Preparing for the winter

We have lifted the carrots and we are really pleased with the result. Broad Beans have been sown following the carrots, it is hoped that the Autumn sowing will deter the Black Fly due to an early harvest in May or June next year.







We have spread the Farm Manure over the beds allowing the weather and worms to do their work over the winter.










We have planted a Rhubarb crown, so we will watch this space with growing interest as spring approaches.

November..........

"No warmth, no cheerfulness, no helpful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member,—
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds—November!"

Clearing up

We have cleared all the beds except for the carrots in readiness for the manure delivery.

Allotment & Garden Guide - October 1945 (2)

CLEAR THAT RUBBISH

Clearing up the garden or allotment is a job that should not be put off. If decaying vegetable material, old sticks, cabbage stumps and other rubbish is left to rot in the garden, all kinds of pests and vermin will be encouraged. Keep up with the work of clearing the ground as soon as the crops are finished. Put all suitable material on the compost heap, while not forgetting the needs of any domestic livestock.

Bean sticks can often be made to serve two seasons, if they are carefully stored and kept dry during the winter. Pea sticks of the brushwood type are seldom much use after one season and should be burned.

THOSE BONFIRES

Keep them to the smallest limits and burn only woody or diseased material, the underground parts of thistles, docks, couch grass and the like. Bonfire ash should not be left out for the rain and dew to dissolve and wash away the very soluble form of potash it contains. It can be incorporated in the garden soil immediately it is cold, or it may be bagged, stored in a dry place and used as a fertilizer when needed.

Allotment & Garden Guide - October 1945

"Hail, old October, bright and chill,
First freed man from the summer sun!
Spice high the bowl and drink your fill!
Thank Heaven, at last the summer's done!"

An American divine wrote that October is nature's funeral month and that the month of departure is more beautiful than the month of coming: that October is more beautiful than May. Gardeners may well argue about that, but they will agree that the sun of their gardening year is setting in October. It is a time for reflection, for a judicial summing up of our successes and failures.

Are our failures due to any lack in ourselves? Did we fail to tackle those pests in good time or did those poor, worthless crops result from a lack of fertility in our soil? The farmer, we are told, looks at winter with spring in his eyes. So does the good gardener. For both the practical couplet is this: "In October dung your field, And your land its wealth shall yield."

But the reader may say, "It's all very well for the farmer, but where can I get dung?" Well, the answer to that has been given many many times; it is simply this—if you can't get dung, make compost. And how few gardeners do, yet compost will help them to keep their land fertile.

THAT COMPOST

October is the picture month — the month for painted leaves, as Thoreau, the American nature writer called it. That's a nice poetic thought, but to the sensible gardener those painted leaves, when they drop, become compost. Leaves of oak, beech and birch are very valuable for the compost heap, but pine and spruce needles, together with lime and plane tree leaves, are best burnt and the ashes used instead as a fertiliser.

So Marc, let's get that manure!!!!!!

The end of the Runner Beans

But we may be lucky with some late Peas!











We've had the last of the Runner Beans and the plants are now in the Composter as well.

Fellow Allotmenteers

Graham's plot looks well.....












Dave's Peas are looking good.....

End of the French Beans

....and a coat of paint on the shed.













The French Beans have gone into the composter.

Another bed dug!

The latest large bed is now double dug and complete. You can see the dead grass by the shed from the turf and surplus soil storage whilst digging.

Will the late peas crop?

Dave is raising his beds.










Digging continues!












The late peas are growing and they are now needing support.

End of the Peas

The peas have gone into the composter and the radish have been harvested.

Tidying up

Today was just a tidying up day, cutting the grass and ensuring the edges of the beds were re-cut and weed free. The harvesting of peas, French and Runner Beans continues.

Steady progress

We are slowly completing the next bed with bed 5 showing new growth with peas, radish and lettuce.

A new bed under way.

Cats and the carrot bed

A cat has scratched the carrot bed twice and therefore I have covered it with plastic bag pieces to save the cat attacking the bed again and hopefully saving the rest of the carrot crop. Also, the bags will stop the birds on bed five as I have sown three rows of French dwarf beans. You can also see in the first photo where the grass is recovering from being covered during bed four's preparation. The second photo shows the Runner Beans now in full flower and healthy plants in beds one and two.

Bed preparation continues

Now that the shed is erected it's time to crack on with the beds while the weather is fine.

The shed takes it's place well.

The shed has been erected and is a timely addition to the plot. The tools can come down now and will save on the carrying back and to. The shed will become a welcome haven during the frequent rain showers.

The wet weather continues

Progress at the allotment has been slow due to continuous wet weather. We have ordered a shed however, so the base had to go down!

The carrots are in and new beds in progress

The carrots are now sown in the third bed, we have started a fourth bed and completed a fifth bed at the start of a new column.

So now we're ready for sowing carrots!

The new bed completed, and a view of the progress on the rest of the Allotments. There are very busy people here and the second photo shows the results of their hard work.

Pushing on!

I am now moving onto the next bed as there maybe time for some carrots for October harvest.

Into July

Then at the beginning of July the fruits of the hard labour begin to appear.

Keeping the Birds away

Throughout June I tried to keep the birds away from the emerging Pea plants.

The beginning, early June 2009.

These are new allotments at Pentre Gwyn, Wrexham. The hard work has started and the first two beds are ready. Due to the lateness of the start I am going for Runner Beans, Dwarf French Beans and main crop peas.