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