W/E 1ST FEBRUARY, 2009 UPDATE

Category: MY ALLOTMENTS | Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:23 pm

W/E 1st, February, 2009

;

Welcome to my latest update from my allotments and home here in Stourbridge, West Midlands, UK.
As I sit here typing my update, the first signs of the weather forecasted for the next few days shows itself, at the moment the falling Snow is light but is due to get much heavier and so the week ahead promises to herald the return of Winter with a bitter cold wind, freezing temperatures and further Snow, roll on Spring!!
During the last two weeks the lovely Snowdrops (top-left) have really come on and are a delight to see in the shrub border from our kitchen window, I wasn't too sure whether they were going to survive the Chicken's having free roam of the garden over the last couple of months, but fortunately they must not taste very nice as they have survived. Two weeks ago I had just sown my Onion seed in my propagator, they are the variety Bedfordshire Champion (top-right) and as you can see they are germinating very well, at the same time I sowed some Banana Shallot and Roscoff Rose Onion seed, these have started to germinate as well but only just.

;

At the allotments the first signs of growth have appeared on my Rhubarb crowns (top-left) and also my Blackcurrant bushes (top-right). Also there are signs of growth on my Apple Trees as the buds appear to be swelling and the Raspberry Canes are starting to shoot from the base, although it is nice to see things starting to come to life it is slightly worrying when it is this early as any new growth could get badly damaged by a very cold spell of weather.

;

On my last update I showed you how I had made a start on getting my Asparagus Crowns ready for the season ahead by removing their dead ferns and gently weeding around them, during the last two weeks I have completed their preparation (top-left) by adding some well rotted homemade compost to the beds and then raking the soil up around them at a depth of 2", I have also laid a porous weed control fabric between the rows to hopefully reduce the amount of weeding needed during the year. At Christmas I received by request a special Asparagus Knife (top-right) for cutting the Asparagus Spears off below ground level when I hopefully harvest them in May.

;

At long last I have finally made a start on clearing and preparing the ground under my second frame at the allotments. This area of my two plots was the last area which needed digging over thoroughly and carefully, when I took on my allotments and started to dig it over I discovered a wealth of hidden rubbish under the surface, a mixture of plastic, metal, glass and the dreaded carpet. The amount of rubbish collected over the years from under the two plots is quite staggering and I know that I am not alone with this problem. I hope to get this finished in time for May/June when I intend to plant out my Brassicas in this cage, I will need to roll and consolidate my soil before this as I'm sure you know that Brassicas prefer to grow in firm ground.

;

Another job that I have managed to get done is to cover my frames that I had constructed over my two rows of Raspberry Canes. As you can see I have used the green debris netting to cover them, the sides are not fixed permanently, instead I have fixed wooden battens to the edges, then when it comes to harvesting or weeding & feeding the Raspberries all I need to do is either lift or roll up the sides to gain access, the birds thankfully have not mastered that yet!!

;

As I mentioned earlier the Autumn Raspberry canes (top-left) have started to shoot from the base, I hope that by covering them with the netting this may help protect them a bit from the Wintery weather still to come. Back at home my Late Autumn sown Sweet Peas have produced their first set of true leaves now, when they have produced their second set I will pinch out their growing tips to encourage them to produce good strong sideshoots, these will hopefully bear my Early Sweet Pea blooms in June.

;

Finally for this week a quick update on the progress of my 5 Warren Hens (top-left), they are now 28 weeks old and fully mature, after installing a low energy light on a timer into their shed we have had an excellent supply of 5 beautiful eggs on a daily basis since early December, their new and permanent run that I built over Christmas has stood up well to the very strong winds we had a week or two ago, as you can see in the top-right picture I have put a good layer of Straw down to help keep their feet dry, this will also help when I clean out their run as all of the material can then be added to the compost heaps.

Well that is it for this update, over the coming week I will be posting my new Calendar for 2009, you may have noticed that I still have 2008's on display, a slight oversight on my behalf I'm afraid. Have a good couple of weeks and take care in all the Snow and Ice we are due to have and I will be back again in two weeks with my next update, thanks Steve.

This blog entry has been viewed 273 times