A few day's away up north for the New Year

From Monday 28th December 2015 until Saturday 2nd January 2016, I will be off to Lincoln for a few day's up to see my girlfriend for the New Year. This will mean that nothing will be done during this time on the Allotment or in the Greenhouse. During the new year seed potatoes will need to be brought as well as several things need sowing and the allotment will need digging over and a general tidy up.

Sowed Onion ' The Kelsae', Onion 'Bedfordshire Champion', Onion 'Ailsa Craig', Onion 'Exhibition', Leek 'Musselburgh', Sweet Pepper 'California Wonder' and Planted Shallot 'Jermor' sets

Today I done the following:

- Sowed Onion 'The Kelsae' into a half seed tray filled with Levington John Innes Seed compost and placed in a heated propagator
- Sowed Onion 'Bedfordshire Champion' into a half seed tray filled with Levington John Innes Seed compost and placed in a heated propagator
- Sowed Onion 'Ailsa Craig' into a half seed tray filled with Levington John Innes Seed compost and placed in a heated propagator
- Sowed Onion 'Exhibition' into a half seed tray filled with Levington John Innes Seed compost and placed in a heated propagator
- Sowed Leek 'Musselburgh' into a half seed tray filled with Levington John Innes Seed compost and placed in the unheated greenhouse
- Sowed Sweet Pepper 'California Wonder' into a 3 inch pot filled with Levington John Innes Seed compost and placed in a heated propagator
- Planted 7 x Shallot 'Jermor' sets into 9cm square pots filled with Westland Jack's Magic Multi Purpose Compost mixed with Vermiculite and these were placed in the unheated greenhouse

Levington John Innes Seed Compost

Half Seed Tray's filled up with Levington
John Innes Seed Compost

3 inch pot filled with Levington John Innes Seed
Compost

Onion 'The Kelsae' seeds

Onion 'Ailsa Craig' seeds

Onion 'Exhibition' seeds

Onion 'Bedfordshire Champion' seeds

Leek 'Musselburgh' seeds

Shallot 'Jermor' sets

Sweet Pepper 'California Wonder' seeds

Shallot 'Jermor' sets

Leek 'Musselburgh' into a half seed tray

Onion 'The Kelsae', Onion 'Bedfordshire Champion',
Onion 'Ailsa Craig', Onion 'Exhibition' and
Sweet Pepper 'California Wonder' all in heated propagator

Christmas day visit to the Allotment

Today I went down the Allotments as I havn't been down there for about a month. Nothing really exciting is happening at the moment as it's the winter but it's still remarkably mild for the time of year. Even though it is Christmas Day, rather windy and raining at present it's 14 Degree's Celsius and it has been very mild for some time. Due to the very wet weather we have had it was quite squelchy under foot so I don't think I will be on the allotment plot for a while yet.

Right and Front of Greenhouse

Inside of Greenhouse

Left hand side of Greenhouse and looking down onto
 Allotment 1

Looking down onto Allotment 1

Fruit Cage

Raspberries and Loganberries

Rhubarb patch

As can be seen above, Allotment 1 needs a bit of a tidy up which I shall do when it is a bit drier. I will need to dig over the middle part of the vegetable patch on the allotment as this still has potatoes in it left over from this year. Also the raised beds will need a bit of clearance and tidy up. On the Allotment there are rubbish bags that will need to be taken to the tip and some bags which contain compost and leaf mould of which I got in the autumn. The Raspberries and Loganberries will need pruning along with the Blackcurrants, Red Currants and Gooseberries in the Fruit Cage. I will also need to tidy up around the Rhubarb. Due to new rules coming in from January I will also need to get some weedliner to cover the ground as I dig it as no vacant piece of ground is allowed to be left uncovered.

As can be seen below Allotment 2 will also need to be cleared up:

Looking down Allotment 2 towards the hedge

Looking down Allotment 2 with Polytunnel in view

Looking up the Allotment towards the Polytunnel

Environmesh covering Carrots and Parsnips which
have been swamped by weeds.

Globe Artichoke at the end and the
 Onion bed at the front

View inside the Polytunnel

As can be seen in the pictures above Allotment 2 was started to be cleared however it still needs considerable clearing. Where it has been dug over at the very top of the allotment, this is where the Potatoes were dug up from. In front of these there are several onions which appear to have started to grow again so these will need taking up to clear the ground. In the middle of the Allotment there were lots of Potatoes which were not dug up and this will need to all be dug over and the potatoes cleared. Due to the new rule of covering up vacant ground on Allotments, this allotment will also need to be covered using weedliner of which will need doing during January.

The Runner Bean canes will need dismantling at some point as they are still standing. Down the very end of the Allotment, there is currently nothing in the onion bed as nothing appeared from the spring onion seeds sown in Autumn. I will dig over this part again but will not need to do much to this area as I put compost and leaf mould in during autumn. Under the Environmesh are carrots and parsnips which are covered in lots of weeds and this will also need clearing of which will also be done in time.

As seen the Polytunnel also needs a tidy up at some stage and I am considering whether to keep this structure or not as it appears again that the cover will need replacing and this is quite costly.

