Alan's Allotment

So my autumn sown onions and garlic are all now a couple of centimetres tall, and my Broad Beans have started to poke through this week which is all good news. Unfortunately, with the mild weather we're having, a lot of weed seeds have germinated too so this week I'm going to have to get the hoe out and give the plot a good going over. All the compost and top soil we carted and spread was full of weed seeds. At least they're coming through now while some of the soil is bare and it's easy to hoe off. I've started pulling my first parsnips this weekend which, whilst being exciting, was also a bit of a disappointment as they were quite small (in comparison to those wehad last year which were as big as your arm!). More like long carrots than parsnips but still great flavour all the same. I'm still thinking about which potato varieties to grow next year. In looking at the catalogues, I think I might go for the £2.99 bags from Thompson and Morgans, rathert than th...

So as my 'To Do' list starts to dwindle as we approach November, I've got to thinking about projects for the winter. As much as I love the general potter around over the winter months, there are a couple of things I'd like to achieve before the hustle and bustle of spring. Project 1 and 2 I've got four currant bushes which are a little close together and really could do with a bit more space. I've got an area earmarked for them, and after a year of not using the old compost bin, I'ts time for it to become my new fruit bed. The old wire bin is going to be cut down to provide support for the path/bank area. The plot is on a slope so the bank is somewhat eroded and I hope the mesh should provide a little more support. I freecycled some roofing tiles to edge the new bed which will make it look quite smart when finshed. Project 3 I've got the bug for topsoil and I think I'm going to try and fill my last raised bed. Well it's not really a raised ...