Sunday, February 6th, 2005
Three of us have now shifted enough manure to cover three of the beds - a good thick layer, about thirty barrow-loads so far.
Not ideal - it's not rotted enough and is very strawy, but my gut tells me to spread it anyway. I'll fork the stuff in - get that straw into the clay, get it working; we possibly won't see any results of the manure until next season? Better in than out :).
Sunday, February 20th, 2005
Far too cold today - took a long time to persuade the kids to come across to the plot. A bit of bribery - "We'll come back as soon as it snows or rains!"
Some hope - as soon as it snows, they insist on carrying on! Got a good three hours in - so all our manure load is now on the plot, nicely laid out on top of the beds.
With just a little trepidation, I took the fork to what I reckon will be the toughest bed; turned the muck into half of it. And I am "dead chuffed" - the soil is unrecognisable! I daren't call it a tilth, but it is so broken up and crumbly; hardly any couch grass or bindweed has survived - what is still there is EASY to pull out. Feeling a lot more optimistic now!
Sunday, 27th February, 2005
West Yorkshire Organic Group's Potato Day in Saltaire yesterday. Good news for potatoes, good news for the group, good news for "grow-your-own" - but hard luck if you couldn't get there early! Not a potato left by the time I got there - not one.
And there was me planning to buy all my seed - essentials and a few new to try out. Fortuitously, I met a friend from a gardening course - and her allotment shed still had a good selection this morning. Many, many thanks to Pauline and Burley Model Allotments!
Set out to chit this afternoon - Red Duke of Yorks (first earlies), Kestrel (second earlies), and Pink Fir Apple (late main crop). All did very well on the old plot - will they be as good on the new? Fingers crossed. Just for a change, I also got some Majestic (early main crop) - an older variety, developed by Archibald Findlay back in 1911. According to Alan Romans, it was the most popular variety of the early 20th century, as it offered good yields and disease resistance, good storage, and coped with a wide range of soils. No information on slug resistance though - something to find out.
I had to stay in this afternoon - a chance to make some neat-looking labels; I'm usually very lazy about this, but yesterday I fell for a packet of Brian Pitts' Victorian labels. I've been printing off labels I want - as a mirror image, in a nice font, and "embossing" them on the aluminium with a biro. They look very smart - thanks, Brian! A very neat and simple idea - he uses reclaimed aluminium sheets; more information.
Wednesday, 2nd March, 2005
A message from Kirstin, of Woodhouse Moor Allotments "a Seed Swapping event, 2nd March, from 10.30am - 12.30pm in the ORG, the organic food shop on Great George Street. Turn up with any organic seed or heirloom varieties you have and trade them with the other people there. It would be great for allotmenteers from all over Leeds to meet up, so we all have a better idea of what's going on across the city." (The full message is on the Guest Page - good luck, Kirstin!