Wildlife Pond - Frog and Frogspawn

Wildlife Pond - Frog and Frogspawn

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A couple of years ago I created a small pond in our back garden - simply by sinking a plastic washing up bowl into one of the beds.

Simple - and cheap !

I simply filled it with rainwater from the water butt - and left it alone for nature to take her course.

I was delighted when a frog took up residence after a few weeks. I'd heard that frogs will always seek out water and move in - but wasn't sure if it would work.

Last summer I was even more pleased when a second frog moved in.

This Spring - for the first time - there is frogspawn in the pond.

It just shows - even a small pond like this can foster wildlife. Well worth doing - can't wait to see if we have baby frogs later in Spring.

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Visit my website - Allotment Growing
- for lots more information, growing tips and photos:
Allotment Growing

You might also enjoy:
Allotment Growing - Wildlife

Sunday On The Allotment - Sowing Peas

Allotment With A Sea View - St Ives Cornwall

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I managed to dodge some of the showers and get out to the allotment for a couple of hours - Spring is here - lots to do - and enjoy.

My task for the day was sowing peas.

Two varieties - Meteor - a first early variety.

Hurst Green Shaft - a second early.

I dug out two shallow drills - about an inch deep - with the hoe.

I then sowed the pea seeds in a double row in each drill.

Seeds spaced about four inches apart.

Backfilled with soil, marked out the rows.

Finally - covered with net cloches.

This will provide protection from birds and other wildlife - as the seedlings emerge.

I've also sown some pea seeds in cardboard tubes - at home in my garden.

These will provide some more seedlings - as backups in case any of my sowing on the plot fails - or additional seedlings for some additional rows.

More - Allotment Blog - Sowing Peas In Cardboard Tubes

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Visit my website - Allotment Growing
- for lots more information, growing tips and photos:
Allotment Growing

You might also enjoy:
Allotment Growing - Peas

St Ives Allotment - Spring Is Here

St Ives Allotment - Spring - Looking Good

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Good to be back out on my allotment over the last few days - as the weather has warmed and the incessant rain has dried up at last.

The plot is in fairly good shape after the Winter.

The work done back in November to clear the plots and mulch with compost seems to have paid off - the growing beds are mostly clear of weeds:
Allotment Blog - Autumn Jobs - Preparing Beds

All ready to move forward with Spring sowing and planting - I'll be starting with potatoes, broad beans and peas.

My only disappointment was my Autumn sown broad beans.

Every year I sow three or four rows of Aquadulce Claudia - which grow on slowly through the winter - then speed up in Spring to give me an early crop.

This year - for the first time - they have mostly failed - with only a few straggly plants left.



No matter - I've simply sown some more seed - which should germinate and grow over the coming weeks.
Allotment Blog - Autumn Sown Broad Beans

I am really happy to be back allotmenting after a long Winter - lots to look forward to - more news coming here soon.

Sunday On The Allotment - 13 Dec - Winter Harvest

St Ives Cornwall Allotment - December 2015

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At last - today - a break in the stormy weather in Cornwall - and I managed to get out to my plot for the first time in a couple of weeks.

I even caught a glimpse of sunshine over the hills  !

I checked the weather forecast early this morning - and saw a window of opportunity - so headed out to my St Ives allotment.

More rain on the way soon - but for now - a nice Sunday.

The plot is looking fairly good for December - and I'm pleased - or maybe a bit smug depending on how you look at it - with the work that I managed to put in during October and November. See my earlier post::
Autumn Allotment Jobs - Preparing Ground

One pleasure today was harvesting a few late crops - including Cabbages, Brussels Sprouts and Potatoes.

I harvested the bulk of my maincrop potatoes - Pink Fir Apple - back at the end of Summer.

But I "clamped" one row - that is removed the foliage and covered it with an extra layer of soil - to hopefully store and preserve the crop in the ground.

This has worked - and I dug up a nice bagful of good looking fresh potatoes.

I've been hoping for a crop of Brussels Sprouts for Christmas - and the plants have been growing on through the Autumn.

These are looking fairly good - though some of the sprouts are a bit small - given the amount of growing time that they've had.

But I harvested enough to go into the freezer if needed for Christmas dinner - and I'll harvest some more nearer the time if I can.

