Irrigation is the name of the game

 I believe this is a cloud raining

I am sitting here waiting for it to rain. The weather people said it would be raining here by about four this afternoon. Unfortunately the sun is breaking through the white cloud. According to the BBC Weather App on my fone the rain may now arrive at 6pm. I hope it can explain its tardiness!

Get me a drink! I'm stressed!!

I went down the allotment yesterday afternoon (Hungarian GP Qualifying to watch today) and cleared more weeds. It is actually looking pretty weed free at the moment. During the week my apprentice went mad with the strimmer and cut down the overgrown weeds around the edges. Actually he is far better with the strimmer than I am – boldly strimming where no one has strimmed before! So it looks very tidy, for a couple of days at least.

Weed free - for now

The strawberries have just about finished now, not too bad considering the helter-skelter weather we have had so far this year. Plans to rearrange the fruit area are afoot (well abrain actually as they are all in my head) The blueberries are very unhappy because the soil is not acid enough for them so they will be dug out and put into pots of ericacious compost and kept at home because pots need a lot of watering so I’ll be able to keep an eye on them. They will be replaced by the new blackcurrants which are in a pot by the greenhouse. I will move the strawberries which were heeled in last year to a permanent place in September, they will be near the fruit cage but I'm not sure exactly where. There is a vacant bit of land on the north side or the area where the squashes are on the west side.

I have been digging more taters still pretty small and many have something inside – most likely wireworm – so about half of many potatoes end up being thrown away. I will photograph some and get it confirmed before I can decide what action to take. The broad beans are still producing moderately well. I'm going to try a late sowing when I've finished taking out the early potatoes in the next few days.

Neat and tidy for a while

I have bought some new tunnels to protect crops – they are made of fairly thick fleece on wire hoops – really easy to use because the hoops are already attached so they just need stretching out over the crops. I was thinking of getting netting versions but have decided to get some irrigation spikes instead, well I have plenty of chicken wire which works perfectly well. 

Bottle and spike irrigation

They fit onto the top of 2L drinks bottles (we get through lots of them) then just push the spike into the ground and the plants are watered automatically. They should be much better because all the water will go directly to the roots. My only concern is how far the water will or will not spread. All the ones I've looked at show one bottle per plant – not very practical for my needs. Still its got to be better than no watering at all! I'll try out a few and if they prove effective I'll get more – the allotment could be invaded by bottles!

 

More room for seedlings etc

Back at home we have a new arrival! The mini greenhouse I wanted was on offer so I went ahead and bought one. It is deeper than I thought it would be but does just what I wanted. It is home to seedlings, cuttings and salad leaves at the moment and over the winter will house various pots. I just need to get rid of the ants nest under the concrete where it stands otherwise everything will be infested!

Since I started writing the sun has come out again so I checked the weather online; we now have no rain until 8pm!! Even then it is only a 'light shower'!  We have a slight sea fret instead. I despair!!!!

Rain!!

Rain Courtesy of BBC.co.uk & the Met office

   The poor allotment is absolutely gasping for a drink (as are the mozzies - ouch!), crop yields are down and distressed plants are running to seed. I checked the long range weather forecasts on the BBC website and it may only be a few days ahead but I was overjoyed to find this in the forecast for the early hours of Wednesday(July 24th) morning. Just look at all that rain – and even thunder right over North Norfolk! Perhaps I wont need to do a rain dance after all! The actual forecast was somewhat different – it said light rain shower. I have just checked again and the thunderstorm has vanished and it varies between light or heavy showers – well at least it does at the moment. Still my hopes are raised that we will get some sort of precipitation at last! Saturday was grey and drizzly all day – such a relief for the garden!

Not so Bumper Harvest

I went down to get some potatoes yesterday – at the biggest about the size of a tennis ball – and came back with a bagful of potatoes, broad beans, peas, chard and a pot of strawberries. It raised my spirits a bit. However a lot of the broad beans are like Pooh Bears head – just filled with fluff; the peas were almost the entire crop and just enough for two portions; many of the potatoes could be used to play marbles! Many of the onions think they are for picklung so have stayed very small. The Ruby Chard is doing well though. If the weather is on the turn for a few days things could improve. It has got me thinking about improving things for next year – I know that I need to put a lot more organic matter into the soil and I need to mulch a lot more. I have also been thinking about some sort of irrigation system so that I can water directly to the roots of the plants – a lot of research is needed.

