Glen Allotments York England

December Activities

2012-01-03T12:48:00.000Z

Much of the hard work of the year is behind us and crops safely gathered in. However, that does not mean that everything has ground to a standstill and several activities took place during the month.

On December 10th we ran a Christmas Fair (or Fayre if you prefer the more pretentious spelling) at the Heworth Church Hall. In addition to the usual Bric-a-Brac, Books,Cakes, refreshment and Tombola and Raffle stalls there was also a stall selling Christmas ornaments and Christmas table decorations and bunches of holly. The ornaments were made by Mac Mitchell using conifer logs, decorated with spray on snow and model Robins which proved very popular. The table decorations did not prove as popular on the day, perhaps a touch too early on the 10th? A week later at Murton however, Barry took what was left over and Ann Harper managed to sell a lot more holly and table decorations,raising more money in aid of the association and plot 46. In addition to committee members manning the stalls were also some ordinary members of the Association who helped out, a special thanks to Diane Bothamley who despite not being a member of the committee always helps out on such occasions.

December 20th saw a bit more cleaning and tidying up around the site. Mac Mitchell brought in a digger for the cleaning up and put in a base for a new Association shed. You might have noticed that the sheds area is now fenced off. Mac Barry and Phil have cleaned up the sheds and removed rubbish and some rodents from the site.

Mitchell landscapes kindly provided free bark mulch brought in several trailer loads to replenish the path running down from the reduced mobility plots beside plot 46 which should raise that path above the winter water level.

A meeting has been arranged for the evening of 20th January at the Conservative Club with Judith Ward in attendance to discuss some points that have been raised by Bill Callaghan. All plot holders are welcome to attend this meeting to air their views on these or any other matter connected with Glen Allotments.

A lot has been achieved in the last two years turning the site from an eyesore into what we have today. But, (there is always a "but") there is always more that can be achieved and this does depend on input and suggestions from plot holders in the Association.

Fiendish Goings On At The Allotment

2011-11-02T20:23:00.000Z

Autumn is upon us, the crops are mostly in and the winter digging is well under way. Halloween is upon us, last Friday saw a day of preparation for a Halloween evening.

A ghost trail was set up around the plots starting with the black tarry shed becoming the resting place of Tarry Jack.

The evening call was " who dares to knock on the door of Tarry Jack, who dares to look inside the door?" As it happened several small boys dared and becam a bit pestilential, suppose you can't win them all! Then on through the speiders web tunnel with rats and things ghoulish.

Having survived the tunnel it was on to the witch's garden with the three graves and skeltons climbing out.

Mac's plot was set up with gravestones in the mint bed and glowing spiders under skull and crossbones.

On now to witches house number two, for small explosions and getting sprayed with silly string. A bit more mysterious in the dark than it looks in daylight.

As dusk fell the entrants for pumpkin carving competition started to roll up with their entries.

A mainly fun evening and we hope that everyone enjoyed the event.

Mac And His Grandchildren Work Together On Special Needs Plot 46

2011-08-16T20:14:00.000+01:00

During August some of Mac's family were over from the USA and found out what an allotment is. They worked with Mac and Will (Mac's grandson in the UK) on the special needs plot. Seen here taking a break are (from L to R) Madelene, Mac, Harrison, Madison and Will.

Following are some shots of them busy working on the plot.

Will, has become so keen on gardening at the allotment that he bought a lot of plants at the table top sale and a couple of half whiskey barrel planters to plant them in. Here we see him with a Brussel Sprout plant heading off to get it planted so he'll have some sprouts ready for Christmas dinner!

Nearly all the children who visit the allotment like to go and have a look at Nev's chickens, Mac's grandchildren were no exception to this rule so here is a picture of Nev's Chickens strutting about behind the wire cage.

Well, the rain came down!

2011-08-12T11:14:00.000+01:00

Having got the table top sale set up on Friday in glorious sunshine it was most frustarting to arrive at 07:30 on Saturday morning (6 Aug) to find everyone huddled under the gazebos praying for the rain to stop. The prayers went unheeded except for brief respites from the rain and not to be downhearted we went ahead and loaded up the stall with goods for sale on the basis that we had advertised it and someone would turn up. We got down and dug up potatoes, cut cabbages and caulis and pulled beetroot for the plant and vegetable stall. Was it going to be worth it or would we be taking home a lot of extra veg?

It got to 10:00 and the advertised opening time was 10:30, there was a crowd at the gate so somebody let the public in early. The refreshment tent was popular as it provided shelter from the rain, but the other stalls were also popular with a greta deal of interest in the produce stall.

By about 3:30 in the afternoon we had all had enough of the rain and there seemed to be no more customers coming, who can blame them, the rain had really set in and we were all rather wet. So we decided to pack up a half hour early and tidied everything away and counted up the money. First indications are that we made about £300 after deduction of expenses so it turned out a worthwhile day after all.

Plot 46 Looking Splendid For Table Top Sale 6 Aug 2011

2011-08-03T20:58:00.000+01:00

The entranceway to the allotments is looking wonderful, in readiness for the Table Top Sale on Saturday 6 August. Flower beds have been weeded, pallets and scaffold boards are coming tomorrow to build the table tops. Grass has been mown and the sheds are almost full to the brim with items donated for the sale. Everybody is now praying hard for good weather on Saturday.

Table Top Sale Planned for 6 August 2011

2011-07-16T16:51:00.000+01:00

6 August is the date for the next planned table top sale to raise some more money for the special needs plot and the allotment association. Here are 17 pots of Iris sibirica from a clump of plants kindly donated by Sarah Robinson a couple of weeks ago. You can see the new growth starting below where I chopped off the long straggly excess foliage. The pots should be looking quite nice by the time of the sale. If you can help with donations of bric a brac or books for the sale contact Mac Mitchell of Mitchell landscapes, see advert to the top left of this article for a phone number or contact me via the comments section to arrange for items to be picked up. If you have any plants you are splitting, contact me via the comments section to arrange for me to pick them up and get them potted up. The plant stall will be a little smaller than the spring sale but we are hoping to have a produce from the plots available on the stall as many people asked after produce at the last two sales.

Plot 46 For Children With Special Needs - Sponsor List

2011-04-17T20:43:00.000+01:00

Mr and Mrs Ian Parker - Parker developments Malton Road, York
Debbie Reed - Saxon House, Fishergate, York
Dave Robinson - Robinson Properties, York
Stuart Rapson - Simpson Builders, York
Nip Judson - Club Salvation, York
Chris & The Lads - CSL Scaffolding, York
Ken Garland - Elvington Plant Hire, York
Mark Mennel & Lads - Fulford Golf Club, York
Roy Hanlay - A1 Haulage
Jason Martin - Martin's Skip Hire, York
Mick Ross - Bishops Wharf, York
Nev Lowes - Moor Lane Construction, York
Jason Brown - Tree Surgeon, Bolton Percy, York
Chris Ross - B&Q, York
Kirsty - The Range, York
Jim - The Nags Head, Heworth, York
Dave Peacock - Plumbing & Property Services

Plot 46 Open Day and Fundraising

2011-04-14T10:38:00.001+01:00

Joanne adds the finishing touches to the refreshement area and it looks like we are nearly ready for opening up. A crowd has gathered at the gate and Dwayne is doing his best to keep them at bay.

Remploy have set up a stall loadded with garden furniture that has been made in their local workshop. During the day there was a great deal of interest in their stall.

Amazingly, all the lawnmowers in the picture plus the clapped out out one in the manure bay all sold along with allsorts of tools and garden implements on the tool stall. I even bought a bright flourescent orange kagool with a padded lining.

Dianne and Elaine at the tombola stall, every ticket a winner!

To perform the opening of the plot Gregg Scott from Minster FM local radio station came along and helped young Simon our newest plot holder to plant some broad bean plants before going on to cut one of the ribbons on the gateways to the plot.

For any opening you have to have a speech from the Chairman and this was no exception as Barry Bothamley chairman of the allotment association gave his speech preparations were made for the cutting of the ribbons. Behind Barry you can see some of the tools and the junior sized wheelbarrows for the plot holders of the special needs plot use that were part of the sponsorship from many kind donors that made this plot a reality.

Gregg Scott from Minster Fm watches as young William cuts the tape at the first entrance, then it's a quick walk to the second tape where young Simon is waiting with scissors in hand to open the second entrance.

So once the tape had been cut the sun continued to shine for the rest of the day and people were dropping in throughout the day until the close at 4.00 in the afternoon. The whole day was amazingly good but was marred only by the poor quality write up in the York Press which completely failed to grasp that the day was about the opening of the "Youngsters special needs plot" and the fund raising through sponsors and the tabletop sale for the Special Needs plot and the work the association plans to do in future on the site. The Press in their usual inimitable way focussed on the previously opened raised beds for adults with mobility issues which had been funded by the local ward committee and seemed to be more like an election plug for the Labour Party for the upcoming local elections

All in all it was a wonderful day that achieved much. A lot of what was achieved was done so through the hard work of various people in the allotment association (and some who were not in the association) putting in time and effort to obtain and then utilise the backing of the local sponsors who helped enormously in making this possible. I'll be doing a follow up posting to thank the sponsors and all those who helped in this enterprise.

For a photgraphic review of the activities leading up to and more photos of the Open Day visit this link.

One Week to go to The Open Day and Table Top Sale

2011-04-01T19:41:00.000+01:00

The daffodils are looking splendid if somewhat wind blown. Will they still be flowering in a weeks time, hope so. They really do make an impressive show at the entrance to Plot 46 for Special Needs Children.

Is Mac really helping to sort items for the table top sale or just gazing at himself in the antique mirror? Inside the shed out of sight, sorting and categorising is Ann, whilst in the foreground is Norah lugging around a circular table with folding legs. Somehow or other everything will be ready for Saturday 9th and the plot can be handed over to it's new tenants.

Donation towards seeds and plants

2011-03-26T10:25:00.000Z

Many thanks to Mr Ian Brindle of Illingworth's Insurance Brokers for his donation of money towards seeds and plants for the special needs plot. This project has seen much generosity that has helped in the creation from a scruffy corner at the entrance to Glen Allotments into what we hope is going to be a wonderful resource that will give much pleasure for years to come.

Final Meeting Before Open Day & Table Top

2011-03-24T20:47:00.000Z

Just a little reminder to all volunteers for 9 April, that there will be a meeting in the Heworth Conservative Club, East Parade at 8.00 p.m. next Wednesday 30 March for final planning and allocation of tasks.

Further Tidying

2011-03-22T08:30:00.000Z

Levelling off roadway next to plot 46 for the special needs children. The mini digger was kindly loaned by Elvington Plant Hire.

Martin's Skip Hire come up trumps again with a free load of topsoil to be used in levelling out the roadway next to plot 46.

Reg with another barrowload (just one of several loads) for the levelling job.

Untidy area by the Scrope plots cleaned up and levelled, possibly for creation of some starter beds for new plot holders whilst they wait for a larger plot.

So once again it is many thanks to Elvington Plant Hire, Martin's Skips and Mitchell Landscapes for their generosity in donating equipment, materials and time.

Welcome Board

2011-03-15T22:25:00.001Z

Monday morning follow on from Saturday's tidy up was the erection of the "Welcome To Glen Allotments" signboard created for us in the Remploy workshop. Here is Mac wielding the spirit level whilst Reg tightens up the screws fixing the board to the posts.

Finish touch of two small conifers planted in front of the support posts, job well done.

Tidy Up Day Saturday 12 February

2011-03-13T09:51:00.000Z

Partly in preparation for the Plot 46 open day on 9 April and partly to get the hedge back cleared for planting Beech whips where the hedge is a bit open we had a clearing up day. Nev Lowes borrowed a tractor and bucket from Moor Lane Construction which once the leaking hydraulic hose had been replaced was used to gather up accumulated mounds of rubbish along the hedge back and soggy water-laden pieces of carpet on plots that had been given up. By shortly after lunch we had completely filled a large skip from Martin's skip hire.

Barry looks like he might be playing cricket here as he sends a piece of rubbish bouncing to the boundary for a four!

