The Winter Dig

Hi guys, I hope everyone has had a great weekend and what a weekend have we had with the weather. I woke up Saturday morning and the sun was shining... so after visiting the butchers and green grocers (the green grocer advised me to spray 'round up' on all my plot weeds and crops so that I will come more often!) and after all the hello's in town I walked down the allotments, I was faced with a challenge my first winter dig. I had an experienced hand advising me how I might go about it, I asked him whether he used any horse muck, he said no as it has a lot of weed seeds in it so he only uses chicken manure pellets, his allotment is producing a lot! So it must be working for him, so I might try the chicken pellets as I have a few tubs of the stuff in the shed and the car actually, I must get those out of there soon. He gave me a marrow which was very nice so I got some good advice and some of his produce... bargain!

Before

After

So I started with the dig, it was hard work but fun, as you can see I have left the soil in big chunks as the frost will do the hard work of breaking the soil down, I think working with nature is a partnership, if I do some hard work I expect nature to do some aswel :). I had plenty of time to think about next season while digging. I've decided against converting my whole plot to raised beds as it is a big expense which isn't necessary, so what I will do is if I can get any timber for raised beds I will do one by one. I will be planting my strawberries in a raised bed so I can control the soil and be able to put up some protection for them.

So it took me around four hours to dig over half the plot. I am glad I did it yesterday as a hard frost was upon us last night. So when I got home I thought a nice hot bath would be great for my aching muscles.

So today my muscles are aching but it is a good ache as I know I did something with my two hands and next year I will get my rewards with a lovely crumbling soil!

At home I have a worm farm which I have had for about four months, the worms don't like direct sunlight or low temps. Many people leave there worm houses in direct sunlight and all this does is bake them alive, not very nice for the worms or our noses! So if your thinking about keeping one, keep the house in the shade and in winter make sure they go somewhere which is inside so the frost won't kill them. So I have moved them to the shed which keeps the frost off.

 The worm farm, before being moved in the shed

I hope you guys have a good week and lets hope for a few more frosts to get rid of those slugs and snails!

What a few weeks

First of all sorry for not updating as much, its been a busy few weeks, with getting a new puppy 'Pixel' and getting her to the vets each week. It almost seemed like it has been raining everyday! Going to the allotment was being sacrificed. I finally had time to go to the allotment on Saturday and what a day, the sun was out and no rain! So I went down for about five hours.

My main objective was sowing my 'over-winter onions' white and red, my peas and broad beans. I had a patch covered with carpet and plastic which my very nice neighbours lent me a few months ago. The first thing I had to do was to return them, a heavy and messy job. There was some big puddles on that plastic sheeting! I was covered with mud at the end of it, I didn't mind really.

Then I went to pulling up my runner beans and canes, I was tempted to dry out the pods so I would have free seeds for next years but I wasn't to sure whether you can save F1 beans or not??

So after pulling carpet and plastic sheeting around the allotments, I was finally able to sit down in the sun and have a very nice sandwich and Chelsea bun :)

While in the middle of sowing my onion sets I discovered a lot of ants, there is a nest somewhere. It must of been a brilliant home for the little insects under plastic sheeting. Are they dangerous to the onion sets and veggie in general?

Well I sowed 160 onions, two rows of broad beans (they say broad beans support themselves, is this true?) and two rows of peas, I constructed a support for the peas that will hopefully climb on, I used whatever I could find on the plot, I found 3 sturdy posts, and a length of plastic green fence thingy that was very popular in gardens when I was a kid. Anything I can use which is free is brilliant.

My red onion sets, hopefully with correct spacings!

My pea support made with recycled materials! Popular fencing from the 90s

I couldn't believe how early it is getting dark already, by 7 o'clock it was dark, so I guess my visits to the allotment will get fewer and fewer with the on coming months. What do allotmenters do in these coming months? Many things can't be started in pots till after xmas, so what is there to do? Prepare the ground before the frosts come, buy new canes etc or just sit in the warm till March!

Tidy rows?

So on my next visit to the plot I shall be de-weeding all the ground, and digging over the soil for the winter, I'm trying to get my hands on some well rotted muck, if I can't get hold of some I will just have to use chicken pellets when ever I sow something!

This Friday night there is an awards evening for the allotments, So i'm looking forward to that, it is my wife's and my first allotment gathering. So it be good to see and speak to other plot holders other than my neighbours.

Well I hope I haven't just waffled on about nothing and I hope to see you all again!

Happy allotmenting