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View Full Version : Down the Allotment - May 2012



RichB
15-05-2012, 15:55
Hi all,

As I've got a few mins downtime at work, thought I'd show a few shots of my allotment taken between a break in the rain at the weekend. (with apologies for the rubbish shots, they were taken with a blackberry, the non edible kind:lol:) When I'm not sitting in front of the hifi this is where I choose to be.

The first one here shows the bed with shallots, red onions, brown onions and garlic, the strawberry bed, frames for growing peas and sugar snaps and a couple of beds I've not planted anything in yet. To the left of the pic is the large potato patch and the raised salad bed, not much to see here yet!

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q564/RichardBritton/IMG00053-20120512-1743.jpg

Heres a shot of the shed, greenhouse and my dear old mum helping on a good day for her bad back! In the greenhouse I've got 4 varieties of tomato and 5 or six varieties of chilli peppers all coming along nicely. Also got a few bedding plants in there to brighten the place up but its been too cold for planting out so far.

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q564/RichardBritton/IMG00054-20120512-1744.jpg

Looking down the garden (again featuring Mum), directly to the right is the potato patch, 4 varieties planted including Arran Pilot, Maris Peer, Desree and some salad type, charlottes i think. To the left in the 3 beds are cauliflower, swede and brocolli, courgettes and broad beans, and some pea frames. To the far left of the picture are some fruit bushes, blackcurrant, redcurrant, white currant and gooseberries as well as some rhubarb. To the other side I have raspberries and tayberries and a new strawberry patch which wont do anything this year but should yield fruit next year. also in the borders are the usual herbs, parsley rosemary, thyme and chives.

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q564/RichardBritton/IMG00055-20120512-1744.jpg

Finally a rather bad self potrtait of the gardener himself

http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q564/RichardBritton/IMG00057-20120512-1745.jpg

Keep your spades sharp guys and here's hoping for a nice summer :cool:

Puffin
15-05-2012, 17:10
I'm sure I have seen a similar face on Crimewatch:lol:

Marco
15-05-2012, 17:25
Was that the infamous washing line raider?

Marco.

Puffin
15-05-2012, 17:44
Yes...sniff sniff....I think it was!

snapper
15-05-2012, 18:06
Hi all,

thought I'd show a few shots of my allotment


Keep your spades sharp guys and here's hoping for a nice summer :cool:


Nice one Richard, looks great.

I've got a garden but the only thing I can grow are weeds.

RichB
15-05-2012, 18:15
Nice one Richard, looks great.

I've got a garden but the only thing I can grow are weeds.

Can't you go to jail for that :eyebrows:

RichB
15-05-2012, 18:17
I'm sure I have seen a similar face on Crimewatch:lol:

I'm normally a smart shirt and pants kind of guy but when down the allotment it helps to look like a proper charver!

Reid Malenfant
15-05-2012, 20:26
Nice setup for growing all or a lot of your own food Richard :)

Like David my garden is full of useless things, before a mate cut all the brambles back I was at least getting loads of blackberries :D Wish I could do something about it, but like your mum my back is also pretty buggered :rolleyes:

I have enough garden to keep myself in food with loads left over, damn shame but that's the way it is.

I might chuck a few chilli peppers etc into pots next year, gotta do something productive at the end of the day :eyebrows:

hifi_dave
15-05-2012, 20:29
Respect Richard, that's a serious allotment. Makes my 10 x 13 ft look a bit lame..:youtheman:

snapper
15-05-2012, 20:31
Can't you go to jail for that :eyebrows:

Aye, if only it was that kind of 'weed'.




:smoking:

RichB
16-05-2012, 12:02
Nice setup for growing all or a lot of your own food Richard :)

Like David my garden is full of useless things, before a mate cut all the brambles back I was at least getting loads of blackberries :D Wish I could do something about it, but like your mum my back is also pretty buggered :rolleyes:

I have enough garden to keep myself in food with loads left over, damn shame but that's the way it is.

I might chuck a few chilli peppers etc into pots next year, gotta do something productive at the end of the day :eyebrows:

Its still not too late for the chillis, if you were to pick up a few plants from a garden centre and stick em in some pots of decent muck outside you might be surprised at the results! Chillis are one of our fav things from the garden, they keep great as they can be dried and flaked, or just stored in some olive oil (the oil gets all fiery) or made into a hot sauce with vinegar, sugar and whatever else is lying around. This will keep for year and is delicious.

Container gardening can be surprisingly productive and is a good (weed and digging free) way of doing lots of tasty veg. I've even grown potatoes in heavy duty plastic sacks.

RichB
16-05-2012, 12:06
Respect Richard, that's a serious allotment. Makes my 10 x 13 ft look a bit lame..:youtheman:

Bet you can still grow a lot of stuff in that space. If space was totally limited I'd put up a polytunnel, as that way you can grow veg all year round. Even in the depths of winter. Thats my next project for when time and money permit as well as building some cold frames.

Rare Bird
16-05-2012, 12:15
I used to spend hours on the Allotment with mi grandad, i miss him..

Marco
16-05-2012, 14:01
It's times like that, dude, which are the most precious, but unfortunately, at the time we rarely realise it...

We've always had a garden, though, rather than an allotment (are allotments a city thing?), and done a similar thing with them, by keeping one half for flowers, patio and summer house, etc, and the other for growing our own produce.

In our current garden, we've almost reached the stage now of being entirely self-sufficient, in terms of having all the fruit and veg we could want. You can't beat the taste of home-grown produce, picked freshly from a tree or the ground... 100% organic - and 100% cheaper, too, than buying it from a bloody supermarket! :cool:

Marco.

Mike
16-05-2012, 16:23
I had an allotment. It didn't work out so well.... :(