Spudulike

although the weather wasnt very good, quite drizzly, we took a drive yesterday through to the allotments where Sams grandad has his plot, because the shop was open. I had only really intended taking a look just to see how it was arranged and the like, but i got some potato fertiliser, and 2kg each of Kestrel and Desiree seed potatoes. I now have loads of seed spuds, plenty for the patch, 1st, 2nd earlies and maincrop. They have been arranged in trays in the garage, near the window, to chit. The only trouble there being that i had to improvise a shelf to put the trays on, so there is now a melamine shelf stood on the open stepladders at one end and wedged ontop of the tubledrier at the other.

The broad bean plants are not looking too good, i think they have become a bit too tall to be self supporting, so i will need to pull back the polytunnel and put some stakes in to keep them up.

getting there slowly

slowly, because although i havent been at work like i was supposed to, i have been off sick, unable to speak and coughing like ive been on 60 a day. So, mostly ive been in bed, drugged out of my head, with only the occasional feeble expedition into the garden.

The pleasent weather has continued however, and so on these little five or ten minute outings ive picked up the rake and levelled off a bit of the potato patch. Its remarkably good for your feeling of wellbeing to watch the soild crumble as its pulled along, bringing to mind old BBC2 programmes about the countryside, and dig for victory campaign posters


another simple thing has been making bottle cloches, using old lemonade bottles, and fencing wire to hold them in place on top of the spring onions

over the last week ive been able to get most of the frames for the chicken run painted with wood preservative, and started up with the wiring. The end panel is now complete, including a foot wide anti-dig skirt, this is shown in the picture below, upside down.

the side panel with the gate is in the process of being wired. The skirt will be added later to this panel, as will the gate. Sam enjoyed helping me with the wiring, holding the wire in place until the moment i was about the tack it on, then letting go, or bringing me the wire tacks one or two at a time

Sams grandad came on sunday, bringing me a sack with about 5kg of Arran Pilot seed potatoes, more than enough for a good crop. I will get these laid out to chit next week.

plodding along

Thursday was almost like a spring day, slightly warm, sunny, and smashing for getting out in the garden. A really pleasent day was spent working away, before the evening began to draw in with a smattering of high cirrus cloud


The main objective of course was to complete the double digging of the potato patch, a task i threw myself wholeheartedly into. This proved to be a mixed bag, one area contained a large amount of building sand, which although easy to dig, also had the remains of the plastic sack to be pulled out. Not all of which was removable, being burried a good few feet under the suface. Another part i discovered full of building rubble, a broken bottle, plastic bags and a plastic bucket, all of which proved a real pain to dig out, but eventually, hard work and sheer bloody mindedness paid off. So here is the patch with the digging finished


and here, is a sample of the sort of junk i had to dig out

I also got around to setting up the new and improved polytunnel over the beans, which now have a fair bit more space above them to grow in

what remains now, is to fill in the hole, and level off the huge mound of soil, and then make the whole thing into a seed bed, ready for the end of march for the seed potatoes to go in, taking out in the process as many of the tree roots and pebbles i can.

and so, with evening drawing in, time for a rest.