Our allotments - End of May

Wow. you've made progress.. a good set of pics...
Good luck with the greenhouse...:o)

Thanks very much, TT! How do you manage to post a reply so quickly? The ink's not even dry yet!

I haven't a clue yet as to the size of the greenhouse - it was the same with the shed as well! We will make good use of it no doubt!

The soil looks good on your allotment plot... :o)

You have done well.

Wonderful progress.....wish my lettuce looked like that......
Don;'t talk to me abouut bindweed!!!!!!!!.....we "suffer" as well.......it grows faster than you can pull it out.......A friend has told me that the best time to "spray" is in September when these "'orrible weeds" are dying back....they will take the effects of the spray back down into the plan t......and hopefully kill it.......The manufacturers of these sprays don''t tell you this,......they want you to keep buying their productrs....sneaky I call it.....lol

Thanks for your replies! :-)

Amblealice, I'm quite pleased with the lettuce! I plan on cutting one or two during this week some time! They are the type that form big round heads, I think it's called "Webbs Wonderful". But my wife, who eats quite a bit of lettuce, thinks if I leave them that long they may become "hard" & she likes hers tender. For the last 2 years I haven't been capable of getting a piece of lettuce into my mouth at all! I feel that I shall have to give it a try though. I have never been a "fan" of lettuce but I used to eat it as long as I had a piece of tomato to go with every piece of lettuce but now not even that works!

About the bindweed, I've read that you can use a systematic weedkiller in a jar & just push some of the tips into it & then they will absorb it & take it down to the roots. That way you avoid spraying, with all the possible bad outcomes associated!

great blog and lovely fruit and veg. Useful tip about the jar for bindweed. using a plastic pot with the bottom cut away works well for spraying most plants but the bindweed winds itself through other plants so craftily that it is impossible to use a sprayer on them.

I use that method Scotsgran, on ones that pop up very close to another plant. I usually catch them when they are just poking through the soil.
That is a good idea also Balcony, except the allotlment would be full of jars!!!
Some weeds take the killer down into their roots easily....others seem to store it...I'm sure the creeping thistle does that on purpose!!....lol

Great blog,Balcony,and everything is looking good.You have put a lot of hard work into that.The greenhouse will be a great help to you,especially for next years plants,or overwintering things...Lucky you :o)

Gosh what a lot of work , worth it in the end.

all coming along well now.....

Thank you all for your comments, I'm pleased you like this blog. :-)

Scotsgran, I had never thought of that idea, sounds good, Thanks! :-)

Amblealice, I'm sure you are quite right on the allotment being full of jars!!! You can't begin to imagine the amount of bindweed I had to pull up - or the amount still left!!!

Bloomer. I'm afraid that practically ALL the glass has broken! :-( Gerry had carefully stacked it all up on edge against the apple tree's trunk on Saturday. But today it was all lying flat with the door on top & every single pane of glass was broken!!! Only the few pieces with a triangular shape were saved because they were apart from the rest.

Poor Gerry now has to collect up all the glass & take it to the council tip! Nevertheless, he says he has some glass at home that perhaps he can cut to size & use. It costs a lot of money to replace all that glass.

On Saturday we got around to harvesting a few of the lettuces! Gerry took a couple home with him, although he later told me that a he met a lady from our church & as she was going to the shops to buy some lettuce he gave her one of his.

I picked one for my wife during the weekend but unfortunately I must have left it at the checkout at Sainsburys where I went to buy a couple of items my wife had asked me to get. I looked everywhere here at home but couldn't find it!

My wife went to start the lettuce I brought home for her on Friday afternoon but found practically no heart & only tough outer leaves! She wasn't too happy about that! She only found 2 or 3 very small tender leaves where the heart should have been! I guess I picked it too soon! It never occurred to me to check the interior! The next time I pick one I shall have a good look at the interior to avoid a repeat!

Gerry & his wife told me they liked their lettuce very much - perhaps Gerry having more experience in picking lettuces than me spotted a couple of good ones whereas I just picked the nearest to the path.

Hi firstly thank you for leaving a comment on my first blog.You are doing so well with your shared allotment ,everything is looking great ,its quite exciting watching the things you plant from baby seeds grow and come to life then to eat and enjoy .I must try and write another blog soon to let you know how our allotment is coming along .
Best wishes

Thanks, Jeansusan, & it's always a pleasure to comment on anybody's blogs! I was interested to read about your experience on your allotment. I thought I might learn something I could use.

Gerry & I put up the frame of the greenhouse on Monday but we have no glass to put in yet, after all the original glass was broken.

As we have had a bit of rain this week & after catching a cold I haven't been down to the allotment since Monday. I doubt I'll be able to go down before Friday or Saturday. :-(

Looking forward to reading your blog on your allotment.

Everything is really taking off now, isn't it? That greenhouse will be a great asset, too!

It is taking off, yes! Other than Monday I haven't been able to go down to the allotment. :-( I probably won't be able to go down before Friday or Saturday. Missing most of the week will make a tremendous difference! I've been going down for several hours daily most days so I will really see how everything has progressed! Fortunately we have had some rain this week so I won't have to worry about watering my seedlings & recently planted tomatoes, sweetcorn, runner beans, beetroot, etc.

I probably caught this cold because last Thursday night I had been very hot in bed.so as Friday was even hotter than Thursday I left the bedroom window open & slept only covered in a thin cotton sheet. I awoke about 4am feeling cold & pulled the duvet over me. The same happened on Saturday night but this time I awoke about 1am feeling cold & pulled the duvet over myself. On Sunday I felt a sore throat coming on & by Monday I was feeling worse but on Tuesday I had had such a miserable night that I didn't go to the allotment. Today I've had a lot of chesty cough so haven't been down today either! :-(