Redhill Allotments Blog

Watch this space for information about our Centenary celebrations at Belgrave Hall on the 7th of August.

2010-04-20T01:01:00.001+01:00

Pictures of this years seed swap and egg hunt

2010-04-20T00:30:00.001+01:00

Finding a rabbit a chocolate one that is!although there are lots of real ones on our site

Swapping tips and seeds.

The children were looking at tadpoles before they were being put into our pond.

SEED SWAP AND EGG HUNT

2010-03-25T00:09:00.006Z

Hello plot holders this is a picture of children hunting for eggs on our red hill allotment site last year. This year we will be doing it again along side our annual seed swap.

Both events will be held together on the communal area on the 3rd of April, you can come to the seed swap any time between two and four .

If you don't want the your children to miss out on the egg hunt then they need to be there at two.

Iris and Mary will be helping the children with the egg hunt

For those of you not familiar with a seed swap you bring along any unwanted in date seeds and you should be able to swap each packet for another of your choice.

You don't have to have a full packet of seeds you can bring along some that you have too many off.

All seeds packets must have their name and basic instructions on.

Hilary and friend will be helping supervise the seed swap.

Winter wonderland

2010-03-23T08:53:00.004Z

Hi every one this is my first blog so will try to keep it short and interesting.

There is suposed to be a robin some where in the first picture!

Some photo's I took this winter, I am sure although very beautiful every one like me will be happy to see the snow gone so we can get on with some serious gardening.

2010-03-23T08:14:00.002Z

The pond is really starting to look good thanks to all the volunteers that have helped.

More help is needed with the pond planting in April see notice board or Hilary.

Also help is require to finish the path see Gary Hilary or Iris on how you can help.

Happy gardening now the sun is shining Iris

2009-10-29T10:12:00.002Z

Thursday 29th October 2009

Hello fellow gardeners...! Well Autumn draws on and the jobs of tidying and cutting back are upon us all. Im hoping to maintain this blog and website, in the same fashion as Dave and Miranda have since its creation - and thanks to them for providing us with a method of all keeping in touch.

If you have any ideas of what you would like to see on the website please speak to me onsite, or mail me at clerkmark@gmail.com or marklin1@hotmail.co.uk and i will do my best to get things up and running.

MarkB (plot 48a Organics)

Rain, rain and more rain.

2009-06-07T20:57:00.004+01:00

Today Marc and I really needed to get plants in at the lottie. Blimey it was grim and really wet :( Luckily later on this afternoon the rain finally stopped and I got out into my back garden. I had an entire table full of bedding plants to pot out; petunias, coleus, impatiens, lisianthus. I found a random climbing french bean so I put that in my flower bed also! I planted out some asters, dahlias, a new gooseberry bush. My sweet peas went into their pot. I sowed a second sowing of carrots (Royal Chantenay) and finally got round to sowing salad.

I am now pooped and think a glass of wine is in order.

2009-05-24T21:16:00.006+01:00

This weekend the pond was dug out by Gary, John, Steve, Marc and a little help form me (I think I probably just slowed everyone down more than helped!) But oh my it was brilliant fun!!!!!!!!!!!

My favourite was the little scoopy Bobcat thingie I'm sitting in. The digger was cool but it took some serious hand eye co-ordination and not being very good at computer games I think my hand eye co-ordination is a bit ropey!

I am amazed at Gary and Steve they just kept on going for two days solid. It was worth it thought, the pond looks amazing :)

I am now sitting at home with huge sunburn, despite wearing factor 15, I have the worst skin ever. It is typical 'Welsh never sees the sunlight skin'. I'm considering buying a Craghoppers shirt with built in UV protection. Cool and practical, so when I feel my skin has had enough I can pop it on. I need something...

More pics of the digging weekend can be found in the gallery section.

