Allotments during April - May 2012
By balcony
8 comments
Allotments during April – May 2012
I had a nasty experience on the plot the other week! I was shifting compost from the heap to the bed I was making up for beans in a few weeks time. On the 2nd or 3rd trip with the barrow chock-a-block with compost I found it was impossible to push it! After struggling for a few minutes I looked at the wheel – I had a puncture! Fortunately a fellow allotmenteer lets us use his barrow so I had to go over & get it & transfer the compost from one to the other! As his barrow is smaller than ours I had to make two trips!
On one of the previous trips – now I think about it that was when it must have happened – I found a pane of glass from the greenhouse had fallen out & I’d had to stop & pick up all the broken pieces.
Around about that time also I had a third accident I stepped on a piece of iron with rusty nails in it & one nail went through my shoe into my foot! Fortunately it was at a point where I have quite a thick callous & when I checked my foot I didn’t find any blood on my sock, (I was wearing white sports socks), nor when I took them off to go to bed later that night. I was worried about Tetanus at first but, seeing as there was no blood, there should be no danger. I had my last booster about 5 years ago so I should be alright.
My brother, who has been helping me out for the last few weeks, wasn’t there at the time. But his work has been invaluable! He really has been a Godsend!
Gerry’s Broad Beans
Just planted out …
A fortnight later …
Another 3 weeks have gone by …
Daffodils & Tulips
Gerry’s Daffodils & Tulips looked fantastic at the end of March & they have continued through all of April though they ahd finished at the start of May.
Daffodils & Tulips beside our shed with Rhubarb plants
Here you can see the Tulips in full flower in front of our shed
Onion sets ‘Sturon’
These were planted by my brother, Ken & myself …
Here they are 5-6 weeks later!
Early potatoes
Gerry got 2 green pots full of seed potatoes which I calculated to weigh about 3kg each but we don’t know what variety they are.
Here is the ‘Unknown variety’ (from the green pot) now sprouting as well as my ‘Arran Pilot’ …
He also brought down a couple of bags of 1st Early ‘Rocket’ which Ken planted for him on St Patrick’s Day! Last year I discovered that St Patrick’s Day was the traditional day for putting in the first seed potatoes. It was just sheer coincidence that we planted them that day as it was a beautifully sunny, warm Saturday morning & many of our fellow allotmenteers took advantage of the day to plant theirs as well!
This photo is of ‘Rocket’ at the bottom of the 1/2 allotment Gerry has …
Here are the same spuds a few weeks later …
This photo is of ‘Rocket’ at the top part of the 1/2 allotment Gerry has …
Here are the same spuds a few weeks later …
My own allotment – Plot 12A
These Beetroot ‘Bolthardy’ were planted out in early autumn & have been there all winter …
Here is the result of the Beetroot once harvested …
The only problem is that they had started to ‘bolt’! I took them home & cooked them but they were, for the most part, totally & absolutely tasteless! UGH!!! I had to throw the majority away! I’d been looking forward to eating my first Beets of the year as well!
Beetroot ‘Bolthardy’ seedlings
These Beetroot ‘Bolthardy’ seedlings were put into the ground at the beginning of April …
Here they are just a few weeks later …
These are the same plants a few weeks later …
Lettuce Paris Island_Cos
I’ll show you more photos very shortly.
27 May, 2012
4 likes
Previous post: Mother's Day in Spain 2012
Next post: Another day, another year on the plots!
Comments
Balcony, what ever happened to the peanuts you grew last year? Did you get a good crop?
28 May, 2012
Great blog Balcony:)
28 May, 2012
Interesting to see your alotment and how it's doing this spring.
28 May, 2012
As usual, your allotment looks wonderful, and you always reap such an impressive harvest. I always enjoy reading your allotment blogs and watching the progress!
28 May, 2012
So many wonderful plants and so healthy looking too, a credit to both you and Jerry;0)
28 May, 2012
Wow, y ou've been busy, and then some! things are looking great, fingers crossed they stay that way
28 May, 2012
Thank you all for your great comments!
@ Nariz: I got one, single, solitary peanut for all my efforts! I didn't even try to eat it!
@Scotkat: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Soon there should be another!
@Hywel: Yes, it's getting somewhere at long last! I was beginning to think things would never get underway this year! But they have & this spell of hot weather has helped plants along tremendously - the weeds as well!
@Lauram: you are too kind with your comment! Thanks! I'm so pleased you look forward to reading them & find they are interesting. I do my best to make them as interesting as I can. Until I make up these blogs I, myself, don't realize the progress things make in just a couple of weeks!
@Pansypotter: The plants are doing very well, thank you, & every day they get bigger. Not been able to harvest much just yet apart from 'Tom Thumb' lettuces. I dug up the Beetroot I planted in the autumn but had to throw them away they tasted of nothing at all or of earth, not nice at all! Now the Beetroot I put in during April has gone the same way!!! No idea what I'm doing wrong. The couple of years previously I've never had more than 1 or 2 plants bolt. This variety is called 'Bolthardy'! I won't be able to eat a single root! I'll put a photo in my next blog of them. Just today I planted the last of the seedlings I'd had growing in a seedtray.
@Fran: Yes, very busy indeed! Gerry brought down some Sweetcorn plants last week & a day or two later he brought down some tomato plants. They have all gone in the same bed. I planted a few French Marigolds amongst the Tomatoes. They attract the Whitefly that can be so bothersome to Tomatoes.
28 May, 2012
Recent posts by balcony
- Happy Christmas 2023
20 Dec, 2023
- Bird of Paradise
1 Dec, 2023
- Cacti & Granddaughter
4 Apr, 2023
- Repotting Orchids
10 Mar, 2023
- Happy Christmas & New Year 2023
23 Dec, 2022
- Snow day today
12 Dec, 2022
I'm sorry about the blog being so late - I had saved it in drafts & then forgotten about it! During the Bank holiday I will write, & hopefully, publish a new blog of the allotments during May. I've now got lots of photos on both allotment sites.
27 May, 2012