It is busy on the allotment – and fruitful!
A very mild, overcast day on the plot, everything appears to be progressing well. There has been very little rain in the last week, consequently the ground was very dry and many young plants in need of water. The hose was dug out and the whole plot well watered and as a result the young plants soon perked up.
Watering the dry beds
There were broken branches noted on a couple of the gooseberry bushes, an indication that the budding fruits were attracting the attention of pigeons. So the gooseberry bushes were netted to protect and deter the birds from helping themselves!!
A couple of onions had early development of flower heads, these were removed and the central stem cut back, this flower head occurs when the onion is “bolting”. It is a natural process that happens when the plant is under stress. There are several causes, including hot dry weather, but can also occur during a cold snap.
Flower bud on the head of the onion plant
The onion beds were weeded and the shallots were thinned. Thinning shallots by removing the smaller bulbs to 3 bulbs per plant encourages larger shallot bulbs to form.
The apples were thinned out. The main purpose of thinning apples is to improve the size and quality of the fruit. Thinning also allows sunlight and air to circulate and penetrate branches, promoting more even ripening. Again Codling Moth was discovered on the apple tree and destroyed.
More planting: Rainbow Chard was planted and watered in. Climbing peas – purple magnolia were planted, supported, tied in and netted to protect them from pests/birds/rabbits etc.. 
Some early strawberries were picked and the strawberry bed covered with netting to protect from birds.
Jobs for next week
- Ongoing weeding of the paths and flower beds.
- Plant runner beans.
- Keep checking the fruit trees for Codling moth.
- Check for Flatworms.
- Trim the grass path edges.