Three bonfires were on the go getting rid of rotten wood, one on Mac's plot, one on Phil's plot and one on Reg's plot. Reg almost had a disaster when the boarding on his raised bed started to smoulder. It was soon sorted and coolled with a garden hose.

Phil stacking his fire with a bit more rotten wood.

More Sponsorship For Plot 46 for Youngsters With Special Needs

2011-03-09T08:23:00.000Z

Ongoing sponsorship and fund raising is going to be an important part of keeping this project going after the opening on 9 April. Mr and Mrs I Parker of Parker Developments, Malton Road and Mitchell landscapes have funded and opened a bank account for the purpose of ongoing maintenance of the plot.

So, a big thank you to the Parkers for their generosity and kindness. As Mac says "without these kind friends I would be nowhere near to finishing the plot for 9th April opening".

Keep your eyes open Mac's new welcome sign which will be appearing at the entrance soon.

Have you seen the York Press article on the project? Mac (as opposed to Matt), and Barry want to clarify that other members of the Glen Allotment association have been involved with the work in various capacities. I'll list a few here but I am bound to miss someone, so I'll apologise now for any ommisions, feel free to let me know of any tasks I have missed or people I have missed and I'll amend the post.

Bulb Planting

Norah
Audrey
Ann
Sian
John
Phil and his friends

Weeding

Clearing Up Wind Demolished Greenhouse

Dwayne
John

Erection of new greenhouse and shed

Mac
Barry
Nev
Reg

Keeping tight control on the purse strings and writing cheques when needed!

Norah

Rallying the troops for Table Top Sale

Joanne

Table Top Sale and Grand Opening of Plot 46 For Youngsters With Special Needs

2011-03-07T14:15:00.001Z

Why Have I not Been at The Allotment the Last Two Weeks?

2011-03-04T10:34:00.000Z

Here is the first clue!

No don't be silly, I know it has been wet the last few weeks but I don't think there are any crocodiles on Glen Allotments!

So here is the next clue, and no Mac it isn't a garden for people with Scottish accents!

Ann and I have been in Singapore for the last two weeks and visited several interesting gardens and wildlife reserves. I addition we also did the obligatory shopping in Orchard Road and visited a couple of museums including the Changi Prison Chapel museum which relates the story of the fall of Singapore and the story of the allied prisoners of war. I was pleased to see that one of the displays included information on a wonderful lady Mary Seah. I had met Mary when I was a child in Singapore, she pedalled a tricycle around RAF Changi and the army base at Selarang selling fruit. At the time of the fall her son went missing and she had gone to Changi Jail to search for him. Here she found POWs needing medicines which she smuggled to them. Mary never found her son and he was probably a victim of the Sook Ching massacres in which large numbers of Chinese in Singapore were rounded up and slaughtered at various sites including Changi beach, Tanah Merah, Punggol Beach and Blakang Mati.

As ever, Singapore is a bustling ever changing place that is wonderful to visit. As new gardens are planned and under construction in the Marina Bay area probably opening in June next year I am sure it will not be long before Ann and I make a return visit and go missing from the plot again.

Just to round off a picture from the wonderful National Orchid Garden which is located in the Botanic Gardens. There is an admission charge for the Orchid Garden which is currently $5 (about £2.50) or $1 if you are entitled to a concession rate. It is well worth the admission price.

Some Finishing (?) Touches To the Disabled Youngsters' Plot

2011-02-13T06:23:00.001Z

Described as finishing touches, the fruit trees have been planted along the path-side of the plot. Knowing Mac though, there will be something else that has to be tinkered with. Daffodils around the plot are now about six inches high and weeding is now under way as it is now possible to see where the daffodils are coming up and not damage emerging shoots with the hoe.

Tools For The Disabled Youngsters Plot

2011-01-29T07:01:00.000Z

As part of the disabled youngsters' plot efforts, Mac Mitchell was determined that there should be some tools available for them to use and persuaded Saxon House in Fishergate to fund the purchase. Here is the manager of Saxon House handing Mac a substantial cheque that will mean that in addition to the sets of hand tools under Mac's arm we can also purchase them a decent wheelbarrow.

New Shed For Disabled Youngsters Plot

2011-01-18T22:02:00.001Z

I was slightly out in suggesting that the shed would be erected by the following afternoon on my last posting. Bad weather delayed it until Saturday. A base was created from pallets and the shed put together and it is now standing next to the greenhouse.

As usual Mac Mitchell, always on the go. A few weeds have dared to stick their heads above ground and need hoeing on the disabled youngsters plot so here he is attacking the weeds with his usual vigour.

Now The Snow Has Gone (for the moment)

2011-01-11T13:20:00.000Z

Snow has gone for the moment so there has been some activity on the disabled yoiungster's plot with the aim of getting it open at the end of March, beginning of April. Sadly ,the free greenhouse that had been donated suffered badly in the gales and had to be removed. Some of the money from the table top sale was spent getting a replacement. A secure base with long steel pins has been erected and the greenhouse erected securely atop the base and glazed with twinwall Polycarbonate glazing. Mitchell landscapes of Malton have donated some more tree shredding mulch to top up the mulch that had been laid last year and two rose arches erected as entranceways into the plot. We have also had a kind donation from Dave Robinson of Robinson's Property Management of York in the form of a shed which will be purchased tomorrow and with a bit of effort we hope will be erected by the end of the afternoon tomorrow.

The boundary hedge has got several gaps that need to be plugged, so it is planned to get about 100 whip saplings of hawthornand beech from Castle Howard to make the perimeter a little more secure and tidy. So we will need a few volunteers in a couple of weeks time on Sunday to get them planted. Another table top sale is in the offing but this time in aid of the allotment association to supplement the money raised from the annual subscription used to provide things like the manure, compost and the whip saplings for the boundary hedge. Date of the next table top sale will coincide with the opening of the disabled youngsters plot which will be opened by a local radio personality. So start thinking about donations of bric a brac, raffle prizes and saving up your money to come and spend at the table top sale.

Winter Comes With A Vengeance

2010-11-28T23:08:00.000Z

No doubt about it, winter has come and given us a dose of snow in November like we used to get in 1960s and early 1970s. Thanks to Terry who took these photos on Sunday afternoon. I rather like the one of the frozen Raspberry with the granular frosty snowm granules.

Snow like that! Not going to get much done today, head home to sit by a warm radiator!

Table Top Sale 16 October 2010

2010-10-17T16:16:00.001+01:00

To raise money for the disabled youngsters plot project a table top sale was held with tombola and raffle stalls, clothing, Toys, Bric a Brac and Tools just a little over £800 was raised on what was a very enjoyable day.

Disabled Youngsters Plot

2010-10-11T08:07:00.000+01:00

The works continue, and further thanks are due to Adrian Smith of 659 taxis donated £200 worth of plants, Dave Holmes of Mitchell Landscapes of Malton donated time, timber and plants, Jason Martin from Martin's Skip Hire kindly donated another ...load of top soil, Jason Brown tree surgeon provided shredded bark mulch and both Vertigrow and Dean's Garden Centres donated cash which was used to purchase plants.

Association members were out in force on Sunday to plant over 4000 daffodil, narcissus and tulip bulbs. See photographs below showing the planted hydrangeas, wallflowers and fruit trees as well as the bulb planting activities.

Next Saturday 16 October there will be a table top sale at Glen Allotments site with Bric a Brac, Tools, Clothing, Books, Toys, Cake Stall and refreshments running from 11a.m. - 4 p.m. so if you have anything to donate, either cash or goods, contact Norah Godfrey on 07888 693541 or Mac Mitchell on 07970 851417.

Meeting Minutes 4 September 2010

2010-09-19T15:33:00.000+01:00

Glen Allotments Association Committee Meeting

Held on the 4th September 2010 at the Portacabin

Apologies Albert Smethern, Terry Goody, John Harper.

Committee Members Present, Chairman Barry Bothamley, Treasurer Norah Godfrey, Site Secretary Robin Cooper, Ann Harper, Nev Lowes, Mac Mitchell, and Audrey Stockdale.

Minutes by Norah Godfrey

1 Meeting declared open at 4pm by Barry, he asked if there were any issues from the last minutes.

1-1 there were none.

2 Secretary's Report.

2-1 No report as secretary not present

3 Treasurers Report

3-1 Report Presented and offered to hand it round but declined by the committee, so it was read out by Norah suggesting fund raising needs to be done, and also the new £10 Assoc fee has been well received with only a few plot holders left to join if they want to.

4 Identifying a Tenancy

4-1 Robin explained Ix 1/2 plot is 1 tenancy, 2x1/2 plots is 1 tenancy,! full plot is 1 tenancy, this has helped to define the Assoc charges, However, depending on the condition of some plots at the time of applying, some cases of 2plots have been classed as 1 tenancy with 1 vote.

5 Concrete Road Edge Two committee members have expressed their disgust and anger about the road strengthening that has encroached on their plot and their neighbours, who apparently have been very upset about this but have not approached the Association about it

5-1 Barry took a look at the road and found some of it is breaking up, but it was following the natural line, at the time of putting it down it was a last minute decision as there was some cement left over from laying the path and it was near setting.

5-2 Norah to apologise on behalf of the Assoc to the plot holders and explain why the hasty repair was done

6 Main Gate

6-1 The gate has been left open over night on a few occasions, please look around when leaving, if in doubt shut and lock it, if you need the number contact a committee member all their numbers are on the notice board.

6-2 New larger signs are to be purchased reminding people to shut and lock the gate.

7 Locks on plot gates

7-1 Barry pointed out that no plot gate should have a lock on, please read your agreement which says no locks are permitted.

8 Taps

8-1 Norah mentioned that some plots have their own taps, which Judith has said needs removing, only the disabled plot is to have its own ,all others are for communal use. Robin Cooper has had no info from Judith about removing personal taps, confirmation to be asked next time Judith on site.

9 Rubbish Dumping

9-1 Please don't create an eyesore, keep your rubbish on your plot until a date is given for the skip, or take it away in your car if you can. Ta.

10 Rubbish Bin

10-1 There is a black/grey bin by the loo for litter rubbish, not for can's,wood,or plastic, there will be some re-cycling boxes arriving, these may be stored by the side of the portacabin for everyone's use.

11 Shop & Shed Keys

11-1 Robin was asked if there were any spare keys, and there are none, so, the only key holders for the sheds are Robin, Barry, Albert, Mac, and Norah.

12 Compost Delivery

Norah mentioned the delivery man gets produce as a thank you for the delivery and on each occasion it is the same handful of people giving, there are many more getting the benefit of the compost and are unaware of the giving of produce, would cash tip be better?

2-1 Nev pointed out that that would deplete what money has been saved; he gave the next delivery date as Thursday 30^th of September produce needs to be ready on Wednesday the 29^th September. This will be the last delivery of the Season Compost and Manure to Non Members is to cost £10x3 barrow loads.

13 Plot 46

13-1 Judith Ward came to talk to some committee members about the plans the Assoc had for plot 46 in hope to take it over, she talked at length with Barry & Mac over the plans and saw no reason for us not to have it, unfortunately, the next day Robin had a meeting with Judith, and he told us we were not able to have it, which was a blow for everyone. However, Judith was contacted for an application form for another one, she discussed plot 46 again, and things looked more promising. Mac then got the go ahead on the 11^th September. Barry to get paper work in the post.

13-2 The cleaning up of plot 46 has started and also around that area, as you will have noticed so watch this space on plot 46

13-3 Judith mentioned to Barry that the Assoc will need insurance for that plot which Barry had already got in hand with Albert and lucky for us the one he choose entitles the Assoc to ½ price seeds.

13-4 As plot 46 is going to be for disabled children it needs to be supervised for

health and safety reasons Barry has suggested certain times of access.

14 AOB

14-1 Dates For Your Diary

3^rd of October volunteers to clean up the site, good day to get rid of your rubbish! Judith to order a skip for us.

10^th of October volunteers needed to plant up daffs all round the site, holes will be dug with a machine. Amen to that!

