January 2009

There has been some recent activity on the Glen Allotments site. The large area of brambles has been bulldozed and cleared away and several new tenants have taken on plots. One of the new plot tenants (Nev) is very keen and has put up a shed. He also arranged for a small tractor with a rotavator driven from the PTO shaft to turn over his plot and two of the plots adjacent to him. Progress is looking good. The photographs show the plots before the rotavation was done.

One plot has a lot of standing water on it and efforts will need to be made to raise the level of this plot to raise it above the boggy ground.

Some plots are showing a lot of activity, having completed their winter digging whilst others are still hopeful that covering the growth with plastic to blot out the light will clear the ground for them. However, I am sure they will be dissappointed when they lift the covers to find the ground a mass of running bindweed roots.

Our own second half plot has progressed well with most of it now dug over, the blackcurrant bushes pruned and the brambles dug out from around them. Although we have have put down sheeting to slow growth there is ground elder underneath. I have been rolling back strips of sheeting to provide a clean surface to work from and save puddling the mud and been digging the small exposed areas and trying to remove as much root and stem as I can. I will also have to go over it again with the fork to bring up bits I have missed. Ground Elder is a nasty pernicious weed introduced by the Romans. It is one thing that we do not thank them for!

The number one plot is still yielding parsnips, kale, sprouts, celeriac and Swiss chard. The raspberries have been thinned and moved out into two rows ready for me to build a a cage to protect the fruit from the birds.

Evening Press Photographer - New Composting Toilet

This afternoon the Evening Press sent a photographer down to the allotment to do a photo shoot about the composting toilet that has been set up on the site. Ann, my wife, has been involved with National Osteoprosis Society for some time and has been doing a foil collecting project to pay for kale and other brassica plants to have in pots over the winter months as they are a good source of magnesium and calcium. As part of the project a local school has been involved to collect foil and set up a small gardening club where the NOS will provide some of the brassica plants for the children in return for them collecting foil and aluminium cans. Ann therefore requested the composting toilet because of the involvement of the school and also for any plot holders bringing young children down to their plots would not have the problem of what to do about toilet facilities. Counciller Tina Funnell arranged a photo shoot with the press and the following photos show how the session went.

Background shot of plot holders with Ann in the foreground racing towards the toilet and then Counciller Funnel showing the chopped straw mulch that is used to cover what is in the toilet.

After showing off the chopped straw mulch it then came down to tossing the toilet roll in the air; difficult subject trying to cover a toilet!

Eventually the idea of tossing toilet rolls in the air wore thin and the next was to photo somebody sitting on the loo. I wasn't quick enough and got roped in for that.

Which photo got chosen, well, we will just have to wait and see. I just hope the humour doesn't go all lavatorial but then I'll not be surprised if it does!

Ann's New Half Plot

Just when I felt that we were getting on top of our allotment and it could be kept ticking over nicely somebody decided that she wanted to take on a half plot and use it for her flowers. So, on Tuesday morning we got down to the new plot and it was mainly overgrown and with a patch of ground elder against the currant bushes.

First step was to trim off some of the surface grass and weeds in the central section which was not too heavily populated with plant life and then to skim off turf in nice sizes to build a compost bin.

I have built three bins and filled two with green material scraped off the top of the plot. on top of each foot of green material we have added three trugfuls of horse bedding full of urine and sh*t. The horse bedding is sawdust and wood shavings. When the two binfuls have rotted down and are producing less heat the bins will be dug out, emptying the contents of the middle bin into the front bin and the contents of the back bin into the middle bin to re-aerate the composting material and get the heat generation going again. In th eforeground of the picture is an area that has been dug and weed roots removed and baked in the glorious sun we have had the last few days. I have sown field beans into this section as a green manure crop and also a couple of rows of fenugreek so we can use the foliage to make a methi curry.

One section we have put under heavy opaque plastic sheeting until we can get round to dealing with it. To the right of the photo you can see where we have broken straw bales into smaller flaps to cover the groundwe have taken the turf from to build the compost bins. This will act as a good weed supressant and slow the oxidation of any organic matter in the exposed soil.

Here you can see the biggest problem with this plot, ground elder, the Romans have a lot to answer for bringing this menace into Britain. A small pathway was clipped through next to the currant bushes so that the remainder could be sprayed with glyphosate weedkiller. It is just starting to show signs of turning yellow now and wilting. A few more days should see it getting down to the roots and killing them off completely,

Broad Beans leafing up

Following the warm spell after the wet spell the broad bean plants have put on a growth spurt and have been making flowers as well as growning extra leaf.

Potatoes breaking through

The potatoes have now broken through and will need to be earthed up soon.

Mulching onions with comfrey leaves

As the weather turned hot after a wet spell and the comfrey has grown massively I cut down some comfrey to mulch between the onions after hoeing weeds out. The comfrey leaves dry out around the onions and rot into the soil providing organic matter rich in potash.

Last Years Brassicas and Beans

This is last years beans and brassica area. At the rear left corner was a compost heap which has now been leveled out and to the rear right are the remains of the purple sprouting broccoli. There is one remaining cauliflower and a couple of celery like plants left in the bed, the celery will get fed to the guinea pigs as they are a bit scrappy. About half a dozen rows have been sown with beetroot (Boltardy), carrot (Nantes Early), Parsnip (Hollow Crown) and for the first time this year Hamburg Parsley which has a root like parsnip but has a flavour slightly reminiscent of Kohl Rabi.

Another New Plot Holder

Toward the end of last year Brian decided he did not need a full plot and gave up half of his plot. Jan Alice has put in a lot of work and put in fruit beds and a sturdy fruit cage creating a nice tidy plot.