Sunday On The Allotment - 24 Feb - Potato Preparation

At last - a week without rain ! I took advantage of the good weather and headed out to my allotment for the first visit of the year.

This may sound a bit neglectful - but the rain has hardly stopped for the last few weeks. With the ground saturated there was little that I could usefully do out there. Plus - I spent a lot of time in the Autumn preparing my plot for the Spring - and this is now paying off.


As I conducted my customary inspection of the plot things were looking fairly good ......

December Odd Jobs

After days of heavy rain the skies finally cleared in St Ives late this morning.

I was anxious to get out and do a few small jobs - but decided to do a bit in the garden. Then maybe head out to the allotment tomorrow - weather permitting. The allotment parking area is prone to flooding - so hopefully the break in the weather will allow it to drain a bit .....

Sunday On The Allotment - 9 Dec - Winter Is Coming

It was pretty cold - with a bit of watery sunshine - out on my St Ives allotment today. A reminder that Winter is on the way. The Solstice is only two weeks away - at least the days will slowly start to get longer.

So - I limited myself to a brief tour of inspection. There is not really much to do for now - my hard work getting the plot in shape over the last few weeks has paid off ....

Creature Feature - A Mysterious Burrow

As I was conducting my usual inspection of the plot last Sunday - I noticed something new and unusual.

There was a pile of newly dug earth at the side of one of my beds.

At first sight it looked like a rabbit or similar creature had been digging about. Or maybe I had a mole in residence ! ......

Sunday On The Allotment - 25 Nov - Rain Stops Play

I headed out as usual this morning for my Sunday visit to my St Ives Cornwall allotment.

A pretty bleak morning - after the torrential rain we've had in Cornwall over the last few days I decided to limit myself to a tour of inspection. The ground was too wet to do much else.

At least we're probably better off than many allotment holders - our site is pretty well draining and there wasn't too much standing water - apart from in the car park - as usual ! ......

Growing Willow

Willow is an absolutely wonderful thing to grow - it looks beautiful - is easy to establish and manage - and has some useful functions. It is also highly productive, sustainable and grows well in most conditions.

I'm growing it all around the edge of my allotment plot in St Ives. I'm aiming - eventually - to create a windbreak as well as an ornamental boundary. Strong winds - particularly from the West - are a persistent problem on our site ......

Composting Starts At Home

Compost is one of the most important elements of any allotment or garden. Its obviously a good way of recycling waste - but also provides a fantastic resource.  Given a bit of time and care - free fertiliser and soil improver for the vegetable and fruit beds.

I'm planning a series of posts on the topic

I currently have two compost bins on the allotment - but I'm starting starting with Composting At Home - before I move onto what I do out on the plot ......