16^th of October Table Top Sale please bring your unwanted items to the site they can be stored in the sheds just let one of us know when you are bringing it, Please do your best to support the Assoc as proceeds are going to improve the site and the disabled plot. Flyers have been done just need circulating in the area. There will be a tombola, raffle, cake stall, and refreshments

30^th of October Halloween Fancy Dress Party, please choose a safe place to land your broomsticks avoiding all sheds,poly tunnels, green houses, and fencing at all costs, for a more adventurous landing try circling the flats twice and approach the driveway upside down from the main gate, a safety net on request.Food and drinks info nearer the time, Bring your own Chinese lanterns.

14-2 Tidy up the green bay area and arrange an open day with councillors

14-3 Commemorative Plaque- John and Ann Harper have had a plaque made which has now been put on the middle bay.

14-4 Splading Flower Show There is a trip planned to go to the Spalding Flower show, stopping off for breakfast at a farm shop first, this will be the first Sunday in MAY let us know ASAP so transport can be booked, Association members have to DECEMBER 1^st to put their

names down and then it will be open to non-members and friends.

14-5 Pumpkin competition weighs in on Sunday 24^ln October 12noon

14-6 Potatoes competition Winner, was.Robin Cooper well done Robin with 541bs of spuds!!Robin donated his winnings of £20 to the Association thank you.

Last and by no means least

An official thank you to Nev and the lads for preparing the ground and making the foot path over 2 week ends nice job! THANK YOU

Plot for Disabled Youngsters

2010-09-17T16:35:00.001+01:00

Following the disabled group having to vacate the plot for allowing it to become overgrown, the Glen Allotment Association has taken on the running of the plot. The association will be paying the annual rent for the plot which will be divided up into several raised beds for use by disabled children and their carers. These plots will be available shortly for use by disabled children and their carers at no charge.

This series of photos shows some of the activity on Wednesday afternoon 15 September 2010, getting the plot ready for use. Thanks to Elvington Plant Hire for the use of the mini digger, Martin's Skip Hire for the topsoil delivery, Mitchells Landscapes for the mini tractor and rotovator plus manpower and CSL Scaffolding who will be providing scaffold boards for the building of the raised beds.

The previous beds created for folks with restricted mobility were the inspiration for the project. As can be seen here there is some succesful cultivation going on.

To obtain use of a section of this plot contact the site secretary Robin Cooper by visiting Glen Allotments on a Sunday morning, just ask for Robin or if he is not available ask Barry Bothamley chairman of the Glen Allotment Association. There is still some space on the reduced mobility area which is administered by the council, also contact Robin Cooper for a section or contact the York Allotments Officer at the council.

Greenhouse Up and Running

2010-09-10T18:30:00.033+01:00

Late summer seems to have been a busy time with various construction projects going on. During August I erected the framework of a large 12ft x 8ft greenhouse around a patch of brassicas and was then glazed it. Paving slabs have been laid upthe middle. The greenhouse was given to us for nothing on the proviso that I took it down. I'm very grateful for it and have almost filled it already with plants. Inevitably when you take down something like this some of the glazing nuts and bolts shear when you try to undo them and some of the glass gets broken. The only costs I have had has been in replacing some of the sheared bolts, topping up the W glazing and replacing some of the broken glass with twinwall polycarbonate. I purchased 2 packs of 10 sheets 2ft x 4ft panels for just over £40 each from a company called Nick Grey on the internet. So I now have some spare sheets for when more of the glass gets broken.

What's all the banging, sawing and drilling Mac?

2010-09-09T21:39:00.000+01:00

This past week there has been the sound of much banging sawing and drilling from Mac's allotment. Here are the photos of what has been going on.

Archway for climbing plants.

A netted plant cage to keep the birds off and be able to stand up in without cracking your head. Notice the flower troughs built onto the side now known as the the Tea bar, all we need are the bar stools!

Sitting area topped up with wood shreddings. Barry enjoying a cuppa after bringing in several barrow loads of shreddings.

Front view of the cage and greenhouse/shed.

Committee Meeting 17 August 2919

2010-09-01T06:51:00.000+01:00

Glen Allotments Association Committee Meeting 17th August 2010 5.15pm
Apologies Terry Goody (committee member), Neville Lowes (committee member)

Committee Present: Barry Bothamley (Chair), Albert Smetham (Secretary), Nora Godfrey (Treasurer), John Harper, Ann Harper, Mac Mitchell

Agenda:

1./ Expansion of limited mobility plot
2./ Letting out of limited mobility plots.
3./ School plot – control of dogs
4./ Plot rubbish disposal
5./ Responsibility for aspects of site management
6./ Any other business.

Meeting commenced 5.25.pm

1.    Expansion of Limited Mobility Plot
1.1.    Since the last meeting plots 45 and 46 have been vacated. There has been some confusion over what is happening.
1.2.    The Association understands that the existing wheelchair path on plot 45 is to be retained, with the association developing the area between the path and the entrance roadway up to height of one scaffold board.
1.3.    Plot 46 has already been marked out as four quarter plots. The association understands that these are to be rented out to new tenants.
1.4.    There needs to be clarification over what is happening to the whole of plot 45.
1.5.    Decision: Barry Bothamley will talk with Judith Ward and Robin Cooper when they are due on site at 9.00am tomorrow morning (18th August 2010).

2.    Letting out of Limited Mobility Plots
2.1.    Currently there is only one tenant on the existing limited mobility plot. This raises questions about do the relevant members of the wider community know of the existence of these plots?
2.2.    Discussion elicited the realisation that there needs to be an inauguration of these plots with attendant publicity.
2.3.    The original motivation to develop these plots was to help a former plot holder, Brian Ashton, to continue gardening in spite of his ill-health as he was well-liked and respected and also to provide opportunities for other gardeners in a similar situation.
2.4.    It was decided that a plaque was needed to dedicate the limited mobility plots to Brian Ashton and his wife Phyllis and to mark the provision of funding for this project by Heworth Ward Committee.
2.5.    An official inauguration needs to be instigated with attendant publicity to let those who might be interested in these plots know they are available.
2.6.    Decision: The Committed revisited its decision on the rental of these plots and decided that as rent is payable to the council that the holders should have honorary membership of the Association
2.7.    Decision: Ann Harper to price an appropriate plaque as a first step. The inscription agreed on is: ‘These beds are dedicated to Brian and Phyllis Ashton. Funded by Heworth Ward Committee 1st August 2010’

3.    School Plot – Control of Dogs
3.1.    There have been two instances of dog muck being found around the school plot after a dog had been seen to be roaming around the school plot while people were working there.
3.2.    Decision: Barry Bothamley to speak with Judith Ward about this to resolve the issue.

4.    Plot Rubbish Disposal
4.1.    There has been an accumulation of rubbish next to the portakabin dumped by plot holders.
4.2.    People are clearing their plots of rubbish and then putting it next to the portakabin to await a rubbish skip.
4.3.    Decision: Plot holders must not dump rubbish next to the portakabin. They must be informed that a rubbish skip comes only once a year. If they have rubbish to get rid of then it must be retained on their plot awaiting the skip or they can take it to the tip themselves.

5.    Responsibility for Aspects of Site Management
5.1.    It was noted that we might utilise existing skills within the committee and get better results if individual committee members took up responsibility for particular aspects of site management.
5.2.    The areas suggested were: Projects, Funding, Health and Safety, Social/Events
5.3.    Decision: To go away and think about it and put this on the agenda for the next meeting.

6.    AOB
6.1.    The confusion over what is happening to plot 45 arose out of the committee’s lack of knowledge of the waiting list. Perhaps the Association needs to be in closer communication with the Site Secretary and Allotments Officer over this. Barry Bothamley to discuss with Robin Cooper and Judith Ward.
6.2.    Neville Lowes arrived at 6.10pm. Nev brought up to date with meeting.

Meeting closed at 6.15pm

Concrete Pouring for Disabled Path to Toilet

2010-08-07T12:16:00.000+01:00

Barrows poised at the ready, Rob gets the first barrow load.

Too much piled at the front of the barrow and it is spilling on the grass so dump it half way.

A good rythm going now as Nev roughly levels off the poured concrete.

Roughly filled, time to tamp level and smooth.

What are we going to do with all this left over concrete?

Barrow it down to Mac and strengthen the sides of the roadway

Hannah supervises the levelling of the road edge and smoothing of the path edge.

Finishing touches, gaurd posts planted so now it is time for a cuppa and a bacon butty.

Glen Allotments Association Meeting – 21st July 2010 – 7.00pm

2010-08-04T06:37:00.000+01:00

Apologies: Albert, Becky

Committee Members present: Norah Godfrey, Neville Lowes, Terry Goody, Mac Mitchell, Barry Bothamley, John Harper, Audrey Stockdale, Ann Harper

Assoc. Members present: Bill Callaghan, Geoff, Diane Bothamley, Rob

1    Meeting declared open at 7.30pm

2    Secretary’s report
2.1    No report as Secretary not present.

3    Treasurer’s report
3.1    Norah Godfrey presented the treasurers report.

4    Membership fee.
4.1    The meeting revisited the decision from the previous meeting to increase the membership fee from £3 to £10 to be put into effect from 1st Aug.2010.
4.2    It was felt that this might be seen as a steep increase especially as the AGM had been brought forward from October thus the £3 did not cover a full 12 mths membership. Was this fair on those who might only just have joined as new plot members?
4.3    The increase was to cover the additional costs of providing free compost, manure etc. to members and thus waive the previous per barrow charges which were unwieldy to collect. It was felt that this was a bargain bearing in mind the money saved by each association member on compost and manure.
4.4.1    Decision
The membership fee would be increased to £10 per year from 1st August 2010.

5    Meeting Place
5.1    Are we happy to meet at Black Swan on last Wednesday of Month? Several disadvantages were pointed out:- midweek more difficult for some people. Black Swan more difficult to get to than Conservative Club. Drinks expensive and potentially noisy and crowded for a meeting.

5.1.1    Decision
Meetings will henceforth be conducted at the Portakabin on site at Glen Allotments on last Saturday of month at 11.00am. However the next meeting will be on September 4th 2010 at 11.00am as otherwise we will be clashing with August Bank Holiday Weekend.

6    Account Signatories
6.1    Due to the formation of the new committee there is a need to change bank signatories.

6.1.1    Decision
This will be organised by the officers concerned.

7    A.O.B.

7.1    Storing of used water on plots.
7.1.1    There are problems of smell and proliferation of midges/mosquitoes which are not just of nuisance value but pose a potential health hazard. There are plotholders who have suffered infected bites.
7.1.2    Decision
Site Secretary Robin Cooper will check with York City Council and report back to next meeting.

7.2 Water Drums
7.2.1    Robin Cooper has three 45 gallon containers to be used for water storage. These are available on a first-come, first-served basis in exchange for a small donation to Association coffers.

7.3 Limited Mobility Plots
7.3.1    As an Association we cannot sub-let plots to tenants as this contravenes YCC rules.
7.3.2    Decision
Let limited mobility plots go to those eligible for zero rent, but insist that the holders join the Glen Allotments Association.

7.4    Plots 45 & 46
7.4.1    The YCC are due to issue the organisation responsible for these plots with a notice to quit for failure to maintain.
7.4.2    The project was being supported by an organisation called Gardenable to provide gardening plots and experience to those with physical and/or learning limitations.
7.4.3    One problem with this project was the use of many tyres which are classified as waste and incur a cost to dispose of. It was felt that if these remain on site beyond the demise of the project to which they belong then the Association could become liable for their disposal. At a current disposal cost of £4 per tyre then this could be a considerable total sum.
7.4.4    After discussion a consensus emerged that this project was worthwhile.
7.4.5    Decision
To ensure that should plots 45 & 46 become vacant that the tyres are disposed of by the organisation that brought them on. Glen Allotments Association could take on the one plot that already has a wheelchair path on it and add it to the existing limited mobility plot with the further work that is necessary to bring it into use to be done by volunteers. The remaining plot to become available to rent again for members of the public.

7.5    Wheel chair Access Path
7.5.1    Work on a wheel chair access path to the compost toilet has been started.
7.5.2    Call for volunteers to complete. Some materials already purchased. Robin Cooper has £150 of Assoc. Funds to complete purchase of necessary materials.
7.5.3    Decision
Neville Lowes, Mac Mitchell and Robin Cooper to confer and organise volunteers for the works to be completed on the weekend commencing 31st July 2010.

