Allotment gardening

Another trip down to the plot to pick some more broad beans, lettuce and some carrots. Although I have never thinned out my rows of carrots, they have grown well and they are very tasty. It doesn't seem to make any difference that there might be five carrots intertwined - they separate out easily enough and taste just as nice. My neighbouring plot-holder, Jim, tells me he has started eating his early potatoes already, so my wife and I decide to give it a go. I dig up the first plant in the row and the fork brings up some huge tubers. I have never dug up a potato before in my life and am surprised by the amount of potatoes that come off one plant - and the size of some of the spuds. Even Jim is impressed. Two plants produces enough potatoes for the next couple of nights. I can't wait to taste them. We grab an onion to go with the other crops and dash home to eat our first ever home-grown potatoes.

I begin to pull up some of the pea plants - the pods have withered and the brown plants look awful. The plants are tangled up in the pea netting but I throw them into a pile and hope to salvage the netting at a later date. The ground is so hard I can't get all of the bamboo canes out. I then pick some strawberries - the Perfection plants have definitely produced the best fruit - and some broad beans and lettuce to keep us stocked up for the next few days.

I find time to go down to the plot and admire the handiwork we put in yesterday. There is still some weeding to be done among the strawberry plants and the lettuces - where thistles seem to thrive. The tomato plants still look pretty ropey - withered white leaves and there is no sign of any new growth. The courgette plants aren't faring much better - a couple seem to have broken stems and look destined never to produce anything edible. The pea plants also look like they have seen better days. Most of the pods and leaves have gone brown. Maybe it's time to pull them up. The pea crop has been disappointing on the whole - we've probably only had two platefuls from the entire lot. I might try something different next year.

After a few days of rain, I get the chance to go down to the plot. My dad joins me and we crack on with some of the jobs that need doing. My dad weeds among the carrots and parsnips while I finish the job of weeding the onion bed. I pull up a few onions while I am at it. Then my dad starts to earth up the maincrop. The recent rain makes this job a bit easier as the clay sods sit happily on top of the potato mounds. I help finish off the earthing up and then pick some broad beans and peas. At the end of a few hours work, the plot looks a lot better - mostly weeded and with the rows of potatoes earthed up. I feel happy that we have brought some order to the plot and reclaimed some of the beds from the weeds.

I am helping out at the summer fair at my son's school today and afterwards some other parents are coming round to dinner. So before I am required to man the beer tent, I pick a punnet full of strawberries, a Korean lettuce and some broad beans which will all feature in tonight's dinner. I keep a careful eye out for red ants as my bites are still quite sore. I will take particular pride tonight in serving up food that has been grown by my own fair hand. Sad, I know, but true nonetheless.

I go down to the plot to try and tackle the huge amounts of weeds in the onion bed. Brambles are growing through like mad and I manage to clear the first few rows. There are so many jobs to do that I think I'll try and persuade my dad to come down and help me next week. With two people working we should be able to sort out quite a few beds. I really need to earth up the maincrop of potatoes soon. It should really have been done by now but I just haven't had the time.
Although I don't notice it, angry red ants have swarmed up my legs and bitten my ankle and legs. By the time I get home, my ankles look like and old woman's. As the afternoon wears on, they get worse so I go to the out-of-hours doctor's service. He takes one look and prescribes a course of anti-biotics. That'll teach me to work at the plot in shorts and shoes with no socks on.

Another visit to the plot to weed and pick some more crops. The lettuces are getting very big and I try to thin them out a bit by pulling up the middle ones. I also try to fill in some of the gaps in my sporadic rows by sowing some fresh Korean lettuce and some Baby Gem seeds as well. I check out the tomato and courgette plants. The tomato plants look awful - weedy and the leaves are turning white. My neighbour tell me they have been scorched by the wind. He assures me they will recover. I have my doubts.

Trips to the plot these days involve picking peas, beans, lettuces and strawberries and doing a bit of weeding. My wife helps assess which pea pods are ready for picking and the children love taking home the shiny green vegetables. The weeds, particularly brambles, thistles and the dreaded mare's tail are hard to stay on top of. I tend to limit myself to some vigorous hoeing to keep them down. I think I will have to draft in some help soon to really get on top of them.

Another day off work gives me the chance to pick some more strawberries - there seem to be plenty ripening every day now as well as some more peas, broad beans and lettuce. It is nice eating produce we have grown ourselves and the family diet is also improving as we now eat a salad with every meal simply because we have the beans or lettuce at our fingertips. It's at times like this that I feel smug about being an allotment owner.

I am keen to see how the plants I put in yesterday after faring, bearing in mind I didn't harden anything off. The tomatoes look pretty pathetic as do the courgette and squash plants. However, I've learnt already over the course of this year not to be put off by initial doubts. We are in this together for the long haul. There's plenty of time yet for a recovery.

I decide the time is right to plant out the tomato plants and the courgettes and squashes. I haven't hardened off the tomatoes but my neighbour Jim did the same and his soon recovered. My son Matthew wants to help so we load up the car boot and transport about 30 plants down to the plot. Armed with a tape measure, my guide book and some bamboo canes, I begin to measure out the two lines of tomatoes. I have enough for two rows on 10. I have two varieties of tomato - Summer Sweet and Money Maker. I get them in separate bits of the greenhouse but unfortunately, in the car journey, they become mixed up. I have no idea which is which but then decide it doesn't really matter. I follow the planting advice to the letter and, with my Matthew helping, we quickly end up with two fairly straight rows of 10 plants. We tie them up to bamboo canes and give them a good water. I have to say they look pretty pathetic compared to some of the other tomato plants on neighbouring plots - some of them are really small. But, fingers crossed, they will soon catch up.
We then turn our attention to the courgette and squash plants. I have been saving a bed at the back of the plot for them and have prepared the ground well - with lots of manure dug in. Unfortunately, I quickly realise I have made one big mistake. I planted the courgette seeds in plastic trays and it proves very difficult to get the plants out without damaging the roots. As my plant book says courgette plants do not like having their roots disturbed, this is worse than it seems. I lose quite a few plants in the unpacking process. Next year I will have to buy fibrous pots to get round this. Eventually I get about nine courgette plants in and dot the squash plants around the plot in any vacant corner. I give them a water and hope they will all make a good recovery from their rough handling.