A day on the Allotment is a happy day!!

Today I managed to escape... for a whole 3 hours up to the Allotment with my right hand man (namely, 8 year old daughter.). 
Lots of tidying up, a  bit of weeding and lots of planting out.
 
 Minipop sweetcorn  -  a lovely mini variety which can be harvested as soon as the tassels appear.  This makes it easier in the unpredictable climate, especially here up north, where it can be difficult to ripen sweetcorn before the end of the summer. These sweetcorn don't need to be in blocks to cross pollinate which also makes it easy for them to grow.   I planted 3 rows with about 8 in each row.

Cauliflower -  These are not easy to grow by any means but I have yet to successfully grown them so am determined to keep trying.    I planted them out with a teaspoon of lime mixed into the soil.  I firmed them down well too which is meant to help them. We will have to see how they get on!

Runner beans - These were ready to go out as they were almost 12 inches tall and starting to flop over!   Its been very warm today and forecast is the same for the next few days so I guessed it might be fine to pop them out.   I had prepared the soil well with lots of manure last autumn.  A runner bean frame was constructed last week and netting put around to help them climb up.  I planted white lady and  scarlet emperor.  Hoping for a few good enough for the show bench.

Courgettes  - I planted lots of these as we love them and any extra can be given away easily.   they have 3 true leaves, (not the baby leaves that first come through but the next ones are regarded as true) and were quite big.   I  dig a small hole with a spade, add lots of well rotted manure and mix it in with the soil, then mound it up into a very small hill and plant the courgette on top.   A small upturned bottle top with the lid removed is placed at an angle towards the courgette, from which I can water the roots easily.    It has worked for the past two years and I have had amazing results with this method.  courgettes are very hungry vege so benefit from the extra nutrients.   They also like to be fed into the season.

I will put some photos on here soon.   If anyone reads this and finds it interesting... or helpful, I would love to hear your comments!! 

Bye for now...