7.6    Vandalism
7.6.1    There have been recent minor acts of vandalism on site.
7.6.2    Decision
Make sure all plot holders report any theft, vandalism or acts of trespass to the police. For this purpose we include the telephone number of our PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) Annie Simpson which is:-07920 56213   Also CCTV will be installed to deter wrong ‘uns and clearer signage on the entrance gate.

7.7    Membership cards.
7.7.1    New membership cards will have the plot number of the tenant on them in future.

7.8    Manure Delivery
7.8.1    Another delivery of manure is to take place on 29th of July. Neville Lowes asks that the car-park be kept clear to allow the wagon access to the bays that day.
7.8.2    Decision
Robin Cooper will change the lock on the gate for that day so that cars will not have access until after the delivery.

7.9    Lawnmower Access
7.9.1    There is a petrol-engine lawnmower available for use of members but it is currently not as accessible as it might be.
7.9.2    Decision
Lawnmower will be transferred to Association shop. Extra keys will be cut and left for safekeeping with members of the committee one of whom is usually on site.

7.10    Shop Opening
7.10.1    Shop is open on Sunday morning but there is limited access. Robin Cooper is there from 9.00am to approx. 11.00am. Longer hours Sat and Sun to be arranged.
7.10.2    Decision
Key holders will open the shop for those that need it in the same way as making the lawnmower available i.e. by request.

7.11    Topsoil
7.12.1    Mac Mitchell and Neville Lowes can obtain topsoil at a cost of £80 per load already sieved for association members. See either Mac or Nev to order.

7.12    Site Secretary
7.13.1    Barry Bothamley (Chair of the Association) invited the committee to elect Robin Cooper to join the committee. Without Robin’s efforts it is doubtful that Glen Allotments would have survived and the Association needs Robin’s help, advice and experience. Robin Cooper agreed to serve on the committee and was given a unanimous vote of thanks for this.

8    There being no other business the meeting was declared closed by the chairman at 8.55pm.

REMINDER - Potato Competition runs until 1 Sep. when produce will be weighed on shop scales.

CCTV

2010-08-01T09:46:00.000+01:00

A CCTV camera has been installed on the allotment site to deter scrap metal thieves. Mounted on a pole at the compost bins it faces the entrance gate, recording movement in and out of the site along the entrance road.

Shed Move and Social Drink

2010-08-01T09:31:00.000+01:00

Having emptied John's shed during the week, the pathworks gang bodily lifted the shed over the gooseberry bushes between John and Bill's plots then carried the shed like a giant coffin to the roadway then up around the communal compost bins to place at the other end of John and Ann's plot next to the Plum tree.

Saturday afternoon was rounded off with a social get together which started on Norah's plot then moved outside the Portakabin as more people joined for a few beers before heading home after a productive day.

Pathworks

2010-08-01T09:14:00.000+01:00

A busy Saturday morning, Nev Mac Barry Rob Chris and John started on the job of putting in shuttering and putting down crushed limestone then whacked it down ready for the next stage of concrete pouring that will be done next Saturday. Work was sustained by bacon butties and tea supplied by Norah and Hannah and washed down with Ann's onion soup made with produce from Ann and John's plot. For those interested in recipes.

Onion Soup
400 g Onion chopped small
60g Olive Oil
60ml Butter
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
2 Stock cubes (veg or beef according to preference)
700 ml Water
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook onions and sugar in Olive oil on a low heat for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionaly untill bottom of pan is covered with a rich brown caramelised film. Add the 700ml water with 2 stock cubes. Cover pan and simmer gently for 1 hour. 1 or 2 tbsp of brandy makes a nice addition just before serving.
Cheesey Croutons
Cut slices of French loaf and toast under grill, spread with butter and grated cheese, grill to melt cheese then cut into small cubes.

Place croutons in bowl then ladel the hot onion soup over the croutons.

Strange Plant On Barry's Plot

2010-07-07T13:23:00.003+01:00

After getting peanut plants springing up on our allotments courtesy of the little titbits Barry keeps feeding the squirrels a strange plant has now grown on his plot. Does anybody know what it is? The flowers are very short lived opening and closing in less than 24 hours and then falling off to reveal the spikey seed pod as seen in the last photograph.

Plant has now been identified by Kevin Holland who has a plot on the Hemplands site. It is the highly poisonous Datura - Thorn Apple so whatever you do, DO NOT EAT ANY PART OF IT!.

A Busy Week

2010-05-29T10:12:00.000+01:00

It has been a busy week. Bill Callaghan and I gave Terry Goody a hand to start cleaning up his overgrown allotment. As you can see from the picture it had started to get away on him.

It was basically a scrape off the top with a spade method and moving soilfrom some of the beds that had been raised to form a pile for the planned boarded raised beds at the top end of the plot above the flooding level. Having moved the soil from one bed the plan was to sow grass seed on it and later plant some fruit trees. However, we thought as this would give an instant usable planting area that it would be better to wet it and then rotovate it and get some plants in.

Weeds were scraped off the top of a couplr more beds before the rotovator was brought in and two raised heap beds created ready for planring some brassicas kindly donated by Nev. We ended up putting in almost 80 brassicas including red cabbage, cabbage, cauliflower and sprouts.

Behind the netted brassica bed are the garlic nicely hoed, and in the far background the compost bin has almost been filled.

A second brassica bed planted and netted. in front of it Terry has set up a number of short rows, you can just see the white marker tabs. Two spare gardener's delight tomato plants on the end of the row. In the foreground another bed scraped off and waiting for rotovation, probably next week. Planking frame to make the box raised bed will probably be made next week and filled from the pile of soil behind the netting.

Having made good progress on Terry's plot we rotovated a large area on Bill's plot and then got his sweet corn bed ready for planting. In the meantime my own plot was in need of a bit of weeding around the Parsnips and then resowing of the Beetroot that had been savaged by the sparrows. I covered the sowed areas of beetroot this time to keep the birds off when they germinated. Friday was spent moving the contents of the compost heap by the fruit cage and levelling the area to take some brassicas I have waiting to plant out. It is raining this morning so that is why I am sitting here writing this blog instead of being out at the plot getting the brassicas planted, maybe this afternoon.

Barry's Tree Stump Succesfully Removed

2010-05-17T19:43:00.000+01:00

Having got the tree stump out, Barry has put together the framework of his aluminium greenhouse. Tomorrow it will be the removal of the plastic greenhouse and get the aluminium one positioned and glazed up.

Barry Who Isn't Allotment Association Treasurer

2010-05-17T14:38:00.000+01:00

As I was planting out some brassicas this morning, 6 Calabrese and 22 Cauliflower, I could hear a clunking and banging from Barry's plot. So when I finished planting and watering I went over to have a look and see what was going on. I found Barry chopping and digging at the stump of an old Elder tree to make room for his greenhouse. Compared to the soft nature of Elder branches the stump seemed to have an iron like quality and was resisting strenuosly against attemps to remove it.

More later this afternoon, probably.

Tree Blossoms - Magnolia and Berberis

2010-05-10T07:26:00.000+01:00

Magnolia in bloom these past few days with the Berberis Darwinii just behind it.

Berberis Darwinii started off very small a few years ago and has now grown into this bush with a profusion of flowers.

Allotment Association Treasurer

2010-05-09T20:09:00.001+01:00

Early morning Saturday, I startled Barry our allotment association treasurer and snapped him just as he looked up from his tray of plants he was dealing with.

Raised Beds Area For Restricted Mobility Users

2010-05-08T18:49:00.000+01:00

A few plots away from us was Brian, a keen plot holder we saw most days when we went down to the allotment. Unfortunately Brian was taken ill and his mobility severely restricted resulting in him giving up his plot. This didn't stop him coming down for a chat a couple of times a week and saying how much he missed his plot. With this in mind Ann approached the local councillors for Heworth ward and Judith Ward the allotments officer for the council and set in motion a request for a grant to create an area of raised beds for people like Brian who had been active and had their mobility retsricted. Money was allocated by the Heworth Ward committee for the project and finally came through towards the end of the financial year for the Glen Allotments Association to get the project up and running. An area next to the car park was set aside to provide easy access to the area.

Work started a couple of weeks ago levelling the area next to the car park and placing a top soil covering and rails around the area. Three fruit trees were planted along the edge of the roadway into the site to mark the edge of the area. The box constructions were made in Mac Mitchell's yard at Malton and transported to the site for painting with green timbere preserve and put into position for filling with topsoil. Once filled with topsoil the paths around the beds were filled mith bark mulch. The finished beds look really good now and the next stage will be to get them occupied. A big thank you to Mac and his gang who did the majority of the heavy work to get this up and running.

Busy Weekend

2010-04-15T08:37:00.000+01:00

Ann went off to Lichfield at the weekend to look after her mother's 88 year old friend who had just come out of hospital. So I was able to get on and catch up with some jobs whilst she was away. The first job was to erect the bean poles we had won last year in the best plot competition.

On Saturday, Nev on the plot next to me asked about the greenhouse we were planning. I said that Ann had decided on a poly tunnel but that she was away with the car. Nev very kindly offered to drive me to The Range so I could buy one (£89.99) and we then cleared an area for it and erected it. Inside I have placed some mini greenhouses on which the covers had rotted and placed them as staging supports. Staging was created from long lengths of wood from old pallets placed on the supports. The staging is almost full now with seed trays and some Penstemon cuttings. I also set up some lengths of old guttering and filled them with compost and have sown mypeas in them. When they are sufficiently grown they will be planted outdoors just by sliding the matt of pea roots and plants out of the guttering.

The next area to receive attention was the area where we had made a raised bed over a patch that was low and boggy most of the year by surround ing the area with straw bales and filling with horse bedding manure and compost. Main crop potatoes have now been planted in the bed and wooden support rails placed on top of the bales which are starting to collapse. Grow bags with strawberry plants have been place atop the support rails.

The rest of this year's potatoes are going in the second plot next to the compost bins.

Committe Meeting Minutes 26 Mar 2010

2010-04-06T12:54:00.000+01:00

GLEN ALLOTMENT ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD AT THE CONSERVATIVE CLUB
EAST PARADE, HEWORTH
FRIDAY 26th MARCH 2010 AT 1930HRS

Those in attendance
Mr .K. Bearpark (chair)
Mr. R. Cooper(secretary)
Mr. B. Bothamley (TREASURER)
COMMITTEE Mrs S Braund, Mr J French, Mr T. Goody, Mr. J. Harper, Mr. J. Ingman
And Mrs. A. Stockdale.

Apologies from Miss .B. Shreeve .

The chair opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. The chair then
stated some questions were being raised over co-opted members of the
committee some discussion took place over this and it was resolved.

The following subjects were discussed at length.

1/ WEEDS ; on the main pathway ; Mr. R .Cooper has this in hand.

2/ TRENCHES ; It is up to the individual they are responsible for their own plots as are those who put up fencing.

3/ Improvements to the car park will be on going as needed and fly tipping will be monitored.

4/ There is other work ongoing along with investigation work into the flooding problem.

5/ Tyres this problem is down to the council.

Mrs. N. Godfrey's letter concerning the fencing has been answered in three above although it was given time to be questioned . After some discussion it was thought that some tenants would grow climbers e.g. clematis, climbing rose, or honeysuckle which would make the fencing a little more decorative to look at.

The minutes are available for all members by your email address (to be given to Mr James Ingman) or by post (you provide the postage) or they are available from below the notice board in the car park. There being no other business the meeting closed at 2015.

Next committee meeting is Friday 30th April 2010 at 1930 hrs .

SIGNED CHAIR.
Mr K Bearpark

NOTE this is an experiment, putting these minutes on here, feedback if you like it or if you don't. Feel free to use this blog as a forum for your concerns ideas and topics for discussion at the next committee meeting.

Progress on James Ingman's Plot

2010-04-06T10:58:00.000+01:00

I promised to get back Jame's plot when he did some more photos. As predicted April hit us before he did some more photos. So, shall we start with the Rhubarb? OK, why not! The leaves have poked out and unfurled and greened up, but not enough stalk on it for that crumble yet.

