Allotment update

I'm on holiday today but I got up nice and early (thanks to the cat) and headed over to the allotment for a catch-up.

I'm really behind this year - I've hardly sown or planted anything - but thanks to my recent strategy of concentrating on permanent/perennial/self-seeding crops there's still quite a lot going on!

My fruit bushes are beginning to flower; I have blackcurrants, gooseberries and some raspberries which spontaneously appeared in one of my large pots. My plum tree has bloomed and is already bearing lots of tiny green fruits. I bought a little "patio" apple tree a few months ago - lots of leaves on that and it looks quite healthy, but I won't get apples this year. I've also got a small crabapple with red foliage which I grew from a tiny seed, and two more babies from a juicy apple I ate at some point during the winter. One day I will have apples galore but for now I just have a selection of pretty trees.

The little fig tree I bought last year has (mostly) survived. One of the branches seems to be dead, but the rest of the plant looks quite healthy. There is even a tiny round fruit (or flower bud?) on it...



The jerusalem artichokes are already up (a very reliable perennial crop) but my globe artichokes don't seem to have made it. I should have protected them with straw over winter. The rhubarb made a good start but is looking quite slug-eaten and still too feeble to harvest. I really have no luck with rhubarb! My mint bed is looking brilliant already, but the wild water mint seems to be bullying the garden mint a bit! I also have lemon balm in there, which is looking good. Lavender, rosemary and thyme are all doing well in their respective giant pots and tryes. Happy self-seeded things include rocket, cornsalad, parsley and chives. And there are LOTS of wild edibles too including nettles, sorrel, ox-eye daisy, ground elder, hops and this morning I even found what I think is a morel mushroom (I left it alone though).



So far this year I've sown carrots, beetroot, runner beans (under cloches), a few herbs and a few weeds. I did actually sow weeds - I have a whole bed devoted to burdock. I'd really like to try it (you can eat the roots) but digging up wild plants is illegal. Let's hope they all survive the slugs!

Allotmenteering begins in earnest...

With the milder weather and the lighter mornings/evenings, I've decided it's time to get back to work. I spent the whole weekend* on the plot and got LOTS done!

I harvested my remaining celeriac, most of my jerusalem artichokes and a giant leek. I dug over and weeded a few beds, one of which I planted with garlic (better late than never!). I also extended the fence to stop pesky dogs pooing on my "lawn" (dogs aren't actually allowed on the allotments, but I've had a bit of trouble with them lately). I sowed some broad beans in old loo rolls too...

Most of my plot looks bare, but orderly. Apart from the above I'm currently growing rocket, spinach, oriental salad, onions, shallots, various herbs and various fruit. I'm hoping that this year I might get more than four plums!

There's a bit of wild stuff springing up too - I've gathered a few nettles and noticed some tiny new shoots of ground elder:



The allotments are a lovely place to hang out. This weekend I've enjoyed wildlife-watching - the Red Kites were flying very low, there were some interesting spiders surfing in one of my water butts, and there's a mystery creature (a rat?) living in my compost heap (which is actually quite useful cos he keeps digging out piles of fresh compost for me!).

I can't wait till it gets a bit warmer and I can start the BBQing...


*That may be a slight over-exaggeration!