Monday, June 30, 2003
Well, I have to say that I'm now blooming addicted to this gardening lark. We have been bringing our crops home from the allotment - strawberries at first and then the most delicious potatoes, utterly superb.
We tried some ordinary potatoes which had started chitting in the fridge and in addition we bought a certified organic seed potato called Sante and they really were the best out of the lot. The crop was wonderful, the plant was nice to look at, although didn't get to the flower stage as everybody elses did. Not sure about that, they started turning yellow, I'm not convinced it was blight, but more likely some sort of deficiency - could be magnesium, note to self, must buy some Epsom salts!
Back at the ranch, the composter saga continues with smelly tower toppling again. I have now had enough and composter but contents, will be going down to the allotment. It will be ardous and extremely smelly, but it must be done. I want some sweet friable compost like the books promise! :-)
I've started some comfrey off again, I say again because the first lot I put in didn't look promising and they lived up to their appearance - which I have to add was jelly like and mouldy, ewww. I put this fresh lot in as soon as I received them and they are already delighting me with fresh green growth - not of the mouldy variety, thank goodness ;-)
However, I don't have time to wait for the comfrey to grow so that I might make a comfrey tea, so today whilst at the allotment I followed the recipe given out on Gardener's World. I picked some nettles and half filled my chicken manure bucket, then weighted it down with a brick (first rescuing a ladybird) and finally filled with water. If it hasn't exploded in the meantime in two weeks I should expect a nice smelly solution which is bursting with nitrogen for my tomatoes.
My allotment doesn't look pretty or packed, I grown as much as I can reasonably care for - although maybe just too many tomatoes - it is bountiful though. We finally planted some cucumbers today which have spent so long in their tray they have started sprouting baby cucumbers. I was very nervous about putting in the sticks - I remain unconvinced that I have put big enough ones in, but they will have to do - however, it all went well, I used pvc tape to bind them up, yes they look like they might just ping the other side of Hampshire, but I'm impressed.
The courgettes are coming along, if plants truly do respond to the human voice (or our carbon dioxide output anyway) then goodness knows what I will find tomorrow, because Harry was squealing in delight that we have courgettes, and how beautiful they were (and they are too).
We've put in another bunch of potatoes and we'll see what they come to. I have swapped ends this time and have planted them in a patch where I know the manure was stored, plus I added a handful of chicken manure pellets - we'll go down in a few weeks and find mutant potatoes on a rampage! ;-)
Harry was very into socialising today and with the exception of one chap at the allotment, they are a very friendly lot. I'm always offered something at the allotment, today I managed to politely say mostly no. Today it was manure, sticks and a lettuce, which Harry was scoffing on the way out - he says he's really quite into it now!!!!
I have been really surprised by the speed at which the garlic is growing, I have high hopes for that. I'll have to remember to post about that again - perhaps it too likes the pellets!
I'm off to find out when Eastenders is on now, missed it because tennis ran over - must see where Kat and Alfie are at :-)
