Warman's Allotment Blog - 12A

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2011-08-31T14:48:00.001+01:00

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

Produce from the allotment

2011-08-22T12:52:00.003+01:00

This year we are doing really well on actually growing Veg on the plot, here are a few pictures

Carrots

2011-08-22T12:24:00.003+01:00

The carrots I planted a few months ago are doing very well. I used severall diferent types of carrots and I pulled a few purple one up a few days ago - I have some very strange looking carrots

I have also planted a few more buckets of carrots at the end of August. Arthur helped me sow the seeds, I think he used a whole packet of seeds in the Green bucket below!!! Oh well atleast he had fun and starting to like being down the allotment.

Last Beds Dug!!!

2011-07-29T21:18:00.003+01:00

Its taken us 4 years but we have finally dug the finally two beds on the plot. This area has been covered overed for a long time now. Its a great feeling. Now we just need to get them ready to plant and add some manure.

Veg from the plot

2011-07-29T21:06:00.003+01:00

We have had some lovely veg from the plot the last few weeks,

My Favorite so far is the Purple & yellow carrots. As you can see Arthur could not wait for me to cook or cut the carrott - Straight in the mouth!

A Weeks holiday down the plot

2011-07-29T20:42:00.007+01:00

This week I took a week of work to spend down the plot, this enabled us to do many jobs we have been trying to do for ages. We got Steve's parent to come down to help us make our shed level. Thanks to them we no longer fall down to the other end of the shed!!! We have a great success ( so far) with the produce we get from the plot - Alot better than last year and the plants seem to be doing so much better. I think this is out best year yet!!!

Here are a few pictures of some of the veg growing, Here are my leeks, I have decided to out toilet rolls at the bottom to try and get a longer white area of leek.

This is our favourite bed - its has the courgettes, carrots, onions, butternet squah, broadbeans and a few flowers. We just like the size, how well the veg is growing and the flowers in the bed are just great.

Arthur helping

2011-07-25T21:28:00.001+01:00

This is how Arthurs help down the alloment

A few items from the plot

2011-07-25T21:16:00.006+01:00

We had a little bit of produce from the pot over the last few days. Some very large courgettes and some good size spuds.

Arthur's Sunflowers

2011-05-10T10:43:00.002+01:00

Arthur is growing some sunflowers this year

Whats growing at the plot?

2011-05-10T09:47:00.012+01:00

Here are my Garlic, we order from the Isle of Wight Garlic Farm, always get a good crop. Last year we bought from a garden center as I was late in buying them and they were not as good as the Garlic Farm

I Iam trying to grow carrots at the plot for the first time, I grew them at home in pots at home last year. I am using an old waterbutt to grow the carrots and fill with compost. I have also planted some in the ground and at home i pots

Broadbeans are growing well

Potatoes are just starting to show there heads. Some other plot holders planted there spuds before us and they have been effected by frost that we had a few days ago

We now have SIX chickens

2011-05-02T21:56:00.003+01:00

We have Daisy ( one of our original chickens), Charlie ( Battery Chicken) and the new girls, Kim, angie, Snowy and last one- she is always the last one in the chicken house.

Arthur helping with the watering

2011-05-02T21:06:00.002+01:00

Due to not much rain recently the plot is very dry, Arthur is helping us water the spuds

Arthur is doing a great job, just need to learn to water the veg rather than the weeds

We have been Busy

2011-05-02T20:18:00.005+01:00

We have been busy planting and digging at the beginning of 2011, we managed to dig over and add manure to a big area on the plot which has given us a great start to the growing season. It has allowed us to prepare the ground for the beans, normally I just plant my beans but this time I have dug out a trench and added manure and paper to see if it makes any differences.

The area is just in front of the car.

We have loads growing in the greenhouse. We have Peas, dwarf beans, courgettes, onions, Broad beans, cucumbers, toms, and my last set of spuds chitting.

I have already planted in my allotment Garlic, one set of Broad beans, one set of onions, one set of peas and a few carrots in a old water butt cut in half. I was thinking why I always plant my Veg and not plant in batches, no idea, so I am trying it this year.

Arthur is helping me water the Broad Beans I have just planted.

A Picture of my Garlic, From the Garlic farm Isle of Wight. Growing well

The raspberries are in there somewhere, we need to give this bed a weed but due to the warm weather the ground is really to hard. This is our first job when it rains

My first Carrots

2010-06-16T19:48:00.009+01:00

My First Carrots, given the confidence to grow more next year. These where grown in a container but next year will try in the ground

16062010084.jpg, originally uploaded by lozza1.

Chief Water Officer

2010-04-04T14:11:00.021+01:00

Arthur has now been promoted to Chief Water Officer. He seems to enjoy watering the areas without any veg and making a great deal of mess at the moment but I am sure he will get the idea very son, here's hoping!!!

Finally moved the Rasberries

2010-04-04T14:04:00.002+01:00

This year has gone off to a good start, I have manages to plant my over wintering onions, Garlic and Steve has managed to move the rasberries to a more suitable position. The old position needed digging over and stopped the flow of the allotment.
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Our first courgette

2009-07-15T22:08:00.003+01:00

Our first courgette,
originally uploaded by lozza1.

This is our first courgette I picked of one of my plants last year. A few had been eaten but I am very proud of our first courgette. First time I have been able to grow them!

Harvest the Garlic

2009-07-15T11:08:00.002+01:00

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

As the Garlic was looking a little rusty we decided to harvest half of the crop. Arthur decided to help daddy but found it more funny hitting the garlic against our neighbours shed!!! The grandparents can have that one hehehehe!

Garlic - Solent wight

2009-07-10T20:49:00.002+01:00

I decided to dig up one row of the Garlic as they where getting a little rusty. They look fab now they have been cleaned up. Now making the Kitchen smell of Garlic

Strawberries

2009-06-29T20:24:00.005+01:00

Strawberries are growing well in Wheelbarrow

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

How is the food growing?

