NEW BEGINNINGS

Well good afternoon to anybody out there. Welcome to, what I hope will be a bit of fun for everyone. I am in no means a great grower, an amature at heart, but what I have grown in the past, I have been very pleased with. I am one for just putting the seed in and seeing what happens and I never really go by any rules, as to me I think of growing a relaxing and fun way to unwind.

I have been helping my father-in-law for the past few years, with his allotment, but I must stress I do not write down and compare anything I have grown in the past. I have now been able to aquire an allotment of my own and so I thought it fun to start a diary and then be able to look back and maybe compare my good, bad and sad efforts.
I hope you join in and read my diary and maybe add a comment or 2, to maybe help me on my way.

I have cleaned and cleared out my greenhouse all ready for this years growing season. So wish me luck.


Hugs Val xxx

Jungle of weeds at the allotment

Good afternoon, well sorry I haven`t been on here for a while, but you know what it`s like. Hopefully now the weather is getting a little bit better i will be getting on with my growing.

Today was the first day since october, that I went up to the allotment (naughty me!) I thought it would be a complete jungle, but was surprised to find it not too bad. We managed to get this back in August and when we took this over, it was a complete jungle with weeds and plants 5-6 ft tall. So we cleared most of this to get an idea of what we really were in for. The allotment is 22 rods in size, which really doesn`t mean much to me, but it`s big!. But we aquired from the previous owner 3 raised beds, 3 strawberry beds, very tall and large growning frame and a fruit cage that goes right across the width of the plot, plus other bits and pieces.

So off I plodded this morning, with fork in hand, geared up to tackle the jungle that lay ahead. When I got there, this is what faced me. Picture #1 is from the top of the allotment, pict#2 shows the overgrown part on my right, pic#3 4 and 5 shows the rest of the plot. I cleared away most of the metal mesh, cages etc to tidy up a bit, then wheeled down 6 black bags filled with wet horse muck, that was left for whoever wants it. Then started digging out one of the raised beds, but the wood was rotten, so out this will have to go. Anyway enough of my rambling on, until next time. Hugs Val xxx

Toms popping their little heads.

Well just a quick one about the toms that were also sown last tuesday. Again these were placed in the heated propagator and the ones on the windowsil are only just showing themselves. The lid is off now and will keep my beady eye on these and hope they don`t go all spinndly.

ALL YEAR ROUND CAULIFLOWER

Well good morning everyone, it`s a very frosty morning today.

It`s not been quite a week and thought i`d show you the all year cauliflower that I planted last tuesday.

These were the ones in the heated propagator, the ones on the windowsil, haven`t quite shown their heads, but don`t think they will be too long.

So now the lid is off and I will keep my eye on these little cherubs.

I will pop back in a while to show you the tom seeds that were planted last week as well.

BUNYARDS EXHIBITION BROAD BEANS

Last post of the day, I promise. Just to show you while i`m on a roll, about the Bunyards broad beans, that I have just planted.

Now usually I would put these straight into the ground, but them pesky pigeons, sometimes end up with a free meal, once the seeds shoot up. So I`m going to start them a little different.

I`ve got some pod trays with 9 pods to a tray, then i`ve popped half cut toilet rolls inside these pods.

Filled each pod to about 3/4 full, making sure the compost is slight compacted down. Popped one bean seed into each pod, then covered to the top of the toliet rolls with compost. Now even though the compost is moist, i`ve found the cardboard soaks this up, so it`s best to give the trays a bit of a soaking now. I`m going to pop these in to the greenhouse until, they start stooting and then take it from there, but will keep you informed, each step of the way. Together i`ve potted up 32, so I will see how I go with these

ALL YEAR ROUND CAULIFLOWER

Well hello again this morning. As well as the tomatoes that were sown earlier this morning, I decided to carry on and go with some cauliflower seeds. I chose `all year round`, literally because you can plant these all year. Again I prepared 2 trays, as I did with the tomatoes and filling upto about half inch below the top of the tray and evenly spacing the seeds, covered and again sparingly watered the trays, as the compost was damp. 12 seeds went into one tray, these were for the propagator and 9 seeds for the other tray and these went onto the window sil, but this tray I covered with a clear plastic bag.

ROMA TOMATO SEEDS

Well good morning everyone and today, I am starting with my tomato seeds. The seeds that i`ve chosen are `Roma VF`, because you can start these off in January and ideal for planting outside later on. I`ve planted 6 seeds in the heated propagator and 3 seeds on the window sil and these I haven`t covered with glass or plastic bag.




1. I started with 2 half size seed trays






1.Then filled to about just over half inch below the top of the tray, with compost and spaced the seeds evenly in the compost. Then covered the seeds with more compost and sparingly watered the whole trays. I didn`t want to soak the seeds, as the compost was already moist. Then the tray with the 6 seeds went into the heated propagator and the tray with the 3 seeds onto the kitchen window sil.