Allotment News
The first job when we arrive is the walk round to check how everything is doing and what is needing done. On Thursday the first of the potatoes were showing, the second early variety ‘Nicola’, so they were earthed up to protect the shaws from any frost.
There has been excellent pollination on the cherry tree and, once the blossoms are over, it will be netted to allow us to have the cherries – not the birds!
The weeds are growing well too, and we had a session of digging out the green alkanet and hogweed-both real spreaders. We also trimmed the grass edges.
The bed for the sweetcorn was cultivated and a good barrowload of manure added to it. The sweetcorn won’t be out for another month or so until the danger of frost has gone.
And at home, squashes (variety ‘Patty Pan’) were sown, dwarf French beans and French runner beans. The runner beans can be sown directly into the ground in a couple of weeks’ time.
Each week, part of the walk round is the search for New Zealand flatworm and today – the first time in a long time – we found a flatworm egg, about the size of a blackcurrant and very shiny with a hard shell. On breaking it open there was a milky fluid inside.
With the recent spell of cold nights, we held off with more seed sowing but hope to carry on with that next week.
On the maintenance side, solid supports were put in for the posts holding up the willow/hazel windbreak, again many thanks due to our ‘hired hand’.
Jobs for next week
- Seed sowing – carrots, swedes, peas
- Weeding the comfrey bed
- Feed the fruit