2009-06-29T20:21:00.007+01:00

The Fuit and Veg is growing very well down the allotement. I managed to take a few photo's today after a made a quick dash to water the plot before I picked up Arthur from Nursery.

Here is a picture of the onions, Some are growing well, a few are a bit small but are doing well. I actually wish now I bought more!

This is a picture of one of the courgette plants I have at the allotment, looks like we have our first two courgetts growing

The Spuds are growing well. Hoping we will get a better crop this year

Steve's raspberrys are doing very well this year. Hoping to get loads of fruit off them this year.

My Red Wheelbarrow

2009-05-05T10:40:00.006+01:00

We got a old wheelbarrow from Freecyle but I found it very heavy to use as a wheelbarrow I decided to grow my Strawberries in. I decided to paint the wheelbarrow the Red.

Before picture

After picture with my Strawberries planted

Got the Spuds in!

2009-04-22T19:51:00.003+01:00

Finally got the spuds in.

The Plot

2009-04-22T19:50:00.003+01:00

Picture from the end of the plot, the Garlic is nearest to the us

This is a photo from the front of the plot, the onions and herbs are growing this end

2009 Garlic

2009-04-22T19:44:00.002+01:00

Our Garlic growing lovely in our alloment. I bought my bulbs from the Garlic Farm in the Isle of wight.

I can grow Leeks!

2009-04-12T20:10:00.003+01:00

I have had problems over the last few years with growing leeks, they always end up having loads of leaves but not much below ground. I did dig up a few last week and they where not very good so decided I am just rubbish at growing leeks. I decided to dig all my leeks and I was very surprised. A few of them had a large amount of Stem with Steve can cook with.

Productive Easter at the plot

2009-04-12T20:03:00.005+01:00

Thanks to Steve's parents, who took Arthur for a few days allowed us to get to the plot and get some digging done. We did not have any ground clear for our spuds so we needed to get this done ASAP.

On Friday we spent a wet morning ( Typical) starting to dig over the ground in front of the Greenshouse, we managed to get down for about 9am ( after a nice breakfast) and lastest till about 12noon. The rain was startin to get wet and as the ground is clay it gets very messy. We had made could process and decided to call it a day and come back on Saturday. We was glad we did as the rain got heavier and became very cold.

We returned on Saturday morning and made very good process, we had to stop at 12noon as we had a Easter Egg Hunt to attend to! This still gave us a good size area to plant the spuds.

I returned today on my own to try and plant the spuds but I found the ground to wet and mud was very sticky. So instead I did a bit of weeding , dug up all my leeks to allow space for the Iceberg lettuce I have growing in the greenhosue

Arthur with mud!

2009-04-08T11:36:00.002+01:00

This is a just a photo of Arthur, now 17 months playing with the mud. He was also finding out what mud taste like!!!

We are back

2009-03-20T14:15:00.003Z

Due to one thing and another we have been a bit busy and not been able to do much work to the allotment.

We did not do very well growing last year due to the weather but we did manage to dig all of the allotement for the first time!!

We did manage to plant some Garlic and Leeks in October, we paid a visit last week but I couldnt bare to look as I thought the area would be full of weeds. Steve went to check first and he reported the area was not too bad. To my amazement the Garlic was growing well and no weeds,this is due to the new digging system we are using. The leeks where growing well but not as deep as I would have like. Something to work on for this year, GET BIGGER LEEKS!

Our Chickens

2009-03-20T13:11:00.003Z

Here is a video of our Chickens. Two of the Ginger Chickens are Charlie and Lola - The Battery Chickens. See if you can tell which one they are.

Quick update

2008-07-14T17:00:00.002+01:00

Well we had a busy few weeks, trying to dig over the plot for the plants I had growing in the greenhouse. We have also been taught a new digging technique which has made our life so much better. Its a bit like double digging and it allows you to get the weeds out. It does take a little longer BUT it means we have less weeding to do once the plants have been planted.

We have planted Cauliflowers, Brocolli, Spinach, onions, Butternet squash, Sweet Corn, few different types of Beans and loads of tomatoes.

The cauliflower and Brocolli are doing very well, Spinach has been eaten and a few bolted so I haveone left :-(

Onions are growing well BUT the Butternut Squash and Sweet corn are not doing very well.

I did plant 4 courgette plants but they have all bean eaten.

Morning Visit

2008-06-09T10:14:00.003+01:00

Had a quick trip to the allotment this morning, did not stay long as it was very hot. Thanks to Steve's mum and dad coming at the weekend, we managed to dig up some more weeds and clear some space so I could plant a few veg that I have growing in the greenhouse. Today I planted some Spinach, hopefully the netting will keep the animals at away.

.This is a picture of Arthur making sure I am doing it all right, and trying really hard to take his hat of AGAIN!

Another little visitor

2008-05-22T16:30:00.002+01:00

This young fellow was waiting for me when I arrived at the allotment the other day, he didnt hang around, not as friendly as the Robin.

friendly Visitor

2008-05-16T17:26:00.004+01:00

While down the allotment I was joined by a friendly robin. I think because I was digging up the weeds he wanted to get to the lovely worms. He did not seem to be bothered about me being near him, at one point he was standing right night to my foot just waiting for a worm.Here are a few photo's I managed to get.

We have 2 Battery Chickens

2008-05-12T15:37:00.009+01:00

On 10th May we collected two battery chickens, we have named them Charlie and Lola, as they are Arthur's chickens we thought we would name them after one of his favouirite cantoons. They are the same type as lily, our other chicken so its a real shock to see them against Lily.

This is Lola, she spent most of her first day in her new home inside. She finally came out on Monday morning.
12052008.jpg,
originally uploaded by lozza1.

