Worday 21st Jan 2012

A very blustery day. We worked to the sound of various sheds on the other allotments flapping themselves to bits (especially the plastic roof of one shed).

Well when I say we worked, we worked our way through an impromptu and unplanned italian spread. Both Mark and Marcos bought pasta based dishes, Andy bought Pizza, Ken and Ruth a tasty ommelette whose grand name I forget.

Harriet, Mark and Ruth working the brambles

Once again, Mark and Harriet attacked the brambles, with Kat joining in when she arrived. Ruth and Ken worked wonders with the soft fruit area, creating long forgotten paths, and a pyramid for the loganberry. Marcos replanted the other overshaded apple tree, and then set to solve the conundrum of the broken zip on the new polytunnel. As Gary was busy at Pat’s (Ourganics) doing stuff, Andy was promoted to teaboy, although Dante was first inducted in the art of lighting the device by Mark.

Tat, Brendan, Lilly and bump were back from New Zealand, Brendan readying the rhubarb for one patch to be forced, and lots of chat and catching up to do.

Alan and Dante cut back the woody growth from diverse herbaceous plants, I especially noticed (and worried for) Dante leaning over the pond to cut the Marshmallow back. But he was fine.

There are some panes on the greenhouse that I’ve sort of mended in the past, with a general view that they’ll do till I get back to them. A strong wind is capable of all sorts of mischeif, and given a broken pane, is quite capable of blowing the rest out. The trouble is always not having enough clips. We have spare panes of glass,  all reclaimed, inherited from various other greenhouses, and I even keep the broken bits if I think there might be a usable chunk. But somehow clips just go missing. Guess I should dig around to find where they are buried ! Anyhow one old bit mended, one big bit to sort when I get clips.

Felicity joined us, armed with a needle and thread to possibly sew up the zip on the polytunnel, though as it turned out, they worked a way of closing it without. And Tania arrived, armed with homemade bread and a rather good fruity cake.

Another productive and sociable workday. In winter, the structure of the garden is clear, it is looking in good order, whilst we await the revolution that Theresa is planning for some of the beds as a design towards her permaculture diploma. I think that will be a major feature of the next workday in a fortnight.

Andy

A new years workday at the patch, and lots to do. Broad beans to plant, and we never quite reliably get around to a winter crop for the greenhouse, so Marcos  and Dante were busy digging extra compost into the tomato bed, before Marcos planted salad leaf seeds.

Gary advised leaving the tomato roots in place, for the beneficial effects of fungal growth at bringing nutrients in from the deeper soil. And I thought there was plastic under the bed to keep the soil a bit more moist.

And then the dilemma – broadcast the seeds or plant in rows. We’re keen to move to less formal patches, but especially in the greenhouse with fresh compost, if we don’t plant in rows, it will be difficult to tell the crop from the weeds, and that will make for some interesting salads knowing the many wildflower seeds that self-set around site.  So rows it was.

Andy was a bit late to site, I saw Ken and Ruth heading for home, and Harriet briefly. A bit of plumbing to restore the flow from the roof to the water system in the greenhouse (and the overflow beyond into the pond), forgot the  glasscutters again to repair the pane that was cracked before christmas (it needs cutting around the pipe taking the water from gutter inside to the tanks). Another job for next time.

One of the apple trees looked a bit sad. Possibly the roots had become too entwined from having sat too long in the pot before planting a year ago. Mark suggested digging it up and chopping or teasing the rootball apart. I tried, but one side of the tree seemed well anchored, so I gave it a go on the unsecured side.

And shifted another apple tree which we had optimistically planted too close to the overhanging Oaks, and which was clearly struggling for light. There’s another to move next time.

As usual at this time of year, Mark was busy tending the brambles, with Harriet assisting. There was lots else going on, but I missed it, so any pictures or anaecdotes welcome folk.

Andy