August 2009 - a bit more

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

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

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.