Composting event

2009-05-17T14:46:00.004+01:00

Despite the rain (and there was lots of it!) our composting event went very well indeed today. A lovely lady called Sallie came from WRAP and talked to us all about the In's and Out's of composting; Which bugs live in your compost (Primary eaters such as bacteria, fungi and fruit flies, Secondary eaters such as Springtails, and Tertiary eaters such as beetles and centipedes). What to add and what not to add (Yes to things such as veg peelings, green garden waste, cardboard, citrus peel, annual weeds before they seed and even such things as hair and vegetarian animal bedding. No to such things as perennial weed root although these can be dried or drown then added, meat, dairy and cooked food). Things that were thought to be by many unsuitable for the compost bin such as rhubarb leaf are fine. Although toxic for consumption the toxins break down when being composted.

Luckily we managed to squeeze inside our storage container as the rain came down very heavily a few times!

There is loads more information at www.recyclenow.com/compost

Leicestershire county council also have a 'Rot-a-lot' home composting club that you can join for free and you will receive information and a free home composting pack (that includes a free composting caddy). Email compost@leics.gov.uk

I hope everyone who went enjoyed the event despite the weather. Please remember to pass on your comments good or bad on to the social committee at the site, or email us(socialcommittee@redhillallotments.co.uk) so that we can improve the events we offer, or the way they are run. Also if you have an idea for any other events you would like to see at the site please email your suggestions also.

Planting out begins.

2009-05-10T21:21:00.005+01:00

Things are starting to speed up now. It's getting to that crazy time when all you seem to be doing is planting out!

Today the broad beans, peas and mange tout went in. Marc did a cracking job making the wigwams and getting the plants in, he even put a layer of poo all round so hopefully they will get a good feed as well. I can almost taste them already, the veg that is... The pumpkins in the greenhouse already have flowers on them but there is no way they are going out for a few more weeks, I'd rather chance losing a few flowers than losing the actual plants with a late frost. I think everything else we have will wait a few more weeks before they go in so there is less fear of frost.

We came home with a lovely crop of rhubarb, which was boosted generously by a donation from Gary. I'm going to attempt my first ever rhubarb jam. I never get enough for making jam as we usually end up eating all of our crop straight away!

Potting on.

2009-05-06T22:16:00.004+01:00

I seem to be spending most of my life potting on at the moment! The mini greenhouse is officially full, the windowsills are full and the patio is filling up fast. That is even without mentioning the vast amount of plants that Marc has at his house, I don't think he has a surface free in his greenhouse or on his windowsills either (far bigger than mine with proper glass and everything, the greenhouse that is...).

Now the worry is 'have we sown enough...' it is hard to tell, especially as a lottie is such a vast amount of space compared to our greenhouses and patios. So far I have counted in my little greenhouse and patio alone; 27 healthy runner bean (french, traditional etc) plants all hardening off and ready to go into the ground, 8 courgettes a lot of various pumpkins & squashes, 20 Swiss chard, 15 perpetual spinach, onions, Italian black kale, broad beans...

I think we are getting there and the big plant off begins on Sunday (weather permitting). Hopefully the fear of frost is now minimal...

I was watching Gardeners World on Friday and I see they have a fab new campaign called 'Dig In'. It is rather good, and novice gardener Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox is blogging her progress on growing veg.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/digin/

After 4 years I still feel a novice so it's good to read about other people who are also starting on the path to veg growing enlightenment :)

Wildlife pondpond area

2009-04-25T20:45:00.007+01:00

Hello everybody, can I start by saying a BIG thankyou to Miranda,Dave,and Mark for introducing me to the world of Blogging. So here it goes.

My name is Gary and I live at plot 44. I have been given the task to oversee the creation of a wildlife area incorporating apond. As you can see we have started to clear the area and are now waiting to recieve the grant monies so we can press ahead. Many thanks to everyone who has helped so far,will keep you all posted (if this blog actually works) Gary.

The next pond day is on 30 April 6.30-dusk.We will be getting things ready for the digger.

Wild life pond

2009-04-21T21:57:00.000+01:00

Watch this space .

It's all going on.

2009-04-20T11:15:00.002+01:00

Just a reminder to all of you who pop down to the allotment that we have a notice board just behind the gate.

I admit that I often forget to check this, but as you can see from the pic there is a great deal of information and contact details on there.

