Don't throw stones

What a weekend. It took a day to clear the erea and sort out a base then a long hard day to take down and erect the frame and half a day to glaze it. It also seems like we have grown a dog!

Holey Moley

Two kinds of holes actually.
It looks like we have moles. I'm not sure what damage they do or if they are welcome. I'm sure we'll find out.

The second kind of hole is the welcome kind. Alan let me play with his spud planer and gave me some kestrel spuds so they went in last night. It's good to be able to take advantage of the warmer later nights. This week was very pleasant. If some what wet. Thanks to the generous people on freecycle I have the offer of a 8x6 green house. I did a bit of rearranging and planning on a 7am trip to the plot this morning, it was nice and sunny just before the rain.

Seed order.

I've been contemplating putting in a mail order seed order for some of the more exotic seeds I fancy growing. The average price in he Garden centres seems to be £2.50 - £3.50 per pack. To expensive for me. I just received a cd-rom from Nicky's seeds and was pleased with the selection and prices.

I'm looking forward to receiving the following.

1 x H223: Herb. Rocket Sky Rocket. = £0.85
1 x VEG904: Vegetable. Lettuce Gourmet Mix 1000 seeds. = £2.25
1 x ALT112: Alternative Salad Oriental Vegetable. Siamese Dragon Mix 500 seeds. = £1.25
1 x VEG532: Vegetable. Carrot Cosmic Purple. = £1.10
1 x ALT057: Alternative Salad Oriental Vegetable. Vitamin Green. = £1.50
1 x ALT008: Alternative Salad Oriental Vegetable. Mustard Green. = £0.90
1 x ALT052: Alternative Salad Oriental. Mustard green in snow. = £0.90
1 x ALT050: Alternative Salad Oriental. Komatsuna Torasan. = £0.90
1 x VEG071: Vegetable. Swiss Chard Bright Lights. = £0.95 (incl £0.14 VAT)

Freecycle

When I was organising beds on the allotment I had to sacrifice a gooseberry plant and a rhubarb crown or two. I like some rhubarb and gooseberries but I much prefer veg and stuff. It's normally the type of things you can't give away unless you find a new plot holder with lots of space. Seeing that the committee split all the new plots being let to 1/4 or 1/2 plots then space is at a premium for most.
The Solution. Freecycle.
One email to the Warrington Freecycle group and the next day I had a young family from an allotment a couple of miles away turn up for the orphaned plants.

Yesterday I collected several hundred paving bricks and some 18"x18" flags that were listed by a local shopping mall.
This morning I asked for some comfrey and had a generous reply within the our to offer my some in a week or so. (thanks)

Cold, Wood, Panorama, Labels and Planting!

I found a neat function on my phone. Panoramic shots. So here's one of the plot.

The weather's been cold again this week so not a lot to do on the plot. Last weekend it was raining so nothing got done then. This morning though it was clear skies. Jane wasn't too impressed when I talked her into coming down the plot at 6:00am but at least we got some sun before it clouded over. I've found a few piles of wood chippings left behind by a landscaper near work so I've been filling a few buckets each morning. It's doing nicely for the paths between the beds.

The plants in the dining room are not doing wonderful, the weather will not permit everything to go out but I need to risk putting some out so we don't loose them. I put a tray of beetroot out and Alan gave me some cauliflower so I have put them in one of the raised bed with fleece over them. Apart from that the Garlic has started growing and Jane got exited when she saw ann actual radish rather than just leaves.

Neighbours

One of the good things about an allotment is the community spirit. It's not a very busy time at present so I've not seen much of the community Spirit. This Allotment has a committee, John the secretary seems very pleasant and helpful.
Our two neighbours are friendly. There is a young family with half a plot on one side and Alan on the other. Alan is very experienced and helpful. He's had the plot for many years and used to be very successful in the shows. I think he doesn't do many now.
One of the tips he gave me was to use old window blinds for for plant labels.

On hold due to weather

Most of the bed edges on the bottom plot are now done. The Parsnips and wild flowers seeds were planted on Friday but the weather forecast suggested that it wasn't wise to plant anything else. One concession was the broad bean plugs that are under fleece. The onions and radishes that are peaking through are also under fleece. A start has also been made on the cold frame for the tomato raised bed. My mum is starting most (All) of the seedlings but due to a trip to Italy they are migrating to my dinning room for life support. Apart from the fruit trees blossoming and a million weeds poking through, not a lot else is happening.