Gareth's Blog

Tuesday 26th May.

I have done my Treasurer's Report for the committee meeting on Thursday. I am also editing the web page and have uploaded June's Magazines for members to download or read. I have a trip to the Library today to set up for another Window Display. Last time out some of the sticky pads did come loose in the heat and will have to ensure a more thorough prep this time round.

On the Allotment I have just picked my crop of garlic and they are now drying in the shed. I have also this week pick a load of gooseberries, without to much damage to my hands. I made a sauce out of them as I added to  much water to make jam. I put it on my ice cream, naughty but nice, a nice treat on a hot day !

I have just  finished the rhubarb for the year. I only have 2 crowns but they have produced enough for 4 cuttings and is  a very nice treat, I  must say, on Tiramsu.

I have got my Broad beans well and truly in bud. They are  about a metre tall, so have pinched out the tips so the plant can feed the beans growth. Luckily there are no black-fly present and I do check daily if I am there. This last week I planted my Runner Beans and I was a little premature but seeing the weather forecast was good, took a chance and bedded them in my raised bed. They have an anticlockwise bind on the poles and are starting to climb.

I decided to plant my main crop potatoes in a bucket this year and have reached the growing stage over  the top of the bucket. I am using some Growmoor Compost for  a  change (100% Irish Peat Moss) as this is a better water retainer than most of the peat free compost that I normally use. It is a bit more expensive but a real improvement as far as I am concerned.

In my Greenhouse I am growing some  peas. I did not have many pods but I will endeavour to plant many more next year. During this weeks spell of good weather I am hoping for some of the strawberries to turn red. Mum is looking forward to this event and although not a huge crop, there will be just enough to make an ice cream treat.

Finally my fruit bushes and fruit trees are all producing. Last year all my bushes were bare root and are just now starting to produce. I am hoping for some of these fruits to last until show time as I would like to show this year. I have 6 fruit trees and my Plum, Pear and  Apple are in good shape. I had to  re-plant a new  apple  tree as my crab apple died during the winter last year. The plums are profuse and my pears and apples are growing and forming nicely.

The only other jobs  at present are weeding and watering of the raised beds.

It is now 11 am and I have been back from the Library for 30 minutes. I must admit the photos I have taken are full of reflection and glare so will endeavour to return this evening to take them again.

At the moment it is too hot for the Allotment and I will spend the evening there after it cools down a bit. A decent watering needed around the plot and some more weeding. The forecast says it will remain quite hot.

I have taken some photos to show the current state of play and hopefully you will enjoy.

The sun is starting to set and I made a return trip to the Library tonight. The resulting pictures are much better as you can see.

Wednesday 27th May.

Another hot day. I have not been to the Allotment yet.  I  will go  this evening after tea. The weather is most suitable for strawberries, so  hoping some are ripe enough to pick. There are some running repairs needed to the Poly tunnel. It seems waterproof tape and weed membrane to come unstuck after a couple of weeks.

I have one more solution to try. I will try an outdoor rubber mat to see if it will work to  cover the gap  at the base, something suitable and some outdoor velcro. There is enough weight in the mat to add weight and stop the wind picking up underneath. Hopefully the velcro will be sticky enough to adhere to the cover. I will take some pictures this evening to show you. Talk to you later tonight.

Just got back and have  a few strawberries for mum to try. Nice and juicy they were. Did  some  watering and just waiting on the next couple of weeks. The potatoes are doing fine.

Thursday 28th May

It is meeting night tonight at Johnson Park, starts at 8pm. It will  take about an hour. Things under discussion are that they will probably mention the new locks and keys being fitted to many of the sites. My site, Eliz Flats lock change is the 24th June. I have  received a letter from The Town Council saying to go and sign for a new key and hand back the old one.

I have ordered two mats and velcro  so I can fix along  one side at the base of the cover to hopefully make a decent repair. They will arrive Saturday and should be attached  by Sunday evening. I will have to dismantle a gate opening on the near side when I erected it for access to the old plastic Poly tunnel. I am aware there will be repairs needed to the back end as well, so the process will involve deep pockets which might take weeks to fix. If my promises hold true there could be a fresh stack of greenbacks in the pipeline which should put an end to trainers influences. This will, if promise kept, lead to early repayments of outreach costs which I have promised to repay and a dead end payment schedule, being replaced with opulence. If my AI's are right there will be no need to offend often used protocols from  past times. I will know much more around next month's meeting.

