Update for June 2011

Hi , things where all abuzz this month and there was excitement at the plot .  Flowers are out every where and the crops are growing well despite the very low rain fall.  Of course once Wimbledon started so did the weather. So here are some pics for June.

The Limnanthes or Poached Egg plant is now flowering all down the borders where it self seeded last year and doing its job well as a pollinator attractant.


One of my all time favourites is the Pyrethrum especially this deep shade with the contrasting centre.


A similar shade but different Style is Knautia macedonica. I love the airy feel of the plant and the way the flowers dance. The bumble bees love it too.


The Bumblers Also like The Comfrey flowers. I have quite a strip of this now and cut it in rotation for making concentrated plant food and layering in the compost heap as an activator.  This bee has actually chewed a hole through the side of the flower to get to the nectar.  Just as well i have the Russian clumping comfrey and don't depend on seed for next year but this behaviour will also give access to insects with shorter tongues than this bee.


While transferring some comfrey to the compost heap I was lucky to catch sight of something quite unusual. Not so much rare exactly but all the same seldom seen

Mr Mole! I guess he wouldn't be here if there wasn't plenty of worms.

Also providing food for the insects, but this time in the form of pollen are these gorgeous Oriental poppies.


Seemingly of more interest to flies than bees are my three or four clumps of Ox-eye daisy.

And as for the excitement I mentioned....The beekeeping course has now finished , i enjoyed it so much an learn a collossal amount, but, just as I had resigned myself to  a winter of slow construction and, due to poor local availability,the dim possibility of obtaining some bees next year i got a call. Cue frantic activity and a new page to record it .

Update for May 2011

Well her at 17>19 things are pretty much up to speed. Most of the sowing has been in the green house as its still not too warm here. Some of the "hungry gap" veg such as the Claytonia (below) are providing a little fresh salad.




The Good King Henry has also been usable for a few weeks. Have to say i find this a bit tough and prefer to tree as early spinach and give it a quick steaming.Will probably let this run to seed then cut down to crop again later




 The Bronze fennel has now well burst forth and is probably at its best, colour wise around now.



With things feeling under control here work has progressed at the 'lost plot' which now has a gate.  The Beekeeping course is going really well.

Update for April 2011

Well Hello, now that i have ported all the archive pics over to Flickr I eventually can get on with the backlog of updates for this years happenings.

At 17>19 the Honesty that now self sustains either side of the steps in is out and providing some early food for the beneficial insects




As are the Dandelions, these I leave for the flowers to be enjoyed but then dig out to provide greens for the hens and limit the proliferation.




This month one of the girls, a while Silkie, hatched us a brood of six chicks. Hard to tell at the moment but it looks like most are Silkie X Marans and only one cockerel.



Meanwhile, and taking advantage of 17>19 being up to speed the clearance and fencing work over at the "Lost Plot" is progressing.




Probably the most exciting development this month is that i have started a 10 week beekeeping course.  We have been hands on from the off and i am really enjoying it. No stings so far.

Update for March

Well , a long time since i had time to sort some pics and update this.  As usual most of the work in March was clearing and prep for the season.  Including the annual bonfire of scrap wood and uncompostable stalks.

During the tidy up i shifted a few empty compost bags and discovered this frog hiding in his larder.

Meanwhile i have been gifted a private plot about half a mile away at the other end of the village.  Fencing and clearance work has commenced but will be slow as the site has been derelict for the better part of 15 years.

Update for January 2011

The year is not so new now.  Back in January not too much was happening at the plot.  Cold stopped play frequently but was picturesque.

Most of the effort was reserved for sorting out saved seed for swapping and planning for the year ahead.
Warmer days allowed the pruning of my fruit, espaliered apple "Sunset" above and year old Blackcurrant "Ben Alder" below to progress steadily.
When my daughter drew my attention to the Robin over the garage this wasn't what i expected to see.
 

Update for December 2010

In a lot of ways not much happening this month apart from snow, snow and more snow.

The hens seem to have got over not being able to get out due to the snow being shoulder hight for them. Hot mash once or twice daily mixed with their scraps is helping them keep warm.


The last of the Autumn berries are frozen solid.  Raspberry sorbet anyone?

Follow & Share

Hi, thanks to Robert for the 'clue', with a little luck i have now enabled following and the share buttons.

Update for November 2010

Here are a couple of pictures of our hens, aka "the fans", aka "the molusc disposal posse".  Most of them you see are Cuckoo Marans.  Our friends clocker hatched a clutch of eggs for us this summer, so far 5/5 seem to be cockerels. We'll know for sure when they start to crow.

The girl in the middle here is one of last years chicks, she is now definately "Queen "of the run.

The Chinese lanterns that look so none descript for so much  of the year are now showing in all their glory.

An hour or two later....

A week later and taken from almost the same spot the scene is entirely different.

Update for October 2010

This year I sowed some Toadflax and transplanted the seedlings along the edge of the top path.  They are now flowering profusely and seem to be enjoyed by the bees.