My Russet at last has fruit

 

Saw these near the allotments

Up in the greenhouse things are much better because I go and water regularly. The tomatoes are now all equal sized, my home grown Moneymakers took a while to catch up with the shop bought Gardeners Delight. The two cucumbers are doing well and embracing the cheeseplant which is spending the summer in the greenhouse. I have grown some Rainbow Chard from seed and was planning to put them down on the allotment but they are now happily growing in a big tub in the greenhouse. There are also a variety of salad things, I buy those trays of living salad (lettuce seedlings) from supermarkets then once all are cut down they go up to the greenhouse to regrow. I also have a bowl of mixed leaves to add variety. With all these salad things growing the greenhouse is quite full so I am planning on getting one of those mini greenhouses to put in a sunny place near the back door to use for salads and to overwinter potted plants.

Around the garden things are going ok but many of the flower seeds have either not come up or are way behind where I'd expect them to be. I may well buy annual, biennial & perennial plants rather than seeds in future.

Sea Fog lurking on the marshes

Wood Pigeons are New Superfood!*

EAT ME!!!!

All you carnivores out there go and eat Wood Pigeons – they are marvellous! They are free range, live very happy lives and have a very healthy diet – mostly strawberries and pea shoots from allotments. There are thousands of them about so there are plenty to go round. Just think of all the pies, casseroles and roasts you could have and how many gardeners and farmers you would be making happy. Eating wood pigeons would be a great service to the nation – go on tuck in!!!*

( * I made that up - I just want rid of them by fair means or fowl!)

Where to start?

I've not posted anything for a while because of various things – weather, work, holiday and working on the allotment. When I went down the allotment after our holiday I found a weed choked thirsty mess. I had to come up with a plan of action otherwise I would have just been jumping from one job to another and not really achieving anything. I decided to start at the bottom end where the peas and beans are. 

Look No Weeds!

The first job was to weed the peas which had been grown in bottles. They then needed support so I used some plastic plant support along one side and tried to encourage them to grow up this. Then I hoed out the weeds where the field peas should have been growing. After that I carried on with a hoe down and worked up towards the potatoes. This was done on a very hot day and turned out to be more tiring than it sounds. My weeding was interrupted when I went up to the shed for something and found wood pigeons eating my strawberries so I harvested the fruit then changed the chicken wire tunnels to make them more pigeon proof. 

Sickly potatoes

The dry weather is causing great distress to the plants with spinach and onions running to seed early; broad beans plants are about half the size they were this time last year; French beans are tiny – barely two inches long and goodness know what is happening to the potatoes – the earlies and salads are all turning yellow and dying off and I don't think it is because they are ready to be dug up. Before I went away I replanted where seeds had failed to germinate – mainly Scorzonera and Chard – There is still little or no germination, it is very disheartening. Equally disheartening are the peas which I rescued from weeds only to have the plants stripped of leaves by pigeons. More mesh has been put in place to protect what remains. 

Small rewards

Today I chanced it and put in some Speedy french bean seeds where the field peas should have been. I also finally planted out my pumpkins, it was cool and cloudy so they should be able to settle in ok. The combination of very dry weather causing distressed and undersized plants and crops and masses of choking weeds has got me down today. Weeds wouldn't be so bad if they stayed away but wherever I clear space and plant seeds all I get is more weeds! Pigeons eating and crapping on everything don't help either. I had to fish a dead pigeon out of the half full waterbutt today as well! At least its one less pest! Next time I go to the allotment I shall take the big strimmer and get on top of those weeds. If only making it rain was as easy. On the bright side I have again come home with a box of beautiful jewel red strawberries!

Before we went away I went on a Master Gardeners day at Holt Hall and visited their wonderful vegetable gardens. The garden has been in cultivation for over 100 years. There is an old hot house where melons were once cultivated and next door is a marvellous greenhouse where strawberries and tomatoes grow in one half and seeds are raised and potted on in the other half. A poly tunnel was full of early crops of potatoes, carrots, beetroot and courgette. The best part is the walled garden where different methods of cultivation are used. There are raised beds, no dig beds, 3x3 metre garden, wild life area, a pond and much much more. It was a really inspirational visit and I came away with a lot of ideas. Holt Hall gardens are open every third Sunday (the next one is 21^st July) and free of charge – well worth a visit.

The Exquisite Walled Garden at Holt Hall