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.

Last Years Brassicas and Beans

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