James has taken on the task of growing some flowers for a friend's wedding. A risky enterprise some would say. Timing is all important if not nigh on impossible. See what I mean in these shots of the Muscari (grape hyacinth). Keep on trying though James, it is half the fun of gardening.

Trays of brassica seedlings in the greenhouse have germinated and sprouted and here we have Kale on the left and broccoli on the right.

Bushes in the fruit cage are now showing good green growth.

So James has got his plot well under way this year with promises of a bumper crop of flowers, fruit and veg. I'm sure we'll have some mor pictures from James sometime soon.

James Ingman's Plot - Early March 2010

2010-03-29T21:22:00.000+01:00

Here are some photographs James took of his plot in early March. In the first one you can see his fruit cage structure built around the corner of his plot. If you look hard you might just see some green flecks in the bed in front of it. James assures us that they are winter onions and not blades of grass. He is a bit worried that they don't seem to have made much progress. Don't worry James they will romp away when (if) it warms up and you get them fed.

In the other corner of the plot is the greenhouse built from wood and sheets of polythene. A rebuild was necessary after the first attempt was part destroyed in high winds last autumn. At the edge of the greenhouse you see the cold frame awaiting finishing touches.

The first signs of spring are just evident with the Rhubard just poking through and starting to unfurl it's leaves. James is particularly fond of rhubard crumble so he is growing the right stuff. Wonder what he is going to put on it? I prefer custard on mine to be honest!

A lot of hard work has gone into cleaning the soil of weed roots and bramble residues and getting the bed next to the onions ready for potatoes, still a bit to do like get them planted.

Hope to have some more photos from James towards the end of the month, oh, we are almost there and snow is forecast for Wednesday, so beginning of April may be more realistic!

Signs of Spring

2010-03-24T07:15:00.000Z

After the slightly harder winter than we have been experiencing, the heavy snow came as a slight shock for some. Spring flowers have been delayed and daffodils are only just coming into bloom. Having repaired my fruit cage which suffered a bit during the inclement weather I looked around for signs of spring.

So here is one sure sign that spring is around, site secretary Robin Cooper has rotovated his potato plot and is planting his potatoes. Shortly after that, the stresses and strains of planting were being releived with an afternoon cuppa.

A lot of hard work has obviously been going on just before the break for afternoon tea! From left to right and top to bottom are Robin Copper, Keith Bearpark, Mac Mitchell, Ann Harper, Bill Callaghan and Nora Godfrey. So what about the signs of spring.?

A small grouping from our own plot, daffodils just opening in front of a hellebore, nearby is a white hellebore, note the cunning use of a thin branch from a bush to lift the flower head to view the flower face. The large euphorbia is also in flower, not sure what the variety is but it forms a large bush.

The garlic (foreground) was planted mid October last year and is coming on strongly, The spinach took a bit of a hammering during the winter but all the dead and frost damaged leaves have been removed and added to the compost heap, there are a few leeks which will get eaten over the next few weekends, freeing up a patch for planting. The winter onions just in front of the fruit cage were also planted in October but do not seem to be as strong as the garlic. Next to the fruit cage is a tub of tulips providing a small splash of colour.

So, yes, spring is sprung and the grass is riz!

So get to your plots and do the biz!

August 2009 - a bit more

2009-08-23T17:53:00.003+01:00

Since January the site has been a hive of activity. Many new plotholders have arrived on the scene and many of the plots now sport wooden fences made from pallets.

The year has gone particularly well with many plot holders getting good crops. Above is a superb looking crop of curly kale. Notice the woodwork for bean frames next year. There has been a lot of woodworking going on. Another new activity that has taken off this year is the plot for Tang Hall Primary School. Now that the summer holidays are here the school gardening club has been kept going by parents and the Council's Allotments Officer, Judith Ward.

A greenhouse aluminium frame has been donated to the school plot. The frame has been put together and is awaiting the base woodwork being completed when it will be moved to it's position and the twin wall polycarbonate glazing sheets will be fitted.

Finally, our own second half plot where we are just starting the clearance of the next section. Where we will bw taking up the blue plastic sheeting, removing the old blackcurrant bushes and digging over thoroughly to get rid of the ground elder roots. I wish the Romans had not brought Ground Elder with them when they came to Britain all those years ago. It sure is a problem nowadays.

August 2009

2009-08-17T08:23:00.006+01:00

Was my last post realy way back in January. The site has made amazing progress and there has been much activity with new plot holders transforming the appearance of the site. More of that will follow in a later post possibly tomorrow. For the moment I want to record the success of one of the sites plots in the City of York Allotment Garden Competition 2009. Mr John and Mrs Ann Harper were nominated for the best plot award and in addition to winning the best plot award on the Glen site also won joint best plot in the East area of York.

Write up on the allotments competition in the York Press

January 2009

2009-02-03T10:52:00.003Z

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

2008-06-04T17:59:00.003+01:00

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

2008-05-25T18:47:00.002+01:00

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

2008-05-09T09:30:00.000+01:00

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

2008-05-08T09:32:00.002+01:00

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

Mulching onions with comfrey leaves

2008-05-08T09:24:00.002+01:00

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

2008-04-25T08:45:00.002+01:00

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

2008-04-24T08:45:00.001+01:00

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.

New Plots

2008-04-23T08:45:00.001+01:00

Amongst the new plot holders this one of Sam's is one that stands out as having had a fair amount of work done on it to make it look tidy and is looking ready to go this year.

Kale Finishing

2008-04-22T08:45:00.001+01:00

The Kale which has provided greens over the winter has now started to flower and will have to be pulled up, maybe sort through and get some tender leaves for one last meal, good calcium and magnesium source for healthy bones. After that it will be a case of chopping up and onto the compost heap with the plants before they can set and drop seed. all last year's plants came from self sown seedlings from previous years plants that were not caught in time. There were one or two plants in odd places around the plot last year.

Overwintering Onions

2008-04-21T08:45:00.000+01:00

Good progress is being made by the overwintering onions that were planted at the end of October last year and they are just showing signs of starting to form bulbs. They are usually ready towards the end of July where spring planted sets usually mature in the middle of August.

Portakabin Progress and Spring Flowering

2008-04-20T16:35:00.005+01:00

Work on the Portakabin is progressing with a coat of green paint having been applied on Friday by a bunch from Community Services. Amazing how a coat of paint can transform the appearance. The community plot is now reasonably clear and a large pile of scrubwood and rubbish has been created in the car park and a space cleared next to the pile for a delivery of compost.

One broad bean plant on Brian's allotment has sprouted flowers despite only being a couple of inches high and the magnolia is just starting to bud whilst the Berberis Darwinii is in full flame flower.

Looks like Terry has decided not to bother with careful digging and weeding of his plot and taken the pragmatic approach of spraying it with Glyphosate and will be digging in the dead weeds.

Spring in the air for a few days

2008-04-04T15:52:00.006+01:00

With a few warm days but the forecast is for snow at the weekend it made sense to get down to the allotment and get some work done. The first early potatoes are in, Maris Bard, and a lot of spring flowers are blooming like the spurge in the photo.

The plum tree is just flowering in time to get frosted off with the snow at the weekend so this year may not be as good a crop as last year. We still have plenty of plum chutney and plum jam from last year though. I have made some really good dishes using the plum chutney as a plum sauce. It goes really well with lamb.

The broccoli plants did really well last year and we are now cropping them. They are producing substantial florets with a rich purple head that turns almost black when you cook it.

Garlic and the overwintering onions got off to a good start last autumn and are looking substantial now after the few days of sunshine we have just had.

A Portakabin and composting toilet have been delivered to the site and the the Portakbin will be rewired and used for plot holder meetings.

Many of the new plots taken on by tenants last year have made good progress like this one of Sian and Marty's where some crops were grown last year whilst the other half of the plot was sheeted over to be got into use this coming year. The broccoli was some of my left over seedlings last year that were pushed into a patch that had been cleared and is ready for picking now.

On my own allotment the globe artichoke plants are next to the broccoli and have started to produce fresh foliage for this year. Unfortunately one plant looks as though it failed to get through the winter.

It has been a great day to be out working in the fresh air, even the bees have been active looking for nectar in the rocket that has flowered. All in all a grand day.

Glen Allotments – Site meeting 27/01/08

2008-03-31T20:10:00.001+01:00

Present:
Plotholders
Callaghan Bill
Dean Charlie
Dean Gareth
Earp Melanie
Harper Ann
Merry Jan-Alice
Stockdale Audrey
Wright Steve
Allotments Officer (York City Council)
Judith Ward
Apologies
Robin Cooper (Secretary Glen Allotments)
Agenda
There was no formal agenda. The purpose of the meeting was for Judith to update the plotholders on the various projects which had been started and for the plotholders to provide feedback and between us agree the next steps in developing a fully functioning allotments site.
A note from Bill
We did not have a formal agenda and this contributed to the free-form nature of the discussion and made it difficult at times to take minutes. For clarity’s sake I have decided to group the minutes by subject matter in alphabetical order as this makes it easier to follow but means that information is not necessarily arranged in the order in which it was discussed or in order of importance.
Compost Toilet
Judith explained that £5000 has been made available through the ward committee to purchase a compost toilet. This is quite a sophisticated device (as compost toilets go) as it is able to separate the urine out which goes to a soakaway underground. There are two separate chambers underground. The first is used until full and then this is left to compost for a year while the second chamber is brought into use. After being left to compost for a year then the first chamber is dug out and brought back into use while the second chamber is left to compost for a year. Wood shavings are used to aid the composting process.
(Note from Bill: If the compost removed from the toilet is to be used as a soil enricher, then further composting for an extra two years in heaps especially for that purpose is usually required).
Judith also explained that she will have to find a further £900 to fund the siting of the toilet.
It is expected that the work on the toilet will be completed before the end of this financial year (before April 2008).
Drainage
The drainage problems on the Glen site were discussed. It was realised that the exceptionally heavy downpours in recent years had contributed to the problems and that this may or may not be a ‘temporary’ blip. Judith also mentioned that if there were any original land drains they were probably laid when the site first came into use in 1915 and therefore may well be expected to be broken or blocked.
Bill also mentioned that he had heard from several local residents that there was originally a beck to drain the site and that this had been filled in by the developers when the flats were built on Fourth Avenue.
The problem of standing water on plots tends to affect some plots worse than others. Factors such as underlying clay, and the level of the topsoil (some plots lie lower than others, particularly the plots at the back of the site relative to the front gate) mean that the problem affects some people more than others.
Judith mentioned that a Mrs. Clancy had horse manure and material that could be supplied on a very regular basis but did not have a contact telephone number with her and that this material would gradually raise the levels. Bill is to contact Judith for the telephone number and pursue this further. Judith said that the council could not supply topsoil as the provenance and safety of the topsoil could not be guaranteed. What about the possibility of supplying coarse sand through council sources? This may be a possibility that could be looked into further.
Fences
Fences and security were talked about. It was agreed that the hedge had been cut back too much last time. It was agreed that the longer term height of the hedge should be maintained at four foot. Ann Harper suggested that the gaps in the hedge could be filled in by layering. Judith Ward said that there was an issue over letting the hedge grow to the size necessary for layering to be feasible when in an urban area next to a road. Ann said that the bulk of the hedge was opposite the school and therefore there were no residents to object to letting the hedge grow. There was also the issue of who would carry out this work.
Fencing the site in completely was mentioned. Judith Ward said that the cost of new fencing for the whole site would be around £30,000! There is no money available in the budget (or likely to be in the future) for this. However Judith mentioned ‘Section 106’ provision. This is provision whereby developers of housing have to put a proportion of their development money towards local infrastructure (because new houses have to have drains, water mains and other services and residents also use services). It may be possible to tap into some of this money in future because the allotment site is a public amenity.
Notice Board
A notice board for the plots has been needed for some time to enable plotholders to communicate with one another (publicising ideas, help wanted, help offered, plant swaps, meetings etc.).
Judith said a board was on order and had been for some time. She would chase this up. The siting was to be near the front gate. Not entirely clear whether this a sign or a noticeboard as subsequent discussion on this issue revolved around the plotholders putting up a board for themselves in the portakabin.
Old Sheds
Judith stated that the old sheds alongside the gate will probably be demolished as they are an eyesore and will not be needed. This arose in the context of the possibility of there not being enough storage space for plot holders tools in the new Portakabin, especially as we will be sharing it with the new school/community plot.
Portakabin
An old Portakabin has been purchased (£100) and sited. This is for use by plotholders for meetings, tool storage and also for the use of those involved with the new school/community plot. It is planned to have the area around it grassed with maybe a hedge or fruit trees and make a communal area for barbecues etc.
Work is due to be carried out on the Portakabin in the following order:
Repair holes in roof
Rip out existing electrical system (this cannot now be used as not safe; also no electrical supply available)
Replace two broken windows with two of the four good ones supplied with the cabin.
Replace security grills over two currently unguarded windows.
Decorate and general refurbishment of cabin.
Probation Service
The probation service has a team of people doing community service who will be available to help at Glen. It was agreed that the first tasks involved the refurbishment of the Portakabin (see last section).
Bill suggested that they could perhaps start digging the plots that have just been strimmed but not yet let out. Judith explained that they could not clear individual plots but were there for more general work that did not benefit individual plotholders.
School/Community Garden
The site of the new School/Community garden will be next to the Portakabin. Councillor Tina Funnell is the lady who is currently driving this project and she has already had a meeting with the Head Teacher at Tang Hall school who is enthusiastic.
A recent visit took place to Low Moor allotments that have a similar scheme. Judith had a book with photos from the Low Moor scheme and this was passed around and everyone agreed that this was an impressive project.
Bill pointed out however that we have a half plot already occupied (next to his plot!) by a community scheme from Tang Hall Community that proceeds in fits and starts and has been a complete mess and a source of weed seeds and invasive runners for all the time he has been here (three years). It was also pointed out that a previous scheme that had been planned elsewhere on Glen had fallen through due to lack of organisation.
Charlie Dean made the point that these schemes often stand or fall by the leadership and that the Low Moor scheme is run by a lady (sorry, don’t know her name – Bill) who is very driven.
Current plans are that the children involved would be between the ages of 4-11 years and that most of the actual gardening would probably be by those between ages 7-9 yrs. When children were actually asked about gardening it was mainly associated with their grandparents. It is thought that perhaps that if family members became involved it would therefore more likely be grandparents rather than parents.
It is also thought that a sensory garden might be incorporated that this may be available for older citizens as well as children. (Have I got this right? – Bill). With this in mind a new gate may be put in to connect Glen Gardens with Glen Allotments.
Charlie Dean asked could there be child protection issues involved. After some discussion it became apparent that anybody working with the scheme would automatically be subject to Criminal Records Bureau checks.
Jonathan pointed out that we should be concentrating on one thing at a time such as bringing the Portakabin into effective use. There was general agreement on this.
Judith asked was anyone interested in joining the steering group for the School/Community garden. Charlie Dean put herself forward for this.
Strimming
The subject of strimming was brought up and the delays that occur. Judith explained that strimming can only take place at certain times to avoid nesting birds.
Water Supply
The original water supply dates from 1915 when the site first became an allotments. Yorkshire water have tested the system and found that corrosion has reduced the supply. It will cost around £2000 to plumb a new connection to the water main. The existing pipework on the site was replaced around twenty years ago with alkathane and should therefore be perfectly fine so a new connection would restore the pressure on site and allow the existing three taps to be used all at the same time. The new main connection will be able to be done at the start of the new financial year 2008-09.
It was agreed that the existing number of taps is inadequate for the number of plotholders but there is not the money to install new taps via an outside contractor. However, Judith has suggested that the probation service team may be able to do the work of digging the trenches for the pipework and filling them in afterwards as this would save money. No timescale for this can be agreed at the moment.