Lola

This is Charlie, she spent most of her first day just sitting on the grass. I think she must have been sitting down for atleast 5 hours and did not move.
12052008.jpg,
originally uploaded by lozza1.

Early visit to the allotment

2008-05-07T17:32:00.010+01:00

As the weather has finally warmed up we thought we would visit the allotment early in the morning so we don't end up digging when its really hot. While we was there I weeded the potatoes, I actually thought the area was just full of weeds but Steve pointed out to me some where not weeds

Here is a photo of the garlic ( nearest) and the onions ( in the distance) As you can see they are growing very well

This is the new fence for the Raspberries and Strawberries. Decided after weeding the strawberry bed to put them with the Raspberries. No idea if this is the right thing to do but I will just wait and see.

Strawberry Bed

2008-04-25T19:15:00.006+01:00

The Strawberry bed was looking very sorry for its self, so many weeds I could not find the strawberrys. Decided to try and save the bed today.
This is the before photo

After photo
Still needs a bit of work but you can now see the strawberrys. Going to move the bed around a bit and have the strawberrys in rows so its easier to look after.

Prepering for Spuds

2008-04-16T14:17:00.002+01:00

We planted a three rows of spuds a few weeks ago and we have now prepared the ground for the rest of the spuds. I will plant them in a few weeks. I read some where you should keep the soil warm and the best way to do this is to cover the soil.

Bargin of the year

2008-04-16T13:54:00.005+01:00

so far

We picked up this item from a garden center earlier this year. They where closing for a few weeks for refurbishment. They were selling for £5 as the box was damaged but everything was half price so I got it for £2.50!!! I bought three. One of my nighbours asked me if I was staying the night, as it looks like a tent!! I replied, I really wish I could!!!!
I decided to grow some drawf broad beans. Had no luck last year so hoping for a better success rate this year. I left two plants in the greenhouse as a back up :-)

2008-04-12T21:58:00.009+01:00

Managed to spend some time the allotment today and also took Steve's SLR digital camera so took a few pictures of the plot. Our main job was to clear the area where the second set of spuds would go in a few weeks. We also decided to give the plot a bit of tidy, moving bits of wood of the way and finding a better place for the hose.

Here is a photo of the rear end of the allotment Onions and Garlic are growing at the end. Before I planted the garlic, steve found a blog by Pippa Greenwood from the BBC Gardenings world web site. She mentioned about growing Garlic in a ridge. She recommends the ridge idea as garlic needs to expand and in clay soil this is very hard. So far my Garlic is doing well. Take a look at her blog http://www.gardenersworld.com/talk/blogs/post/pg-garlic-24012008/
and the front, spuds are growing this end this year. This year we are growing Pink Fur, Rocket, Wilja and Golden Wonders.Here are the Garlic, the onions are just behing them. The pots in the back are an expertiment, I planted some galic and Onions in pots. Garlic is doing well but the Onions are not doing so well.

This is the spuds area. I have four rows of each varitey.

Arthur is now 5 months old and is very interested in trees. I managed to get a free buggy from freecycle, was going to be used by one of the grand parents but it was a bit messy so I thought it would be great down the allotment. It means Arthur is not stuck in his car seat for to long and he can see more.Here is a photo in his thrown. he makes sure mummy and daddy are working hard

Inside the Greenhouse

2008-04-09T16:41:00.004+01:00

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

A quick photo of some of the Veg growing in the new greenhouse. In the photo, you can see Toms, Butternet Squash, Spinach and Onions. I do have alot of Onions growing so I am now worried where I am going to plant them all.

The way we are planting this year

2008-03-27T17:43:00.002Z

This year we are planting our veg and flowers seeds a certain way, normally I plant seeds individual in pots and I dont get much success, why I dont know.

This year I am just going to throw a load of seeds in to a pot, and then sort them out when they grow big enough. I done this a few times last year and I had great success so this year I am doing it to everything.

It might mean I have 50+ Parsnip seedlings but then I have loads of plants but also loads of veg. I can see some of it growing in bigger pots if I don't have room in the allotment but hey, dont matter.

We may be mad but we have a much better success rate.

we have planted

2008-03-27T17:34:00.002Z

Changing my kitchen into a mini greenhouse/potting table paid off.

I managed to plant the following:-

Spinach - Long Standing
Butternut Squash - Hawk F1
Leeks - Musselburgh
SweetCorn - F1
Basil Dark Opal
Parsnips - White Gem - This should be planted directly to the ground but this is a test to see how they do being transplanted from a pot.
Organic Spinach - Palco

Also some flowers
Giant Sunflowers, Red Hot Pokers and Marigold Jesters.

When Steve returned he planted some herbs in a few pots he bought from Ikea. He planted
Lettuce Leaf Basil, Sweet Marjoram, Chives Garlic, Parsley and Basil Sweet

Kitchen is now a Mini- Greenhouse

2008-03-25T13:38:00.002Z

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

We have alot of planting to do but I due to the bad weather I have not been able to do any of it. The weather has got better but its still a bit chilly plus I have my 5 month old son to look after. So I decided to transform the Kitchen into a mini potting area!!! Its nice and warm, can look after Arthur and watch television and plant all at the same time.

Just digging

2008-03-08T07:51:00.002Z

At present we are trying to get the allotment ready for the growing season so this means loads of digging and getting rid of all the weeds.

We have digged over the area for the spuds, which are chitting lovely in the greenhouse. So just need to wait till easter and then we will plant them.

Today we are also planning to get rid of the rubbish we have collected. We have loads of carpet which I used as pathways but we have decided to get rid of the carpet and try other options.

Sunday Visit

2008-02-24T17:53:00.002Z

We spent a few hours down the allotment today, Arthur was very well behaved and slepted in the car to allow us to get some work done. We managed to dig over the area for the spuds and also weed the onions.

