Hungerford allotment blog - grow your own, harvesting and vegetarian cooking. Enjoying allotment wildlife, weather and other things that catch my attention.
Enjoying time on the Marsh Lane Allotment site in Hungerford, Berkshire.
A record of successes, failures and a handy reminder for me.
From 2017 each post title brings a song to add a little extra music to the world - enjoy!
April’s a tease; making us think it’s sowing time, or even Summer-time, then going cold and windy.
We had a few hours on the plot last Saturday and Sunday. Lovely in the sunshine; chilly in the easterly breeze.
Hairy legged bee (female) on Dead Nettle
The wildlife plot is a year old this week. The bog garden plants have spread well and the cowslips will definitely need dividing for next year. There are seedlings popping up, along with a few more flowers, though mostly dandelions which we try to clear before they seed but the bees do love them.
The radish seeds sown last week have germinated and something is already enjoying them 🙄
We sowed some more sunflowers and rainbow chard - into modules so that I can plant on the coloured ones rather than the green leafed plants. Also, our grafted tomato plants have been delivered - Crimson Plum. We’ve potted them on and they’ll stay home until the weather behaves or the plants get too straggly.
Look at my Loves Lies Bleeding seedlings! They’re so tiny, like cress at the moment. I'm wondering whether I shouldn't have sown them in clumps.
Jamie put his new toy composter together. It’s a rotator and is meant to produce compost in 3-4 weeks! It doesn't hold very much, but if it's successful we could try a larger model.
Beside the composter there is a pot of snowdrops. I planted those snowdrops about 20 years ago at home and they've never produced a flower or divided! I'm hoping it was their position rather than the actual plant. We'll find out next year...
And I did a bit of digging on Plot3. Trying to keep up with our new neighbours 😀
The strawberries are flowering around the site. The night-time temperatures are close to freezing at the moment though so those flowers may not make it into fruits - as happens most years. These plants are in the polytunnel so may get away with it, as the temperature is held up by about 1°
The song title is brought to you by Blind Melon (although we did have a tiny shower on Monday, you get the gist!)
I've already watered all round my plot a couple of times. It could certainly do with being warmer and less windy. Lots of flowers on my strawberries too. Happy plotting. xx
Love the look of the tiny composter! Let us know if the magic works in 6 weeks - my Hotbin is supposed to make compost in 60 days but it doesn't quite work, maybe if the bin got hotter it would be more successful. (Also, enjoyed the music!)
It seems like a repeat of last spring - cold and dry although today was quire pleasant. We need rain to make some beds that need digging workable.
ReplyDeleteI really hope that May doesn’t turn out so wet this year! But, yes, digging is certainly tough at the moment!
DeleteI've already watered all round my plot a couple of times. It could certainly do with being warmer and less windy. Lots of flowers on my strawberries too. Happy plotting. xx
DeleteYes, the watering regime has begun, but today we have some proper rain so maybe digging can resume tomorrow! Happy May Day!
DeleteLove the look of the tiny composter! Let us know if the magic works in 6 weeks - my Hotbin is supposed to make compost in 60 days but it doesn't quite work, maybe if the bin got hotter it would be more successful. (Also, enjoyed the music!)
ReplyDeleteNot looking very compost-y yet... but will keep you informed Glad you enjoyed the tune 😀
Delete