March / April......

I have been slack again at updating the blog...

Mainly we've been trying to start crops off in the polytunnel. With only a little success. I have managed to get ten cauliflower plants off to a good start, but failed miserably with chives, red pepper, chilli, tomatoes. Actually that's not quite true, there is one lonely tomato plant still sticking in there. Baz managed to grow some mixed lettuce leaves, but the pot is now over-run with ants unfortunately and to stop the ants from discovering the other things in the polytunnel, Baz put it outside, so not sure if it will survive. He's also got two pots of potatoes and some jerusalem artichokes on the go. He tried to get some bay growing from a cutting off the huge tree we had (before being lovingly lopped down), but sadly it just didn't survive.

Outside of the polytunnel we have lots of potatoes growing nicely (three types) and a row of radishes, as well as white and red onions. We did attempt to grow kale under a cloche but alas, it's died. We have a few garlic from last year, which we left in over winter as they just hadn't got very big by last summer. Some chard was growing in this big pile of soil near the compost, so we moved that into its designated space in one of the beds.

I put some flower seed in a couple of months ago and I think some of them are showing. I tried to grow some sunflowers, but they never showed.

Above is a picture of how the plot looked at the beginning of March.

And here it is at the end of April. You can see the compost bins have moved. Actually not much else is different!

Here are some pics of Baz on our seemingly weekly nomadic traipse from home to allotment......

Baz is basically obsessed with reinforcing the polytunnel. Any strip of wood or metal pole he comes across gets incorporated into the polytunnel structure. He is convinced it will take off if we don't do this. There are winds coming in May some time, as they come every year, and he is determined not to be the laughing stock of the site, and for the polytunnel to stay put. I swear he lies in bed thinking about it, and wakes up still thinking about it.

Here is an early reinforcement.
And here's how it looks inside:

The sweet peas near the entrance which have been there for years have sprung up, I built a bamboo thing for them to climb but as yet they haven't got what they're supposed to be doing:

We went to Brighton Vegfest a while ago and spoke to a guy on a stall for Vegan Organic Network. We got a dvd they sell called 'Growing Green' which we've yet to watch, but when we do I will post about it as I'm sure it's got heaps of good tips for growing fruit and veg the way we are doing, ie organically and without using anything which is harmful to animals.

I will leave you with a picture of the cauliflower plants, the one thing I am proud of at the moment!!

see ya....