Allotment – Tamworth Farm

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Jo

May was very busy (holiday in Wales and visit to Plas Cadnant), fairly stressful time at work and two Teddy Thompson gigs so I’ve still not planted anything on my second plot. I’m hoping I may get some autumn veggies in by mid-summer! But sensible planning comes first.

I know where I want the shed to go and I’ve  comprehensively nuked the weeds in that spot.

Thanks to the lovely Guy at Solo Wood Recycling I got 7 more pallets (all of a similar size) and some decent fence posts which only needed de-nailing for the princely sum of under £30.  Then a visit to Homebase for wood stain and after an afternoon spent painting I had this:

Fence 01

A week later, a substantially larger spend on metal fence post feet,  lots of screws, an ex who is happy to help be creative plus two hours on a sunny Saturday morning and I had this!

Fence 02It’s not 100% complete as the people in the plot next to me may want to move the path from the right hand side (where it currently is – hence the large gap) to the left hand side of the plots in autumn. But I have two more pallets so can finish which ever way things go!

As you can see the falling down fence between me and the adjacent plot to the left still needs fixing.  But I have wood and fence posts and fence feet, and screws and metal fixings all picked up on Thursday last week.

I just need another sunny day or two to paint all the wood and another Saturday morning to strengthen the three pallets already there. Then I can replace the wire fence between where the existing unpainted pallets end and the metal fence all the way at the bottom of the plot buried under brambles! Luckily the fence on the right hand side of the allotment can wait until next year.

I’ve got enough wood to make some very low raised beds but that will have to wait for a future weekend.

And once the fence is up I can lay the base for the shed and (hopefully!) purchase one soon.

Another bank holiday spend was a battery operated strimmer which will come in handy once the weather turns nicer!

Posted in Allotment | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Gigs – Teddy Thompson

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Jo

The holiday in Wales had to end because:

(a) voting in the London Mayoral elections (we will not digress into how the council managed to strike me off the electoral roll without telling me and through a series of stupid c*ck ups and easily avoidable mistakes deprived me of a vote in the election – and yes I have a grovelling apology and yes, you bet I have my polling card for the EU referendum!) but also

(b) we’d booked to see gig at the fabulous Union Chapel.

These lovely people are – Sunny Ozell (a great blues singer but also hitched to a certain Mr Patrick Stewart – thesp), Teddy Thompson (son of Richard and Linda Thompson) and his nephew Zak Thompson (the Thompson’s are a bit like the Waterson-Carthy’s – dynastic singer songwriters) and in the bottom shot Teddy again with the fabulously talented  (but in this pic very blurry!) American singer-songwriter Kelly Jones.

The presence of Sunny I think goes some way to explaining why Gandalf himself (Sir Ian) was spotted in the audience along with (we’re pretty sure) Bryan Singer.  But forget celeb spotting the gig was so great we went back again a couple of weeks later when they did an extra show and saw it all again and bought all the CDs and a limited edition poster – and they were kind enough to all hang around post gig and sign ALL the things 🙂

Teddy and Kelly’s album Little Window’s (get it on Amazon or iTunes) is fantastic and I have found myself bopping along the train and tube platforms for the best part of the last 10 days singing the chorus of  You Can’t Call Me Baby Any More and Never Knew You Loved Me Too (you can hear this on Teddy’s website).

So if you want to support some indie artists you have all the links 🙂

Posted in gigs | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Wales – r’n’r and gardens

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Jo

It’s the end of May but I’ve been too busy to sit down and blog so cheating a little to backdate some posts!

Late April/early May saw a week long trip to the cottage on Anglesey where there was some serious rest and relaxation with the weather tending to wet in the mornings and clearing in the afternoon.  Plenty of time to sleep in and then toddle off out for a wander before eating our body weight in good food.

The cottage is as lovely as ever and I’m very grateful to my awesome neighbour T who keeps an eye on the garden (and the grass under control) as well as keeping the patio plants in check.

One day when I can get some extended time up there I’ll redo the patio (sorting out the crazy paving and concrete) and plant up a proper planting scheme.  But for now there are daffs, snowdrops and bluebells in spring, plus some potted camellia’s, a scrambling rose and honeysuckle in summer, lots of herbs and it is delightful.  The tree at the bottom of the lawn is a beautiful copper beech planted by the folks we bought the place from back in 1985.

One of the things we did while up there on a lovely sunny afternoon was finally visit Plas Cadnant (The Hidden Gardens).  Magnificent weather for a wander round a beautiful garden – I doubt I’ll be able to revisit in summer but may get to see it again in the autumn.

