I haven't been very active in blogland recently. The reason is that I have had very little to tell you. The past Couple of months have been very inactive. The weather hasn't been very allotmenting or gardening friendly. Not only that but days out have been planned and cancelled so I haven't had any visits to share either.
Last year January and February were very different. By this time last year we had completed the mammoth task of clearing our overgrown flower bed and were feeling very pleased with ourselves.
At the end of last year, Martyn set to clearing another large overgrown patch with the intention of creating another Growing area for this year. It all started off well but there has been slow progress over the last couple of months. This is shown in the photo on the bottom right below
I started clearing the ends of a couple of beds - a task that shouldn't take very long. The apple hedge bed was extended slightly - top left. The other task was to sort out an overgrown clump of rhubarb at the end of another bed - top right. There was, and still is, lots of couch grass roots intermingled with the rhubarb. The wet drizzly conditions, that seem to have been a constant feature of the last couple of months or so, have produced very wet, soggy, claggy soil that sticks to everything and so progress is very slow. I had plans to start on another patch and replant the lavender hedges around a couple of fruit beds but so far haven't managed to start on either task.
When we have managed a plot visit, other than digging up some winter vegetables, we have had to be content to carry out non-soil related activities.
Sweet pea frames and some annual flower debris have been cleared and work has been done on our trees.
Martyn applied a winter wash to the fruit trees to try and control some of the bugs especially the plum leaf curling aphid that in the past has devastated our plum trees.
He also cut back our row of buddleias - not only does this create a huge pile of 'prunings' but also reveals the need to tidy around the base of the shrubs. For a couple of years the buddleias have virtually been a butterfly free zone. I hope that this will prove to be the year the peacocks and tortoiseshell hoards of previous years return.
Martyn also cut back the large hawthorn tree growing by the greenhouse. This grew from a self sown seedling that I found growing there, pre-greenhouse days. I trained it into a tree which had rather overgrown the position and so a serious cut-back was required. This should have happened earlier but absence of the correct tools for the job meant that it didn't get done. It was quite a large job and resulted in a huge pile of debris. We have started sorting through, clipping off the ferocious thorns and preparing suitable twiggy bits to be used as peas stick and plant supports. The thicker boughs will be used to edge some of our beds and hold down weed control fabric.
For those of you who enjoy watching videos, Martyn has put together some films of some of our gardening activities on our vlog here.
At least the weather isn't holding back some of the plants. The cobnut is sporting female and male flowers ...
... and the blueberries and blackcurrants are in bud.
Towards the end of last year's growing season we seemed to be ahead of schedule as far as plot preparation went but now we really are falling behind. We just need some gardening weather to set the ball rolling again! No use fretting about it - it's just a case of Keep Calm and Carry On Buying Kindle Books.
When we have managed a plot visit, other than digging up some winter vegetables, we have had to be content to carry out non-soil related activities.
Sweet pea frames and some annual flower debris have been cleared and work has been done on our trees.
Martyn applied a winter wash to the fruit trees to try and control some of the bugs especially the plum leaf curling aphid that in the past has devastated our plum trees.
He also cut back our row of buddleias - not only does this create a huge pile of 'prunings' but also reveals the need to tidy around the base of the shrubs. For a couple of years the buddleias have virtually been a butterfly free zone. I hope that this will prove to be the year the peacocks and tortoiseshell hoards of previous years return.
Martyn also cut back the large hawthorn tree growing by the greenhouse. This grew from a self sown seedling that I found growing there, pre-greenhouse days. I trained it into a tree which had rather overgrown the position and so a serious cut-back was required. This should have happened earlier but absence of the correct tools for the job meant that it didn't get done. It was quite a large job and resulted in a huge pile of debris. We have started sorting through, clipping off the ferocious thorns and preparing suitable twiggy bits to be used as peas stick and plant supports. The thicker boughs will be used to edge some of our beds and hold down weed control fabric.
For those of you who enjoy watching videos, Martyn has put together some films of some of our gardening activities on our vlog here.
At least the weather isn't holding back some of the plants. The cobnut is sporting female and male flowers ...
... and the blueberries and blackcurrants are in bud.
Towards the end of last year's growing season we seemed to be ahead of schedule as far as plot preparation went but now we really are falling behind. We just need some gardening weather to set the ball rolling again! No use fretting about it - it's just a case of Keep Calm and Carry On Buying Kindle Books.