We also noticed one of our neighbours had used some bark to make a few paths so we decided to do the same, someone has dumped aload of bark so you can help yourself. We managed to put a bit by the onions before Arthur woke up for his next feed.

When we got home I decided to get my spuds out in the greenhouse and start chitting them, hopefully this year they wont get blown over and get all mixed up, this happened to me last year.

Started Planting

2008-02-17T19:30:00.003Z

I have started the planting for 2008 in my new Greenhouse.

I have planted the following and keeping my fingers crossed

Broccolli - autumn calabrese
Onions - onion Ailsa
Peppers ( sweet) Colour rainbow mix
Cauliflower - Andes
Toms - Orange Berry, Red Pear and Gartenperle ( Hanging Basket)
more onions - Buntons ShowStoppers

Not Impressed

2008-02-15T15:23:00.002Z

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

Looks like Arthur does not like sharing his buggy with the ballom

View from the Bedroom

2008-02-11T12:52:00.001Z

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

From the bedroom window

View from the ground

2008-02-11T12:51:00.001Z

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

From the ground

The tree cutters are in!!

2008-02-11T09:38:00.001Z

11022008.jpg,
originally uploaded by lozza1.

We thought it was time to give the Fur trees in our back garden a cut. Due to these trees we dont really get any sun which makes the garden really muddy and the washing does not get dry that quick.

Trying onions in pots

2008-02-08T13:55:00.000Z

It seems the Warmans went a bit mad this year on buying over wintering onions. I think if we planted all of them I am sure the whole plot would nearlly be covered!!!

I have planted a few and they seem to be doing very well. I started weeding them today,as the onions where big enough to know they where onions and not weeds. Due to have loads over I have decided to see if they will grow in pots.

As it is a lovely day today I managed to spend about an hour at the allotment with Arthur. Planted two buckets of onions and three garlic.

Should be interested how they turn out.

The green house is up!

2008-02-08T13:46:00.001Z

Here is a picture of the Greenhouse.

I can tell you it was no easy job. The instructions where just rubbish, some bits of the greenhouse just missed and two of the panels labelled wrong!!!

Cant wait to grow in the green house now

My Green Frame Polycarbonate Greenhouse is coming today!!!

2008-01-15T10:00:00.000Z

I have decided the plastic greenhouse I have in the back garden is not working so I have decided to buy a proper greenhouse. Luckily I got some money for my birthday in November and Christmas.

The Chickens

2008-01-11T09:40:00.001Z

Here's a photo of the chickens, Lily and Daisy. As you can see they are growing well.

They are relaxing on our garden table, having a little rest.

The big dig has started

2008-01-09T17:51:00.000Z

well the only thing to do now is to get the ground ready for the growing season and this involves loads of digging and weeding. Due to not being down the allotment for a long time I have LOADS of weeds.

I am trying to dig over the area where I had my spuds growing last year, I am planning to plant some over-wintering onions there and some garlic. I think I have done the worst of it.

I have also ordered myself a proper green house. The plastic green one was not working out. Just waiting for a delivery date, I cant wait, hopefully should help a lot this year.

Spent about an hour doing a bit if digging today. I think the best way is to dig a bit once a day and I think you achieve more.

Hopefully I will be able to plant some more over-wintering onions. planted a few in oct which need weeding BUT I need to wait till they are bigger as I am not really sure which are onions and which are weeds :-)

Arthur's First Visit to the Allotment

2007-12-28T22:13:00.001Z

Arthurs first visit to allotment

I mentioned to Arthur about all the digging we needed to do and he decided to fall asleep instead

The Warman's are back!

2007-12-28T22:00:00.000Z

We are back!

The reason for the lack of process on the allotment was due to this person

This is the new member of the Warman Family - Arthur George Warman, born on 23rd Oct 2007.

Due to having a C-section I have not been able to do any gardening for a while BUT I got down to the allotment and started the task of getting the allotment ready for the growing season. As I thought loads of weeds had appear BUT we had a few leeks growing which was great. Had some of them for our Dinner when we got home, yum yum.

Update

2007-08-15T13:09:00.000+01:00

Managed to get to the allotment on Sunday Afternoon, we spent the morning at helping out at the Hazlemere Garden center, its a place that is only open on Sunday mornings 10-11am but it sells cheap garden related materials. You pay a few quid to become a member but you must help out in the shop once a year. Steve helped with the lifting off the Compost and I ( as I am 30 weeks pregnant) collet tickets at the exit. This ensured goods had been paid for before people left the area.

We went to the allotment after our shift ( only 2 hours) and dug up a loads more spuds. We got a very good crop, some better than others but as it our first full year we are just grateful for anything.

I also took the spuds I need to plant for Christmas. I have placed a few in Potato barrells, and I will plant a few in the ground and see what happens. Also plan to plant a few at home aswell.

Need to order Garlic and Over Wintering onions very soon.

More Spuds

2007-08-06T22:08:00.001+01:00

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originally uploaded by lozza1.

Here are a few Spuds collected from the allotmet tonight - we have loads more to dig up. We wont have to buy any spuds for a very long time. I have also just received the spuds for Christmas. I have got quite a few of them aswell so I think on Christmas day we will be given Spuds away to the family.

Weekend at the allotment

2007-07-22T18:35:00.000+01:00

I needed to spend a bit of time at the allotment at the weekend as I knew the weeds would be back and also needed to plant a few Veg plants I still had to plant. Steve is building new decking and and a brick wall, as I am pregnant I can not really help so perfect time for a trip to the allotment. Also as the weather had been bad wanted to check the site wasn't flooded.

Sunday was the best day of the week for the allotment - don't think it rained all day. While at the allotment I planted a few more leeks and some onions I had. Not sure how the onions will do but I am a beliver in stick it in the ground and see what happens. If we works out great, if it doesn't work you know not to bother in the future. Growing your own is a learning experience.

