Brrr so cold

It's been really rainy/sleety and even snowy today so we weren't intending to visit the allotment but had to go and save our raspberries which would have been drowning if they stayed where we left them!

So, we ventured out in the cold, cold rain. One other person had braved the weather to pick some produce.
The raspberries are bagged up in earth now rather than being flooded in our wheelbarrow.
Of course, quite soon after we'd finished doing this the sun came out and the site looked beautiful but we were quite cold enough and went home!

Last of the sprouts

It's March already and it was a lovely sunny morning, luckily we avoided the heavy rain showers.

I picked the last reasonable-looking sprouts before pulling the stalks and adding what I could to the compost bin - the stalks are really too thick to compost, if they're not shredded, so they usually end up in our green bin for the Council to deal with.

The onions and shallots haven't started sprouting yet (well, it's only been a week), but the raspberry plants look happy and buds are still growing on the transplanted ones.

Jamie was digging more of the potato quarter and I cleared the netting so we can completely work that quarter ready for our spuds in April - time seems to be slipping away rather ...

Found this Ruby Tiger Moth caterpillar sheltering in the thyme - they hibernate so it's probably been there all winter.

Insects and Invertebrates

Allotment holders weren't the only things out and about enjoying the sunshine! The birds were singing happily, we could hear a woodpecker in the trees nearby and we found various insects and invertebrates, especially when we were digging up the raspberry plants.

Ladybird sitting in the sage

It's a bit early for ladybirds to come out of hibernation but probably good for them to take advantage of the sun's warmth while it can.

Chafer Grub

Leather jacket - crane fly larva

These two larvae generally are only a real problem for lawns, so aren't too much of a pest to our veggies. We have grass paths throughout the allotment site so these are likely to be quite happy nibbling grass roots rather than our produce - that said, if we find them they still get winged into the hedge :-)

Transplanting Raspberries & Strawberries

When we took over Plot 8A in 2010 we inherited some raspberry plants which have been steadily spreading, including into the next door plot. Last year I marked some plants which I knew were Autumn-fruiting and had produced some delicious fruits.

Before

So, today was the day to actually move them to where we want them and finally clear the weeds and couch grass from the end of 8A - the only bit of our plots which has never been dug (by us).

After

They took a lot of digging and we're pretty sure there will be raspberries in that corner for ever more!

But, I got the 5 canes I wanted and they're now in the opposite corner. I planted them in a trench full of compost from our bin. There was some debate with fellow plotholders so I left them tall and will cut them back when they've settled into their new home in a couple of weeks.

Plenty of canes for fellow plotholders - Jane and Malcolm had first pick for their plots but we'll let other people know if there are any remaining plants.



Jane let me take some of her brother-in-law's strawberries so I potted three plants up in the wooden planter. I put stones over the earth to attempt to help moisture retention - not sure if strawbs will be happy with that but we'll see....

We only want enough to have some to nibble while we're at the plot in the summer.

Onions and Shallots

What a beautiful warm and sunny day! The minimum temp since last weekend was -5° but it really felt like Spring today and the number of allotment holders on site reflected this!

We hoed the alliums quarter and then planted

16 Golden Gourmet shallots and
34 Santero onions - which are meant to be downy mildew resistant.
They're all spaced about 15cm apart - onions in 2 rows; shallots in 3 rows, with a bit of space under the cage for our leek seedlings (which we haven't sown yet)

In an attempt stop the pesky onion/leek moth we've covered both patches with enviromesh coverings - though the cloche looks like it may be a bit ineffective as the sides aren't flush to the ground.

Jamie dug over some of the potato quarter but it was hard work - so many roots, as it hasn't been dug that well over the last couple of years - slightly concerned that the tree is going to fall down with the amount of roots we're pulling :-)