Some more strawberries are starting to ripen and hopefully by the weekend some more will be ready for picking.

Some of you fellow Allotmenteers have been asked to contribute to the blog.  Hopefully it will build some momentum across various sites and shed some light on how fellow members are getting on on their own sites. It hopefully deters  from more questionaires being printed and I ask only a few lines or a paragraph a week or month detailing some of your ways  of coping with you allotment growing and general insight to your thoughts and techniques on how you grow.

As the Annual Show approaches it would be nice to know how you are all getting on. Lastly there has been agreed a new Trophy called, The Allotment Cup.  Besides the normal silverware based on next year's show 2027. The Committee have  agreed to present a cup and a keep me forever trophy to the best kept members Allotment starting in 2027.

The rules and guidelines will be issued. The judges will be Manfred Roper and Dave Potten and the judging will take place  in July when the Allotments are in full bloom. First Judging will not start till July 2027 and a result given at the 2027 Show awards along with the normal run of events.

Friday 29th May.

I intend to visit my plot quite early this morning. Mum  usually goes shopping Friday mornings, so will have to  be back by 9 am. I am hoping some of the  strawberries have ripened. The weather forecast for the day is cloudy but dry, with a drop of rain about 10 am. A cloudy afternoon and a very sunny evening.

I have had some thoughts passed on at tonight's meeting about my rubber mats and velcro arriving Saturday. There are 2 mats, 3m x 1.5m and I am wondering whether if I make them 3m x 0.75m, if I cut them in half, they will cover two sides. I won't have enough velcro but  it will be a lot cheaper this way. I will have to wait and see on Saturday. I will order some more velcro today.

Saturday 30th May.

I have some good news. One of  our Trophy winners last year as joined our blog. Janet Gordon is going to contribute to the web page with some news about her own plot at Turners Barn Lane. Her first notes are online and they are very good. I much appreciate the help and wisdom she has to offer. If anyone else is interested in contributing then just send me a few lines weekly or monthly about the state of play on your allotment. Enjoy Janet's Blog.

Sunday 31st May.

Went to the plot this morning.  The broad beans are full of black fly, but having pinched out the tips a week or two ago should be ok. I picked a  couple of bean pods today and will have them for dinner tonight.

The figs  are coming on  nicely and will probably ripen before  the  show. I will return after tea to look at  the strawberries and do some watering. At home the trusses are forming on the tomatoes and It is now I start feeding them.

The greenhouse has some growing going on. Mum likes flowers and I made the mistake of planting seed in normal compost and not seed compost and has killed most of the seeds  as the mix is far to reach a feed for seeds. I have cleaned up the greenhouse and cleaned the shelving and picked out the grass and weeds from the stone floor. I also lowered the top shelf and put at the bottom. The plant watering is much easier now.

Monday 1st June.

My rubber mats have arrived but it has been too wet to do the job.

Tuesday 2nd June.

Another wet day. Saves on watering. I have no transport on Tuesdays unless I start early and finish by 12 noon.

Wednesday 3rd June.

I have some news. A local school has shown an interest in Allotment Life and food and how it is grown. The class teacher is making arrangements to bring his class to one of our Allotment sites in July for a chat, hopefully by Manfred our Chairman on growing on an allotment.

The forecast is not good today.Rain and some high winds most of the day. I will try between 5am - 7am on the allotment today before the rain and winds pick up to see if I can part fix my Poly Tunnel. Hopefully show some pics later today.

Sunday 7th June.

It has been a few days. The velcro did not stick at all well to anything even though it was for outdoor use. Eventually had to  tie wrap  the rubber mat to  the frame on the inside of the poly tunnel. I have taken some advice and may be using some wood as a brace to the frame on the outside and wrapping the weed membrane around the wood ,might be another way. In hind  sight buying cheaper than going professional frame does incur cost but since a professional frame would cost £1200 instead of under £200 for the sunny then having a slightly ill fitting cover which broke in a few places during the storms needs a bit of Heath Robinson approach to secure will take a bit longer.

