It was so hot today wasn't it ? too hot in fact to work on the allotment, but I needed to get on and get cracking if all the jobs were to be done. I had some help though as the hubby decided to give me a hand with preparing the bed for the Globe Artichokes. I had twelve to plant in total, six from Victoriana nursery and six I had grown from seed. Stephen's leaflet that accompanied the plants when they arrived recommended 3ft apart but that was pushing my allotted space a bit, so they were planted a little under the 3ft, but they seem to have ample room.
They are all in now and look good. I only wish I had a better look at the artichoke bed at RHS Wisley last year, that way I would know how big they are going to look. I know they get to 6ft but I'm not sure just how bushy they grow. Here's a photo of the finished bed. We had to scout around for some old concrete walling to bank the bed up. My plot is on a slope so to even it out we put the walling blocks in and then evened the soil against them. It then drops down a little to the two rows of asparagus, so all the permanent plants are in one area now. I am very pleased with my box hedge that runs along my boundary. I got them from Free-cycle last year as someone was digging up their hedge along their front garden. I didn't think they would re-plant as they had been dug up and left for a week or so before we collected them, but they have taken well.
This photo is looking down the artichoke bed and as you can see in the foreground I have planted lot's of cutting that I grew of Box taken from one I had in the garden at home. They will take ages to get to the size of the others, but they are growing and looking healthy.
This is a photo of the fruit area. The raspberries are just growing up through lots of lovely manure. I cut them right back as they are autumn fruiting. The strawberries are in the little raised bed and there is a red gooseberry, a green gooseberry, about four different varieties of rhubarb, a blackcurrant and the newly planted Tayberry. oh and two little twigs ! that are blackberries given to me by a friend which have taken and are just showing good healthy signs of growth.
PS. that scruffy looking plot that looks like 'Steptoe's' yard is a neighbouring plot on the other side of a shared path !!! just in case you clicked to enlarge the photo and think it's mine !!! ha ha
I have some lovely tulips growing just outside the greenhouse which are beautiful shades of deep pink and a lovely green. The wallflowers didn't do so well this year on the plot, but the ones at home did ! I can't wait to get all my cosmos, dahlias, marigold, zinnia's and cornflowers in the flower beds. I love to have lot's of flowers on the plot to look cheery and for cutting and of course for the bees.
Whilst preparing the bed today I found dozens of Borage plants growing, all self seeded, so I saved a half dozen to dot around the place and had to compost the rest. I also found lot's of the lovely sunflower plant-lets from the multi-headed sunflower from last year I think it was called Royal Velvet,or Velvet queen ?? something like that. It had lots of small heads in bronze, red, gold and russet colours and it isn't to tall either.
