Sunday On The Allotment - 11 Nov - Odd Jobs

A beautiful sunny morning out on the St Ives (Cornwall) allotments.

I headed out mid-morning to get a few jobs done and to generally enjoy pottering about in the Autumn sunshine.

I started with a cigarette and my usual tour of inspection - and things are looking fairly good.

The peas are still growing on well - under their protective fleece cloche.

A bit of weeding will be needed in a week or two - but otherwise all fine ..........

The Caliente Mustard Green Manure that I sowed on the potato beds is growing sporadically.

The rotted manure that I spread on the beds is doing a good job as a mulch and keeping the weeds down.

Seed potatoes are on order - Charlotte and Wilja - due for delivery in January.

The onions sets - from Marshalls Seeds and specifically for Autumn planting - are sprouting nicely under their net cloche.

In Spring this year my sprouting onions were nibbled down by something - birds or rabbits - I'm not sure.

 So the net is doing its job of protecting them.

My baby leeks - also under net - are looking good - but will need weeding soon - a job for next week.

I sowed and grew these on in pots in the Spring and Summer and then forgot about them ! They were still looking good in October so I decided that I might as well plant them out.

Not sure how well they will do - but leeks are tough little plants so may well be ok through the Winter.

Final job of the morning - manure !

The communal manure heap on the allotment site is almost gone.

So I helped myself to a few more fork loads to add to my own heap.

I might add some of this to the pea and bean beds in late Winter or early Spring.

Or I'll just leave it to rot down even more to go onto any cleared  beds in late Summer and Autumn.

One of the first rules of allotmenting - you can never have too much manure !

More news from Allotment With A Sea View soon.

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Previous Sundays On The Allotment

4th November 2012 - Tidying Up
28th October 2012 - Pumpkins and Squash

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