That besides, I have been picking some broad beans and some strawberries these last couple of days. I have been doing some face book time and there are quite a few tips to growing food quite quickly. I am quite impressed everything from strawberries to grapes and chilies to herbs.  My plum tree is full of fruit and my apple tree has got plenty of apples on it. The pear is doing alright and the fig tree is bursting full of figs. The cherry tree has grown a lot of new branches but as yet is not full of fruit.

I have had plenty of gooseberries so far and the redcurrants and blackcurrants are growing, still green as are the blackberries. The raspberries will take a bit more time to form. The runner beans are climbing up the poles quite well. The rhubarb is done for the year it needs to be left until September the the leaves need cutting back to the base of the crown. The crowns are then covered in manure compost and left to swell under the soil The main crop potatoes have another 14 or 15 weeks before they are ready to be picked.

In the greenhouse at home the 3 tomato plants have trusses on and my chrysanthemums arrived which I have potted. I made a good buy and bought a long probe soil moisture meter and it let's me know when the soil is dry. There are no batteries. just stick the probe in the soil and needle will rest in the dry, moist  or wet part  of the scale. I have got a picture I can show  you.

The Library window display comes down tomorrow. It was do to come down on Saturday but the Library was  shut due to unforeseen staff shortages. We will be back there again on the 30th of June until the 1st of August, a decent run. Only one poster fell off this time, so will probably check weekly during July's visit.

Monday 8th June.

It was quite  a rainy start to today. I went to the Library about 11.15 am and took down the display. We are due back on the 30th of June and will have all of July for the 4th visit.

Friday 12th June.

I have got round to the remedial  repairs on my Poly Tunnel. The duck  tape was not up to  it so while the velcro did stick  still, I covered it with black gaffer tape. It is a very good strong outdoor waterproof tape and hopefully withe inner velcro and gaffer outer the weed membrane will hopefully stick better. I have a little bit more  to do tomorrow with a bit more gaffer tape and then hopefully remedially it should  hold. My rubber mats I tie wrapped inside to the frame to give  a bit more protection from the wind. It is not perfect but hopefully Heath Robinson enough to survive this year.

I have pick some more broad beans and some more strawberries. The gooseberry harvest was good this year and had a pound or two of fruit from the plant. The weeds continue to grow and on the empty plots the rye grass is almost 6 feet tall. A reminder to you all  the locks are being changed on the 24th June some make sure you return your old key to The Town Council in South Street and sign for the new key.

Saturday 13th  June.

The damage to the Poly Tunnel was fairly bad at one end. I have taped it up and it looks  a mess to  be honest. I should really buy a new cover, but with the cost being about £80.00 compared to £5.00 for gaffer tape, I went cheap. I will probably fit a new cover eventually and find a better solution to keeping the wind out. I might just plump for a professional model and pay the £1200.00 for it.  But that's a few years off yet, but a much better job at the  end of  the day.

The photos of my plum tree show a lot of fruit and my runner beans are coming on. I  intend to let the rhubarb go  till September then cut back the leaves and manure over the crowns for the winter and let them grow under the soil.

As a foot note my soil moisture meter is  proving to be a good buy and it does a brilliant job when dealing with the tomatoes in the  greenhouse at home. I check daily during the hotter days.

Sunday 14th June.

I have been pretty busy with the outreach this last week. There are some downloadable files suitable for children and parents alike. It is intended to follow up the Fairmead Special School visit if it is approved by the Town Council with an interest to Promote Allotment Life in Yeovil to the Schools. It is very early days yet but it may lead to a bigger foothold with our Association. Please feel free to comment on the material, if you would like to, on the comments page.

Two weeks tomorrow is the next Library presentation and it will  be on display until August 1st 2026. I will have to do some watering tonight as although we have had rain the beds do dry out after a few days.

Saturday  26th June.

As  mentioned  elsewhere on this site we  are  gearing up  for  a School visit at Milford Dip on the 8th July. Secondly I am asking the committee to approve support to a Somerset  Charity that advocates mental health recovery through therapeutic horticulture.

Otherwise on the allotment I am watering and weeding. My fruit bushes and trees are producing and I am watching my potatoes and beetroot as well.

