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September 2010 and the Field Competitions have been held,
with an amazing display of mis-shapened carrots, over long runner beans, and enourmous marrows. Click the pic for a BIG laugh! I am glad to say we didn't come away empty handed, as we won 'Most Improved Plot 2010' which we are terribly chuffed
about.
Our allotment site is actually made up of two Fields with over 300 plots, and I am happy to say designated
as 'permanent', so we shouldn't get a house built on top of our broad beans! The first potatoes that we have grown made us
very pleased as we put them in so late, but they have turned out really fantastic.. they are variety 'Charlotte' by
the way.
We've begun clearing the veg plants that have gone over, demanding slightly more than the two compost
bins we've been using until now. So we've done the usual old trick with three wooden pallets to create a big bin which should
prove more suitable. We'd would have liked to have a double or triple bay (like our next door neighbours), so that we could
turn the compost and have a ready to use pile, a nearly rotted, and a fresh stuff pile, but it takes up a lot of space, and
a lot of pallets, so we're going to give it a go with the one, in conjunction with the two plastic bins. Watch this
space!
The sweetcorn was magnificent, two to three cobs from each plant, and utterly delicious. The only problem,
you've got to get them from plot to pot as quickly as possible to prevent the sugars turning into starch and spoiling the
taste. Well they've all gone now(hannah became a big fan!) and the ground is being prepped for.. well the crop rotation
says Brassicas for next year, so again, watch this space. Whilst clearing and weeding continues a pace, the plot is
keeping pleasingly productive, with plenty of squashes, marrows, kale, swiss chard, runner beans, spinach and carrots.. our
first attempt at carrots, in the words of Norman Wisdom 'they're lovely and sweet ain't they?'
October 2010 and how exciting the potato and seed catalogue have arrived from the Allotment Holders
Association. It's very tempting to want to grow everything isn't it? We're certainly going to give quite a bit a go next season.
Included in the new tastes on the Allotment will be Pak Choi, Turks Turban squashes, beefsteak tomatoes, celery, turnips,
chillis, cucumbers and a whole bundle more. Adding up the number of seed packets we've ordered came to 78!! But that
is for both allotment and garden, and does include quite a few flower seeds! We'll also be trying small amounts of 5
varieties of potatoes. I haven't as yet been able to track down a UK supplier for a variety of potato called
Gala that we fell in love with on holiday in Germany, although I have emailed the growers in Germany, and am hoping for
a response, or better still a few kilos of seed!
Early days on the allotment
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