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Thursday 12 July 2012

0502/2117 My allotment



My allotment is long and thin which makes it difficult to photograph it properly. This picture really emphasizes the middle part - there are lots of things hidden at the back and my lovely bbq area is behind the camera - but I suppose it gives an impression of the place. It's only a small plot and I've not managed to grow many new crops this year, but it's doing OK. My perennials and self-seeders are just about surviving the rain and the slugs.

I decided to write a list of all the useful plants currently growing on my plot, whether they are in season or not. Some (actually, quite a lot) are planted by mother nature but I harvest them as regularly as those I grow myself.

July 2012 flora, in no particular order:
3x apple trees (you can just see one next to the old greenhouse)
Greengage tree (in the dustbin to the right)
Rowan tree (blurry, front left, growing in a pot but I will plant it somewhere good one day)
Raspberries (planted for me by allotment creatures)
Redcurrants (cuttings from the woods if I recall correctly)
Blackcurrants (first ripe fruit today!)
Gooseberries
Strawberries (standard and alpine varieties)
Cranberries
Grape vine
Hop vine (wild)
Rhubarb
Jerusalem artichokes
Rosemary
Thyme
Parsley (self-seeding)
Chives (self-seeding)
Bay (I thought it was dead, but a new shoot has appeared)
Mint (various types)
Lemon balm
Lavender
Pot marigold (self-seeding)
Comfrey (for compost)
Nettles (wild)
Ground elder (wild)
Sorrel (wild)
Oxeye daisy (wild)
Dandelion (wild)
Horseradish (wild)
Hogweed (wild)
Hairy bittercress (wild)
American land cress (one of the few seeds that actually grew this year)
Red orache (self-seeding, originally from a fellow plot-holder)
Opium poppies (self-seeding)
Rose
Foxgloves (for decoration, they were a gift)
Parsnips (last year's in flower/seed)
Beetroot (last year's in flower/seed)
Alexanders (introduced from wild, struggling but persisting)
Leek (last year's in flower)
Walking onions (being attacked by slugs, not doing much walking)
Burdock (front left, introduced from wild)
Courgette (hanging in there)
Pumpkin (hanging in there)
A few pathetic beans (very slug-munched)
An almost-dead fig tree
An almost-dead lemon tree
An almost-dead chilli plant

I might keep this list for reference, and update it as new things appear and old ones disappear.

Considering the rubbish weather, and the fact that I do this on my own whilst also working full-time, it's not too bad really :)

8 comments:

  1. Looks and sounds very impressive,well done. I love the fact there are onions out there called walking onions :)

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    1. Thanks, I'll love the onions too if they actually walk!

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  2. Thank you for the wonderful update!
    I hope I can visit your allotment one day :)

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    1. When we get that dream house you can come and stay and we can have an allotment bbq :)

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  3. Yeah, that's a very good selection!

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    1. I think the plants selected themselves to some extent. After almost 5 years on this plot I've learned what does and doesn't work. They are mostly rain-friendly too because the ground is always very wet!

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  4. That sounds less like an allotment and more like a field's worth!
    Have you had much luck getting the chilli to fruit? I've grown a couple of plants before, and while the chillis were hot, they had no flavour. Gotta find out the secret of how to make them tasty.

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    1. I usually get an ok crop from my chilli plants, but I'm no expert so can't really advise... Perhaps it's down to the variety?

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