot where it looked distinctly wonky. On closer inspection there was some extensive damage an so it was taken down and lashed to the side of the shed to keep it out of harms way over the winter. Unfortunately as the Monolith collapsed onto one side it also snapped over all the tomato plants within, resulting in us having 15 kilos of green tomatoes ripening in various friends and fammilies greenhouses and on thier windowledges for many months to come. 
September and October 2006 Towards the beggining of Autumn things were definately winding down on the plot and it took on its obilgatory pre-winter scruffiness as some crops looked slightly past thier best and the green of the grass turned to a sludgy brown colour following its yellow scortched state of summer coupled with some quite heavy rain. This time saw a lot of additions to the compost bin including quite a lot of our Celery and Celeriac which had suffered terribly at the hands of the Celery Fly as well as the runner bean plants which were running amock. However one area that was still going strong was our pumpkin patch, ultimately this produced around 10 large butternut squashes, about 17 small Crown Prince Squashes and three reasonably sized Hundredweight pumpkins who came in very handy towards the celebrations of Haloween and Bonfire night. The eating pumpkins were distributed between family and friends and my last one kept well right until the beggining of Feb 2007 and tasted just delicious. The corn we harvested during this time was slightly anemic to say the least and unfortunately most of it was not fit for eating in some way or another an so had to be discgarded,. The stalks as well caused a problem, never having seen a fully grown corn stalk in all its glory before meant I also did not know how tough they were to remove frm the ground or to try and chop up to add to the compost bin which seemd to take a whole afternoon, next time I am hiring an industrial chipper!!  
Horrible Hundredweights November and December 2006 This was really the housekeeping time of year for our allotment, we were able to strip most of the beds (apart from some Broccoli and Leeks which will endure over the winter) and took consignment of two large loads of horse manure to fertilise the front of the plot with. This was spread and rotovated in so our hungry, hungry crops will be well fed next year. Winter is also the time for planning the rotation of crops for the next season and i carefully planned the placement of cops in manured, fallow or newly limed areas according to thier PH tolerances. All that was then left to do was harvest a few leeks for christmas dinner (unfortunately all our sprouts got clobbered by the rabbits), buy a few packets of seed to replenish our stocks and leave the plot to lie dormant for a while as festive celebrations and the colder weather set in.
|
|