November 1st, 8th, 15th - Mud! Planting onions, garlic, strawberries - fires & fixing the path!

So - The past few weeks we have been lucky enough to have reasonable weather and managed to get up to the allotment and do some planting, some woodwork, some path fixing, a fire with waste wood, turned the compost heap, and managed to get our boots very... very... muddy!

The main jobs were;

• Planting 'Elephant Garlic'
• Planting some of the strawberry runners from this year - a runner is a piece of strawberry plant that 'runs' from the plant and puts roots into the soil when it finds some... they were potted, and are now back planted in the strawberry patch!
• Burning off some old wood that had been on site since we took over the plot
• Making a barrier at the end of the path to prevent soil loss from when we cut back the bottom path to pass the survey
• Turning the compost heap - to allow the compost to 'breathe' - letting air in so it can compost down further
• Harvest : we harvested the last of the squashes and a couple of cucumbers and some salad for the 'Come Dine With Me' project

A late season cucumber

Onion (electric) in it's new hole

Last of the squashes...

Harvested squashes

Turning the compost

Lighting the bonfire

Cutting the path straight

Cutting the wood for the stakes

Knocking the barrier into place

Nailing the boards to the stakes

Planting out the potted strawberry runners in the extended strawberry bed

Last of the strawberry runners in before the winter

View from the plot, November 15th 2012

Hopefully more to report from the allotment if the weather stay fine next time...

October 2012 - the month in a single post...

A busy month in terms of harvesting and planting some veg for over wintering... the photographs below will tell the story, but here is a summary of how the month went;

• Harvesting! Beetroot, sweetcorn, carrots, salads (little gem, mixed salad), tomatoes, squashes, cucumbers
• Linking with the 'Come Dine With Me' project...
• Preparing the soil for over-wintering garlic and onions
• Preparing the soil for the extension of the strawberry plot
• Planting over-wintering garlic and onions...
• Animal spot; baby rat visit

The salad is still coming and provides a healthy starter or side dish for the 'Come Dine With Me' project at Rathbone

The squashes are doing well - this one was taken (and eaten!) at the 'Come Dine With Me' project!

Water on leaf...

Manuring the strawberry bed in preparation for planting an extension of the strawberry bed :)

Leeks set in and doing well...

Ready to prune the raspberries, cutting the branches down to encourage new growth for next year...

Chopped!

Sorting through the garlic bulbs for planting overwinter...

...a guide for spacing the bulbs when planting...

...planting the garlic bulbs along a line beside a board...

...the root section at the bottom of the hole, the tip of the bulb at the top.

End of the sweetcorn> starting to clear the site in preparation for planting some over wintering Onions...

Sweetcorn! We took some home and some to the 'Come Dine With Me' project...

The green manure Rye Grass starting to pop up...

Some of the harvest this year taken over (and eaten!) by the 'Come Dine With Me' project...

Visiting baby rat near the compost bins...

Cabbage popping up on a raised bed on the site

raking over the strawberry bed in preparation for planting after the manure has settled