There is also a postbox should you need to contact Iris when she is not on site, just drop her a note. This can be used for suggestions about the Redhill site or just general enquiries.

Or for the more techinically advance you can alway send an email to iris@redhillallotments.co.uk

Potatoes are finally in

2009-04-18T23:06:00.004+01:00

After the rotavation and the planning the hard work has finally begun, and the potatoes are in.

After a brief weeding session there are now 7 rows of potatoes in the ground, chitted for a week, and the rows marked by a fine line of manure to aid banking up.

Cara and Saxon this year so will be interesing to see how these perform against some of the others on site in terms of yield and quality.

Must have been on a roll today as the garlic is also in.

Unfortunately this required hoeing, proper weeding and digging over as this was a patch left untouched by the rotavator.

This year marks a sowing of garlic obtained from the garlic farm on the isle of wight, who have something of a reputation for their garlic.

Not to say that we have high hopes but it will certainly be interesting to see if their reputation is justified.

Onions next...

No more wee bucket in the shed!

2009-04-18T21:41:00.005+01:00

There is a new member on the site, and it's a compostable loo! It has all the mod cons, a toilet, a urinal for boys and gel to wash your hands with. As you can see Iris is very proud of the toilet :)

Apparently Marc was the first to Christen the boys urinal bit, and then after he came out I had a go on the lady (also apparently the unisex poo loo) loo. Very impressive, beats a bucket in the shed every time!

After looking a little ropey weather wise first thing today (I still chanced putting my washing out, best thing ever is line dried clothes!) it was glorious at the lottie. I think I even have a bit of a tan (even with Factor 15 on, I love my pasty ass Welsh skin...).

I now think that we now must have one of the poshest lottie sites around :)

Snail Patrol

2009-04-13T21:21:00.004+01:00

Having been away for Easter to visit the family in Wales I thought today would best be spent sorting out the garden at home before it goes into a big sulk! Things needed cutting back, the grass needed mowing and that's even before things like the new roses, iris and ligularia got to go in (they didn't make it, they are still on my garden table!).
Sorted out the bulk of the garden then treated myself with a bit of veggie gardening :) Potted on the courgettes, swiss chard and blue banana winter squash. Then came across snail damage! To be fair though it is the first of the year. Found three of the blighters in there which were all promptly dispatched.
A result on the carrot front, for the first year ever I have some. Decided to grow parmex in a pot at home and there is greenery :)
Time to go and sow a few more seeds I think...

Need space.

2009-04-02T21:41:00.002+01:00

glad the greenhouse is ready, my dining table is almost full!

always have much more success at the allotment sowing healthy plants rather than seeds, so here we go again...

60 chillis

22 tomatoes

12 broad beans

12 peas

30 kohl rabi

40 mange tout

6 aubergine

3 cucumber

and no doubt more to follow...

Ready for action!

2009-04-02T21:15:00.002+01:00

Clocks changed. Check.

Weather improving. Check.

Greenhouse cleared and ready to go!

The good life

2009-03-28T21:03:00.007Z

Today we were on a full roll. Well I say we, Marc and I had a amazing helping hand in the form of James and his brilliant rotovator (apparently the same type as the one featured in the good life!). He was a really good help, speak to Iris if you would like details.

It was really cute rotovator (can a rotovator be called cute?)! And the colour was fab, proper old school orange. My VW beetle used to be almost the same colour when it was first built :)

The plot looks brilliant. It almost makes me feel confident now going towards late spring. I know Marc has a fair few ideas for beds and planting schemes. It's really good to see it as a blank canvas. Fills your head with ideas.

First plan is to try and get some old scaffolding planks to give the beds structure. Then we need to think about crop rotation again (think this is year 4 so we should be back to original places), luckily we had the sense last year to make some notes so we have some idea of what went in.

The windowsills at home are filling out fast it seems no time from bare soil to bushy green things all over the place. The winners so far are the HYDRA runner beans we got at last years seed swap off Sally Cunnigham, they are called Top Of The Vale. They were rather yummy last year and are reaching for the ceiling as we speak! Think I may now slow them down out in the mini greenhouse from tomorrow.

