May in the garden and on the allotment

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Well as I have mentioned before in other threads May 2012 is running a bit late!

I would say it is somewhere between two to three weeks at least, behind what I would consider a normal year.

I put this down ( in my case) to principally poor light although some would argue that the coolness of the weather played its part.

I would agree with this! but as I have a heated greenhouse this was not such an issue with me.

Another thing to consider is; I am about one thousand feet (300metres) above sea level here in the Pennines of West Yorkshire, so others at lower levels may not have had it quite so bad, although I would have thought your light levels might have been even lower than mine.

OK the state of play;

I am going to split this blog into three; my garden, my greenhouse and my allotments.

The garden is in a transitional state at the moment in so far as the spring bulbs are in the process of dying back, and the herbaceous stuff is just getting underway.

OK such a situation makes the garden look somewhat untidy at this time of the year! but that is the price I have to pay for having the spring displays I have!

So this is looking across my back garden from the garden gate;

This is the view looking left from the back door

and this is from the same position looking right

This is a few bits and pieces on the rockery;

Bluebells

Miniature Daffodils

Arenaria montana

The front boundary border

In the Greenhouse

I have about eighty tomato plants in something like ten varieties.

Some of the varieties are standard varieties that can be purchased from any seed merchant, and others are from seed I have saved and brought on myself.

Roughly fifty of the plants are for selling onto fellow allotmenteers and some to be sold off in the village to defray my costs!

I also knock up four tubs of tomatoes, one each for each of my grandchildren to look after ( although usually mother ends up looking after them)

I don’t have a wide angled lense so I had to take two pictures!

These are my sweet peppers

These are miles behind, and it is these that I am basing my ‘lateness’ of season judgement on.

I would normally expect them to be at least twice this height at this time of the year!

These are my pumpkin plants and Chillis

I only grow the pumpkins so that the grandkids can have a lantern apiece at Halloween, plus their dads like chillis.

The Allotment

Not a lot going here at the moment.

I have only planted my potaoes and maincrop onions to date.

I am leaving stuff that grows above ground level for at least another couple of weeks yet.

My belief is; OK they are going in late but they won’t catch a cold to set them back which might be the case if I plant them out now!

They will catch up and I am in no hurry, as I see it; OK I won’t be eating my veg as early as some, but I will have some when theirs are done, so it all works out in the end!

Now for the pictures;

Looking across the fruit bed

Apple trees and Strawberries

Strawberry bed

Apple trees in full bloom

Looking up plot 1

Looking up plot 2

Looking down plot 2

Daffodil nursery bed

Garlic planted out in October

Japanese Onions and Shallots

I have experimented with the Shallots this time!

Usually I plant them out in April but this time I planted them out in October and so far it looks like it was a good move!

Fingers crossed!

Maincrop Onions

The reason these are under fleece is not for the cold, but to keep wildlife from digging them up before they get going.

Inside Tunnel

This is a communal tunnel that is shared by five allotmenteers, I use three of the beds (1st three on left)

Various Veg growing on in unheated greenhouse

Subject to the weather these will remain here for possibly another week, then I will put them out in the coldframe to harden off for another week before planting them out. (Well that is the plan but I have been known to change my plans )

Wildlife Garden;

We have quite a good community on the plots now and two years ago we all decided to build a ‘Butterfly Garden’ and laid it out as you see here.

Last year we erected a ‘Bug Hotel’ so now it is more of a wildlife garden. We even have minnows in the pond and perhaps next year we will get some tadpoles and frogs.

A view of most of the wildlife garden

The Water feature

The Bug Hotel on the right

Two views of the Water feature

Note; with natural running water

• 8 May, 2012
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