Lots of activity around the allotments over the last few weeks. Growing food has never felt so important given the current climate. With plenty time on my hands my allotments has been a great source of focus and a sanctuary which has kept me fundamentally connected to all that is real, healthy and important. So looking ahead to the growing season I have done a lot of tidying, weeding and planning. I also have the use of a polytunnel at a neighbour place and like the allotment is has never been so organised as this year. With the lack of availability of young plants to buy I have been trying to grow them from seeds I odered from the Organic Gardening Catalogue. I have a small kitchen window sill and have taken the lead from a friend by using my car as a glasshouse!
My allotment is a mixture of growing beds with pockets of flowers for helpful insects and colour.
Cabbage plant that was left in the veggie patch over the winter but never grew a heart, I have since pulled it up as it had its chance! Raspberry bed has been mulched with straw to help suppress weeds and young shoots are appearing from the cut stumps. The pea netting in place and the first sowing has been put in. I have mulched just about everything with Strulch, an organic mulch which not only suppresses weeds but deters slugs to. This stuff stinks like fresh tobacco but so far no sign of slug damage on young plants. Biggest prob at the min is the birds ripping leaves off of seedlings. Onion sets both white and red are starting to show through.
Lovage that a friend was dividing and she gave me a piece. This stuff although tiny at the min can grow to 6 foot tall and has a strong flavour of celery. My gooseberry bush now in its 3rd year I think , it has never produced any fruit so here’s hoping. Trying to protect my strawberries from the bird, they usually eat the strawberries before me but this year I am determined to beat them to it. A new bed that I have made from old wood and have now filled it with well rotted horse manure and mole hills 🙂 Still training the bramble to grow along the chicken wire, I have got one growing at each side of the lotti. By luck they we growing there anyway they just needed a bit of training.
For the first time ever I have planted celeriac, this root veg is delicious and has a mild aniseed flavour. I have almost a full buckets of comfrey tincture which I will use to feed the plants.
Berlotti beans planted in the poly and climbing fresh beans in the poly too, both mulched with Strulch. Lots of other bits and bobs waiting to go in both the lotti and the poly.
