Mid-Summer night's Nightmare ...

You only have to miss a couple of days and can tell the difference, you`re not that far from us Balcony and last weeks weather certainly made a difference here, it was what I call good growing weather,weeds an all,can`t ave one wivout t`other !!!!!,
Its all doing great and yes enjoyed your blog. BTW Pleased your back on form again, stay fit or the weeds will win....

Oh dear! I expect you will get on top of the problem, though..... in time.

Those plants that aren't choked with weeds are doing really great, Balcony, thanks for taking me on a tour of your yard :o)

Those artichokes that Jerry likes so much will have edible artichokes on Balcony. If the flowers are left to open they will be like the flower on my avatar. I sympathise about the weeds. If you have any spare compost, as you weed the beds, put down a layer of newspaper around the plants you want to keep and cover with compost. The paper will keep out the light and the emerging seedlings will die off because of lack of light.The compost is to hold the paper from flying away. If weeds grow on top of the paper you can easily rake them off and compost them. In case anyone wonders why I am giving such strange advice it is because I know you have a problem with your back and may not be able to constantly be on top of the weeds. As soon as you see another emerging piece of bindweed pull it out. I think you are suffering from the seven years seeds are seven years weeds syndrome. Obviously watering and feeding will be even more important. I would use seaweed extract for veggies and fruit. Apart from that everything is growing like a weed. Well done, you will be feasting on fresh produce for months. It is good to see the progression through the season and I appreciate it.

Hi, just a thought really, I remember my husband saying growing potatoes clean the land, just wondered as you really need to rotate your crops maybe growing potatoes on the really bad weed infested parts will eventually clear the problem? I'm in Cambs too so I know the problems around here, particularly the winds on these flat fens lol!

I suppose the pitfalls of growing in an allotment is the sheer size of the project. I think you are doing a marvelous job. It doesn't seem that long ago that you were saying that you and Gerry were getting the allotment and look at it now....well done!

Thank you all for your comments & I'm glad you like the update blogs I thought of doing every couple of weeks! :-)

Lincslass, thanks for wishing me a quick recovery! I'm feeling much better now thanks & as you can see from this blog, I'm back down on the allotment!

Pip_c: I'm only too happy to take you on a tour of our allotments. An allotment is a public piece of land usually rented out by the local town councils to people who wish to grow their own produce. Many now grow more flowers than vegetables & even turn them into gardens where they can spend their time away from the bustle of daily life.

My friend Gerry has a plot & a 1/2.

Scotsgran: Gerry grows them only for their Architectural qualities, he's not interested in the edible buds or the flowers, even though he lets them flower & set seed.

Thanks for the advice on the paper & mulch. That's something to be taken seriously as not only will it cut down on the weeding but also on the watering. Thanks again! :-)

We've already made a start on the Lettuces. They got me back to eating them after I couldn't get a piece passed my lips last year, or this year until now. LOL!

Fran44: Again, thank you for your kind comments, I really do appreciate people's feedback! :-)

We will clear the strawberry plot this coming winter & try & clear out the bindweed. I spent 2 days, a couple of hours each day on my hands & knees pulling out every weed & doing my very best to eliminate every last piece of bindweed root. I still needed a third day day to finish but I was abandoning the rest of the allotment at a time when we had many things to plant, weed & water!

Although your husband is perfectly correct we still need to dig out as much of the roots as we can. Potatoes only work while you earth them up, after a couple of earthings up you have to stop & let the potatoes grow! That's when the bindweed would make a comeback!

Dylandog: Thank you also for your comments on my blog. Gerry has had these allotments for about 10 years. It's me who's new to this. I joined him in March this year to give him a helping hand. As I've been out of a job for over a year this is a real life saver till something comes up! I'm very grateful for Gerry's offer to let me join him down on the allotments.

When you take the strawberry plants out to dig out the bindweed do remember to wash the roots before you replant them with none of the original soil sticking to them or you will be transplanting the bindweed back in again and be no better off. Glad you are enjoying your time on the allotment.

[See you in a couple of weeks time - if I can find my way out of our jungle!]

well at least you wont starve

Thanks, Scotsgran! Can you remind me again in October? ;-) (Just joking!) I think we will probably throw away the majority of the old stock & start a fresh with runners I'm going to try to grow this summer.

I spent 3 hours today just cleaning out the strawberry bed! The rain stopped me from finishing it! It rained for about an hour & I was trapped in the shed! I had my lunch & then sat watching the rain while shivering! Then I remembered I had brought down the book my daughter gave me for my birthday a month ago on Allotment Growing so I got it out & read it for about 1/2 hour!

"Not only by lettuce shall man live ..." paraphrasing the biblical verse about bread. There's nothing else to eat down there!

Pitty about the weeds but everything seems to be doing well in spite of those. Bindweed it dreadful to get rid of. You can't leave even the tinyest bit, and it spreads very quickly aswell. I have no doubt you'll get the allotment weed free in no time now you are better :o)

Looks as if it would not be wise to go on holiday for a fortnight!. Sorry to hear that you were not well.

Felinfan: Go on holiday??? For a fortnight??? Are you mad??? After only a week without going down will necessitate a month of weeding to get back to where I was before catching a cold!!!

Thankfully Gerry weeded the onions a couple of days ago. I spent 3 hours weeding the strawberries on my hands & knees on Friday & the same today! The bed still needs at least another 3 hour session to get it clean! But it's the same section I had to leave a few weeks ago. It's where the bindweed is thickest & where the strawberry plants are also closed together as well as being the most difficult part to access!

Hywel: The weeds have really gone "overboard" during the month of June! If I hadn't had that cold that stopped me getting down there for a week, plus the rain, of course, I might have been able to keep on top of them. It's the Strawberry bed that takes up so much of my time though. I'm not prepared to repeat this next year! For some reason it's the patch with the greatest amount of bindweed! We're going to lift the Strawberries in the autumn. I don't think many plants, if any, are worth saving. I'll root some runners to transplant to another bed - far from the bindweed!!!

Everything is growing so well - and not just the weeds. Yes, I am sure that the view from the shed will soon be a green screen. :-)

Just looking at the photos I've taken I can see the difference almost daily! The Raspberries are about 3/4 of their final height - I hope! In a few weeks the allotment will become invisible from the shed as the Raspberries grow & form a green wall.

By then I'll probably move to the greenhouse, Gerry & I were putting in a few more sheets of glass & now over half of it is glazed! I took down the last of my tomato plants to the allotment & Gerry has bought some Growbags which we will use for the tomatoes in the greenhouse.