Water collection

One of the more urgent items on my to-do list is guttering to collect water and direct it into my water butt (collected from Polmadie dump and is my best find). The water butt by itself collected about a centimetre of water over two or three weeks, which is fairly pathetic. No wonder as its surface area is less than a square metre.

So I rigged up some guttering to flow round the shed from the compost bins, round the back and then back along to the water butt. You can see the end of it below.

There are little holes to be plugged where nails have been bashed through the guttering at some point and a join that's not water-tight, but it's working. It's not rained for a while, but over the course of a day or so of wet weather it collected 10cm or so of water. It's not rained since of course, but that amount has got me through more than a week of watering seedlings and seeds.

I raised the butt up so that I could get my watering can in.

The final touch will be connecting the down pipe to the end of the gutter. That will guide water down, rather than rely on gravity (that's not so good on windy days when mini water falls can be blown off course). I also need to add a lid to keep detritus out, or so the books say. That's low on my list.

Quince strap

I replaced the bin bag that was helping to support the quince with a proper strap.

New compost bin

The compost bin is absolutely overflowing and I can't get anything else into it. This photo from the back doesn't do it any justice. I'll get another of the front because I forgot this time. That's over six feet of organic waste from just my side of the plot.

You can see where I've started the new compost bin round the back of the old one. It's got a moderate amount of new material in it and a little bit of existing compost to start it off.

I've got only one pallet for it so far and even if I had another one, I couldn't get it in because of all the scrap wood i've stuffed down the side there. I'm going to buzz-saw that up next week.

The main problem with the new bin is that the path to get to it is mainly a border filled with ferns. I have to cross into the neighbouring plot to get to it sometimes. And to get to that path I have to go through a weed-infested border on my side. So, once I'd sorted out the nursery bed, which made up half of the weedy border, I put in some stones to start a path round to the compost area. It looks rubbish now, because it is, but I'll level them and fill the gaps with herbs and the like.

Nursery bed

Before I get onto the nursery bed, here's how the final cross-plot path is looking.

I've filled a bit with bark chippings and finished the junction with the path through the fruit area.

I've done only one side of the fruit path and three bricks of the other side, but you can get the idea. The stomped grass in the pathway is about 10cm higher than the final path will be, so I feel quite high when standing on it (it's also higher than the concrete area). There's quite a large drop where the small slab is (in the foreground) where I carved out some of the turf.

On to the nursery bed. John (my plot-mate in 65a) donated some blackcurrant cuttings, which are about 90cm long. He got an established bush from his father-in-law who pruned it and suggested using the trimmings. I've put them in a new nursery bed, which used to be covered by a messy compost heap. It's right next to the apples at the end of the concrete area.

I've also put two cuttings from the quince tree in the bed on the off chance that they'll take (they are at the back right). My hope is that they'll be successful and give me a chance to try out an experiment in grafting. The theory goes like this:

• Quinces are often used as stock for pear grafts.
• Pears can also be grafted onto hawthorn (do you see where this is going?).
• Therefore, quinces can be grafted onto hawthorn.

Of course horticultural techniques rarely follow such general rules, no matter how logical. However, I'm going to give it a go as I may have spare quince buds (it's bud grafting that's required) and have a hawthron hedge that could be jazzed up with quince branches.

Growth

Spring is almost here (I think it is here, but never mind). The flower bed is filling with the transplanted daffodils from the rest of the plot, though some are still dotted randomly in the other beds.

There are certainly enough flowers to last us through the spring. I planted garlic a few weeks back and it's coming on nicely. It's next to the raspberries. I'm working on the theory that the garlic will keep harmful insects away from the raspberries, but should use marigolds instead as they are better known for that. It's a bit of an experiment (more on experimentation later).

The snowdrops from Burton Agnes have settled well and have fat seeds pods, which is good news for future snowdrops under the hedge. The smaller ones in the photo are from the compost heap on the allotment and are a bit further behind. No seeds from them either, by the look of it.

Check out the buds on the hedge. It won't be long until the leaves are out.

The last set of photos show the rhubarb bed. This little patch is looking pretty good. I'll probably split it come the autumn and fill any gaps in the rest of the bed.

