allotment

Well done on getting so much done on your allotment, it all looks very neat and tidy too. I love the lizard in your flower bed. :o)

hi Labd,the lizard guards a special big white rabbit called disney who died a few years ago we had her for about 7yrs and was more like a dog she used to throw the lizard about with her teeth lol .:o)

your both doing such a great job joan, you must have so much energy, my uncle has bees on his allotment, well they are shared, all take shifts with them, i helped when i visited, loved it :o))

its not that we have the energy san its more of a case that once your there so much needs doing you have to get on with it to keep on top of it but i have to say once i am there i could stay there all day with no phone etc to bother me .. bliss :o)

yes must be heaven, no disruptions :o))

it is ,how many hives does your uncle have ?

i think it was 4 but now 3, they lost one lot through infection from other bees, but the rest doing well :o)) an inspector comes every so often to check them, think its standard thing, well it is in bolton area

i know there are strict regulations in place now,i just dont know how i will cope with them next door i will have to put up a bees keep out sign lol :o))

lol joan, hopefully they wont bother you, from what i saw they kept close to hives unless off collecting, not like wasps, you will be fine

;o))

Hi Joan, what about planting some Nasturtiums for companion planting on those 'metal things' ! You're doing really well, don't overdo it or you'll ache all over ! : o ) )

hi Megan,that is a good idea i never thought about them all i could think of was sweet peas but already got some planted i will give it some thought,i always overdo it Megan and always ache ,just had to go through my reply to you as the L on my keyboard keeps sticking and there wasnt an L in my reply lol :o))

Oh Joan, flippin' L ......want some of mine ...L L L L L ... lol

ha ha i wi keep a your big s thanx o :o))

L.O.L. : ) ) )

Will done joan, with the allotment, and i thought i was doing will on mine lol :o)

cheers PP you are doing well with yours we will all get there in time as i say its a hobby not a job :o))

Its all looking busy on your plot Joan,I know what you mean about lots needs doing so you keep going, I`ve always gardened like that, once started if the weather allows I just carry on going. Hope everything grows well for you, obviously your ponds doing ok.........

hi Lincs, i think most of us are the same, while doing one thing you see something else that needs doing then something else etc lol yes pond seems to be ok considering its only been there a few weeks..:o))

Those metal things could be handy then....could do with some of them to make a polytunnel for my veg/salad ;-)

yes the lad that gave us them made a polytunnel with them but had some over i dont know what they are used for i think he got them from work ..:o)

Everything is looking great on your plot Joanella.....I had hoped to do something like that on mine i.e. raised beds and membrane.....but have had to keep the beds they way they were set (by that person who we won't mention...lol)....as I am out of action for a while; can't do any heavy work on the lottie....but hope to get onions and spuds planted at the end of the month (well the Under Gardener will...lol )

cheers Aice,you will get there i couldnt have got where we are now if it wasnt for o h he does heavy work on ours but it works for us as he isnt a gardener and wont plant anything and thats no good if you have a plot now is it lol, a little and often is what i say ,hope you are feeling better soon,lol that person..take care :o)

You really are getting such a lot done now! I couldn't handle an allotment, so I'm full of admiration for those members who do. :-)))

Once again you're doing great work Joanella. You should be rewarded with huge delicious crops of everything. I'm sure Sanbaz is absolutely right about bees. Stinging is the last thing they would ever do, nothing like wasps. They will do good for your crops, spreading pollen from plant to plant. They're B good.

Spritz you shine in other areas of gardening i am useless with flowering plants as a rule :o))
hi Mad and thanks lets hope we get to eat something this year before the slugs,insects start lol :o)

You're doing a sterling job on your allotment! It is a lot of work. I'm working on my part of my friend Gerry's allotment. He can't manage two any longer & so he said I could use part of them for myself.

I can't do much in the digging department because of my back. I find it is practically impossible to turn the soil over without having to go down on one knee & then struggling to get up & do the next forkful! Fortunately it is very good soil & even after the rain we have had over the last few weeks is fairly well drained. The people that see this "newcomer" working on the allotment must think I haven't a clue as to how to dig!!!

lol Balcony, its hard using a spade with a bad back ,could you not get one of those weedig poles i dont know what they are called but they have a long handle and a twisted kind of metal bit at the end perhaps that would be better ,its good your soil is decent though we dig 4 inches and hit clay,think i will take up pottery intead lol :o)

Fortunately the soil is loose enough to only need the use of a fork. But just pushing it into the soil & starting the leverage is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E! Even so I've managed to almost finish the small plot I started on but I don't think I'll do any more digging. The trouble is this plot had lots of deep rooted perennial weeds like Dandelions. You just can't grow anything in those conditions. So far I've spent about 5 hours digging in all, over three days. Somebody without my health problems could probably do the job in a couple of hours. I've still got about an hours work to do on it before I finally finish it. But that won't be before Friday at the earliest as we are forecast days of rain.

I took more photos of the allotment today to use in an upcoming blog.

you have done well to get as far as you have done,its annoying when you want to get something done and it takes ages but little and often is better than none and it is a bit of exersise too which cant be bad..i think we have all had enough of the R--- now look forward to seeing your pics..:o)