a plot on the landscape

Well it's a good start to the year and lots of changes to the lottie including debris netting around beds for wind protection and possible slug control.

 A new bed has been created above the greenhouse and is planted with parsnips ( in plastic rings) lettuce , carrots and beetroots.

There is more photos in the gallery of the plot.

Well here i am celerbrating my second year on the plot and alittle more done to it , see photos oct 08- oct 09.

Been a mixed year crop wise and the overall count has been good;

carrots - 2 sowing no carrots

potatoes - good plants ,little crop

squashes - good crop

beans - reasonable crop , untill winds came

brassicas - all grew well

swede - good size

fruit - small crop of fruit apart from apples that did well

peppers - lots but thin skinned

onions - small crop , only 50 out of 250

leeks - doing well

more posts soon as plot is changed some more.

Welcome to ny blog again and as you see not much writen the last few month but i have been busy ,   the plot is now 2/3 finished and i recon another year and it will be at the point of completion .
  This is a update of what i've been doing since october as endless pages of seived soil today or banged in another nail will just bore people , So lets see the changes in the last 15 months

this is how the plot looked in october 06 a week after i took it overand you can see the raised beds where all ready in at the bottom ( forgive the date as kids keep playing with camera)

 ,
This is how the same plot look's 15 month's later , To give you some idea of what's what on the two photo's the bed that is not covered in the bottom photo is  the bed in the top photo.
 The bed with the net curtain is my new long bed of 8m by 1.2m and where the glass doors are is where the other three long beds will go next year but for now will house the sweetcorn / squashes in a two sisters bed.
 The bed  with the plastic frame is housing my brussels/ broc  and under my net curtain in the long bed is the other brassicas  - 3 of red cabbage , summer cabbage , cauli and chinese cabbage to gap fill , the sowings of brassicas has been stagered this season  as nobody want's 24 cabbages at once.
 The new greeenhouse i was given should be avalible to be taken down and resited on my plot next month after the resident bird has left , It's a one legged seagull called steven.
  That's all for now but there are more pic's in oct07 -08 to look at

That's right , i've been on my plot exactually 1 year this week and still loving it .

 The first year has been a challenge what with the weather and money tightening up so the building takes longer and only a 1/3 of the plot is properly developed. Why so much building on the plot instead of just digging and planting as everyone else does instead of all the beds, if life was that simple then i would have gone down that route at the start but i've got a few problems with the site .

My major problem is lack of top soil which goes down about 8" and then hits a slaty sub soil , on top of that is the deaded mare's tail that inhabits both these area's and covers the bottom half of the plot and i no i go on about this but unless you have it then you will never understand .

Much of my year has been spent trying to make a raised bed that will keep the mare's tail out but still allow for drainage so it does not get waterlogged and i think i've got it right with this lattest bed so hopfully once te soil is seived into the bed then the problem will go away and a lovely planting soil will be left.

 Good news a 6 by 6 greenhouse is on the way after xmas and my glass store is getting full so i can make a big green house 10 ' by 24'  in 2009 if money allows me to do it.

  that's all for now.

Ilove the end of summer as the rush of sowing , planting and weeding goes to a gentle repairing of the plot.

  Just finished the shed and the fruit bed at the bottom of the plot and started a new bed further up the plot.

a picture of the finished shed and the fruit bed , both located at the bottom of the plot and also the east side of the plot.

The new long bed 8m long and 1.2 m wide and will be 1' deep when finished.

I,ve been working hard the past week and have nearly got the shed finished and it will keep me warm this winter , the shed is 7' by 6'

all made from scrap material destin for the bin , just got the plastic for the roof to put on which came from a paddling pool .

Today i started the base to put on my new shed as the old one has served me well it is a little cramped and it's just a case of throwing it all in , we are going from a 4 ' by 4' to a 6' by 6' so it can be better organised.

   The base was formed from planks that was filled with soil and then will be covered with plastic and then stones , breeze blocks will be placed at all corners and a wooden frame wil;l make the base. 

On a light note planted some garlic and general pest control.

Leek bed with cardboard on the soil surface with holes for each leek , this method is to keep moisture in and weeds at bay ( this is not my idea , i read it somewhere ).

This photo is for everyone feeling they are losing the battle with weeds

feb this year

and today , all the green is mares tail.

Had a couple of hours down the lottie today and brought the rest of the onions back home to dry off and sown some parsnip seeds.

   YES YOU DID READ RIGHT   i have sown some parsnips in august to try and get another crop to over winter and a contiuos harvest through the year, if it fails i 've not lost anything as it was old seed and will not be used next year 

These are my store onions  ( these are also the biggest )

Started to re-seive one of the wooden beds as the drainage holes in the bottom let more mares tail in and undone all my good work on the soil preparation , so have now covered the bottom aswell with plastic. these beds grew well this year but  going to change the design for the next one because of the mares tail.

  Just been given some wood to start a shed so that will be my winter progect.

Have enjoyed picking my first two parsnips from a sowing made in febuary and had them with a roast dinner ( white gem )

the carrot in the middle is 6" long.

Sown today - turnip , golden ball

                     swede , best of all

                     spring cabbage , greyhound

Onions are drying at the moment and will  be posted soon.

 Leeks are in the bed to go to maturity.

Due to the many things going on in my life at the moment all previous  plans i had in mind for this ground have been put on hold and a new idea will be taking shape instead.

   Because of this all previous web enteries apart from photos will be erased and this blog will be my main source of how things are going.