Beautiful evening sunshine

It was a lovely, sunny day today and I was able to get quite a lot done on the plot. The main focus was on weeding, and planting up one of the raised beds.

Quite a lot of grass had to be removed before I added two more bags of compost to the bed, and planted it up with:

• mixed lettuce
• rocket
• parsnips (white gem)
• carrots (resistafly and autumn king)
• raddish (scarlet globe)

In general, things are looking good! Lots of fruit are appearing on the trees and bushes, and the onions, shallots and beans are doing very well. The lack of rain seems to be really affecting the seeds though - so far only a handful of lettuce and beetroot seedlings have made it through.

End of April

April is drawing to a close, and we've just had a cold snap with temperatures going down to about 1 degree Centigrade overnight. Nothing tender has been planted out yet, with the exception of some geraniums - one of which has clearly suffered in the cold but is still showing signs of life - so casualties have been kept to a minimum. None of the greenhouse pots have sprouted yet either, but the centurion onions are continuing to do well, the broad beans are about three inches high, and the beetroot and lettuce seedlings are beginning to show through. There's good signs of life from the shallots too.

Today was the day for planting the eryngium seeds. They've been chilling in the fridge for about 3 weeks as per the instructions, and today they went into moist compost two to a pot and were popped in a greenhouse. In total I think I planted about 35 seeds, so I'm crossing my fingers for a good response. I fell in love with eryngium about two years ago when I saw the wonderful display at Oxford's botanic gardens, and I'd love Plot 129 to have a few to amaze visitors too :) I also planted out softneck garlic - French flavour and Marco - and sowed a short line of mixed lettuce.

It's still light at 8:45 :)

Rain!

As we've just had the Easter bank holiday, we've finally been able to have some rain! The broad beans are beginning to poke through and the Centurion onions are now about an inch high. The soil is still dry, but there's definitely a fresher feel to the plot with lower temperatures and the long-awaited water. Still no signs of the beetroot and lettuce yet though.

The temporary repair job on the greenhouse tent has held for a week, so I took a risk and planted sweetcorn (Conqueror), yellow courgette (Parador), dwarf French beans (Tendergreen), marigolds (Bonita mixed), sunflowers (Tanja) and lupins (Russell mix), as well as a smattering of parsley (Lisette).

I'm told May is going to be wet, so I'm hoping to plant up a lot more in the next couple of weeks.

24 degrees C!

It's been a beautifully hot and sunny weekend here in Oxford, if a little unseasonal. Today's highest temperature was 24 degrees C, and yesterday's was 20 degrees. The historical average for April is around 12 degrees, so a very warm weekend indeed. Next week should see temperatures plunging back to a more normal 13-15 degrees, and hopefully, some rain. I really can't remember planting seeds in April in such dry conditions before.

Today was so very hot, most of my jobs were dictated by where the shade happened to be! I planted Biztro shallots and Sturon onions, mixed lettuce and Boltardy beetroot. I also managed to sort out the green house tents, and one of the compost bins, as well as giving Plot 129 its first (and ahem, slightly overdue) strim of the year. The strimmer started up first time, which was a relief! Onwards and, rain permitting, upwards!

Early April update

Making the most of the good weather, I popped down after work today, and planted a dozen Red Gourmet shallots (nice healthy sets) and 50 Snowball onions (slightly dry and somewhat wizened sets), as well as digging out some space for the remaining Sturon and Karmen onions, and Biztro shallots. It looks as though its going to be an allium heavy year this year!

Amazingly, in the 48 hours since I was last on the plot, the asparagus has started to appear, a patch of lily-of-the-valley has shot up, and the Jerusalem artichokes are sending up their first leaves. All the plants that went in on Sunday are looking healthy and happy although, and I hate to say it, we could do with some rain now!

So it begins...

Plot 129 has been getting a lot of TLC so far this year - lots of early weeding and bed-preparation, as well as pruning of trees. Today was a very warm day, and, as we collected the majority of the seed for planting yesterday, marks the start of the allotment planting year proper!

Today on plot 129 saw:

• the pruning of the plum tree
• the planting of new echinacea plants (two white, two pink)
• planting broad bean seeds
• planting approx 100 Stuttgart Giant onion sets
• the potting of a new Rosemary bush
• the addition of a new variegated Lemon Balm and a Sweet Woodruff to pots
• a bonfire!

Mid-September!

Sunday 11th

The sudden arrival of a second summer has had a great effect on the garden, and the gardener too! There's still a regular supply of raspberries, rhubarb, lettuce, tomatoes and beetroot, and the snowball turnips, sweetcorn and carrots are beginning to be ready to eat. The gladioli have made a late but beautiful appearance and the climbing roses have excelled themselves.

This weekend saw the clearing out of the main bed, and the harvesting of a disappointing onion and garlic crop. Did I plant the bulbs too deep? Was it too wet? I need to look into this for next year. However, I'm strongly considering not planting this autumn, and leaving it to the spring. At least that way the bulbs will avoid both the potential floods, and the very active mouse population...

Sunday 18th

Today was mostly about harvesting: potatoes, beetroot, turnip, beans, strawberries, raspberries, the one remaining sweetcorn (yep, I lost the rest to mice this year!) and one of the enormous squash! I also caught up with new neighbours, which was fun. I finished up the day by beginning to wrestle back control of the fruit bushes from a tough selection of grasses, hog weed and the splendid Michaelmas daisies - lovely, but pretty invasive. I feel a battle coming on...

Carrot thinings and one of the snowballs

Golden raspberries

Mint medley

The new rosemary... hopefully this one will survive.

Beetroot in profusion, and well-protected carrots.