There’s a lovely balance between strictly formal gardens and wild woodland.  Also I may have some serious bench-envy going on!

They also serve a fantastic afternoon tea (handy after spending several hours walking around). As ever when wandering around a garden I came away with a phone full of pics and lots of ideas for things to try in both the cottage garden and possibly on the allotment plot at Tamworth Farm.

Alas the holiday was over far too soon and we had to head back to London.

Posted in holidays | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Allotments – updates!

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Jo

Last weekend was a little cold and grey but I headed down to the site anyway.  I spent most of my time on the new plot at Tamworth Farm, mainly because I wanted to get a good dose of weedkiller on the areas where I’ll be putting the shed, especially as I’ve co-opted some labour to help the weekend of 7-8 May!

While there I also managed to clear last year’s dead bindweed which was wrapped around the larger fruit tree at the bottom of the plot. Here it is bindweed and bramble free!

DSC_0369

As you can see it’s up against the fence – what you can’t see is to the left is the giant patch of brambles (see below).  Here’s a close up pic of blossom and leaves…so folks what is that?  Plum? Cherry?  Something else?  My fruit tree ID is terrible.  I suspect cherry but I’m not sure.

DSC_0376.JPG

And here are the triffid like blackberries and bindweed.  I wonder if I can salvage them? Certainly have my work cut out to sort out that area!

DSC_0379

During the clearing process I’ve also discovered reaspberry canes in among the brambles and running along the plot boundary where the smaller tree is. The smaller tree has also been cleared of bindweed and is awash with blossom. Think this might be a cherry too?

DSC_0383

I’ve also started avidly scanning Freecycle and TrashNothing to scrounge up things which might be useful on the plot.  This afternoon I left work a little early to beetle over to my local van hire place and collect a small van so I could go grab these!

DSC_0400

Nine pallets crammed as tightly as possible in there.  Six from a charming chap who helped me load them all and another 3 from a charming but less helpful chap!  It took me 40 mins at the other end to get them out of the van and into the plot.  But at least I don’t need to worry about not having been to the gym today!

My plan is to use them to replace the rickety falling down fence on one side of the plot. The van hire was £28 (generally I’d get a full day’s use) but still it’s a darn sight cheaper than buying fencing for a run that long! And as you can see 7 of the 9 pallets should do it.  With two pallets and maybe a little bit of extra wood left over.

So tonight – after posting this – I’ll be hitting up google for ideas as to how to make sure I create a good strong fence!

The when I get back from Wales on 5 May I’m heading over to a local wood recycling depot to check out what they may have available for making a prettier fence along the front of the plot and for making some boundaries for potential planting beds!

Posted in Allotment | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Allotment – Tamworth Farm

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Jo

This is the new plot I’ve taken on. Out allotment site is made up of three areas – Rose Avenue (with smaller starter plots which was brought back into cultivation in 2013) and Tamworth Farm and the Horseshoe which have been under cultivation since before 1900.

My new plot is on Tamworth Farm and is about 105 square meters or 4 rods.  Not a giant plot by any means but sufficiently large that I should be able to get a shed on there and possibly either a small greenhouse or poly tunnel.

Here’s a view of the plot from the top boundary (left and right hand corners) looking down towards the fence (which is covered in wild triffid like blackberries).

As you can see some weeds – but not by any means desperately overgrown!  – and a bit of detritus left by previous owners.  The fences either side of the plot need some attention too.

Here’s a view from the opposite end looking back up the site.  I’ve learned my lesson with the Rose Avenue plot and intend to get out there this weekend and liberally apply some weedkiller to get a head start on ground clearance before things get too wild!

Investigation revealed a couple of trees and one kind of currant already on the plot:

Not quite sure what the trees are – all will be revealed in due course!  Obviously need to clear the brambles, climbers and grass around them this weekend.

And here’s the currant – at least I think it’s a currant!

DSC_0288

Also not the dumped plastic sheets and crates! So I’ll clear things up a bit around it and see what happens.

My cunning plan for this year is to try and resist the temptation to cultivate it all IMMEDIATELY!

I’ve co-opted my ex to come and help me clear and lay a shed base the weekend of 7 and 8 May and maybe even get a run of fencing along the top boundary of the plot.

Then I want to plan where things are going to go – and decide whether to go the raised bed route.  So the first couple of months will be ground clearance and prep, hard landscaping and building, fencing and planning – I know I want more fruit – I just need to decide where to put it all!  I may sow some fast maturing catch crops and some summer flowers too.

Exciting times!

Posted in Allotment | Tagged , | 3 Comments