Sunday, September 16, 2007

Mowers and cabbages

The plot is looking really good at the moment, I replied to a FREECYCLE offered email for a Mountfield petrol mower which needed a bit of tweaking to get it back into workable order but it is now running well and helping us to keep the plot looking neat and tidy! I'm amazed at what people are willing to chuck or give away, this mower is only 2 years old!!! It cost us £15 to have it serviced and Bob's your Uncle!

D is doing a bit of a catalogue pose here in this picture as he waters the new leek plants....bless him!!

Several of the beds are now empty and need to be properly dug over to remove perrenial weed root which still persists from our initial digging at the beginning of the year, we are beating it though!

Once dug I'm going to be sowing some green manure on them to stop weeds growing and to add some goodness to the soil.

The beds by the shed are really coming into their own now as the crops in them are growing like mad. My favourite bed is this one with Cabbage, carrots, parsnips and french marigolds in, I think it looks really fab.

The sweetcorn is also nearly ready, I'm really looking forward to trying this as it's supposed to be fantastic when eaten fresh from the plant.
There is now a real feeling of Autumn coming, the mornings have had a definite cold feeling to them and the nights are drawing in (which I hate!) I'm determined to get the broad beans in during the Autumn to get a head start and I'm also wanting to put Japanese onions and Garlic in.

We've seen several new people up at the plot the last few times that we've been up, there has been a bit of a push to let out the empty plots and apparently we have a waiting list now to get onto this site.
It feels odd to see strange faces after being only a handful of us for so long but it is nice and hopefully it'll secure the future of the site a bit more and give the place some life!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Jo from A4A.

Your lottie is looking great.

I found your blog from a link on A4A and spent a good few hours last weekend catching up from the very beginning. You have such alot to be proud of, how you've managed such a lovely site in such a short time I'll never know. Mind you, you did the same with your garden, and that's just beautiful.

I only started growing edibles this year and don't have a lottie so I've been growing in containers in the garden. I'm bitten by the bug and have my name down for a lottie now. I'm 30th on the list!! I'll be waiting for ever!!!

Never mind, my containers have served me well this year. My favourites have been my peas (early onward) which were delicious cooked and especially raw, early potatoes (Pentland Javelin) I only planted four seed potatoes and got over 50 decent sized spuds from them (I'll be planting more next year), and sweetcorn (given so kindly to me from Jeannine on A4A), a lovely variety and they have grown so well. I never thought I would manage to grow sweetcorn in containers!!!

I see that you get lots of help from D. My hubby doesn't enjoy gardening but I've managed to get a promise out of him that he'll help do the digging, building and maintenance when I do eventually get a lottie. I've been told to get this in writing!!!

I've really enjoyed reading your blog and will keep checking back for updates.

Oh, as an aside, you mentioned that your garden was featured in GW magazine. I seem to remember reading this article and when I get a few minutes I'm going to check out my back issues to see if I still have it. I'll let you know.

Jo.

Anonymous said...

I've got a clapped out old rotovator that doesn't work but could do with a service but I don't know where to start looking - who do you search for in something like yell.com? Mechanics doesn't sound right ... any help would be very much appreciated!

Lai

glosterwomble said...

Thank you so much for your kind comments Jo, it has been hard work but as you say D has been an amazing help considering he told me from the beginning that it was MY hobby and not to expect any help!! :)

I'm impressed that you've grown veg in pots at home, I wish more people realised that you could do that and how easy it is, I grow a couple of bits in pots at home like salad leaves and I have a wigwam of French beans in a big pot too.

A4A is a really fab site isn't it, I'm afraid I think I am getting slightly addicted! The people on there are SO nice.

Number 30 on the waiting list?? I think if you make a regular thing of phoning to ask where you are on the list now (in a nice cheery way not stalkerish!) you might get bumped up or given an overgrown plot not ready yet as they realise you are so keen.

Anyway, thanks again for your lovely comments.

glosterwomble said...

Hi Anonymous,

I probably would try a mechanic if you mean just the small local type in a village but maybe not a big chain type.

We have a chain of stores near us called 'Countrywide' which is a farm type supply place and I think they do repairs to garden and agricultural machinery.

http://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk

I've also just been on Yell.com and entered the words "lawn mower repair" and got loads of companies that I reckon would repair a rotovator aswell.

Hope that helps, let me know how you get on.

Anonymous said...

Thank you ever so much Womble - your advice is sound and I've found myself someone just down the road from me to help renovate my aging rotovator. Thanks!!!

glosterwomble said...

Glad to have been of assistance!

Anonymous said...

Ok... Whats yor secret, how have you managed to stop the birds and cabbage whites from eating your cabbages?
Mine have netting over them and they are still a bit lacy :)

glosterwomble said...

Well I would love to say that I have a secret that I'll share with you but it's just beginner's luck! The only thing I will say is that I feed them with a feed like miracle grow or some such feed as long as it's safe to use on veg.