Getting the allotment into shape

All the action is at the allotment right now:  the most exciting thing happening at home is the kitchen window filled up with seed trays--most of which will be planted out at the allotment!  Some seedlings in the kitchen garden are sprouting (pretty much all root veg this year) but it's mainly a waiting game here;  the allotment's where it's at.  Warning:  allotment photos to follow!

The view from the allotment track, Apr 2021

And yet, I'm still only getting work done at the weekends.  The son, daughter and I manage to walk up in the mornings before school for chicken chores:  feed, water, collect eggs.  I try to dig a few clumps of grass for them before we leave and the son might water a few things, but there's no time to tarry;  he's got school and I've got to get Joy to childcare and myself to work.  The husband generally does the evening chicken check after work, and he will dig a few more grass clumps and/or water as well.  That's it for weekdays.

However, we try to get a good couple hours in at the weekends.  This past weekend I cleared the remains of the leek bed of grass/weeds and spread compost over the top.  I also sheet mulched another (small) grassy bed further down with cardboard, paper feed sacks and straw on top.  I also put down a few dozen sticks for the peas to climb up;  they're just emerging now, both snap peas and regular ones.  

Raspberry canes and a partial tool shed at the allotment, Apr 2021

And the husband put together a ramshackle tool shed out of odds and ends we'd scavenged from the allotment rubbish heap and our own garage.  He also dug out a wheelbarrow of compost and topped up the newest bin with fresh horse manure from the stables on site.

We are still eating the last small leeks, a few lettuces, and the somewhat scanty purple sprouting broccoli.  The garlic and broad beans are looking sturdy and some of the strawberries are beginning to flower.  Next month I'll hopefully be planting out the summer veg:  pumpkins, sweetcorn, French and runner beans, and more;  and a little later on I should be transplanting the autumn and winter brassicas.  It's shaping up to be a good season. 

A few leeks left, Apr 2021

Cheeky

We have a nesting pair of blackbirds in the ivy that grows up our garage wall.  The female is the boldest little bird on the block, who has come to expect a daily offering of uneaten scraps from the daughter's high chair.  We call her Cheeky bird. 

When I work in the garden, Cheeky is constantly at my elbow, waiting for me to dig up worms.  She gets close enough for me to reach out and grab--lucky for her I don't want to!  She follows me around, or investigates the garage, or tries her luck in the newly sown seed beds.  

The daughter loves watching Cheeky, who last week came to the doorstep as we were coming home from childcare, as if asking to come in.  The daughter laughed:  "Cheeky!"  Later that day she even sat on the windowsill as I was in the living room, watching me and looking for a way in.  I hadn't thrown out the scraps yet, and she obviously needed to remind me of my duty.

Cheeky's mate is much shyer;  we call him Mr Cheeky or Cheeky Daddy.  He's just as industrious as his mate, but won't stick around if the humans are in sight.  We watch him out the window as we sit in the kitchen:  "Cheeky!" calls the daughter.

There are some other regulars to our garden including Puny the robin, a pair of collared doves and the little dunnet family, but none are so friendly and fearless as our little Cheeky.

Flowering

Just this weekend I used up the frozen Morello cherries from last year;  I made a big cherry crumble which was a hit with the family.  Last year's harvest amounted to about half a large freezer bag.  Admittedly, not a huge harvest.  It's a small tree, but I'm hopeful that its two friends the Kordia and new addition Stella will add to the bounty this summer.  All three are just opening their lovely white buds.

The Czar plum tree is also flowering, along with the Robijn almond (it's a beautiful pink).  Last year we didn't get many plums, but there are many more of its white blossoms this spring (though it's not as profuse as the almond).  I've seen and heard the bees working their magic in both.

However, I'm a little concerned about the frosts we've been getting recently.  It seems as though the blossoms are still ok, but I'm not sure what to expect if they get too frosted:  do they fall off immediately, or will I have to wait to find out until the fruit forms (or not)?  There have been several sharp frosts this week, and though all of my trees are in somewhat sheltered positions I'm not extremely confident about them.

The two apple trees and various soft fruits are not yet flowering, though the bright orange berberis is.  I hope it's covered in its tiny purple berries this summer;  though we don't really eat them ourselves, we love to watch the birds enjoying them.  And the chickens love them too.

Food totals, Jan-Mar 2021

Vegetables

33 oz leeks
1.5 oz broccoli
15 oz cauliflower and greens
156.5 oz pumpkin (harvested 2020)
16 oz squash (harvested 2020)
65.5 oz Brussels sprouts
8 oz salad greens (miners lettuce, lambs lettuce, chard, mizuna, iceberg lettuce)
2 oz oyster mushrooms
2.5 oz kale
3.5 oz cabbage
Total: 303.5 oz, or 18 lb 15.5 oz

Fruit
No fruit harvested

Eggs
124 eggs from nine hens and one duck