It’s that time of year again when the potatoes have to be purchased ready for chitting. So on Saturday morning me and my Dad headed off to our local independent nursery to pick the lucky little seeds!
We love Gilberts, it’s a beautiful independent nursery filled with flowers, seeds, trees… in fact it has everything a gardener needs (including a tearoom!) The best thing about Gilberts is how they sell the seed potatoes, there’s a whole aisle filled with lots of large hessian and brown bags full to the brim with so many different variety of potatoes. You choose the ones you want, fill a bag with however many you need and then pay by weight at the till. It’s ever so handy when you are like me and my Dad and plan exactly how many potatoes you need, it also saves buying bags of seed potatoes when you don’t know how many are actually in each bag!
This year my Dad is growing 56 Kestral potatoes, 56 Cara and 18 International Kidney. I’m also growing 18 International Kidney potatoes and 18 Charlotte as well.
After choosing the potatoes I grabbed another packet of sweet pea seeds, this time I thought I would give the perrenial variety a go. The Sweet peas will be growing up my archway every year so I thought why not! We also chose a packet of pumpkin seeds called ‘Atlantic Giant’ ready to sow next month for our little friendly competiton.
And last but not least, I couldn’t resist buying two of these absolutely beautiful double Primroses, aren’t they lovely? I’ll plant them down by the pond for a bit of colour during this very wet and miserable weather we are having!
The 2015 allotment plan is now up and ready to read, Hooray! I’ve created a new page along the top so it’s easy to find, and I’ve just posted a little video where I talk through my plans as well.
I am so unbelievably excited for the year ahead and cannot wait to start sowing seeds and watch them come to life! I’m longing for lazy days up the allotment watching the bees buzzing, frogs hoping around, picking raspberries straight from the cane and being surrounded by sweet smelling flowers. Spring is just around the corner however, there’s big plans and some interesting varieties to grow this year, and not forgetting the anticipated arrival of the chickens (I will post more about them later, I promise!)
But for now, I thought I would share all my plans, hopes and dreams of what my allotment will look like this year and I hope you all enjoying reading (or watching!) x
When I decided to make a little pond for my allotment I never thought for one second that it would be such a success and I am so unbelievably happy with all my new little allotment residents. So far I’ve noticed 8 frogs on the plot, I was moving a pile of pallet slats one day and counted 8 amongst the wooden pile (I felt rather guilty that I had moved their home but I needed to weed!) Today I saw 4 of them in the pond, it looks like I might be swamped with frogs next Spring. Not that I’m complaining at all, it would be so interesting to watch tadpoles grow and the more the merrier, especially if they all eat the slugs!
The area around the pond was originally going to be filled with flowers, I planted a climbing rose and a rose bush next to the shed in the Spring and they have both bloomed extremely well. Around the rest of the pond I sowed a wildflower mix and planted a few self sown flowers. Now the mix was a complete failure, 90% of plants which grew around the pond turned out to be weeds, a few wild flowers appeared but it definately wasn’t how I expected the pond area to look. However, the flowers which I planted there as seedlings were a huge success, they were Verbena, cosmos, scabious, zinnias and calendula. I’m thinking next year I’ll grow more of the same flowers, growing the seedlings at home and planting them out later proved to work quite well, this way I will beable to grow the flowers that I love and any weeds that decide to grow can be picked out straight away because I’ll be able to identify them. Amongst the flowers I have decided to plant a grapevine which will climb up the side of the fruit cage, it’s a red seedless variety called ‘Flame’ and it can grow well outdoors in the South of England if facing the sun. I will plant flowers which are lower in height around the base of the grapevine so that there’s no competition, and then the higher flowers like verbena and cosmos will go around the edge. I just can’t wait to be able to pick my own grapes, even though it will be in a few years time!
Now back to the frogs, earlier on I said I felt guilty about destroying the frogs ground cover. They loved to hide in the weeds and amongst the flowers and they particularly enjoyed finding cover under a calendula that had spread over the waters edge, even though it was dead. So off I went to create a special little house for my allotment frogs. This simply consisted of a log pile made from off cuts of my hazel archway, and a cracked terracotta pot turned upside down. And of course I needed to make a little sign for their new home! I really hope they like it, and next year I’ll be sowing lots of flowers around the pond for them to enjoy too.
This time I have teamed up with the beautiful Sarah Raven and her team, they have so kindly offered me one of their collections from the new Autumn catalogue to give-away. It was so hard to choose, the catalogue is filled to the brim with so many beautiful flowers! The collection that I have chosen however, is the stunning Venetian Tulip Collection consisting of 45 bulbs!
This stunning collection flowers from mid April to May, and will brighten up your pots and borders this year. All our tulip collections come with each variety in a separate bag, so you can decide exactly where to plant each colour.
