Vinny's Allotment Plot

I grow garlic and leeks. Elephant garlic is supposed to look like one but be related to the other. How do people use it?

Use the cloves as you would use ordinary garlic but Elephant's tend to be bigger and milder.

A happy two hours hand weeding today, mainly groundsel before it flowers and gives me another seven years of weeding!

Came away at the first sign of a back twinge as I have boxing this evening and need to be on my toes for that!

Brought some broadies back for ron. Had an excellent crop of these but for everything else it's been a dire year............! Oh tell a le, one of my gooseberry bushes have performed well and the elephant garlic aint too bad.

Poor germination and heavy predation is a bummer!

A trip back to the allotment before I get a letter!

Weeds were three feet high and courgetes were full blown marrows!

Spent a couple of hours hand weeding (my back can testify to this)  and hoe-ing! I managed to get the plot looking semi-respectable and hopefully avoided a letter.
Onions are ready for harvesting and I harvested a few. I stole a couple of plumbs which were hanging over my plot from next doors tree, and very tasty they were too!
I have two grape vines trained into the greenhouse with one small bunch on each.

The spring cabbage are hearting up even though it is now autumn.

I will try and get back on a decent weather day next week and tickle over some beds , adding manure as I go,ready for the winter planting

Back at plot yesterday for more weeding. Mainly using hoe to weed as ground was damp and weeds were shallow rooted. Stooping to hoe does affect your back but not as much as hand weeding.
To try and get away from the 'Brown desert' look I will be trying to grow stuff over the winter,even if it is just green manure. Dismayed at how many plotholders just cover the beds with black plastic or weed membrane for the winter and return to plot at Easter. The Council seem to look upon it with favour and class these guys/gals as good plotholders? Ah, well,each to there own I suppose.?

As well as hoeing I tickled a few beds over ready for planting. I have four main crops I grow through the winter and usually start some of them off under glass.to this end I covered some of the beds with glass yesterday.

Jaanese type onion sets, spring cabbage, broad beans and garlic/elephant garlic are what I usually grow but if anyone has any other ideas for sowing I would be interested?
I still have leeks and onions growing as well as last years sring cabbage which have turned into autumn cabbage!

A trip to the allotment was called for today as I was sick of stacking logs for the winter at home and decided to leave the rest for Ron.

Plot is looking reasonably tidy so hopefully I won't get a letter from the allotment Mafis (Council)

I planted 18 Autunm planted onion sets in each of two small plots which I prepared and fertilised first. I was going to add manure from the communal pile but it's all gone.Should have done it last time I was at lot but hey -ho,can't be helped.

I prepared another bed and sowed 18 Aquadulce broad beans and covered the bed with glass.

Then it was time to get on with what I seem to do most of.............weeding. Using the hoe it wasn't too badasthe weeds were minimal and Ijust left them on the surface.
I took a few random photos when I left.I tried to show how big the onion sets were (coud have been used as pickling onions!) Still loads to sow in succession.In the past I have always believed that the smaller sets have less chance of bolting?We shall see!

Back at the plot again today as my Mooli seeds have arrived and it's getting a bit late to get them sown? I forked over a long diagonal bed and afer raking it level I sowed three packets of seeds in a double  row. If the plants don't grow and mature before the heavy frosts I will just leave them in as a green manure..........at least that's the plan?

I also prepared another long diagonal bed and planted 46 Senshyu onion sets in a double row.

I did spend quite a bit of time gassing with another plot holder and gave her a packet of mooli seeds,which leaves me with one packet to keep until next year.

Called back at plot to see if my Mooli seeds had germinated? I was pleased to see they had and it had been a decent germination percentage!  (Piccie below)
It will now be interesting to see how far they get before the frost knocks them down?
While I was there I harvested my white onions from a bed, tickld the bed oer with a hoe, levelled it with a rake and planted four rows of Japanese onion sets.

Cold and damp so didn't stop long!

I had a walk down to allotment with Kato and put a bag of garlic cloves into my pocket to plant there. On arrivalI was mt by a plotholder whotold me ther had been numerous thefts of rotovators, strimmers & lawnmowers,the majority of which were in alocked shipping container! 
My shed had ben broken into along with all others. Luckily I don't lock my shed as there is nothing worth taking and I just hope Roland jumped out at them and bit them. The most annoying thing they did was pull out,and steal the metal pins from the ends of the diagonal beds that held  the electric fence  wires I have them marked out with
I really can't complain as I got away reasonably lightly.

While I was there I let Kato roam round the plot while I quickly planted the garlic in a pre-prepared bed.I bought it from a local market as 'planting' garlic as opposed to eating garlic so we shall see whether I have been conned into payng over the top for bog standard garlic?

Last time I was there I took the glass off the broadies and was pleased to see they havn't suffered any and look healthy. There is no way that the mooli will come into fruition in the diagonal beds before a heavy frost hits it,so it looks like it's going to be green manure?

Sorry to read that, Vinny. Thieving scumbags. They won't make much money from the scrappies for your metal pins - but you have a whole lot of hassle now to replace them. The other plotholders must be really annoyed.