Don't forget the fleece over the next couple of days, there is frost forecast!

The view out of the window is obscured

2009-03-27T09:05:00.005Z

It's nearly the end of March and it seems that every seed packet has 'Plant me now or the world will end!' written on it...

We are getting the lottie rotovated this weekend so we started the garlic and onions off in modules, this worked well for us last year.

After years of getting to know our plot we realised a long time ago that sowing straight into the ground just doesn't work for us. So yet another year my windowsills are full, the mini greenhouse is full, Marc's dining table is full and his greenhouse is all nice and shiny ready for when we pot on the growing seedlings. We rarely put anything in the ground till May as you can never chance the frost. We also find that if the plants are a decent size when they go out they seem to be a bit more robust!

I always start to have a mild panic when I see the fevered activity at the lottie site but then calm when I think of all the 'backstage' work we have going on :)

Seed swap

2009-03-04T08:53:00.003Z

Last night was our annual seed swap at the Tom Hoskins pub which went very well indeed. The attendance was a little down on last year, I think that was mainly due to the most awful rain I have seen in a while, so I was pleased we got as many as we did attending.

I got some interesting summer and winter squash seeds, some broad beans, tall climbing peas, and various other bits and bobs. I'm looking forward to getting them all planted :)

Yet again the food that everyone brought along was absolutely lovely. My particular favourite being the cherry flapjacks :)

Thank you to everyone that attended and happy sowing!

Poo Day

2009-03-01T18:36:00.006Z

Yesterday was one long day at the lottie. Mary and I had a lorry load of poo delivered. It was a lot of poo, especially as i had to get every single bit of it over the fence. All I can say is that I have a few achy muscles today...

It only took me three hours, I think I'm officially the worlds slowest digger.

I managed to get a blackcurrant and a gooseberry lifted and potted up as we are aiming to have the entire plot rotovated. I think I have even discovered a couple of wild strawberry plants. Or I was just a bit careless with the seeds last year. LOL. I managed to lift the old strawberry bed as we didn't get any strawberries last year, I think strawberries can get a virus so I'm guessing this is why ours didn't produce. I have put them in the little bin incinerator just in case instead of composting them.

It was one of those days on the plot yesterday that makes you feel confident of the season ahead (not sure if it's a false sense of security!). There were loads of people about, even Iris' lovely grandchildren paid her a visit. They seemed to be sowing seeds well and having a great time watering everything in sight, including the weeds! :)

I have to say thanks to Mary and Gary for helping me move the poo to my plot.

Hope to see you all next Tuesday at the seed swap.

It's been a long time...

2009-01-24T20:37:00.003Z

I finally made it to the lottie today! I think the first time since the bonfire party... I had the flu for most of December and still only just seem to be recovering.

Today I decided to start small. So I dug out a rose bed by the fence. It looks good, no weeds :D I guess it won't look like that for too long unfortunately. I am hoping the roses will get big enough before the weeds take over. Well that's the plan!

It was nice to get back into the swing of it again. I am now browsing through seed catalogues. I always forget how tempting all the different veg look, so I'm trying not to buy one of every type!

Hope to see you all at the Seed Swap and first lottie meeting on the 3rd of March.

Redhill Bonfire Party.

2008-11-04T21:37:00.007Z

It's the second year for our now (can it get called annual after two years?...) bonfire party :) Like nearly every event we have had this year it rained and rained and rained and rained! The bonfire more smoldered than burned.

Despite the rain it was a fun evening and everyone I saw seemed to have a fun evening. The hotdogs and soup went down well and by the time I got away from the hotdogs nearly all the lovely homemade food had gone, i need to be quicker next time! I didn't even get to eat one of my mam's bug eyed alien cakes! Good job I stashed a couple at home :) My mam said that the apple and spice cake she tried was really lovely.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who turned up despite the rain. It makes the social team feel that the events they organise are worth it :)

I think Iris has the list of who won what with heaviest pumpkin and the carved pumpkins and I am waiting for her to email me the results so I can send out certificates and place your names up on the website. All I know is that I won nothing! :( Better luck next time hopefully...