Katrina’s Allotment Diary
A few weeks ago I hit the jackpot. I found a huge pile of sandstone up for grabs at the allotments as I collected from the communal wood chip pile to make my first path. I had already spoken to Stevie who arranges the deliveries and he said I could take as many as I liked! I didn’t know what I wanted them for at the time so I just loaded my barrow with as much as I could carry. Five, ten, fifteen, then twenty or more I wheeled up a small mountain hill to my allotment.
Two and a half years I’ve had my allotment and I’ve only just begun to lay my first proper paths! I recently made one alongside my strawberry patch & blackberry bush and now I’ve just made a new one cutting straight across the middle of the plot.
I couldn’t help but share my slow-mo video from this evening. I’m a little obsessed with bees, and this one’s enjoying supper inside the foxgloves. 🐝🌿🌸
Do you remember back in April, a sharp frost killed off a number of my plants and seeings? Well my fellow Instagram gardeners came to help and sent me free seeds and plants! Huge thanks to Jason for giving me two chilli plants, a tomato cutting AND a tomato plant! I’m so excited to try them, especially since they are all new varieties.
Continue reading “Thank you 💚”
I’ve had my allotment now for two and a half years and yet, there are still areas of the plot that have be left pretty much unmanaged, for various reasons. For a plot the size of mine, (25mx15m) that I work alone, I know I have come a long way from the jungle it once was…but I still long for the whole plot to look some-what tidy/managed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not after straight lines and precision planting. I just want to feel like I have control over certain areas.
Continue reading “What to do with this Difficult Area…?”
Somehow, I’m only just beginning to realise just how rewarding it is to grow your own flowers. Wheather they spring up out the blue, or slowly form beautiful buds from Autumn planted bulbs, the anticipation before their burst into bloom is the sweetest. Continue reading “Spring Flowers in Bloom”
I took advantage of the Easter bank holiday to plant my four varieties of well-chitted potatoes in the ground. Strangely it was this exact date that I planted them last year! I’ve learnt from last years experience that I don’t need to grow quite as many, so this time I’m using only half the amount which means I have much more space for other crops.
Continue reading “The spuds are in!”
It seems quite appropriate that on the first day of Spring I was rewarded with frogspawn in my Belfast sink pond for the first time ever! 🐸😁🎉
My up-cycled pond has a lot of visitors year roud but I’ve never had frogspawn, so this was a pretty special find! Plus, frogs are known to return to their place of birth to lay their own eggs which means I should have baby frogs each year, eek!
Spring is back and so am I! This year will be better and more organised than ever, as I’ve already made great progress in the last few weeks with the help of my friend, Dawson.
Continue reading “Hello Spring – I’m Back!”
I have the cutest new stool for my polytunnel and best of all it was free!
On my drive home a few nights ago I was going through the busy part of Hyson Green when I spotted a cute red stool by the road, next to some wheelie bins. You often see household objects on the pavement along that street so it was clear it wanted a new home. It’s the perfect height for potting on my tomatoes which will keep my busy over the next week or so. The question is, do I keep it red or paint it a different colour?! Eek. Time will tell. Oh I do love a good freebie!
Homegrown Garden 