I’ve been meaning to get this project done for a while now. The “new” bin is much bigger than old ones, and will be a good addition to the plot.
Category: Self-sufficient
Allotment Video Update 8th April 2017
It’s been a few weeks since I managed to do an allotment video, and now there might just be two in one week. The plot is picking up as the warmer weather arrives, so I’ve been sowing a few seeds and thinking about my plans for the year ahead.
First Quarter Review 2017
Each year for the past few years I’ve been doing a year end review; last year I split that across the year, doing one at the end of each quarter. This year I’m going to try and do the same as last and do a quarterly review – books I’ve read, films/TV programmes I’ve watched and other things related to life, work and the allotment.
Work – Last year was my first full year being self-employed, it had its ups and downs, and as I enter my second year I’d like to be a little busier than I am but in some ways with everything that has been going on generally in life (see below), having some extra time for that has been useful. I’m trying to grow things a little this year, and am looking at new areas of work to help spread my horizons a little more and hopefully bring in some more work over time.
Allotment – The first quarter is all about getting things ready really. The weather hasn’t been that kind in terms of being able to get onto the plot but the last few weeks of this quarter have seen things picking up. We’ve enjoyed fresh vegetables all through the winter and continue to do so in the spring. I’m looking forward to what I hope will be another good year on the plot, with it providing a significant proportion of our food during the coming months.
Books – Well according to GoodReads I’ve read 18 books so far this year. That feels like a lot, but a couple were short books or novellas, so perhaps it’s not as many as it at first seems. There wasn’t really anything that stood out particularly, although some of the images in Yellowstone by David Quammen were amazing.
Films & TV – TV has been a bit of a disappointment so far this year, I had high hopes for the adaptation of Len Deighton’s SS-GB, but in the end I was pretty disappointed by it. The one thing I have been watching and enjoying though is “All Creatures Great & Small“. This was first shown in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and I remember it well from my childhood. One of the Freeview channels has been repeating episodes each afternoon, and we’ve been recording them and then watching them when nothing else is on. They hold up pretty well and it’s been quite an indulgence to rewatch them.
On the film front there are a few that stick in my mind. Rogue One was a highlight at the start of the year. I do like Star Wars films, and this one is no exception. It’s also the first film that I’ve been to watch in the cinema for quite a long time. I’d also add The Magnificent Seven reboot with Denzel Washington & Chris Pratt; Hell or High Water with Jeff Bridges & Chris Pine; The Legend of Tarzan with Alexander Skarsgard & Samuel L Jackson; In a Valley of Violence with Ethan Hawke & John Travolta; and finally Swallows and Amazons, another reboot.
Life In General – As regular readers will know, I lost my Dad at the end of last year and then early in January my Grandma. Loosing my Dad has been particularly hard and I still think it will be sometime before things return to “normal”, whatever that looks like. Much of these first few months of this year has been taken up with various things in connection with these two events – solicitors, dealing with companies, bureaucracy, etc. I am a little astounded by how little some companies care about their customers in these situations and how just getting something right first time would be essential. It seems that this isn’t the case for many of them.
I’ve also had some health issues of my own to deal with, and that will be ongoing for a while I think.
Being my own boss has helped give me the time to deal with a lot of this, I know that were I still working for my old employer that this wouldn’t have been possible in the same way, and ultimately may have lead to more conflict. However I can’t continue to give this much time to some of these things, it’s not critical yet, but something I am conscious of and need to keep under review, and try to resolve some of the outstanding items.
Planting Out Spring Broccoli
This is a quick “How I” video:
Allotment Update 19th March 2017
Allotment update recorded last weekend.
Potting On Tomato Seedlings
I spent a little time yesterday afternoon potting on my tomato seedlings. They’ve reached the point where they now have a good set of “true leaves” and are ready to be moved on.
[A quick aside. “True” leaves are the first leaves on a seedling that actually look like those on the adult plant, and not the “seed” leaves that are the first to appear. Potting on seedlings before they have their true leaves can mean that the seedlings won’t survive the transplanting, and it is more likely that you’ll damage the seedling moving it to it’s new home. I’ve seen a few pictures in the last few days where a keen gardener has potted on a seedling without true leaves. They might be lucky, but the seedlings stand a better chance with the patient gardener.]
I start by getting the new modules ready, filling them with good quality, multi-purpose compost. I know roughly how many seedlings there are, barring clumsy fingers, so I prepare all my modules beforehand.
Next I prepare a hole for each new seedling. One per module using my handy dibber pencil.
Then carefully I tease them out of their current home with the tip of the same pencil, being careful to keep as much of the seedlings root as possible. Being gentle and not yanking them out of the soil, will reduce any transplant shock and help them to establish in their new modules faster. Also handle them by the leaves and not the stem. Picking them up by the stem, can break the stem and you’ll loose the seedling. It seems a little
counter-intuitive but it works.
When I’m done, I move the module trays into gravel trays to help with watering, and give the seedlings a little drink around the top of the compost. Again being careful not to drown the seedlings and squash them under a deluge of water.
These now go back indoors to a warm and sunny spot e.g. a windowsill. They’re not ready to plant out yet, it’s too cold and they’re not big enough. I’ll probably pot them on again once more, before putting them in their final growing spot, once they have their first flowering truss.
First Overwintering Broccoli From the Allotment
It’s a variety called “marathon”, that I sowed back in the autumn, and is now ready to be harvested. I also cut some cavalo nero (black kale), so we should be eating well tonight!
As this broccoli matures it should work in well with the purple sprouting broccoli, which isn’t ready yet but will be in the not too distant future, and also some cauliflowers that appear to be doing well, but again, aren’t quite producing curds yet.
Eat Seasonally
It doesn’t come as a surprise to me to read articles like this one, but it shouldn’t really matter that we can’t get produce like this at this time of year. The UK climate doesn’t support growing iceberg lettuces outside at this time of year, but there are plenty of things that do grow well in the UK winter climate. Leeks, kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower to name a few. Add to that things that have been frozen or preserved – beans, onions and a few other things. It doesn’t matter that we can’t get these other crops. Shoppers have got so used to having those things, at a reasonable price, that it’s suddenly news worthy when there are crop failures, and prices go up. They’re not used to looking at the other vegetables that are seasonal, available, and probably grown in the UK.
Allotment Update 28th January 2017
A quick update from the plot, to dig some parsnips and look at next years layout.
First Seedlings of 2017
I make a habit of sowing some seeds on the first day of the New Year, each year. This year it was plum “tiger” tomatoes. They look like they’re doing okay so far – I’ll be potting them on when they’ve got their first true leaves.
Electronic Scrapbook 