Katrina’s Allotment Diary
After a few months deliberating which one to buy, another month of waiting for it to arrive and weeks of clearing the un-touched ground, my polytunnel finally stands proud at the highest point of the plot. [Erected on 31/05/2016]
The small greenhouse is becoming very crowded! Only thing is, I still have even more (yes, I probably over did it a little..) pepper and tomato plants growing at home, eager to be moved into the new polytunnel. Fingers crossed it will *finally* go up this weekend – that is IF the weather holds out.
Despite the topsy-turvy weather we had over April a lot has been happening in the last few weeks! In between the hail storms, rain showers and sudden heat waves, I’ve spent a lot of time at the allotment, making the most of the longer days – so much so that I’ve hardly had time to write about it! Continue reading “A brief May update”
I’m so relieved to finally get the potatoes in the ground! It was a really nice day to do it and even though we had quite a sharp frost last night the ground was soft enough to dig. More cold nights are forecasted so I’ll need to get hold of some garden fleece in the week to protect the potato bed from frost damage. Continue reading “They’re In!”
Last Friday – Good Friday in fact was such a gorgeous day to be on the allotment. The first day of the year to be comfortably wearing shorts (YES i know!) and the perfect day to put up my mini greenhouse..or so I thought. Over the Easter weekend rather windy storm – ‘Katie’ they called it paid a visit to the UK… Continue reading “Undercover”
I don’t often splash a lot of cash into tools and materials for the allotment if I can go without. For over a year and a half I’ve had my plot but no proper wheelbarrow. I was left an old rusty one when I took on the plot. It had a hole in the bottom and was missing the tyre, so it was very cumbersome to move about. Instead I used a slim wheelie bin, also left by the previous tenant. But with the very rough terrain even this was difficult to move, but I made do.
It’s been a freakishly mild, wet winter – in fact the warmest since records began in 1659! This explains the confused flowers and trees that don’t know if its winter or Spring. We’ve had daffodils flowering together with snowdrops and crocuses as early as February, and even the cherry blossom is in bloom despite the late cold snap.
I’m excited for a new growing season, which will be my second year at St. Ann’s Allotments in Nottingham, UK. So decided to start this blog to keep track of my progress, log observations, share useful tips and the mistakes I’ve learnt from, as a beginner gardener. I’m also a photographer, so expect to see lots of photograph of people I’ve met, the seedlings sprouting, and gallery posts of my plot – 152a where I’ll be growing all kinds of fruits, vegetables, flowers and shrubs.
I feel very lucky to have my allotment at the renowned site at St. Ann’s because it’s thought to be the biggest and oldest in all of Europe. It’s an incredibly beautiful space, with around 500 plots set over 75 acres of land, over a hill that’s right in the city centre – not that you would believe it. The Grade II listed site holds a lot of history and hidden treasures that I look forward to sharing.
How are things on my allotment now? Well it’s not very pretty as I’ve got a lots of odd-jobs to be done and wooden debris to remove. What’s kept me busy is all the digging! Not just turning over the soil, but preparing new areas from ground that was not preciously used. I’m going to have a lot more growing space than I did last year – since it was my first year I was busy clearing all the debris and weeds. But I’m feeling pretty organised and keen to get growing!
Homegrown Garden 