Also decided to harvest some more potatoes as the leaves looked in a bad way - either blight or slugs, so we will be having spuds for dinner most nights as we know have 3 types to use.

Some weeding was always done - it just makes the pot a bit more respectable. I am finding working at the allotment harder now I am getting bigger so I have to have more rests than normal. Luckily we do have our bench so I can relax a few minutes. I would have a nice cup of tea BUT someone stole our camping stove and kettle a few weeks ago!!

Plan to go back during the week to do some more weeding. I find if I do it during the week a bit at a time it doesnt seem to much of a pain if I leave it till the weekend.

This week I want to plant some beetroot and carrots to fill up some space I have on one bed. I do have carrots growing at home in pots but I am sure we will eat them all or we can give them to friends and family.

Veg collected today

2007-07-07T19:47:00.001+01:00

A few spuds and a lettuce from our neighbour.

Managed a quick visit to the allotment - actually stopped raining for a whole day - woohoo. We decided to harvest a few spuds for Dinner and plant a few flowers i had hanging around.

Our neighbour turned up for a flying visit, we have not seen her in ages. She told us she was given up her plot as due to person reasons she just doesn't have the time, which is a shame. She is a really nice neighbour, always pleasant and friendly. I just hope our new neighbour is nice. I just hope the plot doesn't go to empty and we end up with a plot with just weeds and horrible to look at. Oh well just have to wait and see.

Just had a few of the spuds for Dinner and they where lovely. Can't wait to see how the other spuds will taste.

Raining AGAIN

2007-07-05T16:44:00.001+01:00

Will it ever stop raining.

Took this photo as I was leaving work - Sunny Slough, I was planning a quick visit to the allotment but its too wet. So instead I will be going for a quick swim. Will the rain every stop!

A theft at the allotment

2007-07-03T08:10:00.001+01:00

Went for a quick visit to the allotment last night to plant a few veg plants I haven't got around to planting yet - Pumkin, Brocolli and a Pepper plant. Also decided to harvest all of my white overwintering onions as they have all folded over. Some and really big, a few small ones but wanted to harvested them before the slugs start to eat them. A few had already been started on!!!

Below is a picture of the onions drying in my plastic green house. I should have left them drying on the ground but its too wet for that.
.

Also found out our Shed was broken into aswell - not sure when. The only things taken where the Camping stove and kettle - the fact they took the CHEAP IKEA kettle really made me laugh. Luckily we took the advice from the council and they told us NOT to lock the shed as they sometimes do more damage getting into the shed and even burning the shed down!!

Another thing I finf really strange - nothing else really moved or broken ( they moved my box of milks i have but thats it) no boxes gone through and no tools taken. If you didnt know I had a stove you wouldnt know someone had been in there. It was in the same state I left it in.

Naughty Lily

2007-06-28T16:24:00.001+01:00

28032007.jpg,
originally uploaded by lozza1.

A picture of naughty lily. When I was trying to take the photo, she thought the phone was some food and tried to jump and eat it!!!!

Harvested Garlic

2007-06-27T21:09:00.001+01:00

27062007.jpg,
originally uploaded by lozza1.

Here is a picture of the Harvested Garlic - Don't they look great!!

Garlic

2007-06-26T15:50:00.001+01:00

Not looking good. But once harvested they look great.

Beautiful Onions

2007-06-26T15:37:00.001+01:00

Look at our lovely onions - some of them are HUGE! I think we will harvest the bigger ones very soon. They look lovely.

Rasberrys

2007-06-26T15:36:00.001+01:00

The rasberrys are doing very well. We actually both had one rasberry each after this photo - very nice

The Spuds

2007-06-26T15:35:00.001+01:00

This is just a close up of the spuds growing - I can't wait to try these - hope they are OK!

View of the allotment

2007-06-26T15:27:00.001+01:00

I have finally got around to taken a few photo's of the allotment. As you can see we have made some process - nearest to the camera are the Spuds. One to the right are the ones we planted first, the one in front we planted a few weeks later so we have a good suppy and they don't arrive all at the same time.

I hate weeds

2007-06-14T21:07:00.000+01:00

The main job at the allotment is weeding. As we was off for two weeks the weeds are very big. I am always looking at other people's plot and they don't have any weeds but mine is just full of them! I spent Monday night down on the plot and weeded the broadbeans and garlic bed, the strawberry bed ( added straw to them aswell) and removing weeds from the path - these are the worst. I was getting so much done then as I mentioned before I then stepped on a nail so went home feeling very sorry for myself.

I also planted the sweetcorn and Butternut squash in the same bed. I had been told they go very well as the sweetcorn go up and the butternut grow on the ground and stop the weeds!!! thats what i like, keep the weeds away, so I am giving that a go!

Just come back from the allotment tonight, as my foot is better and I can actually walk on it now, I weeded more of the path way, the Pea bed that nothing else grows in it apart from Peas!, the Onions as they where getting strangled by the Bine weed!

Planning to go tomorrow and weed some more. I think Steve will also come and help.

Stupid Nail

2007-06-12T18:27:00.000+01:00

While I was down on the allotment on Monday evening I stepped on a piece of wood with a NAIL in it. It went straight through my shoe into my foot. I can tell you it hurt. The next morning it really hurt and had problem walking on it. Steve decided we should get it checked out with A & E. I am also 21 weeks pregnant so we wanted to make sure no serious damage was done.

So we spent 2 hours in A & E, had a X-Ray - put on a special suit to protect baby and they said it was fine. It just really hard to walk on it.

Hopefully will get better tomorrow.

Back from Holiday

2007-06-12T18:18:00.000+01:00

We have just spent two weeks in Italy so the allotment needs a bit of TLC.

I have pulled up the broadbeans - I did manage to get a few of them but not as many as I should have. If I plant them next year I will cover them but I don't know if I can be bothered with them.