Behind the Toadflax the later of my two espaliered apples, "Sunset" is now ready for picking.  The Apple crop this year has been massive, in part this has been due to the thorough chilling of last winter.  There has been a little codling moth damage so the trap will have to go up next year.

Each year for the last three or so I have grown some Sunflowers, my current favourites are "Pastiche" and "Velvet Queen" both of which are branching , multi-headed types.  These are planted out pretty much any where there is something I can tie them to.  This usually means at the ends of Pea rows or on the corners of the Broad beans  or any where else there is a handy cane or stake.  If I have any spare canes I also let any that have self sown and ended up between rows of veg remain.  Through the summer I cut a few flowers for the house but otherwise leave them to go to seed for the birds.  This year the birds have been very keen, i dout there will be many self sown next year. Birds seen taking seed this year include, Dunock, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit and, for the first time that i have seen, Bramblings.  I am so pleased to be able to help these creatures out.  I hope they will return the favour by eating some pests for me.

Update for September 2010

Plenty happening this month , but not many pictures.  Applied the three sisters (Maize / Squash / Beans) in May, the beans have not been flowering well as I couldn't locate the tips to nip out and force lateral growth; a sudden reversal in the prevailing wind allowed a third of the Sweet corn to collapse under the weight of the non fruiting beans ; squash has grown through the patch ...and way out the other side before setting any fruit!  Despite this the Sweet Corn has produced much better this year.  The Earlier of my two apples "Greensleeves" is now ready to pick.
 

Tattiexpresso

I suppose that technically this didn't happen on the allotment however it did involve both the gardeners apprentice and his uncle 'The Fat Controller' and utilising  the TVR (Tyne Valley Railway) to transport some tatties to the gardeners ancestors tattie store.  More TVR antics can be found HERE. 

Organic panoramic

On return from a few weeks away everything was found to be thriving thanks to the care of my allotment sitter.

Update for August 2010

August, last winters coldness seems to have benefited my Garlic which has all bulbed up nicely.  After three years of replanting the cloves that originated in the Isle of Wight i can now consider them reasonably naturalised to local conditions.

This year  I grew a 50/50 mix of Sturon Globe and Red Barron onions.  All have reached a reasonable size and there were few casualties.  Most of those who didn't show or gave up where Red Barron, I believe these dont keep as well as the white ones and if this prooves true I'll probably revert back to just the Sturon.

The Munchen Bier radishes are now cropping.  The crunchy spicy pods can be seen here and make an interesting addition to a salad or indeed with a Beer.

The Dill is now approaching its arcitectural peak and is impressive in stature and detail.  Now i an collecting and drying the leaves as wll as using them fresh.

This, as far as i can identify is a Palmate Newt we found under some scrap wood.  Close up it is incredibly delicate and beautiful.  

July Edibles Update for 2010

Hurrah , here come the Raspberries, the summer ones of unknown variety ,hopefully the harvest will be more sensible this year as I replaced a whole 4m row with autumn ones this spring.

Likewise my Blackcurrant "Ben Alder" bushes have been reduced by one down to two mature bushes. It looks like still being more than we can use...I feel some wine coming on.

July Animals update for 2010

At the time it was hard to tell who would win the staring contest.  In the end it was the Common Emerald moth.

The Small Tortoiseshell is a more frequent visitor though this one may need to find a larger Nettle to lay it's eggs on.

After some research I found that this slug found hiding under a rubble sack is actually a good old black slug.  More correctly it is a colour variant of Arion ater.

With all the flowers thers seems to me to have been a lot of bumble bees this year, at any rate their numbers on the plot seem tho have been rising since I took it on.  Bee identification seems to be not as simple as I first thought ... The one at the top on the Lavender seems to be a Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) and the one in the lower pic on the Origano could be either a Small or a Large Earth Humble -bee (Bombus terrestris / lucorum). Ill take corrections on these.

July Flora Update 2010

July, the corn flowers I sowed earlier are now out and prooving popular with butterflies and other insects.  The colour of this "Blue diadem" strain is superb.

Also flowering now are the Acrolininium.  The centers seem to stay yellow untill pollinated then turn brown.  Those ones won't look so good dried but I should be able to save some seed this year.

As an experiment earlier this year I sowed Crimson Clover as a ground cover / green manure  on areas that would not be planted out till later or not at all.  This included the courgette / pumpkin patch and between the legumes and brassicas.  Around the squash I kept a foot clear all round as they grew, they seemed to benefit from the extra nitrogen fixed by the Clover.  In retrospect I would cut the clover to (or close to ) ground level once the main flowering was over as most of my squash developed powdery mildew much earlier than usual due to the decreased air-flow around them.  This did not affect the peas and the clover choked out most of the weeds that would have otherwise grown between / under the rows.  The brassicas also seemed to benefit from the nitrogen.  Aparently cabbage white butterflies look for green plants on a brown background so the ground cover plan seemed effective as a disguise compared to my neighbours decimated sprouts.

Another area flowering well and looking good is the bit of border beside the green house.  The Achillia (Summer Berries) i planted last year is now flowering well and mixing to good effect with Ox Eye Daisy, Knautia and Cosmos.  Is proving a bit of a nectar bar for the insects.