Onions In

I finally got the onion sets into the ground. 100 sets of "Sturon" and 100 of "Red Baron". Thats about 2.5 rows of each. I also got the shallots I had started in pots planted out too.

One of the Cherry Trees (Stella) had loads of flowers on it, so I picked them off as it was only planted a few months ago. Seems such a shame but it will pay off in the long run!

Tomorrows job is to get another bed sorted to put in the maincrop potatoes. It feels like I am constantly racing against the clock to get things planted!

Potato Shoots Appear

At last there is some growth on the plot. The 1st early potato (Orla) have pushed through the ground. Also the turnip seeds I sowed last week have germinated - wasnt expecting to see them yet!

I got the rhubarb planted yesterday, and today started removing the turf on BED3. Im in a rush to get this finished, as I need to get the onion sets in!

The last of the sweetcorn germinated - thats 100% germination rate!

The greenhouse had a few new arrivals, a friend had 2 tomato plants left over, and as they are a different variety to what I have i said Id take them.

I sowed 27 climbing beans - variety Blauhilde. They are a purple podded variety and quite decorative by all accounts. Ill sow more in a few weeks for a succesion.

The good weather is lasting, I hope this isnt our summer.....its been about 4 weeks since we had rain so Ive been watering a lot.

Greenhouse:

The greenhouse is packed! Ive planted 6 of the moneymaker tomatoes in to growbags. I have way too many plants - hopefully friends will take away the excess this weekend so I have room to move... im undecided as to how many of the gardeners delight to keep. I think ill go with 3 plants this year, as i will also have 2 tumbling toms outside which should give plenty of cherry toms.

Also growing mad are the pumkins, squash and butternut squashes. im repotting them weekly now, and its still not enough. Ill give them til the end of the month and ill start hardening them off.

The baby corn(mini pop f1) has sprouted. They were sown about a week ago.

The summer bedding plants are sprouting, Ive pricked some taggettes out into trays, but there are loads left to do! The snap dragons and verbena have just sprouted, so they are a bit away from needing more space.

Allotment:

Im still digging! No sign of that rotovator yet! But I have squared up the dug beds as they were way out of line! I also dug a new bed for the rhubarb. We are due some rain tomorrow, so that will help settle the bed prior to planting next week.

In BED2 I added 3 rows of parsnip - 1 row "Tender and True" - 1 row "Gladiatior F1" - 1 row "White Gem". I station sowed, 3 seeds every 3". Hopefully this will give a full row. Thats BED2 full.

I got the edges of BED 3 dug, so I have yet to remove the turf and dig it over. This will be for the onion sets and probably swede....

The allotment!

This is the entrance to the site.......as you can see so far its mainly vacant. I hope that will change in the coming few weeks as its pretty lonely up there!

This is my plot. It measures approx 25m x 15m, so its a good size. It looks big but I have a feeling it will be quick enough to fill up! Bed 1 (the closest) is 12 ft x 12 ft, in it I have 3 rows of early potato Orla and another 3 rows of 2nd early Maris Peer. I have Sarpo Mira seed potatoes waiting to go in elsewhere. Bed 2 is the same size, today I sowed 3 rows of Carrot "Nantes 2" and 1 row of turnip.

Im still waiting for it to be rotovated, as the diggin is taking way too long. I know this will almost certainly lead to endless weeding, but i need the space!

This plot is 2 away from mine......its about double the size of mine. The man had it rotovated and then had it plowed - with a horse and manual plow! I wish I had had my camera at the time. Lesson well learned!

April so far 2....

Tomatoes:

Today I planted the tomatoes (6 moneymaker plants) into the growbags in the glasshouse. This year Im trying to grow them using the ringculture method. Ill plant the gardeners delight over the next few days. I repotted the Tom Thumb plants into 5" pots and I bought a beefsteak variety out of interest!

The plants are about 75days old, and now 12" tall, Ive planted them up to the first set of true leaves. As you can see the flowers of the first truss are forming nicely, and the beginnings of the 2nd truss just visible. Im very pleased with their progress

Prior to planting in the growbags. I picked the strongest for myself and the spare 4 plants of each variety will be adopted by friends

Just a quick shot of the tulips at the front of the house. I got these when we passed through Amsterdam airport on the way home from Bali last summer

April so far.......

Its been a great week! lots of sun, some BBQ's, seed sowing and very little work thanks to the volcanic ash coming down from Iceland!

My recently acquired fruit bushes. The summer raspberries and the large potted gooseberry were excess plants from a friends garden. Ill get all these into the allotment asap.....

The greenhouse is filling up rapid! Barely room to move now. Ive had to stop sowing seeds for a while!

Peppers:

The Mini Bell Peppers are showing flowers now, even though they are quite small. Ive never grown sweet or chilli peppers so not sure how quickly they grow (or not in my case!)

Sunny Weather :)

Its been a busy few days now that the sun has arrived! Its been a great few days, with temperatures reaching 19'C! Ive been baked in the glasshouse with temps reaching 40'C in there...even with the doors and windows open from 8am.....

I only went down to the allotment once since my last post. I got a lot of digging done, nearly finished BED 2. Going to rotavate the rest though. Its taking too long to get the beds ready, so Ive been catching up on other important jobs.

Over the past few days Ive moved the tomatoes to the glasshouse, and repotted them into 5" pots. Ive had the paraffin heater on at night. They are making major progress with the first truss flowers just starting to colour and the second truss just showing now. Ill plant them up into growbags when they fill the current pots.

The pumpkins (Jack o Lantern and Hundred Weight) and the Squash (Yellow Scallop) that I sowed last week were filling their 3" homes and were moved on up into 4" pots. Ill go bigger as soon as I invest in new pots!!

I also began moving the chilis up a pot size to 4 and 5" pots. I mix the compost with vermiculite to make sure that I wont drown them in the future! Tried 2 varieties, Musselburgh and Lyon 2 Prizetaker.

I picked up a mini greenhouse (4tier plastic cover) in aldi for €17.99 - Ill use this as a coldframe to harden off seedlings and plants.

Earlier in the year I bought asparagus crowns (Gjinlim) and put them in large pots til I get the allotment bed sorted. A single spear is growing from each crown now, which Im glad to see as i was starting to give up hope for them....

Ill add photos to this tomoro when i get time!

Sowing

Went down to the allotment on Friday. Having been digging since my last post, I got "BED 1" dug over. In it I planted 3 x 12ft rows of early potato "Orla", and 3 x 12ft rows of 2nd earlies "Maris Peer". As its a new site im still digging beds as I go so I got half of BED 2 dug. Thats going to be for the 200 onion sets I have at home waiting to go in. Then Ill start digging BED 3 for the maincrop spuds "Sharpo Mira".

Today, I sowed 3 short rows of carrot "Autumn King 2" in the raised beds at home. I also put 3 rows of Carrot "Amsterdam Forcing 3" in. I have a few more days off so tomorrow Im planning on finishing BED 2.

I also sowed cabbage "hispi" and "greyhound", curly kale "dwarf green curled", caulis "all year round" and "snowball" in cells in the greenhouse. The last attempt at any of the brassicas listed failed, due to what i believe was Damping off disease. Hopefully ill have some luck this time.....