Dry time July 31, 2010

I had not managed to get to our plot for some time due to unforeseeable circumstances. A pipe leak in the concrete under the kitchen floor meaning we all 4 had to vacate our home for 2 MONTHS!! We went to a pokey house with no TV, computer or phone. Husband has bike accident, in plaster and on crutches for 5 weeks. No World Cup! Nightmare!

It had jolly tulips in the garden though!

Funky tulips

Of course it has also been really hot and dry and spare moments were spent watering our newly turfed lawn at home.

Hopefully the special tough turf and 3 tons of grit/topsoil will be fine in the small garden that is somehow half swamp, half desert!

Before this minor catastrophe in my life, Vanessa and I managed to plant out the crops we had grown from seed.

I have never grown veg from seeds before and am always amazed when the first leaves start to poke through the soil. I don’t know why I never expect it to work. The miracle of life seems so unlikely! Even the Broad Beans that kept falling out of their pots in the wind or were interfered with by toddler fingers, still forced themselves to grow. Amazing!!

Seedlings

We planted out, Beetroot, Sweetcorn, Courgettes, Green Beans and Carrots as well as some Celeriac and Chard seeds straight in the ground.

We are trying to plant the beds ready for rotation next year, but we keep getting a little confused about what goes where and what is a Legume and what is a Brassica! I constantly refer to my marvelous book – Allotment month by month- by Alan Buckingham. It is in excellent source for someone with no experience. We still have lots of space left too.

When I finally did get a chance to get to the plot and give it some water, I could barely find our precious plants for the weeds and grass that had shot up in the sun.

That grew quickly!

We found a petrol strimmer on Ebay and Vanessa’s helpful brother kindly cleared our paths for us. I weeded as best I could in the baked ground. It took ages so could not get to any other jobs in the allotted child free time!

Some stuff had grown beautifully and I felt foolishly excited by the transformations of what we had planted.

Courgettes

Peas and beans

However, some  crops had to be sacrificed to those whose land we use. ( That is what I tell myself so as not to be cross!)

Lucky fat critters!

The Jerusalem Artichokes we thought we had cleared have a serious will of their own and have pushed out some spuds even. Next year they will have to be attacked hard to reclaim the space. I love them, but can only eat so many!

Willful Artichokes

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