The collection is made up of 3 different bulbs, an equal part each of :
Our tulip bulbs are the best and biggest we can find, from tried and trusted growers. Don’t forget that tulips like to be planted late in October and November with the colder weather, and need a little watering if planted in pots.
Oh and to make things even better, they have decided to include a packet of Munchkin Pumpkins seeds in the give-away along with the tulip collection! How nice is that? If you want to know more about the munchkin pumpkins then please feel feel to read my last blog post. I cannot recommend growing these enough, they taste delicious, are easy to grow, look great and climb really well!
All you have to do is comment below with your first name and surname before the 21st of September. The winner will then be selected at random. Good Luck!
Heres the small print:
UK Residents only.
If for some reason the selected items are unavailable, a suitable alternative will be found.
We had our very first allotment bonfire this evening. All the up rooted plants, weeds and rubbish was starting to build up on both mine, and my Dad’s plots. I had broad bean stalks, strawberry runners and sadly my tomatoes were struck with the dreaded blight so they had to go. To me, this is a sign that Summer is nearly over and Autumn is well on the way.
It’s September already and Summer has just flown by. It seems only yesterday that I was planning, sowing seeds and getting the soil ready. It has however, been a great Summer with plenty of harvests, plenty of lessons learnt and great fun too. The year isn’t over yet though and theres still plenty growing on Plot 15C. The gherkins are still producing, pumpkins and munchkin pumpkins, borlotto beans, swiss chard and carrots are still all a plenty. There’s also the purple dwarf french beans which are growing nicely and I’ve also sown some kohl rabi and turnips. And not forgetting the brassica bed full with kale, red cabbages and flower sprouts!
There’s big plans for next year too and I just can’t wait to start planning and preparing. One of the big plans involves chickens. Now I have wanted chickens ever since I got my plot last year, I love the idea of looking after chickens, letting them roam the allotment and collecting fresh eggs every morning. I am a complete animal person anyway, and I know your not meant to get attached, but I can see myself naming and caring for my chickens. The only problem is I don’t have permission yet, and as you can tell I’m getting my hopes up a little! I re-read the allotment rules and although it states that ‘rabbits and hens are allowed on the allotments’, I decided to get in contact with the parish council and they are bringing my question up at the next meeting. Which means on the 10th of September I will be told if I can keep chickens on plot 15c, and I just can’t wait to find out!
If the answer is yes then of course I will need to make space for a coop and run, this is where my other big plan comes into play. I have three large rotation beds up my allotment, a roots bed, legume bed and a brassica bed. The idea is to take away one bed and then split the other two beds into three smaller rotation beds. That’s leaves me with a 3.7m by 3m bed for the chickens and even some flowers too (I am totally getting my hopes up aren’t I!?)
Now if the answer is no, then I am still going ahead with this plan of three smaller rotation beds. However, because I wouldn’t need any space for a coop I would simply fill the spare bed with cut flowers, and maybe even place a table and chairs in the flower meadow! So really I can’t start planning until next week when it find out if I can have chickens or not, fingers crossed that the answer is yes!
I have to admit it.. I am a little obssessed with Mottisfont Abbey!
I first visited the National Trust site back on the 21st of April and after the most perfect day I decided to become a member (under 25′s yearly membership fee was £27 and I was just so happening to turn 25 years old the coming week!) Since then we have visited Mottisfont 5 times and I am still in love with the walled garden. Another great advantage is the distance, Mottisfont Abbey is a 15 minute car journey away from us so it’s no trouble just popping into the grounds for a picnic and a quick look around the walled garden. Late opening times have also given us a great opportunity to see the gardens in a different light and of course all the roses are in full bloom this time of year so really we couldn’t resist. We popped down on the 25th of June, it was a glorious sunny day and we wanted some inspiration and to try and pick out a rose for the front garden.
It was also an excuse to try out my homemade elderflower champagne which had been brewing ontop of the fridge for the past 14 days. I packed a little wicker basket with some wine glasses, a bottle of the champagne and a blanket. We found a lovely lawn in the walled rose garden to sit on and carefully popped the cork, I’m glad to say the champagne was a success! It wasn’t as fizzy as I had expected but it had bubbles and it sure tasted delicious. Surrounded by beautiful flowers and drinking homemade elderflower champagne in the sunshine, life couldn’t get any better then that!
Alas my parents didn’t buy a rose for the front garden but they came away very inspired, with a long list of favourite flowers and plants. It looks like a trip to the garden centre is in order and then the front garden is going to get a make over Mottisfont Abbey style!
It is officially summer time and the harvests are starting to come in thick and fast, as a matter of fact I can’t keep up with all the crops! It doesn’t seem like long ago that I was planting the seeds and now I have peas, broad beans, potatoes and peas coming out my ears. I shouldn’t really be complaining because they are all delicious but it’s a full time job trying to freeze them, make jams, cordials or think of new recipes to try with the gluts. At least the potatoes tend to look after themselves and store rather well in the ground until I am ready to use them, they are the most delicious jersey royals I have ever tasted, I just wish I had planted more!