You can see that this patch is much further on than the others. There are quite a few buds breaking out, but not throughout the bed. I think the hedge maybe suppressed some growth; with it modified and more simpathetic (privet is less forgiving than hawthorn) things should get better.

It's all coming together

After the raspberries, apples and beans, I planted the quince bought as a wedding present. It's in the herb bed because I've run out of room in the fruit section.

I had to improvise the tie a little bit as I don't have proper tree ties. It'll do for the moment until I get something better.

So, it's almost done, at least the growing area is.

Irises from Burton Agnes

On our trip to Yorkshire a couple of weeks ago, we visited Burton Agnes and its snowdrop walk. We got some snowdrops, which I've planted under the hedge (only possible with hawthorn; see it all makes sense), and some Iris 'Katharine Hodgkin'.

I put them in the flower bed and they are looking excellent. The photos don't do them justice.

A new shed window

I was going to add lots more bits of pallet to the front of the shed where there was a broken pane of glass, but someone pointed out that there was plenty of glass available down at the main hall. I added it on and patched the remaining holes with pallet slats.

You can see the slant on the shed. The new window is pretty much level, which makes the slant all the more obvious.

All that's left is the guttering and a bit of patching under the roof. I sowed some spring onions and radishes in the shed in celebration. No sign of germination yet.

Brassicas and dahlias for the coming season

As well as working down at the allotments, I've been preparing a few things for later in the year. The shed/greenhouse isn't quite ready for use as a propagation area (full of wood and some junk still), so I'm still using the house, which isn't ideal. I sowed some brassica seeds on the 16th ('Darkmar 'sprouts and 'Summer Purple' broccoli).

You can see the etiolation from too long in a north-facing room. I moved them to the south-facing kitchen, which has helped a bit. Some seeds are still germinating, so I should be able to show the difference.

I started off some Dahlia tubers as well, by soaking their compost. One is almost ready for cutting.

I'll take three or four cuttings, then put the tuber into the ground.

Supports and apples

Today was an excellent day and I planted everything that I've had sitting about for a while. I started with my broad beans ('Super Aquadulce') and cleaned up the soil again. I dug a trench 22cm wide and did a double row of beans, alternating the seeds (thanks to John Seymour for instilling that piece of common sense). I then placed hazel poles around the trench and stretched some string at two levels to act as a support.

I've got a lot of beans left to plant, so I'll do another one of these, a metre apart. I'll then fill the gap with catch crops, such as lettuce, spring onions and radishes.

Laura and I bashed in the supports for the apple cordons a few days ago (there were photos but they've vanished off the camera). I finished the wires yesterday and added the apples today. As I am training them into a cordon, I started by attaching three canes to the wires at an angle. I then cut back all the side laterals to three buds before planting each tree (a one-year-old maiden) 75cm from its neighbour.

Cutting back the laterals encourages fruiting spurs to form in clumps on each lateral.

I chose 'Egremont Russet' (2x) and 'Rev. W. Wilkes'. The former is an eating apple while the latter is a cooking apple.

Crocus and pond

Many of the crocuses on the plot look to be Crocus tommasinianus. My neighbour has a whole patch that he didn't dig up and I've got a few.

I cut a few blooms, which are officially the first produce from the allotment.

I also uncovered the pond, which is a bit sad looking. It's taking up room, so I'm going to get rid of it. I just can't do it justice on my half plot I'm afraid and so will sow an edge of wild flowers instead.

A bit of bashing

The final push on the digging is to clear space for raspberries and apples (which I'm going to put on a cordon). While Laura was doing the path edging (see below) I cleared the section for the raspberries in record time. Company seems to make me focus a bit better, there' no doubt about it. With my neighbour there too, I had double the incentive.

So, everything was ready for putting in the posts for the raspberry supports. I borrowed a set of step ladders and while Laura held the posts level I bashed them in.

The sudden extra height in the plot makes it much more interesting. It feels slightly different now that something so noticeable has been added. We didn't have time to add the wires on and it's been too frosty to get onto the border since, so that's for next week.

There was just time to put the raspberries into a trench filled with compost. This was from the back of the shed and is excellent stuff. It'll be sad to see it go. The raspberries are 'Glen Prosen' given to us by Uncle Andrew.