My water butt water temperature was very warm to the touch during the current record breaking heat wave that is happening write now.

I would also like to thank Janet Gordon for  her third blog report this month.

Monday 29th June.

I have a trip to the Library today. I am putting up  our  window display. I will upload some pictures later this evening  It will be there for the month of July.

Our Annual show is approaching and hopefully I will have some entries this year. It is my first time, not expecting anything but taking part is my philosophy on the subject.

We have a social at Brimsmore Garden Centre on Wednesday with a  speaker booked. Meet at 6.30pm in the Apple Tree Restaurant.

Wednesday 1st July.

We had final  confirmation of the School  visit on the 8th of July today. We also had a  social gathering at Brimsmore Garden Centre in the  Apple Tree Restaurant this evening. Michael gave us a  chat on companion planting. It  was  really good.

Wednesday 8th July.

Fairmead Special School, class 10 visit took place today. It was hot but pleasant. Manny gave his talk and a tour around his allotment and then around the other site allotments talking about the history and people on the site. The class  was well behaved and Manfred was asked a few questions by the group and by Chris. Chris talked about more classes being involved and maybe a bigger School involvement as regards growing food. It is only the beginning of the story, so hopefully looking to next year and maybe more visits to the Allotment site and then we can involve our Association in further outreach.

This evening I went to the allotment and trimmed the overgrowing rye grass and nettles at the side of my plot where there is a path. Collected a lot of other, already cut weed, which was drying out and filled a 1 tonne builders bag with all of it. 

Picked a lot of redcurrants and  a few blackberries which I have taken a picture of below. The plums need thinning out slightly and the apples and pears are growing well. Figs should be ready in a  couple of weeks. Potatoes have a bit more to go and the beetroot is not far off. I might pull one or two and see what they look like. The weather will continue to be hot for a week or so as long as you water your plot, you should be okay.

A reminder that the show schedule and entry forms have been sent out by email. You will find them in the download file page if you have not already been emailed by David our Secretary. The library display is on view in the window at the library. It is there all month, so if you get a chance take a selfie at the window. This is just to show  that people have seen it. I have or would like a general comment with a picture or your  comments posted on the comments page, if you would like to as always, it is up to you.

Monday 13th July.

Janet Gordon has written another blog posting and you will find it on her blog page. Thank you Janet for another good effort.

Wednesday 15th July.

Chris has sent me some approved photos of the recent Fairmead Special School visit. They have been posted on the Outreach page. He has accepted an invitation to the Show this year to give him a broader idea of what it is about and a further discussion about future happenings.

Saturday 18th July.

It has been very hot these last couple of weeks and although very little wind, my poly tunnel is stating to fall apart again. The sticky gaffer tape has fallen apart in the heat exposing the base for wind to exploit when blowing on colder days. I have only one solution left and although sticky velcro did not work then i will try doubled sided sticky back plastic. If that does not work , then I will have to buy a new cover for it and maybe double skin it or  just replace it altogether..

Elsewhere the blackberries are coming on a treat. The plums are starting to turn purple and there is some June drop but with the plums and apples,pears and tomatoes and a cactus I have been growing for 3 of 4 years then I feel confident of entering the show. It is  about taking part this year for me.

The weeds are on top at the moment and I need a long day playing tidy up. My runner beans have yet to form and may not do well this year. Many other Allotmenteers are having similar issues this year with flowers dropping off the runner bean plants.

I only have some potatoes left this summer as my beetroot has not done well. I have not watered them enough during the heat and all the leaves  have wilted. So I dug them up but most were not  big enough to use. My mistake and I will learn next year to be wiser during  the  dry spells.

I have had the same strawberry plants for the last 3 years,  so will dig them up and plant a new bed. I still have some raised  beds  to put in at the back fence. I am trying to kill the weed and brambles and rye grass before putting in the bed. Hopefully by Christmas I will have a much neater allotment than at present. At least all the fruit trees and bushes have produced  this year and have had a few pounds out of the gooseberry and redcurrant. The blackcurrant was not so prolific this  year and I will have to prune  back the old wood better, so as  to produce fresh new green stems for next  year.