All the garlic have gone rusty - Oh well. Just have to see what they are like when we dig them up in a few weeks.

The over wintering onions are doing very well. Some look very impressive.

I have planted some sweetcorn and Butternut squash - hopefully they should do ok. We are big Butternut fans and look forward to eating them.

The main jobs we need to do is the weeding, we seem to be the only people on the site with weeds, its not fair. Steve also needs to build a frame for the raspberries, to stop the Deer eating them. It seems the local Deer eat anything green. They had a nice feast on my cauliflower!!! I am planning to put brocolli in there place and will make sure the Deer can not get to them.

Spuds are doing very well. We planted in two stages so we don't get all the spuds at once.

Is something eating my Veg?

2007-05-18T20:48:00.000+01:00

Had a visit to the allotment today with Steve, After all the rain we have had the last week or so the weeds have just gone mad. Also noticed the Bollitti was not doing very well. At first I thought something had been eating them but then I remembered I have had problems with this bed before, Veg does not grow in except Peas. Peas loved it in this bed. I decided to replant the bollitti beans in a different bed so I am praying very hard they will recover! I will plant some more just in case.

The Cauliflowers has also been eaten, so we have now covered it, so hopefully they should be ok.

We have started the big marthon on weeding, we have plenty of them. Also plan to plant the last of the potatoes we still chitting.

Horrible weeds

2007-05-06T20:43:00.000+01:00

It seems all we are doing at the momment is weeding. It also feels the minute we weed the next weeds wait till we leave the plot to show and grow like crazy. Will it ever end!

Quick Update

2007-05-06T20:09:00.000+01:00

Just come back from a trip to the allotment. Planted a few flowers, Borlotto Lingua ( Climbing) and some cauliflowers which have been growing at home in small pots in the spare room.

The potatoes we planted a few weeks ago have started to appear, the onions, strawberries, garlic, raspeberries, peas are doing well. The broadbeans are still not doing well. I was close to pulling them all up but relised I have a few growing. I think I may have enough for one meal but not holding my breath. As mentioned earlier I will not be growing winter ones again.

The asparagus is also doing very well. We have heard it really hard to grow but we thought we would give it a go. Most of the spears have started to grow and produce the flower. They will be ready next year.

I have a few things growing at home aswell. They are:-

Various types of toms
Butternut squash
Sweetcorn
Various type of onions
Green Beans (Dwarf)
Pumkins
Brocolli

We also have another set of potatoes to plant which we will plant in a few weeks.

I will wait till these are a bit bigger than I will plant in the allotment

New Extra run for the Chickens

2007-04-17T09:30:00.000+01:00

At the weekend we had the job of building a more secure run for the chickens. We was making our way to Wickes to get the wire and bits and pieces to make the run when I mentioned to Steve I had noticed somone near our house had some old fencing in there front garden. We drove past the house and Steve said they would be perfect. The front door was open so we knocked on the door and asked if the fencing was still required. We got a weird look but she said she was taking it down the tip. Once we explained it was for chickens she said this would be perfect as the item used to be a Aviery!!! We could not believe our luck. It had a roof and a door to go with it.

Steve put it all on top of the car and took it back to the house and put it up.

Here's a quick photo

After building the run we went to the allotment in the evening to give it a good water.

Both Chickens escape!

2007-04-11T09:10:00.000+01:00

When I returned from work yesterday I was informed by one of the children my chickens had escaped! He siad three of them, I then told him I only have 2 chickens. Found Lily in the Garden and put her back then spoke to Caroline, my neighbour and she told me both had escaped out of the front garden and she was chasing Daisy in her garden. So the chickens are now in the Eglu and will not be allowed in the extra run till we fix it which will be at the weekend. We will of course be letting them out in the garden when we are home.

Easter visit to the allotment

2007-04-08T19:44:00.000+01:00

We have both spent most of Easter Sunday down the allotmemt. We decided it was time to plant our potatoes. We are planting them in the area we placed manure on late last year, it had been dugg over once before so the ground was not to bad, just a few weeds. In total we had seven different types of potatoes to plant - lucky we both like potatoes. After speaking to Stan from the allotment regarding when to plant he told me to think about not planting all at the same time, so if one lot dont produce well I will have a back up and also you have dont get them all at the same time in the season, you get two batches, so we have only planted halve and maybe in 4-6 weeks we will plant the others.

Picture of the potatoe Bed

Last week we also planted some asparagus - we bought from mushroom and farmhouse manure. I can tell you its stinks! when we picked it up we had to have all the windows in the car open, luckily it was a lovely day! As the Asparagus is going to be in the ground for a very long time we needed to make sure the bed was well dug over and plenty of manure. We wont get any crop this year, just have to let it grow into a fern type flower then cut it back. The plants are 1 year old all ready so they will be hopfully ready next season.

Asparagus Bed

Naughty Chicken!

2007-03-27T17:58:00.000+01:00

Just been down the allotment to finish off the weeding - now all the beds are weed free. I had been home for a few hours when i noticed one of the chickens ( Lily) was at her favourite position, on top of the eglu, next time I look she is walking around the garden. She had managed to escape out of the run. This is worrying as I let them in the run extension while I am work, this is no longer save to leave them in there. I think Steve is going to make a part of the run longer so Lily can not jump/fly over the run!

I then put her back, about 10 mins later went back, she was again on top of the eglu, she looked at me and then escaped again. I have now locked them in the eglu as I am going running at 6.30pm and not sure when Steve is back. I cant risk being out and the chicken escaping.

The naughty chicken Lily is the Ginger chicken in the photo.

Quick visit

2007-03-26T12:51:00.000+01:00

I am off from work for a few days so the first place to visit while I am off is the allotment. Its mainly wedding and a bit of digging at the momment. I am growing alot of veg in my greenhouse at the momment, so once they have got bigger I will then plant at the allotment.