Bark paths

I got a load of bark chippings at last and put them down in the canyon I'd dug between the first two beds.

As you can see, it was a sunny day, which gave me plenty of opportunities to ruin the photos with shadows.

However, the path looks excellent and much easier to use when planting than gravel or paving. The main problem will be finding more bark every year. Just in case you'd not seen enough of my shadow, here's the latest bit of path edging, finished by Laura. A great hidden skill.

Renovating the hedge

It's been in the back of my mind that I'd prefer a hawthorn hedge to the mixed cotoneaster and privet I've got at the moment (though there is one small bit of hawthorn right by the gate). I was leaving the other day and thought, "Maybe I'll just cut back that bit of privet to give the hawthorn a chance to expand into the gap so I get a bit more hawthorn in the hedge."

I began hacking away at it and it turns out that under all the other hedge plants, there were quite a few hawthorns. I kept going and uncovered an 80% hawthorn hedge.

There's one privet plant left at the far right, with no hawthorn to replace it, so I'm on the lookout for a replacement hawthorn for that wee section. When I was done, there was a lot of debris, which just replaced what I'd burnt the other day. Here's half of what I cut away.

Moving herbs

I've dug over the third bed, which took me a while because I kept finding bulbs. This meant that I had to move the bulbs out of this bed and put them into the flower bed. A place for everything and all that. Actually, this bed must have been a wee garden, becasue of the shrubs and bulbs I'm finding. It also has a few planks and boardwalks under the grass, as well as a tiny pond in one corner. I'd like to keep the pond so I've got frogs to eat all the slugs.

I moved the lavender and buried it as I said in my last post. Here's what it looks like.

There is a bit more sticking out elsewhere in the bed because it was so bushy at the top. Fingers crossed. I may even make a lavender hedge.

I also moved some fennel into the middle of the herb bed. There's another one to come when I excavate the next path.

Plants

There are signs of life in some of the beds. For example, some young rhubarb shoots have poked through.

There are plenty of bulb shoots appearing, though I messed up the photo of this one (or maybe the camera did, who knows?). I've got some pots with bulbs coming as well, which I'm going to plonk around the place come spring.

The next bed I'm going to dig over has a small shrubery in it, containing mostly scabby plants that would be better in a garden. There's quite a small euphorbia that I'm going to get rid of and a fuchsia that I'll put in a pot by the gate come summer (assuming it'll survive the transfer). The green blur in the middle of the photo below is the euphorbia.

There's a very leggy lavender that has got very woody. It has some greenery on it, but it's too far gone to renovate because lavender rarely shoots from older wood.

However, I'm going to drop it into the ground and bury it up to the bottom of those shoots with leaves, which should encourage roots to form high up the plant, so I can then detach portions of leaves plus roots and use them as new plants. This is an extreme form of layering called dropping.

You can see the scabiness clearly in this photo.

Adding a roof

I've finished the roof, though it looks a bit bendy close up at the right-hand side. The shed seems to rise at that end. Here's the long view.

You can see the bend when closer in. The storm also smashed the middle pane of glass and a load of windows I was keeping for a cold frame.

I actually took these photos a couple of days after finishing the roof, which was half blown off after I'd put it on. Luckily I had a spare sheet of plastic and odds and ends I could use to reinforce the damaged sections. Here's the bit I'm most proud of.

There's still a bit to be done. For example, the two sections of roof don't quite meet at the top, so I need a cover to go across the ridge.

The roof and the storms

The shed roof was shredded in the wind and rain of the last few weeks (or months as it probably was). It finally gave in last week sometime. The blue plastic wasn't up to it, especially as I had strapped it down so strongly.

So, this forced my hand and I'm putting on a corrugated plastic roof. Here's the work in progress. As you can see, the next plot has a fantastic greenhouse which would withstand a neutron bomb and outlive the cockroach, but let's not worry about that. Mine will not be as good.

Apart from that, I've finished two of the borders. The nearest one is the flower plot, which has some bulbs poking through already. More on them next time.

The farthest one is going to be vegetables. The paths will hopefully have bark chippings in. That is easier on the knees and better for the world than gravel, I reckon.