Sunday 21 December 2014

Winter Solstice

or the shortest day today so it's all downhill into summer from today .... Yippppeee

I have been spying lots of leafs in the car park at the hospital when I drop off my daughter, so I went to the allotment via the car park and picked up two very full garden rubbish sacks of leafs. Got to the car park about 8:00 and to the allotment about 8:30. Nice morning overcast but not too cold.

I topped up both leaf bins to the brim again and used the bottom of bakers trays cable tied together as a temporary leaf bin placed on the bed in front of the two leaf bins. Sacks brought home so that I can do another collection on the next Sunday visit.

Bed 12 being cleared of sprouts last week got weeded and cleared. A sack of stable manure raked over the top, two primed slag traps laid one each end and then covered with weed membrane which has been weighted down. Looks very neat. I must get some more weed membrane, as I have a few beds covered with plastic which is holding the water.

The timber threshold on the shed has finally been screwed in place following the mouse squatter I had.

Spout stems bashed with a hammer until I busted the block of wood I was using, compost bins aerated, watered and topped up with paper shredding's over the greens.

I noticed on my way into the allotment in the morning that one end of the woodchip pile was more wood than foliage, so I have topped up the paths around the site and around the compost bins at the bottom. I also bagged a couple of sacks loads for the paths around beds 15A and 15B which are currently covered and have no paths on 3 sides yet. I also got a sack load of the more mulch type woodchips for the compost bins ready for later next year. 

I started getting the firrings off the timber joist and have moved a couple up on the patio ready to cut, paint and construct the bed enclosures. I will not have enough wood for all the beds but they will be better than the plastic, I'm using, which was an improvement on the lawn edging in the first year.

Again, before I knew it, it was 12:40 so a tidy and round up of the tools back into the shed, Wished Andy (the only other person down on the allotment every Sunday morning like me) a happy Christmas, and left about 12:50 to make my way home in time for Sunday Lunch. 

Job List in no particular order

  1. Remove nettings and hoops from bed 13 & 14
  2. Weed and dig over beds 13 & 14
  3. Manure Bed 13 & 14 and cover for winter
  4.  Dig and Sieve Beds 15a and 15b
  5.  Make Raised Bed frames for Beds 15a & 15b
  6. Install paths around Beds 15a & 15b
  7. Make & Install Raised Beds from rest of timber joists
  8. Turn Compost on a regular basis
  9. Clear the greenhouse or rubbish and smoke bomb
10.  Bag up some more woodchips and mulch
11. Trim Back the grape vines
12. Deal with the encroaching brambles and weed from plot 1]
13. Make some 1.2m x 1.2m timber hoop frames up ready for next year
14. Make some pea frames up ready for next year 
15. Weld the edges and holes of membrane brought home from the allotment.

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