Final harvest of the day - a couple of cabbages - almost the last of the Summer crop.

These are Savoy Cabbages.

Next year I hope to grow some Winter and Spring varieties to extend cropping through to April or May.

The last job of the day was simply digging out more of my compost and throwing it onto the beds.

I'm already planning for more crops - and more blog posts - next year.

Can't wait for Spring !

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Visit my website - Allotment Growing
- for lots more information, growing tips and photos:
Allotment Growing

You might also enjoy:
Allotment Growing - Calendar - Monthly Jobs 

Growing Christmas Potatoes

Allotment Growing - Potatoes In Bags

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Back in Summer I harvested a small crop of potatoes grown in bags in my garden.

I decided to have a go at growing "Christmas Potatoes" - sown in mid to late Summer in the hope of getting a crop of fresh new potatoes for Christmas dinner.

I half filled a potato sack with compost - planted a couple of the smaller potatoes from my summer crop - and covered with another few inches of compost. I placed this in a sheltered corner of the garden.

After a month or sow green growth began to emerge, which I regularly earthed up with more compost as the plant grew on through late Summer and Autumn.

It was looking really good all through October and November - until a cold rainy spell struck Cornwall and the potato plant began to die back.

I decided that my dream of fresh potatoes for Christmas was over - and decided to dig up the crop before it began to rot in the wet weather.

The result was pretty - no very - disappointing. Just a few very small potatoes.

Not sure what went wrong - possibly just the weather. Maybe it was potato blight - although the season for that is supposed to be over.

In any case - this is definitely something that I'll try again next year. Its easy to do, doesn't cost anything - and one day I will have my own home-grown new potatoes for Christmas !

Sunday On The Allotment - 6 Dec - Ideas For Next Summer

St Ives Cornwall - Allotment With A Sea View

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Another cold, blustery, rainy, stormy Sunday in West Cornwall.

So today - again - I'm not actually on the allotment - but indoors in the warm and on my "virtual allotment" - the online version.

Tending to this blog and to my:

Allotment Growing - Website

Allotment With A Sea View - Facebook

So - I'm pondering ideas for the new growing season next year - and surfing around the Net to get ideas and inspiration from some of my favourite websites and blogs.

Next year I want to try a few new crops and new growing methods.

One of my key principles is to grow stuff that I actually enjoy eating. Hence - unlike many allotmenteers - I don't bother with Beetroot or Rhubarb - because I absolutely hate both !

Horseradish
Pic - Claire's Allotment

One thing that I do like - very much - and do not have growing - is Horseradish.

Planting this will also support a second guiding principle - grow things that are not readily available and /or expensive in the shops. Yes - jars of Horseradish Sauce are readily available - but fresh Horseradish Root is not.

Plus - the fresh root is reputedly much nicer - and hotter - than the shop bought variety.

So - this particular idea for next year arose from one of the best blogs / websites / video diaries that I've come across -
Claire's Allotment.


Here are some links to her pages:

Harvesting the Horseradish - Claire's Allotment - YouTube

Claire's Allotment - Blog

Claire's Allotment - Facebook

I'll be featuring more of the best allotment growing websites and blogs in due course.

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Visit my website - Allotment Growing
- for lots more information, growing tips and photos:
Allotment Growing

You might also enjoy:
Allotment Growing - Calendar - Monthly Jobs 

Memories Of Summer on the Allotment

St Ives Allotment - Summer 2015

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The weather has been pretty grim in West Cornwall for the last few days.

So I've not been able to get out to the allotment.

Fortunately the plot is in fairly good shape for Winter - thanks to the work I put in during
October and November- including:
Clearing and Preparing Beds for Winter 

So - I decided today to take a look back at Summer 2015 - and set up a photo gallery of my pics from the plot.

Summer 2015 was a real mix of weather - sometimes beautifully sunny - sometimes gloomy - never predictable.

Also - at least here in West Cornwall UK - one of the coolest summers that I have experienced - with temperatures rarely getting above 20°C / 70°F.

Good for some crops - bad for others - one of the "givens" of allotment growing is that you cannot predict - or influence - the weather !

On the whole though - another lovely Summer on the allotment.

You can view lots more on my website:
Allotment Growing - Photo Gallery - Summer 2015