Tales from the allotment

 

Hi everyone. It's been a while since my last blog post, and Sybil and I haven't been on many decent walks lately due to a badly sprained foot (mine, this time). I thought I would post some photos of my allotment instead.

My sweet peas have been doing fairly well. I collected the seeds from last years plants, as I grew those in my Mum's garden and they have sentimental value to me. They smell gorgeous, and I've been cutting them as often as possible so they keep flowering.

Please excuse the black ring around some of the photos; today was the first time I have used my conversion macro lens and I'm still getting to grips with it. This isn't macro photography by any means, just an hour pointing and shooting.

Sweet peas

Feminine touches in the greenhouse

The tomatoes are doing well. I've had a fair few fruits off the plants already, and spend many afternoons chomping away on raw peas and tomatoes on the allotment.

A new flower for me is the nasturtium. I've never grown these before, but in spring I threw a few seeds down on the border by the gate, and this happened:

The flowers are so pretty, and the bees love them.

The runner beans are growing well. They have grown up the canes so fast, and each plant is packed with red flowers, but today I noticed my first actual bean.



Proud moment

I also have my first rose in bloom; eventually I am hoping the plant will trail over my gate.

There were two grape vines in the greenhouse when I took the plot over. They have come back to life and are now producing hundreds of grapes:

I bought several buddleia bushes to attract butterflies and bees, and surprisingly, although tiny, one of them has flowered already this year:

 

The flowerhead looks small and fluffy from a distance, but it is actually made up of hundreds of tiny pink flowers. 

Another set of flowers I'm pleased with, considering my lack of green fingers, are my poached egg plants. Yet another packet of seeds that I threw on a border and, to be honest, didn't expect much from:

 

They are really pretty flowers, and another one that is popular with the bees. But the most popular by far has to be the blue cornflowers by the pond. The bees love them, and I am constantly deadheading the flowers to keep them going as long as possible.

Another "first" for me is managing to grow marigolds from seeds. These are French petit, and produce lovely orange and yellowish flowers. I got up close and personal with them today, and saw them from a closer perspective:

I've planted these around my outside tomato plants, as they are a good companion plant (or so the books say).

The allotment is far from finished, as such as allotments ever are, as only half of the plot is dug over. My sprained foot means I probably won't get any more beds dug this summer, but by the autumn I hope to have gotten a good move on. It's still a long way from the overgrown mess it was when I first took it on.

Keep popping back; I will hopefully have a good walk written up soon. The summer has been nice and mild so far, great for long walks with Sybil as neither of us like too much heat.