Tuesday 28th July.

The Poly tunnel repairs is starting to fail. The tape has dried out and come unstuck again. My only solution now is to replace the cover altogether with a replacement. I will have to fit it better and bury the flaps under a planter. 

The Show is only a couple of weeks to go and I think I will have an entry or two.

Wednesday 29th July.

The SoH charity help will not happen now. The committee has kindly given their decision and although there is  some support, most said no. So for the forseeable future there will be no support for SoH from Yeovil Allotments Association. I do wish them well with their Three Acre Wood Project.

Friday 31st July.

An update on SoH. I have decided to support them with a personal donation and advertise their website on ours as a bond for outreach and the subject of therapeutic horticulture. Although the committee we not all in favour of donations, we can market their project through our website.

I will be making a visit to their site in Street in the new year and it should present itself with a bit of advertising for both of us. I will be presenting them with a few of our shop goods to advertise ourselves and in turn promote the Charity. I am hoping to present a few pictures and a couple of paragraphs to illustrate their work and commitment to Allotment life and horticulture.

Saturday 1st August.

I went to the library today to take down the display. It was there for a month, I not sure of footfall but it's free advertising and a prominent display view as you walk by. I am back there again after the Show on the 24th August until 5th September. I will try to put a new poster showing this years winners on the visit after next. I am paying SoH a visit to Three Acre Wood in September and offer personal support through a donation and advertising their project on our website. I have bought some seeds from their shop. Hopefully they will be available for the Show on  Sunday 16th August.

Tuesday 4th August.

I have had some feed back from SoH. I have put the information on our outreach page. They are having an open day on 26th September. I will be going along to show support. I will report on the days events after it's over.

Other news from the allotment, the apples and plums will be okay, the pears are a little small but I will give them ago in the show. I am not entering figs this year, but I picked a couple and they were very ripe and tasted lovely with yogurt  or ice cream, quite a treat.

I have a big clean up to do on-site as I have been a little lazy with cleaning up the dead weed, but after the Show will pick small manageable tasks over a couple of weeks, to spruce things up a bit. Not long to go now to our Annual Show. Hopefully I will see  a lot of you from last year, making another big effort at this year Show.

Just a reminder that we  are back  in the Library on the 24th August for our 5th visit. It will be the usual 12 days this time.

Saturday 15th August.

Hello Everyone, tomorrow is almost  upon us and it is show time again. I have  packed the car with my stuff and tomorrow morning I will load my entries for the show. For those who are helping it is an 8 am start. The weather will be good and although a lot of watering later, I am hoping it will be as big as last year. It is my first show as an entrant and my philosophy is just "Taking part ".

I am hoping to see a lot of faces there again from last year and I think competition is going to be first rate. I have some new shop items this year, hopefully the members will like them. Pictures below.

Tuesday 18th August.

The show  has  come and gone.  David  has emailed the list of all the winners and I have uploaded them onto  our web page. i was quite lucky this year as I was the only entrant in 3 categories, so won three 1st places and my Cactus came second. Unfortunately my tomatoes did not place, they were up against some much better exhibits. So by sheer luck I have won 3 medals this year.

I am hoping to hear from Janet shortly with something new on her blog about the show. I have put a document in the download where I have talked about my first couple of years of Allotment Life and my first year in Office as Treasurer. It's only a little bit about my life in words  and pictures. Again if you want to,  please feel free to comment

I have ordered the trophies and category medals for this years winners and we can go ahead and present them at the AGM on the 1st October at Johnson Park. 

I would like to give a big thank you to  our members who entered into the spirit, to make a very good day of it.

Friday 21 August.

I have let the rhubarb alone since May so as the leaves can feed the crown. A couple of  more weeks, early September and I will trim all the growth back to the crown. I will  then cover the crown in Manure Compost and leave until next year. My Runner Beans are coming on now and hopefully a few more to  harvest shortly. My greenhouse tomato  leaves are all dead and so having only a couple of green tomatoes left  I have had done with the 3 plants. There is one cherry tomato plant left and it is doing very well. A great profusion of cherry tomatoes still to pick. The best of my figs were passed their best, so I picked them and had them with yogurt. The  rest are quite small and will probably not grow much bigger. Some of  the vine is literally lying on the floor, so  will  cut these couple  of  vines back to give a bit more vertical growth.

