A full plot and my first courgette!

In the middle of June all the crops were doing well apart from the kale and one row of broccoli. The kale had been stripped bare by the pigeons and I had given up on it. Next year I will net the kale over straight away. One row of broccoli hadn't been netted as I had run out of netting so I tied plastic bags to poles to scare away the pigeons. That method didn't really work at all. That's how I learn through trial and error, I like to try things out and learn from experience. Luckily I did have another row of broccoli under netting that was happy. The rest of the crops were thriving, the onions and shallots were shooting up, the beetroot was getting bigger and the broadbeans were growing well. I purchased a cloche net tunnel for the cabbages so that cabbage butterflies couldn't get to them. My daughter planted some carrot seedlings between the onion rows and they seemed to be sprouting nicely too. So overall I was really pleased with the progress. I did not envisage such an abundance of crops growing when I took the plot on a few months earlier.

Towards the end of June my first courgette had appeared on the courgette plant! It looked so perfect and I was in awe at that moment of the magic of nature. It's so easy to overlook sometimes.

Rogue potatoes, broccoli, cabbages and brussels

In June rogue potato plants started popping up all over the vegetable bed, I decided to let them grow unless they interfered with other crops. I was also given some broccoli plants which I soon realised that pigeons love! I thought it was slugs doing the damage so I had been putting organic slug pellets down. I chose organic slug pellets not only to prevent nasty chemicals on the vegetables but also to save wildlife as birds eat slugs and organic slug pellets don't hurt the birds that eat the slugs. It wasn't until a neighbour told me that it was pigeons doing the damage to my broccoli that I realised I had to net them over. It was a little late but I was hoping the broccoli would recover. Another neighbour gave me brussel and cabbage plants. I know I am lucky to have many generous allotment friends! I netted them over too as I realised that pigeons do really love green leafy vegetables! They had already demolished my Kale!!

Planting beetroot and netting the cherry tree

I was given quite a few beetroot plants from an allotment friend who had grown too many. I really like beetroot so I was grateful for the generosity. I just planted them wherever I had space. Borscht is one of my favourite soups and now I didn't have an excuse not to make it. The broadbeans plants had really took off and they had started flowering.

The cherry tree had started producing fruit! Exciting :) I realised that the tree needed netting as there wouldn't be any cherries left to harvest because the birds had found them. My daughter cable tied a net around the branches to prevent the birds eating all the cherries. 

The owl you can see hanging from the tree was made by my daughter out of CDs and bits and bobs to use as a bird scarer. You will also see pears forming on the other tree. I have four trees on my plot and     

I didn't know what any of them were in March. When the fruits started forming I could see I had a cherry, pear, plum and apple tree. My own little orchard.

Heirloom tomatoes, courgettes and sweetcorn

Late spring we visited Copped Hall Mansion and it's gardens in Epping. They were having an open day and I was keen to visit it. The reason being was that Copped Hall has such a history amongst locals for being haunted. As teenagers we all used to dare each other to go there at night. You see it was completely derelict in fact it was in a state of ruin. In the last few years Copped Hall has been gradually restored to its former glory. The stories were that the basement/ cellars were haunted. The open day allowed access to them! The cellars I must admit did feel very creepy but what cellar doesn't? The Open day turned out to be brilliant as we toured the expansive grounds and came across a walled garden. It was beautiful! The old greenhouses were being restored and they were selling heirloom tomato plants for 50p each. I couldn't miss out on the opportunity so I bought some. There were Black Russian, Bumblebee, Tigerella and Sioux. I was so excited to plant them. I went to the allotment as soon as possible to get them in. At the same time my daughter planted her sweet corn plants she had grown, and one of our allotment friends gave us a courgette plant. I felt so happy that the vegetable bed was filling up with lots of delicious goodies.

Beds filling up and everything growing well

Most of the seedlings had hardened off and were ready to plant. The onions that I had planted earlier in the year had started shooting up well and the broad beans were getting bigger. I also put in some Maris Peer tubers and shallots. My daughter planted the pumpkin plants  which needed a lot of space for future growth. I was pleased to see the bed filling up and was keen to utilise as much space as possible.

