Allotment gardening

It's my birthday but I still find time to go down to the plot and put the mats round the strawberries. My son Matthew helps and we soon get it done - only we are three mats short and, on some of the bigger plants, the strawberries are still falling on the ground. I'll have to buy some soil after all. The next problem that needs sorting is that, as I came in, I got stung by some nettles on the neighbouring overgrown plot. Because no-one looks after the two half-plots on either side of me, I will have to cut back some of this over growth. I pull up an onion - a real whopper - for tonight's dinner. Next job - planting out the tomatoes and courgettes.

As I am working, my wife nips down to the horticultural society hut to get some straw to lay under the strawberries. They don't have any but they do have mats which go round each plant and do the same job. My wife buys enough to go round all the plants - and not a moment too soon. When she inspects the strawberry plants, she sees that a big juicy RED strawberry has been half eaten. The sooner the mats go down the better.

I am able to go down to the plot for a couple of hours work this morning. This enables me to finish weeding the whole plot - just hoeing all the beds and knocking the tops off all the weeds. I then start digging over the bed at the back of the plot that has had a carpet covering for the last three years. It is tough going but I do about two-thirds of it. It is going to house the courgettes and squashes. I've got four days off next week and am hoping to put in the tomato, courgette and squash plants. That would mean the plot was full to bursting. As the Korean lettuce has proved such a hit, I fill in the holes in my rows of lettuces with some new seed. I also sow a row of Little Gem English lettuce to even up the balance.

I stop off at the plot for a quick look and notice that the broad beans have been savagely attacked by blackfly. I reckon I'll be lucky to get 10 good pods of all the plants.

As my parents-in-law are helping to entertain the kids, I go down to the plot in the early evening to do a bit of weeding. Having seen what parsnip plants look like at Wisley yesterday, I confidently weed the two rows and am quite happy to see quite a few of the little blighters growing happily. I also weed among the carrots and then put on the sprinkler for half-an-hour. A general tidy up leaves me very contented with the state of my plot. There are still plenty of weeds here and there, a grass verge in desperate need of trimming and one last bed to dig. But the plot and the crops are really coming along.

My parents-in-law arrive for the weekend. After they have recovered from their drive from Wales we go off to Wisley. I have a cunning plan. I want to have a gander at their kitchen garden to see what sort of shape it is in and how it compares to mine. We have a drink first and wander round some of the other gardens the fruit orchards etc. Then I get to see their allotment. I haven't seen it since winter when it was pretty empty apart from loads of squashes. It is in much better shape now - particularly the lettuces but surprisingly I am not too disheartened.
Although the plot at Wisley has no weeds, it isn't as far ahead of mine as I was expecting. Mine ain't bad. They have a line of parsnips growing. I take a photo to see if I can identify any parsnips growing among my weeds. We go straight from Wisley to see my plot and my father-in-law is actually quite impressed.
By comparing the photo of the parsnips I discover I have two rows growing where I sowed the seed - hidden among the weeds. I am well pleased. There is a pod on the pea plants which seems fat. We crack it open and there are five perfect peas sitting in there. We share them round and they taste delicious. We pull up one of the Korean lettuces to take home to have with our dinner. I am well-chuffed.

Unfortunately my plan to come down every evening this week fell at the first hurdle. I didn't go down on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday so today is the first time I have been down for a few days. It has rained overnight and so the weeds are staging a big comeback. I dust down my hoe and try to clear the worst of them among the onions, peas, lettuces, strawberries and potatoes. My maincrop of King Edwards are beginning to emerge from their hills. I also spend some time clearing the bed where I intend to plant my tomatoes. I take all the weeds out and try to get it to as fine a tilth as possible. I have got 20-odd tomato plants in the greenhouse which are gagging to get into the ground. The courgette and squash plants are equally looking ready to be put in - that's another bed I am going to have to prepare.

I am working for the next four days but am determined to come down to the plot in the evening to try and stay on top of the weeds and keep up the watering. I cycle straight into the allotments on my way home, whack on the hose and do a bit of hoeing in between the strawberries and potatoes. Jim, whose plot seems weed-free, is here every evening so I think this really is the way ahead. Little and often. Will I keep it up though?