I have a few more Apples to pick and a load  of plums as well and as I have no  more crops or winter vegetables, so will concentrate on cleaning up the mess of weed and bramble along my side fence.

We have another Library window display to put  on Monday 24th.  This years winner's poster  has arrived and it will  be put up on Monday. I will take some photos for the website.

I have some other  news, a Mr.  Peter Cleaver who is moving from  Mudford Road is kindly donating most of his gardening tools for free. I am seeing him on Monday lunch time to pick some of them up. He will  kindly deliver another load to me same day. I will put them on the website on Monday. If you feel you would like to have some of them, then just contact myself and either come  and pick them up or I will deliver them for free. There is no cost, they are free to own if you want them.

I will make sure they have been disinfected before passing any on. More on Monday.

I have bought the  new Allotment Plate  Salver which is on the  Trophy Night Page. I will  put an actual  picture  of it when it arrives in early September.

Monday 24th August.

Our 5th Library visit started today. I had this year's winners poster available, which you can see on the outreach page. It is  only a two  week visit and we are there again for the 6th visit on 21st September for a fortnight.

I met Peter Cleaver today and picked up his used tools from him. Mum took a fancy to some of his stuff, so had first choice from them. The rest of his tools are displayed on our new web page.

We have a social get together  on September 3rd and I will bring some of the items for our members to own if they want them.

Thursday 27th August.

It is a welcome site every so often, I mean rain! It is a little late but not to worry as most of the Allotmenteers have grown for the show that happened a week or so back. The note today is just to say I have uploaded September's magazines. There is no meeting tonight as David is on holiday. We are still having our social  evening next Thursday,  the 1st one in September. I will  have some tools for members to own, all by kindness from Peter Cleaver who donated them to us free of charge. There is no cost and members are free to pick what they want. Hopefully see you there.

Saturday 29th August.

I have changed my mind about the new Salver trophy representing the new award. It was very inexpensive and I thought a cup would be more in keeping with the other awards on offer. I have ordered it and will post a picture some time next week. I will be bringing it along to the September meeting to show it off and also the AGM to promote it for next year. I will be asking Manny to let me have a set of rules for Judging Allotments shortly so I can publish them on the website for our members who want to give it ago, can prep.

The individual category medals have arrived  and one of mine is shown below.

Friday 11th September.

I have just noticed a glaring fault with the medals. So daft of me not to see it. The dot and the small circle on the right between the words Allotments and Association is not repeated on the left hand side. I am trying to correct the error but unfortunately will not be able to order new ones. I have left it too late.

I am apologizing for the gaff and will iron out this problem by next year's show.

Monday 14th/15th September.

I have put a lot more growing guides in the download  section  of our website. Some useful tips on some of  our more common vegetables and herbs. Some are linked  to companion planting.

As you can see below I have sorted out the quirk with our medal. Unfortunately for this year the medal is not quite right but will make sure next year's will be our go to design.

Monday 21st September.

It is the start of another fortnight at the Library. Its our penultimate visit this year. I have no new posters to advertise as our show results was part of  our last visit. I have taken some pictures and will put them on our outreach page in the next hour or so. I am just using some display board posters.

My runner beans have  come on quite late but they may probably be too hard. Mum will try slicing them tomorrow. Shame they are a decent size to look at. Picture shown below. I will cut beans back to near the surface so the nitrogen in their roots can feed the soil for awhile.

Lastly I have bought some cold  frames for the allotment and will  use them for planting out during the hardening off period. My raspberries are still coming out, I have probably bought  an autumn fruiting variety as they were no  where near ready for the show.

We have our September meeting this Thursday coming and on Saturday I have been invited to Three  Acre Wood in Street to visit SoH at their Open Day. Also a reminder that on the 1st October we are having our AGM at Johnson Park, starts at 8pm and this is followed by our Show awards ceremony for this years winners to receive their keep  me forever trophies.

At home my chrysanthemums  are starting to bud. I have  included  some pictures of this event. They are hopefully going to be quite good as they were supposedly a better buy from a decent nursery. I will have to wait and see.

Friday 25th September.

I have finally got round to replacing my broken poly tunnel canopy. The old one was all tape and rips after  the storms last winter. I replaced it this evening. I am going to put a wooden built plant trough all round it. I can't bury the small flap ends otherwise. It should be done by next weekend and then add some soil to bury the  ends. I will put some photos below showing the results of the work.

Wednesday 30th September.

More wood arrived yesterday and I had ordered my linking plates as  I did not have enough. I finished the construction this afternoon. I used some of the large U-shaped galvanized pegs. They are big and strong. Just finished the other side and all that is needed now is some soil and compost to fill the trough all round. I will probably plants some bulbs for next year and some flowers as well. 

I have purchased some cold frames as well. They are quite lightweight so I am hoping they will survive the winter. They will come  in handy next year for hardening off some of the seedlings and plant plugs. I might think again about planting Runner beans.. I may revert back to some normal vegetables Like cabbage or lettuce. I am still thinking Onions and Beetroot and Garlic as an Autumn start. With crop rotation in mind I will use this year's Bean beds. They will need protection, so will consider some more pop  up cages. The fox and badges if allowed do cause some damage at times.

Just a reminder that Thursday is our AGM and Trophy Presentation night. It all starts at 8pm in the Lounge at Johnson Park. So all you trophy winners this year, please if possible come along and receive your keep me forever's. I also have the individual category medals for those who won a class.

I am apologizing for the medal issue, but rest assured it has been corrected for next year. Thanks  again for  all your support and I wish you all a pleasant Autumn on the Allotment. Hopefully see you on Thursday evening.

Saturday 3rd October.

I had  some spare netting which I used with the beans this year. So thinking about foxes  and badges put some canes and metal  rods around the polytunnel  planter and attached the netting  to  it. I have taken some pictures of it below. The netting is not to high so will  be able to  fill  the planter with compost and soil without to  much difficulty.

The rest of the pictures  show the state of thee raised beds at the moment. Most of them were filled with soil from the bank at the top previous to  me redesigning it. However the weed seed is still very heavy and is chocking my spring bulbs . So  next weekend will start one raised bed at a time and do  my best to de-weed them.

I am keen to  try some outdoor tomatoes next year and have purchased some pop up  cages for the job. There are two in all and the one at the top  behind the shed is with a metal raised planter. I will  probably have to  wait to use this one as I  have commitments to other jobs. I will probably have to replace most of the bank soil  used so far with compost and top soil to try and eradicate the weed seed

The rhubarb is still thriving even though I had  pulled all the stems and covered the crowns in manure compost to rest it till next year. It is still producing

This months magazines have been put in the download section. They are quite a way down the list of current offerings, I have  put them back to the top of the list. Anyway back soon, Happy Allotmenteering !

Gareth

Sunday 4th October.

I have spent a pleasant hour  on the plot this afternoon. I was waiting for  Ramona to pop in and pick up  the medals and trophies for the Newtown winners this year, which included Ramona and her medal wins.

So before she turned up I weeded two raised beds on the right hand side. I have attached some photos. I also finished off some more can supports for the small fence around the polytunnel.

I will go back tomorrow to weed the  next raised bed along. Then a bit more on Wednesday and Friday. There has been a lot of weed grow and will probably continue for some time to come. I cannot guarantee there is no weed seed in shop bought top soil as some of the weeds are airborne anyway when the winds blow strong. It will keep  me busy for a couple of weeks until I can work out the plan for next year.

My situation will not improve till next July so will probably have to wait till the year  after before winter crops go in. The soil is expensive when bought in bags and needing 700-800L per bed does cost a lot. If i can use the Gold Club discount then it will be a lot easier on the pocket. So I will crack on with weeding for now and think about the next show in 2027. 

Saturday 10th October.

I carried on with some more weeding this afternoon. It is not a perfect job but looks a lot tidier than before. I have just mentioned to David Recardo that the estates team were on site this week and did a good job of cutting back all the tall grass on our empty plots. It was as one of them put a possible fire hazard and did the appropriate thing in question. I asked David to pass on a well done to Sue Wheeler and her team for a job well done.

I have attached some photos below so you can judge the results for yourself.

