Allotment - Just Watering -29 Apr 2025

 

The grass has grown since our last visit, but not much else.  IT has been very dry.
The main activity today was watering, in the hope that the other potatoes will start to grow. We have decided to strim the grass and have bought a battery strimmer.

Today's visit was just about 20 minutes.

Allotment 27 March 2025 and 11 April 2025

We visited the allotment on 27 Mar 2025

 

Before

After: The digging is complete and the potatoes have been planted

.

 

 Our next visit was 11 April 2025 (too long!)

Before

We pruned the pear tree (which should have been done last month), dug the vegetable patch and the flower patch at he other end, and did some general weeding.

Allotment 29 August 2024 and The Fox & Hounds

Before	After
The beetroot have grown a little; the potatoes are still shrivelling.  The rhubarb is growing small leaves with short, thin stalks.	Our visit late afternoon (17:20) visit was simply for watering, we were there for around 20 minutes.  The large oak tree we are under is sucking the life out of our plot, I suspect.  There were plenty of acorns on the ground.  So far as I know, acorns rot slowly.

After our short visit, we decided to find somewhere to eat.  After a quick look on Google Maps, we headed for the Fox and Hounds (https://foxandhoundsramsden.co.uk/).  As there was only two of us, we managed to get a table. 

 The food was very good, and the local beer called 'Blond' was brewed just over the road.  It was a nice pint, not at all like lager, as some light coloured beers are.  The chicken skewers (see picture) are well worth a try.

Allotment 15 August 2024

Before	After
Nothing much seems to have grown in the last few weeks away.  We noticed that the pear tree is bare - some of the tiny pears at the top of the tree can be found rotted on the ground.  So, no pears this year.	We have watered and weeded.  The pear tree definitely needs pruning.

Allotment 20 July 2024

Before	After
Nothing much seems to have grown in our 2 weeks away	We have watered and weeded.  There are also some plums that we have harvested.

Allotment 2024-06-06

The before and after of our most recent visit on 6 June 2024.  Today the weather was good, we spent a little under 1 hour there.

Before	After
The grass has grown since last week, and so have some of the potatoes. The rhubarb looks a bit better.	Today, we cleared grass and weeds in the fruit bushes.  We did a lot of watering, all the potatoes, seedlings and fruit bushes.  We also replaced the beetroot. I tidied up the edges along the potatoes and at the front.  The compost bin is almost full.

Allotment 2024-06-03

The before and after of our most recent visit on 3 June 2024.  Today the weather was good, we spent a little under 1 hour there.

Before	After
The grass has grown since last week, and so have some of the potatoes.  There are tiny plums or damsons on the unidentified tree.  The beetroot has not survived. The soil is still heavy and damp at the tree end, but dry and hard at the other.  The wildflower seeds have germinated.	Today, we cleared grass and weeds in the fruit bushes.  We watered the rhubarb and the potatoes.

Allotment 2024-05-23

The before and after of our most recent visit on 23 May 2024.  Today the weather was good, we spent a little under 1 hour there.

Before	After
The grass has grown since last week, and so have some of the potatoes.  There are tiny plums or damsons on the unidentified tree.  The beetroot has survived, but not really grown. After two days of heavy rain, the soil is difficult to dig, as it doesn't drain that well.	Today, we cleared grass and weeds in the fruit bushes.  We removed the cover from the area at the far end, and Jo dug it over a little.  She then sprinkled some wild-flower seeds.

After having done enough work to make us tired, we left for Hanningfield Reservoir for lunch. There were mainly geese to be seen, and they were chasing anyone they though might have food.

 

Greylag

Egyptian

Greylag

Allotment 2024-05-20

The before and after of our most recent visit on 20 May 2024.  Today the weather was good, we spent a little over 1 hour there.

Before	After
The grass has grown since last week (this will be my first comment every time, I expect).  The rhubarb hasn't grown much, and is looking a lot less happy.  I still think it needs to be split, but don't know the best time to do it.	Today, we cleared grass, watered the potatoes and the rhubarb, and cleared weeds in the fruit bushes.  We also planted two short rows of beetroot.

Allotment 2024-05-09

The before and after of our most recent visit on 9 May 2024.  Today (16 May) we have not visited as it has been raining most of the day.

Before	After
The grass has grown since last week.  The rhubarb hasn't grown much, though.  I still think it needs to be split, but don't know the best time to do it.	Now we have completed the first strip, potatoes planted the whole length.  We also cleared the grass from around some of the strawberry plants.  They are at the far end, to the right of the line of bushes.

Allotment 2024-05-02

Last year, we began renting an allotment in Ramsden Heath.  It came with a pear tree (or two?) and plenty of blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes.  There also seem to be a few strawberry plants, and an ailing rhubarb.

In August 2023 we did a bit of clearing, but decided we would like to see how the bushes do.  So if they crop well, we will keep them.

9 August 2023

The rhubarb look almost dead.  

We collected a few pears, they were small, but tasty. There were a few visits, not that frequent, but just enough to keep things tidy.  With no real plan, we waited out the winter.

In April 2024 we began the process of tidying up after the winter.  The rhubarb is growing, not that vigorously, but we've had a few stems.  The grass grew, though.
 

12 April 2024

After some discussion, we have planed potatoes, which I dug up from our garden on part of this strip.  We have to get used to having a bigger patch — there were not enough!

2 May 2024

We have potatoes, carrots, and runner beans in the garden, with beetroot and tomatoes in trays.  The excess can go to the allotment instead of being disposed of.