South African Suga Beans - Update

2007-10-11T13:54:00.000+01:00

Now that we are getting to the back end of the growing season some of the pods on the Suga beans have turned a bright red and are starting to dry out. So, I have collected the ones that have turned red and started shelling them. I will save some beans for next year and try growing them again and then use the rest in some sort of bean casserole. There is probably a similar quantity as seen in the photo still on the plants maturing.

The runner beans are also producing some large pods for seed collection although they are still flowering and setting fresh pods and we are getting the occasional picking off for a meal.

I totally ignored the planting instructions on the coriander (cilantro) that suggested mid July as the latest planting date and planted several rows during the second week of August. These sowings have been providing us with loads of fresh succulent tasty coriander that we have used as additions to salad and also in a few bhuna curries. It has been well worth doing the late sowing. My attitude to the late sowing was that if came up and was quickly frosted I would just dig it in as the seed was fairly old I did not expect such good results. I am not sure whether it will survive through the winter months and set seed next year but I am hopeful that it will.

I also ignored the planting times for beetroot as well putting some in during the second week of August. It has made quite a bit of leaf and the roots are starting to bulb up and we should get a good crop of baby beets in the next week or two at the point the leaves get hit by frost.

Allotment Diggin Day (2) - Pictures from Tom's Mum

2007-09-24T14:01:00.000+01:00

Tom's mum Alison took some pictures that tell a very similar tale to those shown in my blog yesterday but also capture some of the fun and friendly spirit of the day with photos of Tom with various people including myself. It is not often I am in a photo as I am more often than not behind the camera.

Note : All photos in this article were taken by Alison Cowen and are her copyright. For permission to use any of her photos you may contact Alison via me.

Tom Phil and Peter's Diggin Allotment Day

2007-09-23T20:47:00.000+01:00

For a larger view of any of the photos click on the photo, this will take you to the Picasa web photo album of my photos taken today.

About a week ago an invite popped through the door inviting us to a barbecue and digging allotment day with a request to bring tools, a bottle or can if we wished and something for the barbecue if we wished. So a number of us rolled up to the allotment at ten thirty Sunday morning armed with tools and drinks.

OK so we are all together but where are we going start?

Well a good place to get started would be to put the tea tent up!

Well everybody seems to have to set themselves some tasks to do and are getting stuck in.

Well, the pile of weeds is getting bigger at the back and there are still plenty more weeds to be dug up.

Peter and his mum and dad have made a start on Peter's section of the allotment and have discovered some red cabbage plants.

There is a lot of activity going on here, Bill has rough dug an area full of wicks and rough grass whilst others have got the beds around the beetroot and broccoli cleared.

Nobody seems to be ready yet for a cup of tea!

Holly is engrossed in some close combat with the weeds in and around the broccoli, and the pile at the back has grown sideways.

Time for tea break and a chat.

Still tea break.

Firing up the barbecue.

Soon be time to eat!

Peter multitasking, eating an apple whilst raking soil.

Nose bags on, dinner is served!

Lunchtime progress report, it is looking good.

Brambles cleared from the sheeted area where the orchard is planned.

Lunch still in progress.

Back to work and time to fork over the patch Bill dug and get the bindweed and wicks out.

The weed pile on Peter's patch must ne about fouur feet tall.

The pile at the back of Tom's plot is fairly big as well. Most folks have gone home now and the plot is looking a lot tidier. Everybody enjoyed the day and felt that it had been worthwhile in many ways having made new friends and felt the pleasure of working together for a common goal. Part of the funding for the day came from "Inclusion North" for "Small Sparks" funding for this wonderful "Diggin Day"

Autumn coming in

2007-09-18T17:10:00.000+01:00

Autumn is definitely creeping up on us. Air te,peratures have dropped a good few degrees and it is time to get the winter woolies out. Bill has made a start on the area that was flooded earlier on this summer after having finished building his shed. Everybody has had their fill of runner beans and are now leaving some pods to swell and collect seeds for drying to use during the winter or for planting again next year.

With the cold summer squashes do not seem to have done too well they are still fairly small about two and half inches long. It will probably not be long before the leaves get frosted and the plants die off. I don't know if the fruits will be worth eating. Despite the squashes not doing that well the courgettes have romped away this summer as have the cucumbers. It will soon be time to get down to some winter digging and Tom and Phil have organised a barbecue on Sunday for anyone willing to help them with a bit of digging.

National Memorial Arboretum

2007-09-13T09:05:00.000+01:00

No work at the allotment yesterday as we went to the National Memorial Arboretum yesterday. It is situated just off the A38 and A513 near to Alrewas in Staffordshire. It is a very moving place to visit and I will let the photographs below speak for themselves.

View Larger Map

Photographs - Click on images for a larger view.

2007-09-06T07:00:00.000+01:00

I couldn't resist taking a photo of these leek flower heads on a plot that has been left unattended this year. They seemed to have a slight fluorescent glow in the light of the setting sun. The plot was paid for and the holder moved to Oxford and has only paid a few visits to it this year to collect some fruit.

Onions

2007-08-28T14:07:00.000+01:00

These are not my onions, some of mine were big but not as big as these grown by Brian. He bought some Japanese Onion sets this spring from leftover stock and put them in. They are six to eight inches across. I grew some overwintering onions that I purchased in Switzerland which did fairly well but I didn't lift them quickly enough after they matured and the rains came. Some had bolted and formed thick necks anyway so would have needed eating fairly quickly. I ended up having to clean up quite drastically removing outer layers and then I fried what was left, bagged them up and froze them for use in curries.

South African Suga Beans

2007-08-26T08:42:00.000+01:00

Whilst I was working in Switzerland I was friendly with a South African who now lives in Weymouth. From time to time he goes home to South Africa and brings back South African items with him. One time he brought me back a Kilo packet of dried Suga Beans. I was curious as to what the plant looked like and how it grew so I took a dozen beans and germinated them in thumb pots with a general compost. Ten germinated OK and were transferred to two and half inch pots to grow on. They were planted out at the start of June just before all the cold wet weather started. They seemed to be holding on OK and producing flowers but not doing much in the way of producing beans whilst the runner beans were producing bucketfuls.

In habit the plants looked very much like French bean plants but I wasn't sure whether they were a runner or a dwarf plant so I planted them next to bean poles to climb up. They are only just producing growth that looks as though it might start to run up the poles. There are white flowers and some beans have grown, just enough for a meal. They taste OK raw but I prefer the taste of runner beans raw. The pods are about the length of a marker pen and seem to me to be very much like French Beans. I'll try some again next year and see if I get similar results.

Spinach

2007-08-16T17:50:00.000+01:00

Spinach has been a bumper crop this year with massive juicy leaves. We have fed some nearly every day to the guinea pigs and now whenever they hear me in the vicinity of the cage they start whistling, hoping that I have brought them something green. In our own cooking we have done several Sag Aloo curries (Spinach and Potato) and used the spinach in stir fries. In both cases we we just wash and chop the spinach toss it into the dish and when it has wilted a little the dish is taken to be ready.

Bumper Crop of Beans on The Way

2007-08-13T08:23:00.000+01:00

The runner beans are doing well with masses of flowers we have had a good crop of runners from an earlier planting elsewhere on the plot. I have also planted some South African Suga Beans given to me by a friend after he had been home to SA for a visit. The plants have grown well and seem to be flowering well now but so far only one bean on the plants. As I didn't know whether they were of a climbing or a dwarf nature I planted them next to runner beans so they could run up them if needed. So far they seem to have a dwarf nature and have not climbed at all.

Celeriac

2007-08-12T13:21:00.000+01:00

Celeriac is coming on well at the moment, the bulbous roots are starting to form now and are about an inch across. I am giving them a feed every day with comfrey tea as well as giving them a good watering most days. The leeks in the next row are also getting the same treatment with the comfrey tea and watering daily.

The alternative name of "turnip rooted celery does not really do justice to to Celeriac which in my opinion is a wonderful vegetable. One of my favourite uses of Celeriac is to grate it raw and mix it with plain yoghurt or quark to serve with a salad. I also use it grated into currys and casseroles to add body and flavour. I have also seen it served in boiled chunks like turnip but that is probably the most boring use of it.

Reclamation Continues

2007-08-11T07:03:00.000+01:00

Now here is a family that really intend to get to grips with their allotment. Laid out in four beds after stripping off the top with a mechanical digger, edging the plot with wood and laying hardcore for the paths. Do you get the feeling there is a lanscape gardener at work here? You would be right.