Tuesday 13th October.

I have had another email off Kris from SeedofHope.org.uk to invite myself  along to a Autumn / Winter planting Session at Three Acre Wood. I have gratefully accepted an invitation for the 6th December to go and help for a day.

Another little offer has been asked from Georgie Clarke who has an Allotment at Milford Dip. Her daughter at Chilthorne Domer School's Eco Squad is asking for some supplies for one of  their eco projects. I have taken the task  on, by offering some supplies on behalf of  the Allotment Association, knowing that another in-road into School Outreach may be possible eventually.

I will include some gifts as away of  advertising our Association's interest and as a way of promoting awareness. I will arrange with Georgie to meet her next week for the exchange of items.

Sunday 18th October.

I have decided to put a tarpaulin wall behind the raised beds at the top of the plot. Again I am struggling with the brambles and long grass and bind weed. I  have started putting some tarpaulin there which you can see below.

It is not aesthetically brilliant but will allow a break from the brambles. i have to put a few more in and then will trim back the overhang when it grows again. I have tried weed killer but it does not work. unfortunately when taking apart the bank I used a rotivator which basically chewed the weed seed everywhere, A major mistake  as when I used the soil to refill the raised beds I introduced more weed which I am having to clean up every month or so. 

Never mind eventually it may improve. There is still plenty of weeding in the raised beds to get on with. I will probably tackle that next week and then top up the beds with compost next February and March and cover with a pop up  net for protection.

Although I can plant garlic as it is a very hardy winter crop if I do one of the beds quick and may be some onions as well in another. The raised beds will not take much to clean up and a couple of bags of compost not to expensive. The pop up net is the next step and buying two of them will add a bit more to the budget.

On reflection the trough around the poly tunnel is okay but the route to fix the flap ends as not been answered yet. It still blows loose and covers the trough, so growing bulbs may just mean more damage in the long run. I might try punching some eyelet holes and inserting crimp holes inserts and tie wrap the eyelets to the base frame. It may tear still but I will probably try it out.

Sunday 19th October.

I spent an hour on the allotment today tidying up some of the raised beds. I have attached some pictures.

Friday 23rd October.

I have had to rescue my poly tunnel cover again. I was there checking on damage  during 5 minutes between the storms and unfortunately it blew off. It fell, still partially gripped by the tube clips at the back in front of the side fence. It seems the entrance area is open to the wind even though the  zip is done up.

Luckily I hadn't fixed the flappy ends  to the wood plant trough or it would have probably torn apart. It is proving difficult to sort out and might have to go back to netting to survive such storms. It defeats the object but I might not have any choice. We live and Learn.

Sunday 25th October.

Mulling over the damage caused by the storm and  talking to Toby, the solution to the poly tunnel has arrived. The frame is metal so can anchor to it and what has been suggested is using clear plastic corrugated sheeting that can be used on carports or greenhouses etc. It will stop the problem of needing new covers and replaces the netting solution. It will be rigid and protect the inner area. It is all dismantleable so can go back to mother nature whenever I get too old or use for the next occupier.

It is quite a smart solution and although fairly expensive, I will have to do it over a year in stages. I will probably start in January on the fix. I will keep you posted.

Wednesday 28th October.

I returned to the Allotment this morning to quite a mess. I have already mentioned the polytunnel but I have also lost my plastic greenhouse. The holding loops broke and being on a raised platform allowed the wind to get underneath and pull it over. Several of the poles were twisted and bent and quite a few of the plastic joins were broken.

I lost my polycarb greenhouse last christmas during a heavy storm, so what do I do next. I might just leave it as a viewing platform and put some potted plants and a table and chair. It means relying on the polytunnel for indoor use and the greenhouse at home for seeds and plug plants.when finished. It will take a good year to redo the polytunnel so will leave it for now until money available.

The only other damage were the water butts. Two had keeled over and pulled off my rainsaver guttering. I rearranged them and put a 250 Litre one as no. 2 feed. I kept the slim line as first fill, then another 2 x100L after the 250L and then finally another 250L water but as no.5 fill..

i will leave the short time baby sitting the plot till new year. I was thinking of planting more garlic, but need to tidy up and weed the beds and let mother nature do her bit.