Summer still seems like a time away, so here’s a look back to 2011.
Local Tour – The Gillies Allotments from tontowilliams on Vimeo.
Tag: allotment
Batten Down The Brassicas, It’s Windy Out There
It’s not often my sleep gets interrupted, but at 3am this morning I woke to the sound of the wind whistling around the house, it sounded quite wild out there. Today was also “bin day” and as I walked to the railway station it was clear it had been. Many bins were lying on their sides, their contents strewn around the street. I made a mental note to check on the allotment when I got home.
After work I walked down with the dogs, hoping my weekend preparations had stood up to the worst of the weather. Fortunately it seemed to be the case. The fleece on the brassicas had worked free at one end, which I quickly resecured; and a piece of carpet that had blown from a neighbours plot was returned.
Other than that no damage, so I took a bit of time to check on some of my sowings. I could be wrong but I think the peas might be poking their heads through (see below), I’ll check again at the weekend.
Wilson is an old hand at the allotment, we’re often there harvesting after work, however for Ruby, it’s a new experience, however I think she’s starting to get what it’s about.
Frosty Start, Sunny Finish
After a busy weekend on the allotment, with my early spuds going in the ground as well as shallots, radish, lettuce, parsnip and a complete set of brassica plants that arrived last Friday, I was hoping for them to escape any significant frosts. Knowing that to be unlikely I did make sure that they were all under cover. I made good use of the cloche that I built a week or so ago.
This morning I woke to a proper frost however. The roof of our house was white, as was the ground, I hoped that my preparations were enough.
After work this evening I walked down to the allotment with the dogs to check how my new plants were. By now the sun was out and the Mercury had risen. Everything appears well, all of the brassica plants that went in only a few days ago seem fine, my cloche has done a good job. I’m sure they’ll be more frosts to come, but it’d good to know that my preparations seem good.
Allotment Video Update 12th March 2014 & 14th March 2014
I finally managed to get the video I recorded earlier in the week to upload so here it is, scroll down for more recent updates.
Since then I’ve been busy planting broad bean seeds (eight rows), peas and rainbow chard. I’ve also dug trenches for my early potatoes, which weather permitting will probably go in on Monday. The temperature however has dropped from a balmy 11° when I shot the video above to around 2° this morning.
Building A Timber Frame Cloche
Having the ability to grow plants early in the season “under-cover”, means getting a head start on the growing year. They keep plants warm and protect from frosts. I’ve used plastic cloches for a while, mostly ones that I’ve bought ready made (for about £5 each) these are relatively small, covering not more than a single row of plants and not giving much headroom. So I decided to build something myself. Partly to have something custom made to my plot, and also to see what it would cost me in materials.
The basic frame is made from 38x47mm treated softwood, and the overall frame is about 2m long and about 0.8m wide.
I strengthened the corners and other joints with off-cuts. All held together with wood screws. I pre-drilled all of the screws to make assembly easier.
The hoops are made from flexible 15mm waterpipe, and screwed to the frame. I allowed for about a half-metre height above the centre of the frame.
The covering is 250G plastic purchased from E-Bay. I had a sheet that was 4m x 3m, and used as a double layer. Ideally slightly thicker plastic would have done as good a job and therefore a smaller sheet would have been needed. The sheet was secured to the frame using staples and trimmed with a knife.
Costs:
- Timber £10 (plus some off-cuts from other projects)
- Plastic £8
- Water pipe: I already had some left over but it sells for around £2.30 for a 2m length.
- Screws & Staples: Again I already had these but expect to spend less than £5.
Tools:
Drill, screwdriver, staple gun, Stanley-knife, hacksaw (to cut plastic pipe to length)
Construction Notes:
In total I spent about half a day building this (incl. shopping for materials). A nice level surface helped get the frame together. I’m pleased with the end result and it will give me a flexible area to grow plants early in the season. Cost wise this was probably on the expensive side but I did already have some of the materials and only really had to buy the wood and plastic.
The same type of framework could be used with netting instead of plastic to protect brassicas and other crops. With the plastic on, don’t forget to water the plants underneath.
I didn’t film a “How-to” video as there are plenty on YouTube, if you’re interested.
Allotment Update: Digging A Bean Trench
A “How To” video on digging a bean trench for the summer. The trench will help keep my runner beans from drying out in the summer and provide them with nutrients.
Allotment Video Update 17th January 2015
A cold start on the plot with frozen padlocks.