The salad bed was progressing well too! I had a few varieties of lettuce on the go and the spring onions were doing well. I had planted kale in the salad bed naively I didn't realise how big they would get until an allotment friend told me :/  I planned to move them to the bigger vegetable bed at a later date. 

When I took on the allotment I was a complete novice at gardening and I expect to make many mistakes. But that's how I like to learn. I was just really pleased that I had things growing and that I would get something to harvest. The lettuces were a success along with the radishes and spring onions. So that was good enough for me :)

Radishes, lettuce and runner beans

The radishes and lettuce I planted in the salad bed had really took off. The radishes grew really quick and my guinea pigs loved them! My daughter tried them but decided she didn't like them and I don't really like them too much myself. I gave lots away to family members who do like a radish and they said that it's been along time that they had tasted such flavoursome radishes :) the lettuce was Italian leaf lettuce and myself and my daughter and the guinea pigs had plenty to enjoy. It just kept growing! I would trim off what we needed and the next time I went to the allotment there was even more.

The runner beans we had been growing on our windowsill were ready to plant out, we also put some Sweetpea seeds in next to the runner beans. They were given to us by an allotment neighbour, he said the Sweetpeas would be glorious when they bloomed. Some naughty birds stole a few of the seeds after we planted them!

Pallet collars, strawberries and the digging over is finally done!

I had heard that pallet collars make brilliant raised beds so I started searching high and low for some. I wanted to use them as strawberry beds. Finally I found someone in my local area selling them for £5 each. Off I went to get them without any delay. The spot where we wanted to put the strawberry beds had a trillion bindweed roots! We did our best to get as much out as possible then made up the beds with fresh compost. The strawberries were transplanted into their new home .

Every time I got down to the allotment I did a bit of digging over. I found this the best way as  I my fitness levels were not great when I started and I didn't want to over strain myself. When the main vegetable bed was finally dug over and deweeded I was beaming with delight. The sight of freshly dug over soil gave me such satisfaction . It was all ready for the miracle of creation. I know I sound abit silly but that's how I felt. I couldn't wait to get some seeds and plants in.

Runner bean arch and pathway

Part of the plot had a small drainage ditch that I kept tripping down, I was close to spraining my ankle a couple of times so this needed to be sorted out. I didn't want to fill it in as it did provide good drainage in rainy weather and the frogs loved it. So I decided to put stone slabs along it to create a pathway. There was still drainage and the frogs had a perfect hiding place. At the end of the pathway I put two archways side by side to grow runner beans up. I am really pleased with the results!

Flower bed and pond for the frogs

I wanted to build a pond for the frogs but only wanted a small one due to lack of space. I looked up some ideas and found the barrel pond to be the best for me. I got hold of a large plastic planter that didn't have any drainage holes in the bottom. First my daughter made a flower bed to house the pond. I planted some lavender and some other plants to provide ground cover for the frogs to hide amongst and then dug a hole to sink the pond into. I then filled the pond with rainwater that had been collected in the water barrel next to the shed. The frogs would need to have ledges in the pond to provide and exit out of it do we put some bricks and rocks along one edge. My daughter broke a piece off a terracotta plant pot and put it upside down next to the pond to provide the frogs somewhere else to hide.

We have had mixed comments about the pond. Some people say we need to sink it lower into the ground, others say the frogs will find their way in. I will probably sink it lower into the ground in the future. I also needed to get some pond plants to oxygenate it.

Seedlings and blueberry bush

At home on the windowsill we had been planting seeds and waiting for them to germinate. The pumpkins and tomatoes grew well and needed to be repotted so that they could establish.

I was beginning to see progress on the plot and had so many ideas of things to do, but I had to make sure that seedlings were a priority so that I actually had something to plant and later on harvest! 

My daughter loves berries so I really wanted to grow lots of them on the plot. Let's face it berries are so expensive in supermarkets especially if you want organic! So I was eager to save money by growing them myself. We chose a blueberry bush and planted it in a pot. 

We already had a raspberry bush and had inherited black currant bushes when we took on the allotment. 

