Monday 4th February
Two good long days in a row and I start to feel as though I’m getting somewhere. I’ve made considerable progress with the broad bean beds, one more day’s digging should do it. I’ve realised I can plant more than one crop in each bed as they’re bigger than I’d anticipated so this means I can leave some of the beds to be dug over the summer for winter crops.
I arrived on the 10.20 bus and it’s now 3.45. It has been spring-like weather, sunny all morning and this afternoon and a heavy shower in the middle of the day when I retreated to the shed and typed a planting calendar in the form of an excel document. I always think I’ll be able to remember when things need planting but there are so many details with the number of crops I intend to grow so this should help.
Tuesday 5th February
Sheltering in the shed with my wall-builder as a heavy shower of rain passes over… which it now seems to have.
A very productive day today, planted remaining garlic with some from the coop and some transplants that were coming up in last year’s garlic bed. Planted a bag of daffodil bulbs near to my rose arbour seat. Filled about 20 bags with rubbish and put it near the gate to take to the council lorry on Saturday morning. My wall-building friend has once again made stunning progress and finally, I dug the nettle roots out from a patch against the wall, between the two dead dogs. This is to prepare a position in which to re-site my Victorian bath. my idea is that I can prop a sheet of corrugated plastic against the wall and into the bath to collect rainwater. The patch I've dug is approximately 6 foot by 3 foot and to a random passer by with a vivid imagination could look like a recently filled grave. When I told my wall-building friend this he suggested part burying a mannequins hand, I told him this was not really my style! However, it does tie in with my musings about the bottle I discovered recently in the pigsty! My allotment seems to be rapidly becoming a gardener's version of Cluedo!
Had a friendly conversation this morning with my allotment neighbour who it seems will be spending more weekdays at the allotment than has been his habit until now. The community continues to evolve.
1 comment:
Very impressed by the broad bean beds! When are they going to be planted? We put ours in last week.
Can't you just savour the taste of the first tender green beans with new potatoes and mint? Nothing like it.
Have you got a patch of comfrey lurking on the plot somewhere? I belive the potash in comfrey is very good for beans. I just lay the leaves all round the beans as soon as there is enough to cut as a bit of a mulch.
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