Time for an update

One of the strange things about 2013 so far is that the weather has been very poor, but I have actually been able to keep up with jobs better than I usually do. I think it is partly because the very cold weather has stopped weeds taking over, as well as delaying planting times for my own crops. Added to this, I made a concerted effort to reduce the amount of infrastructure - paths, raised borders etc. and the lack of maintenance has left me time to carry on with more important jobs. I'm also getting much better at focusing my time on being productive; every time I visit the plot I set myself some goals and usually achieve them.

Things are progressing so well I've found I needed to scribble a plan for the first time in a few years. I usually carry it all in my head but I felt a plan was in order this week as I began to run out of space. Regular visitors to this blog will note the technicolour computer drawings of 2007-08 are long gone! We're now in back-of-an-envelope territory and I think I feel better for it.

Allotment plan, 2013

The plan shows where I've started to remove the smaller beds for the potatoes, onions etc and move to an open-plan, more traditional dug-ground system. This means less work maintaining paths and more growing space. I use scaffold planks to walk on the soil between the rows instead. The beds shown with a slightly heavier border are the ones that are not planted yet. The top of the plot is quite shady, so vegetable growing is concentrated on the lower side and the less productive areas are used for things that are less dependent on conditions. I plan to get rid of the two lower strawberry beds and move younger plants further up the plot after they finish fruiting.

May

My maincrop potatoes went in during the early May bank holiday at the beginning of the month, and by the time of the next bank holiday near the end of the month I've just spotted them breaking the surface, so they've put on some good growth from chitted tubers in about 3 weeks. This adds weight to my theory that most things will catch up if planted a bit later and there is no point in putting plants into wet cold soil. They will just sulk until it warms up anyway.

That said the year seems to be flying by at an alarming rate. I have some salad seeds but it's looking like I'll need to buy some plants as well as I haven't got the seeds in the ground yet. I've already bought some squash and cucumber plants and one courgette (bit of a gamble there; don't want too many plants but if this one doesn't survive, I'll have none). They are currently residing in my old cold frame, having not built the new one yet. However, there has been a giant leap forward in cold frame technology and I have used my glass shower screen as a lid. It works really well because you can slide it open and closed, so I will consider that a success for now.

My wife and the tiny human spent quite a bit of time at the plot last weekend, and the place is now bedecked with wind chimes, streamers, garden gnomes and little fences, along with a freshly tidied-up patio area outside the shed. I always wanted part of the plot to be an ornamental garden so it's fine by me. It also means all the twee garden ornaments chosen by the tiny human can grace the plot instead of the garden at home.

Vole / Ravenous Beast

I turned my compost heap and found a vole in residence. The little creature obviously mistook me for the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal* and attempted to escape by turning its back on me and sitting still with its eyes closed, but I eventually coaxed it out of the back of the heap.
*(a ferocious but stupid creature, who assumes that if you can't see it, then it can't see you)