More membrane, handmade plot sign and rhubarb

I really wanted to membrane the plot over to keep weeds down so I could focus on growing vegetables. So I spent some time making paths out of membrane with the idea of putting woodchip ontop to make the plot look pleasant.

One of rules of the tenancy for the plot is to display your plot number clearly. My plot is 16a which is quite nice as my daughter turned 16 this year and her first initial of her name is A. She enjoys it on the allotment and us very good with carpentry and is really artistic. She made a sign displaying the plot number out of old wood we found on the allotment. Then she painted it, I think it's great! It is so cheerful to look at.

One of our neighbours gave us two rhubarb plants. He told us that we shouldn't harvest them until next year so they have a chance to establish. I wasn't sure where I wanted to put them yet as they are permanent so I got some old tyres to put them in temporarily.

Salad bed, broad beans and strawberries

I am so lucky to have such helpful and generous allotment neighbours :) One neighbour helped me make a salad bed where I found the surprise vegetable bed. He gave me an old greenhouse base as a raised bed which sat perfectly ontop of the old vegetable bed and then filled it up with lots of compost! That saved me a lot of work and I could plant some seeds straight away!! I planted radishes, lettuce, kale and spring onions.

Two other neighbours gave me some strawberry plants and broad bean  plants. Everyone on the allotment are so helpful and friendly. I dug some more of the main vegetable bed over and planted the broad beans and temporarily planted the strawberries there too. I wanted to create a seperate strawberry bed at a later date.

Frogs, compost bin and surprise vegetable bed!

Whilst clearing all the dead grass from the plot I found a little frog hiding!! I was so pleased as I love frogs and they are great to keep the slug population down.

I came across a whole family of frogs hiding in the gaps in the edges of the vegetable bed 😊🐸

The next job was to start making a compost bin. I did this with the help of my daughter who is very handy with a hammer and nails. At the allotment site we have old crates delivered as well as compost and wood chip. We made a compost bin out of some of the old crates.

I carried on clearing the dead grass on the plot and found a surprise vegetable bed! The compost in it was actually really good, but it wasn't very deep. About 10 inches down there was a layer of concrete slabs. I came to the conclusion that a greenhouse must of sat there at some point. 

Planting onion sets

Early April I started to plant some white onion sets I bought from The Range. I was also kindly given some red onion sets from a neighbour on the allotment.  I planted the onions sets out after I had dug some compost into the soil.
More membrane arrived from Amazon so I could continue covering the ground around the shed and vegetable bed. Unfortunately we had a big rainfall and the ground became very boggy :(  But on a positive note it made the soil very easy to dig over and add compost to help with the clay soil problem.

Clearing and digging!

The next few days up the allotment I spent clearing some of the plot. There was lots of dead grass as the previous occupier had sprayed it all with weed killer. I didn't realise this when I took the plot on. As I want to grow everything organic I was a bit perturbed. But was told that the actual vegetable bed hadn't been sprayed. But due to all the dead grass that I was pulling up being contaminated with weed killer I couldn't save it for compost. I had to bag it all up to bring to the local dump.

I then began the job of digging over the vegetable bed and pulling up the weeds.

Starting to clear the plot

The first day on the plot was cold and wet and windy. I could have chosen a better day to start but I was too eager to get stuck in! I started by clearing out the shed. The previous occupier left the shed quite full.

  

I had to bring a lot of rubbish to my local recycling centre. The next couple of days I continued clearing the shed out . In the meantime I ordered some landscape membrane and ground pegs from Amazon. 

As soon as the membrane and pegs arrived I started work on the shed entrance. I had to do this as the ground was sodden wet clay . 

   

As you can see I put an old pallet down as a step into the shed.

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my new blog! I'm Natalie and I am a novice gardener. I took on an allotment at the end of March 2015 and I have decided to blog about my allotment adventures. I will be sharing my recipes that I have tried with the crops I have harvested. When I took on the allotment back in March it was in need of love and care. Although I was lucky as it was not majorly overgrown and it had a shed. I took photos of the plot when I acquired it and have been taking photos of the progress since.
So here is a couple of photos I took of the allotment when I first acquired it.