Vinny's Allotment Plot

A couple of fruitfull hours in the sunshine today. Before I left from home I sorted out  all my brassica seeds and planned to sow some in a nursery bed.

I planted spring cabbage in a bed last autumn and only a few had survived so rather than waste the bed I transplanted the few plants remaining into the end of a bed with some glass tubes oer them for protection.
I used a full bag of peat free compost on the bed and after levelling I sowed rows of, Cabbage Offenham 2,Brocolli Atlantis,Brocolli Autumn Spear,Sutherland Kale, cabbage Greyhound, Cauliflower Igloo. I then stood a few plant pots around the edge and put a sheet of glass over all. The plant pots were to give a bit of clearance for growth.
I have some broad beans under glas which are just starting to pop up so left it there until they have a couple of inches of growth.

I took the glass off a bed of Japanese autumn planted onion sets which appear to be establiahed now..

I weeded and removed a bed of swedes which were the size of marbles and raked over the bed ready for planting onion sets in it in April. The garlic is looking well along with the elephant garlic which I hae high hopes for. Apart from a bit of hand weeding here and there,that was it for today.
Next time I am there I ned to weed the other autumn onion bed and have a general tiy up of plot.

Too a few piccies so I'll add them below.

Called in at plot on way home from Gym! Mainly to see if I needed to remove glass off planted stuff. Took cover off some broadies as they were touching the glass.Only about half have appeared to have germinated but with a bit of luck more will appear.

I left the glass on the brassica seedbedas there was still abit of space for the germinated seedlings.

As the sun was shiningI stopped for a while and hand weeded another Autumn sown onion bed and shifted some of the poached egg seedlings which I didn't have the heart to throw awy. I also loosened the soil around the onions with the hand trowel.

Finished off by giving this season's growing beds a handfull of controlled release fertiliser to the square yard.

Spent a couple of hours on Good Friday on the plot. I took the glas off my brassica seed bed and made a debri netting 'tent' to protect them from the flying rats.
Also put some wire over my broadiesto kep the jackdaws from pulling them out and hand weeded/ dug a couple of beds.

Today ! checked to see whether my protection measures had worked and hand weeded another onion bed. I also wen round the plot digging up before their flowers turned into seedheads and bllew all over the plot.

A few random piccies shown below.

Another hour at the plot today. Hand weeded a bed then dug it over by loosening the soil.Some of the bed had  self seeded poached egg plants in it. I have heard of these being used as a green manure before so dug some in to give it a try.
Once bed was hoed and raked I planted 30 snowball onion sets in it. I covered bed with enviromesh until the sets have put down roots then I will take it off.

I row of brasiicas in my other seed bed did not germinate,so I lifted the debri netting and sowed a row of Swedes to in it's place, be transplanted later along with other brassicas.
I still have 260 onion sets to plant so will have to find space for them.

If all these onions come to fruition I'll have to get a bike and go round selling them like the French Onion Man

You could go round on Fergie - that would bring out the crowds.

Spent a couple of hours on the plot this morning.

Started by preparing another onion bed by weeding, tickling with fork and raking to restore levels (Actually  a nice litle camber across the bed) After that planted 90 Sturon onion sets + 20 Snowball onions sets and half a dozen japanese onions that I had previously recued from the said bed.(All that was left out of three rows planted in Autumn!)

I then harvested a full bed of leeks for myself and my Daughter who loves leeks. After weeding and digging this bed I added a wheelbarrow load of home made compost. Undecided what will go in this bed but whatever it is it will have a good start!

Lastly I weeded my strawberry bed which was an onerous task as it was full of couch grass, docks & creeping butercup!

Some piccies added below,one is a before and after of strawberry bed. The bed that had the leeks was the trapezium shaped bed just down from the enviromesh coverded snowball onion bed.

Back at the plot for 1.5hrs today. I took the wire mesh off the broadies. I also took the debri netting off the brassica seed bed.I did a bir of hand weeding of the creeping buttercup that were trying to invade the beds!

After that I decided to prpare a couple of beds for crops. Nothing planted in them yeat asthe soilis still cold and 'claggy'.

Weeds are making a takeover bid, but some weeds,clover for instance, actually imprroe the soil being a legume and the beee love them, so I have left them for a while.

A few relevent piccies below.

Looking great, Vinny. Lots coming to life now.

Have you found your debris netting lasts a good while? I need netting but I'm undecided!

Looking great, Vinny. Lots coming to life now.

Have you found your debris netting lasts a good while? I need netting but I'm undecided!

You'll probably get a couple of season's out of it before it starts to rot. Eniromesh is expensiive but seems to last a lot longer?

Thanks, Vinny. That's my great debate. You can buy even more expensive Enviromesh that is biodegradable, apparently. I'll need to decide soon as everything is wanting to go out soon!

Look forward to seeing the plot as the season progresses. I followed your previous plot on a different forum a million years ago