Allotment Corner

Sunday evening and I managed to sneak out and head off to the allotment.  It was about 7pm when I got there so time was a bit limited to get a few things done.  The main job was to plant out some aubergine plants I had bought this week to fill gaps.  They cost £3 each for two plants, each of which had another little plant attached, so hopefully 4 plants if they all survive.  I also bought a couple of hot chilli plants.  It was all I could get this time of year, as most garden centres are no longer selling vegetable plants. 

I've been far too slack by not sowing many seeds since the spring, so have quite a few gaps to fill.  I also took a tray of supermarket bought living salad and transplanted them into the allotment to hopefully get more salad growing.  I've done the same in the trough in the garden at home and they seem to have taken okay.  I did sow more salad, but it doesn't seem to have germinated, so I took drastic measures for the time being. Anyway, they all got planted and now there's quite a good variety of plants growing.

I harvested a few things whilst there, the last little bit of lettuce, some spinach, a strange fat courgette, a mini cucumber, some potatoes and some rhubarb as it was getting unruly again.  I then fed and watered all the plants that needed it before heading home. 

I'm afraid I didn't take any photos as there wasn't much of interest to photograph to be honest and I was just trying to concentrate on getting the jobs done and getting home before it got too late.

When I got home I washed all the harvested vegetables.  Here's a picture (taken a couple of days later if they don't look so fresh).

 

I then decided to get myself organised and write a list of what I need to do at the allotment before we go away in order to leave it in good shape and hopefully capable of surviving whilst we are on holiday. (Some things such as the herb bed can be left until we come back).

The list went as follows:

1    Plant a herb bed with a lavender hedge around it.

2    Sow more salad

3    Sow Kohl Rabi and any other late summer/autumn seeds.

4    Tie tomato plants to stakes.

5    Cut back comfrey again.

6    Decant comfrey juice, sieve and bottle, then water and feed plants with it - I need to take the garden sieve and a bucket with me to do this.  (If you watched Gardener's World on Friday you will know that I have been prompted by Monty)

7    Dig up the rest of the potatoes to prevent blight.

A few jobs to be done then in the next week or so.  I might need to make a couple of visits although it can be tricky in the summer holidays.  There are probably lots of other things I should be doing now, so I might take a look in one of my many gardening books and get some ideas.  I ended the evening with a relaxing bath which has become a treat I afford myself after allotment visits these days (it helps soak the mud out from under my fingernails).