Where's Waldo..........

...and where has he taken my brocolli?

Today I laid into the cabbage patch which was full of weeds, cabbages, but precious little brocolli. It appears that none of the brocolli seeds I planted in here actually came up. On the plus side there was a bumper crop of cabbages so these got separated and used to fill the whole bed with cabbagey goodness.

Another fellow allotmenter gave up their plot so I gained half a dozen raspberry plants which have gone in the plot formally inhabited by the strawberry plants which died a death.

There's not a lot else to do on the plot now apart from weeding and watering so I'm working on my coffee drinking and custard cream eating. It's coming along great guns so I should be on top form for the 2012 olympics (assuming this is a recognised sport that is).

Get orf ma laaanndddd.......

......said Farmer Palmer

A few weeks ago I was chuffed to ribbons that all the seeds I had planted had started coming through and was anticipating a bumper harvest of vegetably comestibles. Now that they've been growing for a couple of weeks they seem to all look quite similar which leads me to believe that:-

a) The magic cabbage fairies have been out and planted cabbages in my entire plot for me which is why they all look the same.
b) The buggers are weeds, darn weeds.

Those of you who chose option a) as most likely, well, I've got this uncle in Nigeria who needs to get a large amount of money out of the country so if you'll just send me your bank details etc etc......

Today was therefore spent digging out the weeds to leave things that look similar in straight lines (which I hope at the things I actually planted. A bit like the carrots (fingers crossed) below).





The spare room plants also got transferred into the cold frame so that's tomatoes, cauli's and sweet peppers on the go.



There were also some toms from Andy next door that were too large for the frame so given the hot weather I've put them in the ground in the hope they take off.



I'm trying out a different planting method this year with these. I normally bang a cane in next to each of them, but the word on the allotments is it's better to just put two stakes in and string between them to support the plants as they grow.

Finally, the garlic that was planted only a couple of weeks ago is starting to sprout into view so if it all comes up I should be overrun with the stuff.

Alberto frog wants........

.........straaaawberries. (in true Bod style).

At the weekend one of the fellow Cambourne allotmentiers was digging up their strawberry bed so I now have a collection of strawberries ready to eat later in the year while watching Wimbledon (the wombles not the tennis).



The cold frame that I knocked up previously also received a pair of metal props held in place with a slack handful of bolts (see.... that cordless drill I foolishly bought in a previous episode did come in useful!). Next weekend the tomatoes can go in there and the lid can be propped open while the weather is nice to sort them out.

The onion bed has also gone berserk so I'll have to put in an emergency order for stripey tops and berets so I can ride around Cambourne on my bike bedecked in strings of the things going "he haw he haw he haw".

Arty Choke and the vampires

Yet another scorcher on the plot so a bit more digging and planting.

To stop the wind blowing across the plot I've dug a trench and planted it with Jerusalem Artichokes which apparently grow to about 10ft!!!



The sun is to the left (and up quite a lot) so should hit the fruit bushes which are up against the fence and also the artichokes.

I also planted a couple of bulbs of garlic on one of the beds, and there was no sign of Count Duckula and his mates so it's obviously doing the trick.




Finally, another bed was dug into the plot next to the cold frame giving me the spare beds for tomatoes, caulis, and any seeds I've forgetten to plant yet.

Before:
(those weeds at the back are 4ft high)



After:




All in all, a productive Bank Holiday I think you'll agree!

I wuz framed!!!

Despite this being a bank holiday weekend, it's not raining so a cracking opportunity for hot allotment action.

After salvaging a greenhouse door from a greenhouse that blew down on the allotments, today was spent building a wooden frame for this to turn it into a coldframe.




This should hold plants that get transferred to the allotment for a bit and hopefully stop them dying on their first day in the open.

In true MasterCard style:-
Cost of wood, door and two of the glass panes - Free
Hinges and third pane - £5
Walking into B&Q for just the hinges and walking out with another power tool - Priceless.

Hey...I'm a bloke.... we're allowed to do things like that ;-)

Medic!!!............There was also another casualty of war ( huh-yeah, What is it good for?, Absolutely nothing, Uh-huh)..... sorry... I just came over all Edwin Starr there for a moment. The graveyard of tools that have fallen foul of weeds on my plot grew yet again with the addition of another spade which has gone to join private Fork.



Lots more digging of the two plots yet to be planted and they're coming on a treat. Next year should be much easier.

Fruity Comestibles

After my epic failure yesterday to go to the garden centre for just a packet of jerusalem artichokes, I spent today planting the 6 (count them ... six) fruit bushes that I somehow came away with. Curse you Louise and the tour of your plot replete with fruit bushes aplenty.
If the smell of the chicken poo pellets in the bottom of each of these bushes is anything to go by, I expect something of triffid like proportions later on in the year.

If all goes to plan these bushes should grow up the fence at the end of the plot and act as a windbreak to protect the rest of the vegies.