Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

By balcony

19 comments

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Gerry’s allotments on 6th February 2012

Allotments field under snow seen from Entrance gates:

This is the first view you get of the allotments field as you arrive at the gates. Not very encouraging!

Allotments field under snow: General view:

Another view of the allotments field covered in a thick blanket of snow (3-4").

Gerry’s Plot under snow as seen from the top looking down along its length:

A general view over Gerry’s allotment. I grew potatoes on this piece of the plot last year, where the plot number marker is. I’ve been told that many years ago a former tenant kept pigs here!

Gerry’s Plot under snow as seen from the top looking down along its length:

This is a view of the whole allotment that Gerry has & where we have put the greenhouse & the shed. This is a complete plot & goes all the way down to the hedge at the very bottom.

Gerry’s Plot under snow as seen from the top looking down along its length:

Although the view is similar to the previous photo above it is in fact angled more to the right where the allotment is divided into 2 halves. Gerry has the top half behind the division where we had Sweetpeas & Morning Glory last year. Where you can see the “wigwams”!

The half nearest you belongs to another lady & her daughter.

Purple sprouting Broccoli under the snow:

Unfortunately the Purple sprouting Broccoli has come out more a black “object” probably owing to the great contrast of the white snow & the dark green of its leaves. There are 3 plants that should be upright but which were blown over by the strong winds of December/January.

Gerry’s Plot under the snow looking up towards the top from the bottom:

You may be wondering just why we have our very own Pyramids! They are in fact covering a couple of small Fig trees! The last 2 growing seasons the new growth & the immature fruits, called Brevas, from the previous year have been killed by late frosts. So I’ve rigged up some canes & wrapped fleece around them several times hoping this will protect them & that this growing season we will get some figs at long last.

Gerry’s Plot under the snow looking up towards the top from the bottom:

This is a view looking up towards the top of the plot & you can make out the greenhouse in the middle. Our shed, under the apple tree, is to the right. The bundle of dry stems in front of the shed is an Asparagus plant that Gerry planted at the bottom of his plot years ago.

My allotment: Plot 12A

This is my allotment. I took it over in September 2011.

Plot 12A: Under snow from the very top of plot:

Under snow: View along the plot from the top looking down towards the bottom:

This is a view along my half allotment taken from the path that divides the allotments field in half, down the middle. The corrugated iron sheets are the outer wall of the compost heap that runs the width of the plot.

Similar to the the view above but taken from the right & looking down the length of my allotment towards the centre of the plot. Perhaps you may be able to just see the horizontal brownish line at the top of my photo, well, that is where my half of the plot ends.

Under snow: Strawberry & Onion beds:

Because of the blanket of snow my Strawberry plants are invisible. They are in a bed just alongside the compost heap, where I was standing when I took the photo.

The Onions, planted by the previous tenant, are visible as green sticks standing out from the snow just in front of the orange plastic fencing.

Under snow: Raised beds under construction: Beds 5-1:

A snowy view of my half finished raised beds. I’m waiting on Gerry, & the snow, to finish making up the beds.

This photo shows the beds in reverse order, (5-1), as I decided I would number them from the far end of my plot. This is because I started with the bed closed the end of my plot & I want to put my new potatoes in there.

Under snow: Raised beds under construction: Beds 1-5:

Another photo of the unfinished raised beds under the snow. This time they start off at number 1 & show up to number 5.

Numbers 2-5 were the original Raspberry bed which I dug up & then dug in horse manure.

Well I’m going to finish now! I hope this snow clears soon as I’ve not been able to do any work on the plot in the last 10 days. Since February 3rd to be precise! We had this 9cm-12cm (3"-4") snowfall on Saturday evening/Sunday morning 4th-5th February. Just as it was almost all gone we had another night of snow, so it’s back to square 1! We also had the coldest night of the year Friday 10th Feb. Temps plummeted down to at least -12ºC! It was officially the coldest night of the winter & the coldest night since the winter of 2010.

Hope my next blog on the allotments shows something actually growing – some green instead of so much white! Until then, keep warm!

11 Feb, 2012
5 likes

Comments

Franl155

odd that it looks freshest when it's least usable! it does look good, though. are you putting your feet up till it thaws? even a bit? *s*

12 Feb, 2012

Nariz

I can see that an awful lot of not much at all is going on there! You must have been the only brave soul anywhere near the allotment. :o)

12 Feb, 2012

Hywel

I also hope it clears soon for you Balcony :o(
Oh I do find it soooo depressing. I'm sorry to moan, but cold weather and snow really depress me :o(
One GoY member called me "grumpy hywel" once, because I said I don't like snow lol :D

But won't it be nice to get the place back to normal. so that we can get on with our lives and our gardens.
Here, we had one afternoon of snow last Saturday, but it had turned to rain by evening, and all got washed away. We've had lots of rain since then, and it's very foggy this morning, but it is soooo cold :o(

12 Feb, 2012

Terratoonie

Ooooo ... chilly on the allotments..

I kept looking for pics of Gerry making a snowman ...
they must have been just out of camera shot ;o)

12 Feb, 2012

Balcony

@ Fran: I've had my feet up for far too long, now I'm dying to get on with the work on the plot!

@ Nariz: No, strange as it may seem, I wasn't the only soul to at least visit the allotments as I saw the footprints of several other people before adding my own! There was nobody down there when I went down though.

@ Hywel: I didn't think you would want to visit this blog as the title should have warned you what to expect! You were lucky to get away with just a few hours snow! We've had it the last 10 days! I, too, wish it would go away, I've had enough of it as well. Luckily it seems that during the coming week the temps will begin to creep up a little. Over on the western side of the UK you've been lucky to get away with little or no snow, even here it has only been a few inches deep.

