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.

Update for June 2010

June , bustin out in flowers all over....

Californian Poppy...

Ox eye daisy....

& Pyrethrum.

Update for May 2010

May, by the time my tulips are out I know I should have finished turning the plot over and the sowing and planting will be well under way.

This small patch of Honesty has been here three years now and appears to be seeding itself nicely. I have seen some of the early cabbage whites feeding on it, they seem to be oblivious to my brassica seedlings so this seems to be working as an insect atractant and sacraficial crop.

Also in full flower, and now I know spring is here , are my apple espaliers of "Greensleeves",

Update for April 2010

Hi, April and time to drain the comfrey tea barrel in order to get a brew of nettles in before the comfrey starts cropping.  When i moved the barrel I found this wedge of garden snails still hibernating between the supporting stones.  The hens loved them. I'll be checking this hiding spot reguarly now.

Usually around this time of year for the last 20 or so i'll have a visit To Chesters Walled Garden and look out some good hardy perennials and herbs.  This year was different , the owner of the surrounding house and grounds had decided to sell up and Susie White who has looked after the garden for 23 years had her lease terminated.  After a sad chat Susie offerd me a spade and allowed me to attempt to rehome as many orphans as my boot could hold.

As I write this in Jan 2011 the link to Chesters Walled Garden is now defunct and i will remove it once i post this. Susie White is however still active and reguarly updates her Walled Garden Blog,  Linked to here>>>>>>>.

Update for March 2010

Wow, it's been such a long time since i updated...for many reasons...not least of which was all the activity down on the patch.  In March i committed  to double digging my way around the plot to relieve compaction and completed the first quarter adding loads of good home made compost.

Among the critters and creatures discovered were...

This grub which has fearsome jaws and appears to be of some form of Ground Beetle.

A few trenches further across and i looked up to see this beautiful common frog heading inbound for the freshly exposed pests 

Fire, Ice and Time

Normally i view "time" as a peculiar and abstract concept but all the same this fascinated me. The frost shows the area of shadow cast by the paths brick edge at local noon and the shadow shows the relative movement of Sun and Earth. If i'd had a watch and tape measure i would have been interested to see if i could figure out how fast the allotment was tracking Eastwards.