Some of the other plots have not fared so well in their reclamation.

Black sheeting has been laid here and left to kill off the weeds underneath. The persistence of thistles probably was not bargained for . Along the joint of two strips of the black polythene thistles have lifted the overlap to let in the light and the thistles have grown on fairly strongly. However, it is better progress than the patch where the thistles have been left to take over again.

A harvest of fruits

2007-08-10T10:18:00.000+01:00

One advantage of the wild patch in the allotments is the presence of brambles (blackberry) which have fruited in a prolific manner this year. I have done a couple of pickings and made about ten pounds of jam so far. The aroma of bramble jam in our kitchen has been wonderful. The wild patch has also provided refuge for a variety of birds. There is a family of goldfinch and I often see four or five of them at once. Also in evidence down there are blackbirds, thrush, greefinch, sparrows and although we have heard a woodpecker tapping nobody has yet seen the bird.

Difficulties after heavy rain

2007-08-09T20:25:00.000+01:00

After a warm April the weather turned really nasty with heavy rain day after day. Most plot holders have some problems with waterlogged soil to some extent. Our own allotment was not too severely hit as we have built up the level of the plot by applying large quantities of horse stable manure which contains a large volume of wood shavings. The one problem that we did have was to lose a few potatoes and to have to clean up, cook and freeze some of our potatoes. Others have lost all their potatoes and the allotment secretary Robin has lost everything as the whole of his plot was under several inches of water. Picture shows what is left of Robin's cabbage plants after severe water damage to the roots.

Bill behind us lost all of his potatoes as his allotment is about nine inches lower than ours. He has got stuck in and barrowed in loads of horse manure to raise up the affected area and has rotovated it. Now he has got that done I don't think that he feels quite so despondant. My own feeling is that he could probably have done with adding in about twice as much manure to get the level up even further.

Our own allotment fared reasonably well and is now fairly tidy. Early in the year the plum tree had masses of blossom and everyone was saying what a bumper crop we would have if we didn't get a frost and sure enough we have a bumper crop. They should be ripe any day now.

Other fruits are also looking good with brambles ripening with luscious black gloss you get with ripe fruit. The cut and come again lettuce has performed well this year providing us with lettuce whenever we wanted to cut some. It has regrown from the centre at an incredible pace, maybe down to the amount of rain we have had!

Reclamation of Glen Allotments

2007-04-12T20:17:00.000+01:00

Much of the allotment site resembled this area overgrown with brambles. The foreground shows an area that has been cleared and pegged to mark out plots.

Some have made a start by placing sheds and covering areas with items like black plastic or disused carpets. This may cause the grass to die eventually and supposedly make the plot workable. I fear they may be dissapointed if they want to plant this year. It will almost ineviatably end up with acres of bindweed roots under the tarpaulin.

Some of the plots that have been worked more recently are bit further advanced and making progress towards planting.

One of Bill's plots which has been winter dug and is awaiting planting.

Some of the new cleared plots as work is about to start on them.

Area of our own allotment where the compost heap has been levelled to the left. Carrots and parsnips have been sown under the cloche next to raspberries.

The area by the linka board boxes that were used for potatoes last year has been cleared and is awaiting rotavating. That will be tomorrow's job. Comfrey at the back has started sprouting and we have collected two tubs of leaves to rot down for plant food already.

This is the end where last years compost heap was. It was levelled and the compost rotavated in. Several rows of potatoes have gone in here.

Plum tree in blossom at the front of the allotment with a Berberis Darwinii with fantastic orange flowers in the foreground. This was given to us as a rooted cutting by a friend who lived in the next village about six years ago. I think that I might take a few cuttings off it this year as it is such a wonderful plant.

Return from Switzerland

2007-04-12T10:49:00.000+01:00

I have now completed the seven months of work in Switzerland, had a holiday in Goa and started to tidy up the allotment. The photograph shows the view from the balcony of my apartment in Switzerland. Whilst I was away Ann hardly ever went down there and things had got a little bit out of hand. I demolished the compost heap and spread it out around the area that it was occupying, cleared an adjacent area of weeds and have rotovated. I have done some more areas, digging out weeds and then rotovating. The main weeds are milk thistle, bindweed, nettle and docks. With previous years work there is very little couch or squitch or wicks, whatever you call it in your area.

Last October I cleared the curcubrit bed and planted overwintering onions and garlic. They have shown good growth. I have just sown, parsnips, carrots, leeks, salad onions and Swiss Chard, Romanesco Broccoli along with some beans. I had prepared for climbing beans and put up the frames and supports only to find when I opeed the packet that the beans were dwarf French beans.

The allotment site is now beginning to thrive. Most of the plots have now been taken with only two plots left before people will have to go onto a waiting list. Contrast this with five years ago when Ann took on our plot. when only about six plots were in use and she could choose which one she wanted. A great deal of work has gone into clearing plots ready for people to take them on and the site is looking a lot less overgrown.

I'll follow up later with some photographs.

Away To Switzerland For Seven Months

2006-07-20T18:02:00.000+01:00

On Monday I am heading of to Switzerland for seven months as a contractor so this will be last article for a while.

The sweet corn is standing up well and is just beginning to form flower tassles.

We have had several meals of broad beans and runner beans wonderful when eaten fresh. The broad beans and runner beans are still producing and the french beans are just starting to crop. The onions have started to lay over now and as they do so I have been lifting them and taking them home to dry off and store.

So, from Monday it is over to Ann to keep the plot in good order and harvest and eat the vegetables.

Garlic Crop

2006-07-06T19:26:00.000+01:00

garliccrop
Originally uploaded by jollygreenp.

The garlic was planted in the middle of last October and has been making steady progress ever since. Some of the tops were starting to fall over so I have lifted the whole crop. Ann and I then trimmed it up and cleaned off the peeling earthy husks to get the nice clean looking specimens you see here. We pickled a couple of jars of the cloves in balsamic vinegar. I'll report back later as to how they turn out. We have also had some of the broad beans, they are so nice when you have them fresh. I picked them in the morning just before I returned for lunch and then shelled and cooked them as soon as I got in.

What is an allotment?

2006-06-30T16:02:00.000+01:00

In these days of easy international communication it is sometimes easy to forget that some terms in English that we take for granted are not understood by everybody around the world. This post is the result of one of the readers of my blog who lives in Singapore contacting me and asking me what an allotment is. Below is my reply to his question.

Allotments are plots of land that can be owned by the local town or village council, the church, a farmer, or even by a company. The owner then allows portions or "allotments" of land to be rented by local individuals for the purpose of raising vegetables and fruit. There are fairly strict rules about what can and can not be done on an allotment and they vary from one allotment site to another. In some areas allotment holders are allowed to keep livestock like chickens and pigeons whilst in others it is strictly forbidden.

The allotment that my wife Ann and I rent is administered by the York City Council and we pay them an annual rent. The site was owned by a business man in the area and when he died he left it to the Parish of Heworth, the area where we live, to be used for the enjoyment of those residing in the parish. During and after the second world war the whole site was covered in allotments but there has a been a great decline in interest in the area and much of the site has become overgrown with long grass and thorny brambles. This in turn discourages new allotment holders from taking on plots. Recently though there has been some interest and plots are begining to be taken up again.

Beans Onions 28 Jun 06

2006-06-28T12:48:00.000+01:00

Beans Onions 28 Jun 06
Originally uploaded by jollygreenp.

Just after the longest day and you can see the base of the onions beginning to swell and fill out. Apart from watering and planting out some squash plants very little interesting activity at the moment.

The runner beans are starting to flower and you can see the globe artichoke flowers staring on the artichoke plant. Behind the runner beans the cabbages and sprouts are growing on well. The sweet corn is coming on fairly well and the lettuce and cabbages are starting to heart up. We have a few feeds off the radish and rocket.

I make a sort of pesto with the rocket using Wensyldale chees, pine nuts, rocket and olive oil. It makes a nice spread to have on crackers or digestive biscuits.

A few warm days

2006-06-06T13:59:00.000+01:00

Allotment 4 June 2006
Originally uploaded by jollygreenp.

Photo taken a couple of days ago. I am only posting it now as my broadband modem decided to stop working and I had a small problem with the login ID for the new modem configuration. As you can see everything is continuing to flourish with the beans getting taller and the onions fattening up. It's amazing the difference a few warm days will make to the growth.

The patch that was left clear by removing the white sprouting broccoli has now been half filled with leek plants. Holes were dibbed, plants dropped in and then watered by watering can with a rose on to wash loose moist soil into the hole. Then they have been watered every day to get them established and stop them drying out in this warm spell.

Just for comparison here is the bean and onion photo taken 18 May just to show the progress in just a couple of weeks

The answer to yesterday's question is YES!

2006-05-31T19:34:00.000+01:00

Managed to spend several hours down at the allotment. The white sprouting broccoli has gone over and is just starting to flower. So, all the plants have been lifted, chopped up and are now on the compost heap, except for one plant. I left one plant in to flower so that I can collect seed from it. I have dug over the patch and will work in somore manure ready for dibbing in the leeks.

There were a load of small comfrey seedlings sprouting so I have lifted a lot of them and dropped the roots into water and will transplant some of those to the comfrey patch. Once I had cleaned up that patch I transplanted some Cos Lettuce into it. Need to get some more seed set off to keep the rotation going.

The few sweet corns that have sprouted and a squash and a pumpkin plant have been planted into the hot bed. I have also planted a load of sweet corn seeds and squash seeds directly into the hot bed. As Charles on the allotment next to us is away during the week at the moment I gave his tomato and courgette plants a good watering with the hose (no hose pipe ban here!).

Has it stopped raining yet?

2006-05-30T18:25:00.000+01:00

Beans and Onions
Originally uploaded by jollygreenp.

After all that rain last week I managed to get down to the allotment for a few hours yesterday. Well, the weeds were springing up all over so the onion and bean bed got a good going over with the hoe as did the comfrey bed on the new allotment. The potato bed at the top of the allotment had sprouted well so I earthed up and then put on a straw mulch to try and supress the weeds. I'll follow up with the potato bed you can see at the back of this picture when it dries up again. Some Kale plants had sprouted in amongst the potatoes so I dug a few up and transplanted about half a dozen of them. The white sprouting broccoli has now passed its best so that is on the list for pulling up and digging over.

The brassicas and beans seemed to be doing well although the runner bean leaves looked a bit brown, maybe from the cold turn in the weather. The asparagus is still doing well and I mulched two fo the new beds with confrey leaves and stalks. It acts as a good feed when it rots down. The comfrey rotter tube needed topping up and was refilled to the top again, there is about a pint of fluid in the collecting vessel so that will need transferring to a sealed bottle soon.

Garden Club Trip

2006-05-26T18:50:00.000+01:00

IMGP1966
Originally uploaded by jollygreenp.

The only sunny day of the week so did we get down to the allotment? We'll, no actually we went on a trip with the Linton On Ouse Garden Club. It was a short coach trip up to Stockton on Tees to visit the Peter Barrat garden centre. It is a very neat and tidy garden centre where the plants seem to be well cared for. The photo to the right shows how well plants are displayed. You get the feeling that somebody cares about the appearance of the place and they don't just plonk plants down higgledy piggledy, there is some planning going on to get a good display. The photograph is of Aqualegias, those ones with the face that turns up and the colour combination looks good.

After lunch at the garden centre it was a short trip down the road to Butterfly World. Spent quite a bit of time in there a took lots of photographs of leaves where a butterfly had been. Although the Pentax Optio is good in regards to the optics it is very slow to react to you pressing the shutter release. I fancy a Canon EOS 350 D as I really miss the feel of a good SLR camera. Can't really justify spending in the region of £500 on a camera though at the moment. so I'll have to try and make allowance for the slow reaction time on the Pentax.

I did manage to get a few photos of butterflies and here is one of them below.

Alchemilla mollis in the rain

2006-05-21T17:23:00.000+01:00

Alchemilla mollis in the rain
Originally uploaded by jollygreenp.

After a fine start to the day it soon deteriorated to heavy rain. In the hope that it would clear up we went out for a pub lunch at The Anchor in Whixley where they do a really good roast carvery for £6.50 a head and then on to the open gardens in Little Ouseburn. The rain kept coming down and we got wetter and wetter. I think the photograph sums it all up!