@ TT: I've not seen hide nor hair of Gerry since the night before the first snowfall when we were at the church doing some work. That same evening we had the first snowfall & the Minister called the following morning to say that church services had been cancelled for the whole day last Sunday.

If he has been making snow "people", (we must be politically correct! LOL!) then it has been in his own garden as he hasn't made any on the plots!

This coming week temps are forecast to start rising once again. Whew! A couple of degrees a day, so the snow will melt slowly, which is very good as that way it will sink deep into the ground where it will be of greater use in a few months time.

12 Feb, 2012

Hywel

We actually had a lovely day yesterday, nice warm sunshine. But by the evening it was very cold again. I think it will be nice to have less cold temps.
I hope you'll be able to work on your allotment again soon.

12 Feb, 2012

Franl155

I know what you mean about dying to get back into it, Balcony; a while ago I had so much to do that I didn't know where to start, now I'm chafing to get back outside and do sometihng, anything!

Snow is over-rated in my book, Hywel: I think it'd be nice if only it came down, lay there a day looking pretty, then cleared up and cleared off for another year. It's nice as a novelty, but that soon wears off. Sadly, I think we'll have a lot more opportunities to get used to it over the next month or so ...

12 Feb, 2012

Balcony

@ Fran: I find myself in total agreement with you! I've always said the snow should stay on the mountains & at the Poles, where it belongs & not come down into our towns & cities!

I don't hate the snow, like our friend, Mr H. here does, but I don't like having to go out in it!

@ Hywel: Yesterday was a beautiful day here as well & the snow looked pristine! We started the day with freezing fog & I was able to get a couple of photos before the sun melted it all away.

I still couldn't do anything on the allotment, & even though it will have all gone in a couple of days, I still will have to wait another week. Six inches of snow contains a lot of water &, though we have fine soil & sand & gravel subsoil only 1 spit down, it will still need some time to dry out enough to be able to work on it.

I want to put in the first of my early potatoes by the end of the month - if possible! I put them out to chit a month ago but it could well have been yesterday for all the progress they have made - NIL! ;-((

12 Feb, 2012

Michaella

Noooooooooooooo no more snow pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee :))) Need to get out in the gardennnnnnnnn :))))

12 Feb, 2012

Hywel

I think it's over-rated aswell Fran, and I don't even think it looks pretty ..... It only looks cold and depressing to me lol

I hope your potatoes make some progress this week Balcony. I've put some to chit in the shed, but it's been so cold, they might as well have been left in the packet.

12 Feb, 2012

Franl155

It's not the snow as such; it's the aftermath, slippery pavements where snow melted and then froze again, with fresh snow ove the top so you don't realise you're going to slide until it's too late to avoid it - how many elderly slip and do their hips damage as they crash down! and I'm getting into that catgory, sigh ...

I did think of roofing part of my tiny garden, to give me an all-weather dry working and clothes-drying space (I have to phase my laundry with washing, cos there's only the shower to put washing in), but that needs planning permission, at £150, and *that* needs surveyor's drawings, at £?????, so I didn't. would be easier to roof it all off, then at least I could collect rainwater - but then I'd have to use it all to water plants tht didn't get natural rain!

12 Feb, 2012

Joanella

Good pics Balcony,you have been doing the same as us..going to the plots for a quick look round to make sure everything is ok..cant do anything yet..my spuds are trying to chit too..got some other veg growing in a heated greenhouse in the garden..so thats keeping me ticking over with things to do outside,OH went to the monthly allotment meeting this morning (in the fog) I was still in bed though..you are keeping a good record of your plot already..more organised than me..lol.

12 Feb, 2012

Balcony

@Michaella: It's practically all gone now! With a rise of a couple of degrees above freezing & a few rain showers the majority is soon shifted!

@Hywel: Thanks for your best wishes for my chitting potatoes & I hope yours start to make some progress soon as well. Mine have been out in the GH for about a month but I might as well have put them out yesterday for all the good it's done them!

@Fran: You are quite right about the "red tape" the local bureaucrats use abundantly when it comes to any modifications you might like to make to your place.

That made me grin when you spoke about you'd have to water the plants with the rainwater they would be protected from if you were allowed to put up your roofing!

@Joanella: Thanks for the compliments on the plot! You are right when you talk about going down for a quick look around. There is nothing else that can be done until we have at at least a week's dry weather, probably more.

It seems we are all having trouble this year with chitting our spuds! I had hoped to get one bag of Earlies in the ground by the end of this month - doesn't look I'm going to be able to do that now! ;-((

As for being "organized" - well it's probably the blanket of snow deceiving you! There is still a lot of work to do in spite of the very mild November last year. Running two plots, especially when 1/2 of one is being built from scratch, is not easy! I don't mind though as it gives me satisfaction & pleasure & keeps me out of mischief as well as helping to keep my weight down a little from not sitting at the computer all day!

13 Feb, 2012

Joanella

lol..i have green manure to be dug over but not doing it yet..i have all my spuds chitting (well trying to ) first earlies..second earlies & maincrop are still in bags in cold greenhouse..i know how hard it is..we have 2 half plots together one half raised beds the other isnt..the raised bed plot is by far easier to manage..all we will have to do is uncover the beds add some new compost & that should be it...didnt think you would get up to any mischief Balcony you seem such a quiet chap..lol

13 Feb, 2012

Balcony

What do they say about still waters ...? LOL! :D)

14 Feb, 2012

Joanella

ha ha ...:o)

14 Feb, 2012

Franl155

lol Balcony lives up to his acronym: Bright And Laughing Chap, Often Nicely Youthful

14 Feb, 2012

Balcony

Thank you Fran for that acronym! I think it describes me to a "T"!