I have just been down the allotment for a bit of weeding and thought I would take a few photo's for a quick update on the Veg growing on the plot.As mentioned before my broadbeans not doing very well, had to get rid of a few yesterday as they where just all black. Here is a picture of one of the plants

The Garlic is doing very well, I have loads growing in the allotment and a few in pots in my back garden. Here's a quick photo of the Garlic

The Brocolli and Spring Cabbage are doing really well - they have been protected by mess to stop any animals eating them. I took it off today to sort out all the weeds that have developed - I would say I got rid of 95% of them. I am really impressed on how these are growing. Don't really do much to them, just maybe water them a bit but thats it.

The Winter onions are also doing very, I need to go back and weed the area and be very careful I don't dig any of the onions up. Here's a few photo's

We are now getting eggs

2007-03-23T13:44:00.000Z

We have been getting eggs from the chickens for about 2 weeks now, we think both are now laying and we get 1/2 every 2 days which is good. They are small eggs but they will get bigger as the chicken gets older.

Here's a photo of our first egg from Daisy

Quick Update

2007-03-04T10:24:00.000Z

I have only managed to visit the allotment once in the last 2 weeks, not much to do. Managed to get a quick visit to the allotment in to see how what veg we have are doing. My broadbeans are not doing well, either they have blown over or they are turning black. I have cut loads of and had to get rid of a few plants as they where dead! Not sure if I will get any Broadbeans of this crop so i have bought some seeds to plant March/April. I dont think i will bother growing over wintering Broadbeans again.

Also my Spuds Seeds all got mixed up on Wednesday evening as we had a bit of wind and the plaastic green house got blown around taking the shelving unit with it. So now I have no idea which is which.

We have had the chickens for a week now, we let them out of the eglu for the first time, which went very well. Gave us time to practice picking them up, we both managed it.

Chickens have arrived

2007-02-24T08:12:00.000Z

Well the chickens arrived yesterday. I am holding Daisy and Steve is holding Lily
They have setlled in well, we had great fun trying to get them into the house when it was time to go to bed.

At present the Chickens need to stay in the eglu for atleat 5 days so they learn the eglu is there home and its a safe place.

We will also be moving the eglu to the back of the garden as this area does not have much grass anyway so the chickens can trash it and make themselves confortable.

We are getting Chickens

2007-02-13T15:03:00.000Z

We have been thinking about getting chickens for a while but due to moving into a new home and I think there was a bit of chicken flue around we decided to hold fire.

We order the chickens through Omlet - http://www.omlet.co.uk/homepage/homepage.php

It is a bit expensive but due to me and Steve having no knowledge on Chickens it seemed best for us!

They wont be living at the alloment but in our back garden, we are allowed them but as we only get to the allotment at the weekends at present, its unfair to leave the chickens up on the allotment on there own!

The chickens arrive 23rd Feb, not sure of time yet, they will confrm the day before.

The names we have so far are Lily and Daisy, this may change as we have already changed one chickens name.

Still snow!

2007-02-09T12:26:00.000Z

Well we still have snow in High Wycombe, most of the snow if off the roads and mainly still in people's garden and pavement - which is icey so easier to walk in the roads and fight with the cars and hope you dont get knocked over.

Was planning to go to work BUT the back road I have to use to get my car out is very icey

See photo below. The gate on the left is where I need to come out. I was worried if I slid I would hit the cars at the bottom.

Its Snowing!

2007-02-08T19:57:00.000Z

Well they have been talking about it for days and yes it did finally snow and not just a few snow flakes, about 6-8 inches in High Wycombe. We took a work to see how the area was coping and it wasnt pretty, cars losing control and getting stuck all over the place. We both decided to work from home, Steve takes the train and they where cancelled and I drive. It wasn't save to drive.

Here are a few pictures from our Garden

Untounched Garden
Lozza in the Garden ensuring the Bird station is well stocked. Soon after this me and Steve had a snow ball fight, we actually has 2 fights!

New member of the Warman Household - Warman Snowman. While we was making it I came to discission that I thought this was my first snowman I had made. I think because I lived in London and had no garden, I never got the chance. Also the snow is not normally that thick in London.

My Seeds

2007-02-06T15:02:00.000Z

I thought I would take a photo of all the seeds I presently own. Its like an actiction - everytime I am in a shop I always look at the seeds they have - I think I have more than enough now.

Looks like the order we placed with T&M is slowing coming through. Steve just told me have some plants delivered to his office BUT he is off sick today so just have to wait till tomorrow to see what they are.

Leeks from the Allotment

2007-02-04T17:14:00.000Z

When we visited the allotment yesterday we decided to pull up a few leeks - they are not the biggest as I think the hole I dug was not big enough, but they are still nice. Steve was going to make a chicken pie so he decided to add Leeks instead of Peas!

Here are the leeks

The Receipe is below - Steve changed it a little but it was lovely.
http://uktv.co.uk/index.cfm/uktv/food.recipe/aid/573815

Warman's go for a walk

2007-02-04T17:10:00.000Z

Decided to go for a short walk in the morning, went to Wendover forest. They have loads of walk, some for beginners and a few harder ones. I love just walking in the fresh air.

Here is Steve with a large stick he found on our walk

Quick Visit

2007-02-03T16:49:00.000Z

Went for a quick visit to the allotment to place the cold frame, plant a few carrot seeds and generally see whats happen on the plot as it been a while since we have visited the plot. Took a few photo's on my mobile phone.

I took a quick picture of the inside of the shed, as she can see a few tools and the most important thing in the she is in place - the kettle! Having a cup of tea at the allotment is vital, keeps you going. I recommend this tool to EVERY person who owns an allotment, a camping stove is also required

The cold frame has also been put in place, planted 2 rows of carrots which is one side of the cold frame, going to plant on the other side in a few weeks so we have a long suppy of carrots and not all at the same time, thats the plan anyway. My carrots in the back graden did not do very well so I am hoping for a better result at the allotment.