As for the rest of the allotment it is all starting to look lovely and green. The legume bed is by far the busiest with the broad beans and peas in full swing. The french beans and second double row of peas are growing nicely and I have yet to put in another row of peas for my succession planting. The borlotto beans are climbing rather high up my hazel archway and I just can’t wait until they have reached the top and produce lots of yummy beans to store away for winter. The fruit bed is also showing signs of a small harvest soon with a few very large gooseberries and some blackcurrants too, theres even 4 raspberries growing too! I even managed to squeeze some swiss chard into the fruit cage and over the past couple of days its doubled in size, it must be all this nice weather we are having.
The strawberries are going crazy and so are the tomatoes, I have to check daily and remove side shoots before they get out of hand and the poor basil is being overshadowed! The root bed is left to go it’s own thing, all the potatoes are ready so they are just waiting to be eaten. The only thing that hasn’t grown well in this bed is the carrots, which reminds me that I need to sow some more. Last but not least is the brassica bed which is slowly filling up. Now originally there was going to be one row of red cabbage, one row of purple sprouting broccoli, two rows of flower sprouts and 2 pumpkins in that bed. There has been a slight change in this plan and the broccoli is now moving over to my Dad’s new large plot so I have a spare area of soil where I can grow some cut flowers. I know I keep moaning about it but my plot is so tiny, there isn’t enough room to grow eveything I want to grow so this extra bit of space is most welcomed. Now all I need to do is decide on which flowers to put there while there is still time to grow them. On the other hand the pumpkins and red cabbage are growing great and the flower sprouts will be moving in this week once I get the netting and structure up and running to keep those pesky cabbage whites at bay.
I seriously can not get over how quickly things are growing, everytime I go up the allotment everything seems to be greener and bigger and the crops just keep coming. It makes all that hard work and blood, sweat and tears worth it thats for sure
I finished my little wildlife pond at the weekend and I am so happy with it. It turned out a little larger then I originally planned but it fits in the flower patch perfectly and hopefully that means more frogs can come and live in it (fingers crossed!) It now measures roughly 60cm deep (recommended depth to protect frogs from harsh winter weather), 1 metre in width and 1.5 metres in length. It has a slope on one end where any animals that fall in the pond by accident can easily clamber out. I also created two shelved areas about 30cm deep where some plants can sit, this also creates a nice shallow area for tadpoles to gather.
It didn’t take long to create at all mainly due to its size, however it took me a while to decided on the shape and layout resulting in me having to swap a previously brought pond liner for a larger one! I could have easily made my little pond in a weekend if I had all the supplies before had, and if I didnt keep changing my mind! The plants were the easy part and it was made so much simpler by the helpful advice the shop assistants gave me at World of Water in Romsey. I instantly fell in love with the Myosotis Scorpioides which is a water forget-me-not, I just adore the little delicate blue flowers so I just had to have one and plus the leaves are perfect for egg laying too. Now I was told that this particular plant can spread so I will be keeping an eye on it so I can make sure it stays a perfect size for my pond. The other plants I have in the pond are oxygenating plants, these are there to help keep the water clean whilst giving the wildlife that much needed oxygen. I have two bunches of Elodea crispa which float around the ponds surface, and another oxygenating plant called Ranunculus Aquatilis, which has the added bonus of flowering from June until September.
I managed to find a pile of pebbles and large rocks in the back of my parents garden, they weren’t needed for anything so I gave them a new home and carefully arranged them around the edge of my pond. This was the perfect way to hide the awful pond liner border and I’m planning on planting a few alpine plants amongst the rocks, although you can easily hide the liner by covering with dirt if you don’t have any rocks laying around! I also placed some of the pebbles and two smaller rocks into the deepest area of the pond so that the frogs or tadpoles can hide from predators. To finish the area off I placed two paving slabs which look like logs to one side of the pond (they were a bargain at a closing down garden centre!) these will lead the way to my grapevine which I am still very adament on having.
My next jobs for that little area include building a small log pile for the frogs to call home and to sow some wildflower seeds around the pond. I managed to pick up a lovely wildflower ‘classic meadow’ seed packet by Thompson and morgan which has UK native flowers and includes perennials and grasses which appear at different stages of the year. I have already planted some verbena, dwarf cosmos, scabious and there are four giant sunflowers growing at the back, also not forgetting ‘Katie’s rose’ bush and the climbing rose at the side of my shed. I expect that in the summer when everything is in full bloom I’m going to have to make some cuts for the years ahead, it looks like it is going to be one jam packed area but I am hoping it won’t be too overwhelming!
I made a video about creating my pond too for those of you who are thinking of creating one in your garden or allotment. I fully recommend it, no matter how small or big the pond it will make a huge difference to the wildlife and it will bring the insects and frogs in which will hopefully eat the slugs. Its a win win situation really