I’ve also created a 2015 Allotment album on Google+ so that I can post all my 2015 allotment photos to one place. Here’s a link
The Big Allotment Challenge Series Two: Quick Review
I was fairly unimpressed with series one when it was first shown last year, but thought I would see if there was any improvement with series two.
I waited a few days to watch the first episode of series two, watching on iPlayer, rather than live on the series’ newly promoted slot on Friday night from its previous slot on Tuesdays.
Sadly, although I thought there was improvement on series one, it’s still not the show for me. Too much about the competition element, instead of the actual growing. I don’t like the style and I don’t like the judges, particularly the thoroughly rude Thane Prince, who even when she is being complimentary seems to have a patronising and sarcastic tone.
I won’t be watching the rest of the series.
2014 Review and a Look Ahead
I don’t tend to do review of the year posts each year, sometimes I’ll take a theme and just cover that, other times I won’t bother at all. The latter is more often the norm. 2014 however has been a “bit of a year” for me. So I thought I’d just write out a few highlights and one or two low bits too for good measure.
Work
I’d say that the year as a whole has been backdropped by work-life balance, with the balance being unevenly tilted towards work. I’ve had to reapply for my job as part of a restructure, and it’s been pretty full on. I’ve been offered voluntary redundancy twice (and we’re just going for a third round now), I’ve not applied on both occasions, but am giving the third time some serious consideration.
Life
On the life side of the scale it’s been a tiring year. I’ve done far less, due to pressures of work than I would like. I’ve noticed that I’ve been far less present on social media platforms, as well as reading less books and generally having less time for relaxation.
We lost Sparky our elder dog back in March, and then got Ruby at the end of June. I still miss Sparky every day, and things still feel very empty without him around. Wilson has taken well to being the older dog, and I’m really pleased and impressed with the way he’s turned out into such a well rounded dog.
Allotment
The allotment has been going along quite happily, it’s not been the best of years, but it’s been far from the worst, and I’m setting a good basis for next year. I’ve managed a few video posts, and have a year ending one to go up, as soon as it’s posted to YouTube.
Books
As I mentioned I’ve read far less than I have done in previous years, mainly due to having less free time. I would however single out a few books I’ve read (I read these in 2014, but they may not have been published this year) to mention here:
The House of Dolls by David Hewson – There’s no such thing as a bad book by David Hewson, and this new series set in Amsterdam has all the hallmarks of being fantastic. This first in the series is excellent and I look forward to reading the next one, hopefully in 2015.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – This took me back to my childhood and the computer games that I used to play.
The Burning Room by Michael Connelly – The latest Harry Bosch, and a great addition to the canon, and likely to be a milestone step in the series. I’m not sure where Michael Connelly is going next here, but there are a number of options, and again I look forward to the next in the series. (I also loved the Amazon pilot of Bosch, and can’t wait for the full series).
Films
Again, a few to single out (and again I watched them in 2014, but they may have been released before that year):
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Only recently watched this, but I loved the direction that the movie went in following on from the previous one, and abandoning the Charlton Heston era movies (and the awful Mark Wahlberg remake).
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – I love the Marvel movies (and the comic books too), and I’ve seen a few others this year as well; Thor: The Dark World and The Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a close choice between Capt. and Guardians, but again, I think the way that the story and characters have been bought on since the first Captain America movie, plus Avengers: Assemble give this one the edge.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Loved this. Wasn’t sure that it would ever work as trilogy of films, but it does. Looking forward to the final film too, although that will be a 2015 watch for me.
Godzilla – A remake that remain truer to the original and a great film.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – I’ve never read the books, but love the films, again looking forward to the final two parts of this series too.
And Looking Ahead to 2015?
I’m not sure what 2015 holds. More upheaval at work I expect, and I need to make a decision about voluntary redundancy again. There will also be more books to read and more films to watch. I don’t really do resolutions, but I’ve got a few aims for 2015.
- Be more balanced of temper. I think in part 2014 has been characterised by me having a shorter fuse than usual. I’m not happy about this, so want it to change. More counting to ten I suspect in 2015.
- Better work – life balance than above.
- Read more, although be realistic about what’s achievable. I also want to get through the “To Be Read” backlog mountain. Although I’m not setting any firm systems in place to do this as I have in the past.
- Have a good year on the allotment, and try to keep a better photo and video record of what’s going on there.
- Write more. Both blog posts, but also get back into writing properly.
There are lots of other things in my head (you could always add; lose weight, be fitter etc) but the above are the main aims.
Electronic Scrapbook 