less potato fustration…. more potato joy!! April 30, 2008

Went to check on the tatties in the rain today.  They’re popping up nicely and it’s a lovely moment of joy and pride when you realise things are working ok (again – 2nd year for us!)

 

In the main plot (center) we have – (earlies) Accent, pink fir, Jersey royals, ?bakers?, [main] King Edward, Desiree.  Then we have a couple of randoms in two tyre stacks to the left of the picture. 

To the right of the picture we have a random four plants that I cheekily chucked in at the end of last summer when I took up the sweetcorn plants.  Told dear her indoors the other day and she at the moment is saying we should leave them there although they are growing on the path and the roots plot.  :>  Q funny really.

Bets on how many potatoes in total we’ll end up having – last year 4 seed pots = 100 potatoes.  This year 27+2+4 = ? answers on a postcard please!

Question to readers too – how many seed potatoes can we fit in a tyre stack? (standard size tyres?)

nigeybodge? I think nigey-cunning!!

The cunning greenhouse rain collection contraptions are a success!  Today was a manky heavy rain day and my rain collections worked really well – one was full when I checked before work and the wheelie bin on the other side had definitly increased at least a little.

 

The side shown above works really well with all the water draining to this end.  I duck-taped a cut-off coke bottle to the side of the greenhouse, put a kids’ drink bottle lid on it and duck-taped a hose to this.  Then the hose runs down to a knackered old plastic barrel I stole from the horsy neighbours.  The greenhouse guttering needed something to let the water drip properly in so I bodged-on a piece of scrap plastic (from a kitchen bin)!!! nice!!

The other side just has a scrap bit of plastic shoved into a hose which runs to a wheelie bin next to the greenhouse.  That side of the greenhouse isn’t sloped enough so water collects in the middle bit of it and not run very well into the hose and bin.  ah well.  I siphoned a load out of the main house water butt so I think I’m doing ok although am planning to transfer as much as I can to stash before a hopefully hot summer…

Part-way through weekend update…. April 26, 2008

Random wanting to post with some updates-:

– Finished raised beds with ends and top soil procured previously from freecycle.

– Admired many shoots now appearing in the potato area

– Transplanted many things including peas, brassicas, nastersiums etc

– Put up some more fencing to sort out the chickens who keep escaping next door!

– Syphoned waterbutt off to stash some rainwater for the coming anticipated dry spell

– Completed a nigeybodge/cunning solution for collecting rainwater off the greenhouse.  [another post with pics to follow shortly]

– Completed a nigeybodge to replace some glass in a shed thing here.

Busy busy busy……

interesting pea in transition to the outside world:>

 

And a funny find whilst emptying the waterbutt->

 Toddler admitted to putting a flowerpot, a small gardening kids’ rake, and an egg-box in there a few months ago!!

Potato Update… Yay for success April 19, 2008

Some shoots! Yay – about 5 spotted so far but many just under the surface.

 

 

The large potato bed has proved fertile enough and some are now coming through (I always like this bit – well, the second time ever now!!! :> ) 

Whilst grabbing some other bits (more to follow), I also found some abandoned tyres so have started to build up some additional potato space.

Things to do with a large car… #104

 

Fill it with top soil and wooden pallets all procured from freecycle.  See our list in the widget to the right of all the things procured to date – we’re doing really well although mainly receiving rather than passing on – but I think this still has equal karma.

Anyway, got the topsoil from a localish donor – but actually missed a work call I was supposed to join as I was so involved I just totally forgot about it!

The car was really weighed down and the steering was awful on the way home!! ah well.  Soil will be used for additional pots for potatoes, and to finish the raised beds.  Pallets will be used for compost holder to look a bit less plastic-y than the daleks.

comedy veg as inspiration…. April 7, 2008

Just found this on facebook!!

Kudos to Fiona Stokes on the ‘I’ve got an allotment and it doesn’t make me wierd’ group!!!

 

 

I think it should inspire us to get growing!! onwards – though might take the tip about planting in loo rolls to help be straight!!

Hurrah some Spring progress!! April 1, 2008

Wot a busy weekend.  Hurrah with thanks to R and T from up north (tooting) we now have:

  – A pop hole in the chicken house front

  – A Greenhouse re-population of glass and some plastic sheeting

  – A reconstructed Shed

  

An excellent theme of the greenhouse relocation has been bleeding and all three of the main workforce have contributed blood to the frame, glass and floor area around it.  At least it’s good for the plants.

A second excellent theme has been the domain of nigeybodging.  Visiting londoners were treated to the unique shortcuts of nigeybodges, and actually joined in themselves.  This included bad bolt arrangements on the greenhouse, a general wonkyness to the greenhouse as shown by the illfitting door,  two broken drill-bits (now replaced Barbara!! :> ) when trying to get some old screws out by drilling around them, a broken jigsaw bit from trying to force the  cutting of the rottenish side of the shed floor.  R tried to join the club in a hurried fence construction from chickenwire and posts.  The classic moments were trying to bang a nail in with a Rubber Mallet, and in trying to saw a post vertically and then leaning on the grass.  bless….. thanks again though to R and T !!! good workers.

ooh… reminiscing… when we’ve only had one season!!! March 26, 2008

Just looked back over archives – now added to the right – and decided to quickly post how green it was here last summer – hadn’t really clicked how brown/grey it is at the moment with nothing growing – ground all dug over and it being really raining/overcast/windy etc!!!

Check out the growths and the overgrowths!!  Summer 2008 here we come!!! yay!

Productive weekend at last

Wow – hurrah! A productive weekend at last, we did:

– Planted the earlies (potatoes) plus some main crop cos we just had about 9 holes left and thought what the hell….

– Relocated the greenhouse to the front garden/hardstanding area that should get total sunlight rather than the almost total shade last year!!

– Erected a fence to shield sprogs from the greenhouse when the glass is re-inserted

– Finished the wire mesh bits of the chicken house (pop hole left and nest boxes to build…. plus obtaining the chucks)

– Planted some stuff inc Chillies, peppers, spanish pimientos de padron

– Heard from regional battery hen welfare people that they can’t meet demand, and would be summer before we could get any from them!!!

– Put up hanging basket bracket (Note – did two hanging baskets the other day too and forgot to blog that!!)

– Laid some paving slabs to avoid wet socks when taking out rubbish & the recycling

 – Ate loadsa choc, cuddled new baby girl lots, went for long country walk together, met up wi lotsa friends from home town

Mention to her indoors for also planting lots and lots and lots of seeds – whilst wearing new baby girl in a sling…..

Mention to Rhys also who wanted credit for the chicken house (he has meaty power tools, less bodgeness and more rhysyperfection style and also recently bought me a sexy briefcase of screws (pic will be inserted soon).

feels like we’re re-populating the world….. March 10, 2008

Her indoors has been busy.  creating seed containers and planting the first of the seeds.  It looks a bit like we’re repopulating the world with our little children.  First pic shows peas, calebrese (closed broccoli), cauliflower, sprouts, purple podded peas (apparently??) , Citrus lemon cucumbers (just the look, not the taste), yellow and white tomatoes.

  (this is only some of the full set)

Then two little things are the little toddler dd’s tomatoes from a woolworths kit bought last year, plus a tesco’s sweet potato that was plonked in a mug and after about 2 months has started to sprout – some old git told me that you then take cuttings from the sprouts???? any advice first.

    (sprouts to left, roots to right)