Well, what a wet day!

2006-05-20T14:44:00.000+01:00

IMGP1916
Originally uploaded by jollygreenp.

Non stop rain since we got up this morning. I went down this morning and put in four dwarf bean plants and dibbed in some dwarf bean seeds. The broccoli seems to be getting huger and huger so I cut a bucketful and have blanched and frozen it. I also cut quite a lot of asparagus so it is going to be a treat for teatime.

Just as a reminder of sunny days I have included a photo of the magnolia tree in bloom I took a couple of days ago.

Friday and the forecast is "Rain"

2006-05-19T21:10:00.000+01:00

The past few days has seen activity in weeding and hoeing, cutting comfrey and mulching. If the weather permits the plan for tomorrow is to put in some dwarf french beans and sow some cauli seed. I'll also be cutting some more broccoli and some asparagus. Tomorrows broccoli dish will probably be to make a mound of vegetables including broccoli on a baking tray, pop a few pieces of chicken on top then surround with par boiled potatoes before baking in the oven for half hour at 190 degrees. The fat and juices from the roasting chicken imparts a wonderful flavour to the vegetables.

As it was wet this afternoon I spent some time updating my website and have added some photographs of orchids that I took at Keukenhof in late April. You can find them at http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/jonzpage/GARDEN.HTM you can find them about halfway down the page.

So what has been happening the last few days?

2006-05-17T17:03:00.000+01:00

On Saturday Ann and I headed off in the car to Portsmouth and caught a P&O ferry "The Pride of Bilbao" for a trip down to Spain. The Bay offs Biscay was calmish going down and very calm coming back. The conditions were perfect for spotting whales and dolphins. One juvenile fin whale breached vertically out of the water several times in front of the boat and several times as If passed along the side of the boat. It became very addictive watching for whales blowing and rolling in the water and watching for the splash of dolphins as they raced in to ride the bow wave. The ferry has a wildlife officer who made regular announcements as new sightings were made.

When we got to Spain there was only time for a very short bus ride tour of Bilbao and about an hour to get some refreshments and do a very quick walking tour. Bilbao is a very pleasant city with numerous parks with flowers in bloom. The Railway station for the Santander and Bilbao railway is very ornate as seen in the photograph. Many of the buildings are interesting and also ornate outside as well as inside. The creamy yellow building is the Cafe Boulevard and is amazingly ornate inside with coloured glass windows and mirrors, fancy gold leafed ceiling mouldings. The cup of cocoa and egg custard was good as well. Another interesting looking eating place was on the Nuevo square. Very ornate exterior and tiled inside. The waiter is always on duty although his posture is a bit wooden. As we wandered around we came across the pilgrim trail de Santiago at the base of the climb up to Begonia. No time to climb up there but we did follow the trail round to the church visited by the pilgrims. The visit was over all too quickly and we were back on to the coach heading back to the ferry for more dolphin and whale watching.

So what had been happening at the allotment whilst we were away. With the rain weeds were springing up so it was back to the fork for the thistles and get in there with the hoe to deal with the rows of onions. I planted some of the Dwarf runner bean plants between the cabbages to act as nitrogen feeders for the cabbages and hoed around the cabbages before putting the wire mesh back round them to keep the birds off. As I was hoeing a Robin kept coming in very close and grabbing any insects as they were disturbed by the hoe. As the compost heap had settled a bit I did three barrow loads of muck to top up the heap. We'll probably turn it over in a couple of weeks time just to keep the rotting process going. The Broad beans have put on a couple of inches of growth as have all the potatoes whilst we have been away. I think they are probably about at that maximum point where you can't get any more earth on them. I'll probably put a picture up tomorrow.

There is rather a lot of the white sprouting broccoli waiting to be picked and I went home with a bucketful and that was just from two heads. So teatime was a very quick vegetable curry using a tin of curry dahl chick peas, a tin of veg curry with some fresh broccoli cut up into it with some chopped ginger to take away the brassica notes. After heating it was piled onto a naan bread.
The next dish will be a spicy black eye bean and broccoli soup and then the rest will be blanched, bagged up and frozen for later use.

Mulching Runner Beans

2006-05-12T14:41:00.000+01:00

Woke up this morning with usual hay fever itchy eyes and sneezing. I took an anti histamine but couldn't be bothered going back to bed as it was light. Had a cup of tea and went out into the back yard to water all the plants in tubs. As the anti histamine had kicked in I decided to go down to the allotment and do a few jobs there.

When I got there it was really quiet and peaceful, just the odd bird singing and flapping about. I started cutting Comfrey and soon had enough to mulch the runner beans and put some between the rows of cabbage. I checked the collector on the comfrey rotter and it was a third full and also a similar amount had collected from the stuff Ann had set up in a tall flower tub sat in a washing up bowl. When this was added to the bottle it was about 2/3 full. So I changed the collecting bottle and brought the bottle with fluid home to use on the plants at home. The tomatoes in the back yard will be needing feed soon because there is a flower on one of the plants already.

As it was still dry I decided to water the plants and did a full round of the broad beans, onions, cabbage, runner beans, parsnips, carrots, fennel and beetroot with the watering can. This afternoon saw a massive downpour, lightning and hailstones!

There were some large infestations of goose grass so that pulled up and placed into the rotting bath. Time for breakfast so I went home had breakfast only to find that we can't stay with my son tonight on our way down to Portsmouth for the P&O ferry to Bilbao as he has no running water. So we'll drive down tomorrow instead without calling to see him. We'll maybe call in to see him on the way back home.

Earth up the tatties

2006-05-11T16:55:00.000+01:00

Hay fever was bad, sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes all night despite the anti histamine tablet. So, I didn't get up till midday and after lunch pootled around in the back yard pinching out the fuchsias and making a support frame for the tomato plants planted in the growbag yesterday. Noticed a flower on one of the plants already. Once I finished that it was time to head down to the allotment for an hour and earth up the potatoes in the boxes. The hardest part of that is finding soil to do the earthing up. I think I might invest in some of that compressed coir compost and use the expanded stuff to do the rest of the job as the tops of the plants shouldn't need feed and the bottoms are sat in a mix of manure and soil. That should make it a bit easier.

The next job was a bit smelly. We have some comfrey and weeds rotting down in a tub of water. I used some of this vile smelling concoction mixed with water to do a foliar feed on the runner beans and cabbages. I'll be glad when there is enough concentrate from the comfrey rotter to work with. It has the advantage of being a lot less smelly.

We are off to Bilbao for a short visit. P&O again but from Portsmouth this time and it takes a bit longer to get there! So, I expect a few jobs at the allotment will have arisen by the time we get back.

Beautiful Day in May

2006-05-10T16:23:00.000+01:00

Over the last couple of weeks it has been hectic. Ann has persuaded the allotments officer and the allotments secratary to allow her to set up a community comfrey patch on one of the disused plots next to the block of flats that has been built. It has loads of rubble left from the building work and having been left it also has a fair bit of bramble. We have started to clear a patch and have put in about 40 plants so far. The plan is that as we clear areas other members can move their Comfrey to free up ground for other crops.

In the meantime the potatoes have shown their heads above the surface and have needed to be earthed up a couple of times you might just be able to make them out in the rows at the back. The onion bed is doing well and has been gone over with a hoe to deal with small weeds that have been popping up. The potatoes in the boxes have been doing really well and need earthing up again after only two days. The first earlies are now nearly three boards high and the second earlies are actually at three boards high. We are rapidly running out of soil to fill the boxes with! We'll also need to get some more boards. I'll top up with more soil tomorrow.

There are some short rows of cabbage and runner beans behind the potato boxes with asparagus behind them with one solitary globe artichoke plant in amongst the asparagus. In the foreground are some rows of Florence Fennel, and Celeriac and Beetroot.

The white sprouting brocolli has done so well that some of the heads actually look like cauliflowers.

The crop of Garlic is absolutely amazing it looks like a bed of leeks but no it really is a bed of garlic. Just to the right of it you can see the comfrey bed on our allotment. Once we have more space cleared some of it will move to the communal comfrey bed. I have set up a pipe to stuff comfrey into so the concentrated fluid can be collected during rotting down. It is amazing it just seems to swallow handfuls of comfrey every day. The fluid that comes out looks a bit like "Tomato feed" and it works well as such. The fluid is high in Potash and Nitrogen and makes a wonderful foliar feed when mixed at the rate 1 capful to a gallon of water. Comfrey is so deep rooted that it pulls nutrient up from fairly deep levels.

The comfrey rotter is built like the diagram with a bottle of water to act as a a weight to push the comfrey down the tube.

A section of plastic drain pipe.

Plastic milk bottle to act as a catching funnel

Plastic collecting bottle to collect fluid.

Next to the onions is a bed of peas under a cloche and the bed continues on with more peas planted yesterday without the benefit of cloche to speed it up. This should give us a second cropping of peas.

Spring has sprung

2006-05-10T13:06:00.000+01:00

After a funny winter, sometimes cold sometimes warm and then a cold snap after a warm spell we have got the onion sets in and rotavated some of the straw mulch in and it is only 25 April. My wife invested in a Mantis Tiller quite small, fairly light and revs at a high speed. It certainly gets the job done. I used with the border trimmer to tidy up the edges of the path and then fitted the rotovating blades. It is a very simple job to change blades, just pull out the retaining pins, slide off the blades you are using and put on the new blades by rotating to match up the flat parts, slide the blades on and put the pins in.

The plum tree is in full blossom and looking very pretty. The Berberis Darwinii is also looking amazing with the orange blossoms. Some of the paving needs a bit of sorting out and a few weeds that are showing need dealing with. The pots have collected a bit of weed as well and some need topping up with compost. That means lifting them out of the pots after a good watering, throw in some new compost to raise the level of the plant and then get as much compost as possible in down the sides of the rootball.

The first early and second early potatoes have been planted fairly close in the linkaboard boxes that have been given a dose of horse manure and compost before putting the potatoes in. They have then been covered with a mix of compost

and soil and will be topped up with soil as green shoots emerge and need earthing up.

The asparagus bed has been mulched with a covering of some of the straw cover on other parts of the bed. The new asparagus plants have also been planted. So in that case it is time to gate on with moving some of the paving.

Seeing as the plot is fairly well advanced we booked a few days off to visit the Keukenhof in Holland. Travelling over from Hull by P&O ferries on one of their mincruises. The fare includes transfer by bus from the port of Rotterdam to Keukenhof and back to the ship. With the new faster ferries you leave Hull later, get in earlier and return later making a lot more time available for visits like Keukenhof.

How it was in October 2005

2006-05-10T09:30:00.000+01:00

The compost heap was fairly small in October 2005. It was been dispersed around the allotment and a new pile started. As I had been away in Switzerland for some time and my wife was suffering from a strain injury things had become a little overgrown. That is now largely back under control. Both the strain injury and the weeds!

As we dug over each area we covered it with a straw mulch to suppress weeds. You can see an area that has been mulched in the picture behind the linkaboard square and next to the Kale.

The overgrown plot next door belongs to an elderly gentleman who is having difficulty and has now been mown and trimmed by his son in law. He made a visit just after I took this photograph.

Preparations also started for next years curcubrit bed. A containment area was built and as manure became available we started to fill it. the first layers were of horse stable manure a mix of droppings on wood shavings that were fairly mature. In April we got cattle manure and topped up almost to the top with it and then finished off with some less mature horse and wood shaving manure. The whole thing was then covered with a tarpaulin to stop leaching from the rain falling on the heap and let the manure mature a bit longer. The Butternut squash, courgette and pumpkin seeds have now been planted at home and will go in in a couple of weeks time. The brassicas next to the enclosure are White Sprouting Broccoli plants. Over the last week we have had several feeds from these plants which are now probably one and half times higher than you see them in this photo. In front of the enclosure you can see a couple of plastic cloches. These were used to start off some leek plants.

If ever there was a good value packet of seeds it must surely be a packet of leek seeds. You get a large number of seeds for a reasonable price and then provided your ground is fertile you get a massive crop of leeks that sees you right through the winter.