MY WEEK : 18 ( W/E 06/05/07 )

Welcome to this week's update of my progress on my two allotments.
My return to the allotments is already making improvements to my health with people commenting on how much more cheerful I am and that I don't look so tired and weary as when they last saw me, I must say that now that a huge amount of stress and pressure have been lifted off my shoulders I feel more positive about things and I am beginning to get the allotments and the sowing and planting back on track. I must say a big thank you to all of you especially those who have sent messages of support and encouragement which have given me a great boost, the ' The Old Steve' is on his way back, thanks.





The start of the week was spent making a list and plan of what to sow and where, then with the help of my wife Sarah and bit of help from my son Daniel we set about sowing. In the picture to the left you can see pots of Runner Beans, Climbing & Dwarf French Beans in my allotment cold frames, back at home I have sown Mixed Salad Bowl Lettuce, Sweetcorn, Courgettes, Pumpkins, Ridge Cucumbers, Brussel Sprouts, Calabrese, Early Purple Sprouting, January King Cabbage, Dwarf Asters, English & French Marigolds. At the allotments I have direct sown my Beetroot with Leeks, Carrots, Parsnips, Spinach and Swiss Chard to follow next week. I have also still got Potato 'Nadine' and Potato 'Cara' to plant next week about 30 tubers of each variety so I will be busy.






The Apple trees that I planted last Spring ( Golden Delicious, Elstar and Cox's Orange Pippin ) have all produced blossom this year and the Cox's Orange Pippin pictured above is already starting to produce fruitlets, the Golden Delicious has had a good amount of blossom and it looks like they will form fruitlets as well, the Elstar has only had a small amount of blossom and so may not produce any fruit this year, I will have to wait and see. The most pleasing thing with these trees is that they were all from Wilkinson's and only cost £6 each, so it looks as though I may get my money's worth.







The weather is really bringing on my Strawberry plants, with the drop of rain that we had at the beginning of the week they seemed to have doubled in size overnight and have started to produce their flowers with some already turning into the first stages of fruit as you can see in the top-right picture, it won't be too long before I will be able to enjoy the first of the fruits which always taste better than the watery shop ones which have been forced in greenhouses. The plants will benefit from a feed of a high Potash fertiliser such as Tomato food at this stage which encourages more flowers and fruit and of course this is now the time to cover them with netting as the birds will be ready to pounce as soon as they start to ripen.






This week I have removed the covers from my two rows of Dhalias which I have left in over the Winter, as you can see in the top-left picture I covered the tubers with a good mound of soil and then weed control fabric which seems to offer them enough frost protection here in the Midlands. The soil on my allotments is quite sandy and well drained so they have not rotted off which would probably happen on heavy soil, the top-right picture shows the new shoots emerging from the tubers which as long as we don't get any late frosts should be ok to leave uncovered now but I have kept the weed control fabric handy just in case they need some protection, I have also raked in some Growmore general fertiliser around them to give them a little feed and a good watering as they will soon burst into life.







My Shallots and Onions are making good progress, once again as with most of the current crops the rain has done wonders. If you find that your Shallots or Onions seem a bit weak and thin or even have a slight yellowing of their leaves then you can give them a feed of a high Nitrogen fertiliser such as Sulphate of Ammonia or even use the Old method of diluted Urine which is high in Ammonia. In the Brassica cage the Summer Cabbages, Cauliflowers and Red Cabbages are all doing well, I have fitted them all with Cabbage collars to protect them from the Cabbage Root Fly which lays it's eggs near the base of their stems and the larvae then devour the stems and roots, these are made from fibre but can be made from card or even a plastic bag.







The Broad Beans have come through really well, the soil temperatures must have been ideal for their germination and subsequent growth. One pest that can start nibbling the edges of their leaves which also attacks leaves of Radish, Turnips is the Leafminer which causes more cosmetic damage than anything else but can be controlled either by using Derris dust around the plants or by spraying with an insecticidal soap which is an organic insecticide. The Sweet Peas have settled in and are now starting to produce stronger shoots which have started to climb the netting that I have erected for them.


Well that is it for this week, I hope that you all have a good Bank Holiday weekend and manage to get to your plots, it looks like we will finally get some rain next week which is desperately needed here and indeed in many places around the country. Have a good week and I will speak to you all again next week, thanks Steve.