Allotment News Archives - Page 8 of 8

Allotment News

For most of my married life my husband and I have been growing our own vegetables. Over the years as we have moved around we have had three allotments and several large gardens. We have always grown organically, preferring to feed the plants well with natural fertilisers such as seaweed, manure and compost. It’s a bit like nutritional therapy; if you put the right food in, the body heals itself and resists disease. Plants too are much stronger and healthier if you feed them the vital nutrients they need and they succumb less to pests and diseases.

We are not self-sufficient and never intend to be but it is amazing to be able to pick fresh produce and eat it within hours. There is nearly always something on the allotment to pick whether it’s fresh kale and leeks in winter or an abundance of fresh produce such as beans, courgettes, chard, herbs and fruit in summer.

Over the years we have learnt from our mistakes and successes and have developed a simple regime which works for us. These allotment notes record our progress throughout the growing year.

Waste Not, Want Not

15 April 2016: The broad beans and red onions have now been planted out and covered with netting to protect them from the birds. We have a collection of small lengths of plastic pi

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More Planting

30 March 2016: My husband is the main planter and looks after the allotment with a little interference from me. I have a tiny plot in the back garden where I’m in charge of growi

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Pigeons and Perpetual Cabbage

22 March 2016: We have put the potatoes in at the allotment. They are second-earlies so we are a little early planting and we will have to make sure we cover any shoots with fleece

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Broad Beans and Cavolo Nero

25 February 2016: We are eating the last of our Cavolo Nero kale but watching with interest as the plants start to go to seed. Last year we went away just as the Cavolo Nero was fi

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A New Season Starts

4th February 2016: It’s that time of year when our thoughts turn to what we will grow in the allotment this year, and it’s quite exciting. We have already weeded and tidied up

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