Planted Garlic 'Early Purple Wight' and Garlic 'Lautrec Wight'

Today I planted the following:

- 16 x Garlic 'Early Purple Wight' cloves into 9cm square pots filled with Westland Jack's Magic Multipurpose compost mixed with vermiculite and these have been placed in the unheated greenhouse.

- 9 x Garlic 'Lautrec Wight' cloves into 9cm square pots filled with Westland Jack's Magic Multipurpose compost mixed with vermiculite and these have been placed in the unheated greenhouse.

Garlic 'Early Purple Wight'

Garlic 'Lautrec Wight'

Garlic 'Early Purple Wight' at the back and Garlic
'Lautrec Wight' at the front 

Went down on Allotment 1 and finished tidying up the Greenhouse

This morning I went down to the Allotment for about 1 hour and finished tidying up the Greenhouse:

Sowed Cabbage 'Spring Hero F1', Lettuce 'Arctic King', Lettuce 'Winter Density' and Lettuce 'Vaila - Little Gem Type' seeds

This evening I sowed the following in the Greenhouse:

- Cabbage 'Spring Hero F1 Hybrid' into a 6 cell tray
- Lettuce 'Arctic King' into half of a 6 cell tray
- Lettuce 'Winter Density' into half of a 6 cell tray
- Lettuce 'Vaila - Little Gem Type' into half of a 6 cell tray

I sowed them into a mix of Jack' Magic Multipurpose Compost and Vermiculite

Tidied up more of the Greenhouse

This morning I went down to the allotment for about an hour. I continued tidying up and digging over the Greenhouse. However due to the rain I had to go home so will continue this when it is drier and I also have a day off work as I need to clear out the Greenhouse before putting everything back in.

Sowed Onion (Spring) 'North Holland Bloodred Redmate' seeds, created a hoop and started to clear out the Greenhouse

Today I went down the Allotment for about 1 hour. I sowed Onion (Spring) 'North Holland Bloodred Redmate' seeds into the other half of the drill that I took out yesterday (These are behind the Onion (Spring) White Lisbon Winter Hardy seeds).

I also tried to make some hoops using the metal rods and blue pipe. 

2 Metal rods and Blue Water pipe

I also had a bit of a tidy up of the Greenhouse and done some digging to get out some of the weeds.

Sowed Onion (Spring) 'White Lisbon Winter Hardy' seeds, cleared out 2 raised beds and dug in front of Polytunnel

This Afternoon I went back down to the Allotment for about another 1 1/2 hours. I made a drill using my hoe where I had put the line earlier today. I then sowed Onion (Spring) 'White Lisbon Winter Hardy' seeds into this. I decided to split the row (9 foot and 9 foot) so I could sow some Red Onion seeds however as I didn't have any overwintering one's I will get some tomorrow and leave the drill open to sow them tomorrow.

Drill opened using hoe

Onion (Spring) 'White Lisbon Winter Hardy' seeds
where sown in half of the drill.

I then cleared two raised bed's on Allotment 1. The one to the right of the Greenhouse and the one to the Left of the Greenhouse (Minus the unknown Brassica).

The Raised bed to the left of the Greenhouse

The raised bed to the right of the Greenhouse

I also went back over to Allotment 2 and dug in front of the Polytunnel to clear all the weeds. I am currently unsure what to do with this space.

Before digging in front of the Polytunnel

After digging in front of the Polytunnel

Put compost over new Onion Bed and harvested some Potatoes and Runner Beans

Early this Afternoon I went down the Allotment for about 1 1/2 hours and put compost over top of the Onion Bed.

Forked over the Ground before starting
to add the Compost I got from Crawley
Horticultural Society

Compost put over part of the Onion Bed

I then used the rotivator to mix the compost into the soil.

Compost mixed into the Soil using Mantis Rotivator

I put in canes to show the end of the Allotment and measured in from here. Then I put the line across the Allotment to the other side.

Measuring in from the edge of the Allotment

Putting the line across the Allotment to create a
Straight Line

I then decided to leave the Allotment until Late Afternoon to go home for some Lunch but before going home I harvested some 'Rocket' Potatoes and 'Scarlet Emperor' Runner Beans:

'Rocket' Potatoes and 'Scarlet Emperor' Runner Beans

Sowed Cabbage 'Red Drumhead' and Cabbage 'Spring Hero F1 Hybrid' seeds

This afternoon I sowed the following in the Greenhouse:

- Cabbage 'Red Drumhead' into a 6 cell tray
- Cabbage 'Spring Hero F1 Hybrid' into a 6 cell tray

I sowed them into a mix of Westland Jack's Magic Multipurpose Compost and Vermiculite.

Cabbage 'Red Drumhead (left) and
Cabbage 'Spring Hero F1 Hybrid (right)

Went onto Allotment 1 and continued to dig and clear paths, and clear raised beds

This morning I spent another hour on the Allotment, digging out the paths around the raised beds, as well as clearing the paths and raised beds. I finished off clearing the raised bed to the front right of the Greenhouse and also managed to clear the front left raised bed. I have also started to clear the raised bed to the right side of the Greenhouse and this is where I left it today.

Raised bed to the front left of the Greenhouse

Raised bed to the front right of the Greenhouse

Raised bed to the right of the Greenhouse

 When I next go down to the Allotment providing the weather is good I will continue to clear the raised beds out as well as clear the paths. I also need to get some more bark chips to put down on the weed membrane.