Here are a few photo's of the process of the Veg growing on the allotment

This is the onions - all seem to growing well. I did have them covered with some mesh but have now taken that off. I read of another blog not to leave it onto too long as the onions sometimes get stuck in between the holes in the mesh and as you take the mesh up you bring the onions with you!

This some of the Garlic, Got a bit of this growing - even got some in pots in my back garden, I love Garlic!

The Broadbeans are still nicely covered, They are growing very well, got a few flowers appearing so thats good! Going to leave the fleece on for a while as it seems still a bit cold at night.

Few Photo's of fixed green house

2007-02-03T12:52:00.000Z

I thought I would take a few photo's of the fixed green houses which got damaged in the winds a few weeks ago. They both seem happy in their new homes This is the small green house which I lost my temper trying to put it together. One of the top bars to keep the roof has come off but I left it off for a while - scared it will full apart!
This is the large one, Steve built a woodern frame and fits perfectly. He built this while I was having a hissy fit with the small green house.
This is what remains of the old frame for the large green house. We are keeping them as we might need them to make small growing frames at the allotment.

Hopefully going to the allotment today, just to see hows it going and if the Broad Beans are OK, also need to take the Cold Frame to its news home and plant the carrots

Our new Cold Frame

2007-01-30T13:17:00.000Z

We failed to visit the allotment this weekend as we have some stuff to do and one of them was builing a cold frame, I was going to buy one but looking at the cost we decided to make one out of bits of wood hanging around the garden and some heavy duty plastic from B&Q.

Steve putting plastic over the sides

One of the doors

The Final product - A Cold Frame

This will be used to go over my caroots to keep the carrot fly at bay1

They where wrong!

2007-01-25T11:44:00.000Z

No Snow today
Actually woke up at 3am and checked to see if we had any snow. Not sure what I would have done if we did have snow.

We have snow

2007-01-24T21:47:00.000Z

Well it has finally Snowed in High Wycombe. They have been saying it would snow for a days. I am glad I protected my Broad Beans.

The roads where all clear and it all melted by about 12 noon.

I heard it might snow again tonight but I am not sure. Just have to wait and see when I get out of bed and have a look out of the window.

We are not the only mad people

2007-01-22T20:28:00.000Z

We went to the allotment straight after work to cover the Broad Beans in Garden Fleece, we both had head torches and parked the car so the headlights where facing the allotment and used the lights from the car lights for extra lighten. We had only really started and another car had turned up - It was about 7pm and very dark so you can imagine the shock. Our car was parked straight over the main car path so we had to move the car - not a problem. Well I couldnt find the car keys - finally found them but it took about 5 mins.

The owner of the car was one of our neighbours, not meet him but have meet his wife Karen. He had come to fix his Green house that had broken in the wind. It was really funny has we all had head torches and was busy working away - the people who live in the house which are at the back of the allotment must have thought you was mad!

I dont care - my Broad Beans are now covered and protected.

Another night visit to the allotment

2007-01-22T13:23:00.000Z

As the weather forecast perdicts a heavy frost I have just been to buy Garden fleece for the Broad Beans. Might have to go down tonight with the head torch to place the Fleece over the broad beans to protect them.

One of our neighbours Stan recommend to me if we get any more frost to protect them with some fleece as I told him some had turned Black last time.

Also emailed the council as one of other neighbours - Karen from 13a, her Green house has been damaged in the wind - Steve managed to fix it a bit but not 100% so hopefully the council will let her know and she will fix it.

A bit of Sunday gardening

2007-01-21T17:24:00.000Z

This morning to drove to wickes to get some timber for the new frame for the large broken plastic green house and a cold frame. While steve built the new base I put the small plastic green house together and found it a new home. Our Garden gets really windy so it is now near the front door. Actually lost my temper several times while putting the stupid thind together as poles kept coming apart. Managed it after a while and having to come into the house twice to calm down!

Also planted a few onions in pots. Not to many, only 4 as they are suppose to exibition size but the tempt has to be hot in the green house, as I think I would not be able to get the temperture required ( 2o c) I did not want to waste too many seeds so done 4 to see how they process.

Also planted some Sweet Peas and Red Hot Poker which will mainly be planted on the allotment and a few for the gardens at home.

Did not get around to making a cold frame, maybe a job for next weekend.

We also paid a visit to the allotment - just a quick visit to see if we had any wind damage and also to put the water butt back - Steve Screw the Water Butt to the pallets - hopefully it should not move!

The only Wind damage we had was my Broad beans, only a few broke, nothing to get worried about, I have loads anyway. The ones left are doing very well.

The leeks are still growing so we are going to leave them in the ground for a while. Both the red and white onions are all growing well, red better than white. They wont be ready till about August, which we thought was a very long time, we planted them in Oct 2006. Oh well thats what the instructions say.

We have some other onions to plant aswell so I think we will be over run with Onions but Steve uses Onions loads in cooking so it wont be a problem, if we have to much, then we just give to family.

The Brocolli and Spring Cabbage seem very happy in the little tent we built for them, which is great. I dont eat any of them but maybe Steve will get me to try them!

Garlic is also growing well

My Peas are not gwoing well - a little bit of growth but maybe they might start growing soon.

Green House

2007-01-19T22:31:00.000Z

We have deiced to TRY and fix the Green House. Steve thinks we should make the same size frame out of wood and then put the cover back over it. I think we will be going down to B&Q for some wood tomorrow morning. Steve's parents are coming tomorrow so they can help :-) They dont know yet ha ha ha

I have also decided to make my own cold frame. Mainly because I can they make it the size I want.