Although it’s not quite spring, it’s getting lighter and warmer and it’s time for me to resume work on the plot. So last weekend, I spent 4 hours on the plot.
Trips to the plot always involve carrying something, this week it was the last of the blueberry/potato pots, shredded paper for the the compost bin, the allotment bag with various bits and bobs, and the bokashi bin.
First job was compost, emptying the bokashi and paper and consolidating all the bins into one. It took quite a while but I got there and everything is in bin one and looking pretty compost-y. I’ll leave it there for three months and then sieve it. And yes, I’m going to need to buy one of these before I do otherwise I will break myself.
Having done that, I moved the other wooden compost bin and the black bin, which I will fill with woodchip to compost down more slowly.
That done I did some tidying, I took down the kale bed, took the netting off the onions and shallots and weeded that bed. I also weeded the cabbage beds and cleared the last winter lettuce bed, and weeded the rhubarb.
Finally, I gave the shed a bit of a tidy so that I don’t get shouted at when Ma comes back next week and I went home with a bunch of pots to wash and a bucket of kale.
In other news, we ordered half of the compost we’ll need for this year. I think I said this last year but I’m hoping that next year, we won’t need to buy quite so much compost, because we shouldn’t be making any new beds and I hope to have enough to top up the beds. Although, I’ll probably buy compost for mulching the flower beds and for the potato pots. Ma and I also made the executive decision to order some plugs for autumn planting because I don’t have the capacity for sowing them in April when I’m already up to my ears in tomato, herb, and, summer and autumn squash plants. So in July we’ll get 40 leek plants, and 10 each of broccoli, cavolo nero, sweetheart cabbage, savoy cabbage and cauliflower. We can harvest from August but my feeling is that we’ll probably get caulis and broccoli Sept/Oct, cabbages, Nov/Dec and then cavolo nero to Feb. The leeks, I would hope to make it to January but they do get rust so we’ll see how we go.
There is a list for next week and it’s all about beds and compost for me.
- Mulch the rhubarb and weed and mulch the flower beds
- Raise the kale bed and top up with compost
- Divide the squash bed
- Weed the area next to the squash bed and cover with cardboard (and woodchip if any has been delivered!)
- Close and move the chard bed, raise it a bit and top up with compost
- Feed the onions, garlic and shallots
- Top up beds that need it and sow broad beans, peas, beetroot and carrots.
There’s lots more to do, I need to build another six beds, there is so much weeding to do and the shed probably needs painting again! But one thing at at time…
