Farewell Doug and Hello Dugless!

Well it's been a while so I thought I would put finger to keyboard and write an update on our allotment adventures.

We said good bye to Doug, our original quarter plot, in October and moved on to Dugless, so called because the previous occupant had a no digging philosophy, a very nice half plot.

Because of the previous plot holder's philosophy there was quite a bit of work for us to do when we took over. Both Mary and I like a nice tidy plot and tidy beds. However, it would have been churlish of us to complain as Alan, the previous occupant, left us some lovely fruit bushes that we have great hopes for this year. If everything comes to fruition we will be swamped with currants, strawberries, gooseberries, blueberries, raspberries and josta berries ( a blackcurrant and gooseberry cross).

So far we've only managed to harvest some rhubarb, and it made a wonderful crumble! We've got potatoes, various beans, sweetcorn, parsnip, turnip, beetroot and cabbages planted at the moment. We also are waiting on delivery of some leek seedlings and some multi-coloured cauliflower seedlings as well (white, purple, orange and green). I saw them advertised in a seed catalogue and just couldn't resist. Look out for some very colourful dinners as we've planted purple majesty potatoes again this year.

The crown jewels of the plot at the moment  are the various onions and garlic that we have coming on. My brother holidayed on the Isle of Wight last year and brought back some garlic gloves from the Garlic Farm there. They really are looking magnificent, with the Elephant garlic looking particularly splendid.

Now that the weather has started improving (sort of) a lot of our time is dedicated to weeding. The weeds seem to sprout up twice as quick as the vegetables. It's one of those chores that never seems to have an end! The end results are worth the effort though.

At the time we were moving allotment plots we were moving homes as well. We've moved from a flat to a house with a lovely back garden (Nigel II). The beds in Nigel are a mix of veg and flowers now. We also have plenty of herbs, the cats being particularly fond of the catnip, and some growing sacks for potatoes. Once the tomato, courgette and pumpkin seedlings are ready in the cold frame they will be going out into planters and grow bags. They will be joined by some red brussell sprouts as well!   


Despite my saying I wasn't going to bother again I've succumbed and got some chilli plants; Jalapeno, Habanero and Dorset Naga. I really am hoping for a better growing season for them this year. 

Well that's it for now, hopefully we will get back to regular updates in the future.