The weather has been really hot recently so I take my sprinkler down to the plot in the early evening to give the crops, particularly the potatoes, a good watering. Because the weeds got me down yesterday, I also try to do something about them. While the sprinkler waters one end of the plot, I hoe vigorously between the onions and then do the same to the peas, beans, lettuce and strawberries. The end result is very impressive. The onion bed looks more-or-less tidy for the first time ever. I then tackle the carrot and parsnip bed. I was waiting to see if I could make out rows of parsnips but now decide that they haven't taken and hoe everything away apart from what I think are three rows of carrots. Once again, the results are satisfying. The crops also seem to appreciate a drop of water, and the plot looks in a much better state. While hoeing among the lettuces, I accidently broke off a few leaves of a Tom Thumb lettuce. I take it home with me and my wife Cath and I have a taste. And very nice it is too.

My friends Jason and Hilary come over for the evening and I take the opportunity to show them the plot. My neighbour Jim is, as ever, working hard on his plot which is looking very smart and weed-free. While I show Jace and Hilary round, my pride is tempered by the amount of weeds among the onions and the carrot and parsnip bed. I will have to try and find a way of clearing most of them as they are really taking the shine off the success I have had in growing most of my crops. Hilary, who is a big pea fan, spots pods growing on the pea plants which I hadn't noticed. That really pleases me and I go away happy but determined to get on top of the weeds.

I haven't been down to the plot for four days and once again the weeds are taking over. Bindweed and thistles are becoming my mortal enemies. Another skip has been delivered to the allotments so I take the chance to throw out three rolls of unused turf, the offcuts of roofing felt that were left over when I recovered the roof of the shed and a bit more carpet and wood. I crack on and do as much weeding as I can and throw a barrow-full of that in the skip for good measure. There is still a lot more to do. In order to stay on top of the weeds I think I will have to come down here everyday.

Another evening trip down to the plot enables me to finish earthing up the potatoes. All the recent rain means I can shovel up some of the earth from between the rows and then mould it onto the mounds containing the earlies, so by the end of the evening my two-and-a-half rows of earlies are all earthed up satisfactorily. Just got to do it all again for the maincrop.

I nip down to the allotment in the evening. It has been raining almost solidly for two weeks now. I want to try and finish earthing up the spuds but get talking to a neighbouring plot holder. We chat about the progress we are making. We both took on our plots at the same time and have spurred each other on. If I have to be honest, I am slightly jealous as Jim's plot is looking a good deal better than mine, well tended, few weeds and with some home-made raised beds which look really smart.
Jim shows me a trick used by an old hand to make the task of earthing up easier. He has made a drill for his potatoes and then buried them in it, piling a little bit of earth over the top of each one but leaving the hills on each side. Now that the time has come to earth up, all he has to do is knock the hills into the drill and the job's done. Genius. I must remember that for next year. I haven't got much done this evening but I've learnt a good trick. I'll have to finish it off tomorrow.

I start trying to earth up the potatoes as the haulms are now easily nine inches high. It is not an easy job as the earth keeps tumbling down. I shovel up some earth from the bed marked out for the tomato plants and pour it over the top of the potato plants. I manage a row and a bit before calling it a day.

A break in the weather gives me the chance to get down to the plot and finish weeding the worst parts. The strawberry and lettuce beds look much better now. I then weed between the earthed up potatoes and try to pile some of the earth up onto the mounds. I don't manage to earth them up much as tiredness sets in after all that weeding. I'll have to leave it till Friday.

It continues to hose it down with rain for about the eighth day in a row. As a result I limit myself to working in the greenhouse. I prick out my tomato seedlings and pot them on into bigger pots. I then sow some pepper seeds into a tray. I am intending to grow these in a growbag in the greenhouse. I do hope the rain stops soon.

I go down for an hour after work and continue to pull up weeds. It has been raining for about a week now and the weeds are loving it, I can tell you. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel.