Category: Flighty’s plot

started sunny but by the time I was packing up to come home from the plot it was drizzling, which soon turned to rain.  Since then it’s been mostly overcast, but thankfully has stayed dry.

I’m all ready to start digging out, and sieving, the compost heap having moved the top few inches of uncomposted material into the composter.  I also had to sort out a new area to put the dug out compost as I used to leave it partly under the blackberry bush where the composter now stands. I’ll now put it round the other side.

This year the tomato seeds, both Gardener’s Delight and Golden Sunrise, I was starting off on the windowsill either didn’t germinate or did then simply didn’t grow so I ended up with some plants, mostly unknown varieties, I was kindly given.

Next year I’m trying two different varieties.  The red one is Outdoor Girl which I grew back in 2020 (as seen in the photo), and is widely recommended as one of the best outdoor varieties.  The other one is Yellow Perfection which is often quoted as, perhaps, being the most highly rated of all the yellow tomatoes.  It has high yields, beautiful golden fruit, crops early and has an excellent flavour.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

It was calm, sunny and relatively warm on the plot this morning and seemed like more like summer than a Sunday in late October.

Clearing the flower patches has been rather intermittent as the cosmos, nasturtiums, pot marigolds and even a sunflower are all still flowering.  The cosmos are flowering profusely, especially the white ones, and this pink one is over six feet tall.

There are a handful of flowers on the nasturtiums, and there is this one sunflower which has several small flowers.

Normally all I would expect to see flowering on the plot at this time of year are the white asters Twinkling Stars. Note that this is my name for these and the proper name is aster pringlei Monte Cassino.

During last week I saw a bumblebee on one of the few last roses Pretty Lady and a Red Admiral butterfly fluttering about.

Have a good week, and take care!

The weather this week has been much better, and settled, with plenty of sunshine.  On Monday I cut the comfrey for the fourth (?) time this year and added it to the composter.  I also collected a couple of bucketfuls of cornus leaves which I also added.  Any further leaves I collect will go into old plastic compost bags until I’ve emptied out the compost heap.

Heading home I’d almost reached the site gates when something on one of the other plots caught my eye.  Much to my surprise it was a moorhen which got closer, started to very cautiously cross the site road then changed it’s mind, turned round and headed back.  It was almost certainly from the adjacent ecology park pond or the wetland area on the park across the main road.  I have seen one on the allotments before, some years ago, but it’s a rather unusual bird to see there.  In the picture the tree in the top left corner with the dark red leaves is the cornus/dogwood and my sentry box shed with the tin roof is clearly visible.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

When I got to the plot yesterday afternoon it was good to see my immediate neighbour Julia working on hers as I don’t see her very often, so we chatted about this and that.  She’s got a large clump of Oxeye Daisies which have self-seeded all around and she kindly said to help myself to a few of the plants.  I’ll do that and I’m now pondering on where I’ll plant them.  She also grew a lot of white cosmos and said to help myself to some seed heads.

Friday and yesterday I hoed the areas where I’ll be growing the onions and potatoes next year.  I also made a good start clearing the main flower patch.  Today it’s wet and windy so it’s back to armchair gardening rather than plot pottering.

The allotments are only a few minutes walk from home. On the way there I pass two blocks of council flats which have small garden areas at the front.  On one of these is an impressive hydrangea which is still in flower.

Have a good week, and take care!

So far this week I’ve only been to the plot on Tuesday. It had been a dull morning but brightened up and was a sunny afternoon.  I only had a potter and took a few photos, including these cosmos.

It’s nice again today so I’ll be going there later, and tomorrow.  However the weekend looks like being damp and dull.

Below is the last rose Pretty Lady, and at home the rose Iceberg outside my living room window is still flowering.

That’s all for today, except to say have a good weekend and take care!

There was a frost early Friday morning which was followed by a calm sunny day, and I was pleased to do some plotting for a couple of hours whilst chatting to the robin. I caught a quick glimpse of another small bird on one of the sunflower seed heads which may have been a greenfinch.

Sadly the sunflowers have finished for this year but there are still the asters, cosmos and some pot marigolds providing welcome colour, and I also noticed a blue nigella/love-in-a-mist flower.

This morning I just had a plot potter and a chat with a fellow plot holder before heading across the road to the horticultural society trading shed to confirm what onion sets and seed potatoes have been ordered for next year.  As usual the onions will be the variety Sturon and the potatoes the same as last year, and they should be available early February.

Have a good week, and take care!

The unsettled weather through most of last week meant that I didn’t get to do much plotting but I’ve made up for it this weekend,which has been dry, as I forked over the three areas where I’ll be growing carrots, first early potatoes and tomatoes next year.  That just leaves the areas where I’ll be growing the onions and second early/main crop potatoes.  The recent rain has made the ground surpringly workable as I could push the fork in full depth without too much effort.

The nasturtiums at one end of the double row of strawberries are still flowering despite the leaves starting to die back.  I generally grow them here as I’ve never had much luck when I’ve tried elsewhere on the plot.  I usually grow the variety Tom Thumb as the plants are compact bearing flowers in a wide range of cheerful colours.  I always smile at the Chiltern Seeds description for these which says…If you can’t grow these, you better give up gardening as a hobby.

Both photos are from the archives, the top one was taken in July 2020, and the yellow flowers in July 2014.

Have a good week, and take care!

was dry and sunny so I spent both mornings doing some plotting.  I finished roughly forking over the potato patch and found plenty more second early potatoes Charlotte which I hadn’t lifted the first time round.  Next year I’ll be be growing the beans and sweetcorn in that area so it can be left until the spring, apart from hoeing off any weeds that appear.

The sweetcorn will be the variety Sundance, which I grew this year and was well pleased with.  Here are the last cobs I picked a few weeks ago, the top one being around 6 in/15 cm long.

I’m slowly clearing the flower patches as I’m working round the still flowering cosmos and sunflowers. This picture was taken last weekend.

The past few days have been damp and dull again, with some heavy rain at times. I looked round a very soggy plot after lunch yesterday and it’ll take a couple of days to get dry enough for me to resume plotting.   Today it’s dry and sunny with a similar forecast for the weekend and into next week.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

Earlier in the year I was beginning to wonder if I’d lost my favourite aster/Michaelmas Daisy, which I call Twinkling Stars as it has masses of small white flowers.

Thankfully I hadn’t and it’s just starting to flower.

 

The clump by the shed comprises two different varieties as there are both purple and light blue flowers (the later appear white in the photo). I’m undecided if I should seperate them or leave them be.

The large clump between the pond and grass path has been covered in flowers for at least several weeks.

The pond isn’t visible at present as it’s hidden under the long grass just showing on the right in the picture.

 

My original blue clump between the cornus/dogwood and the roadway is just starting to flower.

Have a good week, and take care!