Hello welcome to my life!
2005
20.2.2005 - Here goes...a website for my allotment diary. I hope it will be interesting for fellow growers and gardeners everywhere. My name's Simon and this will be my sixth year of cultivating my plot here at Firs Estate Allotments in Derby. In the beginning it was overgrown with brambles, bindweed, etc. Over the years I have been clearing more and more ground so now I have two beds, each about 20x30 feet. I also look after the next door plot for Brenda, which is down to fruit trees. I garden organically and grow the usual vegetables and also cut flowers. And lots of fruit as well. Around the boundaries is stuff like privet, holly, elderberry, brambles and roses and some big ash trees, so there's lots of wildlife here too.
Over the winter the garden has been feeding me with leeks, carrots, parsnips and brussels sprouts. Growing at the moment are purple sprouting broccoli and autumn-sown broad beans. The plot has been dug over, with compost dug in at the same time. Apple trees have been pruned, brambles at the top of the plot cut back, hawthorn whips planted to fill in gaps on the boundary and a bit more ground brought under cultivation. Spring is just round the corner and the best is yet to come! This is how my plot looks today:
Here's the plan:
I've got my seeds and sorted them into some sort of order by sowing dates. I start my early seeds off in a heated propagator on my bedroom windowsill then they go into the greenhouse on my plot, which is unheated except for a small paraffin heater which I put on at night if frost is forecast. As the plants grow they get pricked out and potted on, before going into a coldframe to be hardened off and then planted out. Of course quite a few types of seed are sown direct in the ground.
As far as this web site goes, I'm pretty much making it up as I go along. On this page I'll do the diary in the form of a timeline, hopefully with plenty of photos, and then put my records by plant name underneath that, which I'll keep updated as the season progresses. That's the intention anyway...
25.2.05 - Potatoes bought in for chitting.
7.3 - Sown inside - sweet peas, antirrhinums, dianthus, cleome (spider plant).
8.3 - Pruned gooseberries and autumn-fruiting raspberries.
12.3 - First signs of life! - antirrhinums starting to
germinate:
. Sown inside - carnations, dahlias, helichrysum.
13.3 - Helped my friend Arthur with unloading a trailer load of muck - in
return for a few barrows to put under me potatoes: 
.
19.3 - Sown inside - cosmos, cabbage, lettuce, brussels sprouts,
tomatoes. First sowings outside- peas sown in a wide flat-bottomed drill:
and covered against the birds:
.
And onion sets:
.
Other piccies from around the site in March. The pond in the
wildlife garden:
.
Blossom on Brenda's plum tree suckers:
.
26.3 - Easter weekend - Spring is sprung! - More sowings (inside) - statice, rudbeckia, angels trumpet. Outside - dug up some of last years strawberry runners and planted them out in two new rows.
28.3 - Full moon - early potatoes planted out:
.
And sowed some carrots and half a row of parsnips.
2.4 - Sowing - inside - verbena bonariensis, scabious,
helichrysum. In the potting shed - pricked out antirrhinums:
.
Took a few geranium cuttings. Split a big aloe vera to make a dozen new plants. Dug up the last parsnip:
.
9.4 - Sowed a row of carrots, inside some bupleurum and bells of
ireland (for cut flower foliage), leeks, lettuce. Started harvesting broccoli:
.
16.4 - Did some pricking out and potting up, planted out main crop spuds and sowed another row of peas.
17.4 - Dug and mucked trenches for runner beans and sweet peas. Sown some annuals outside.
19.4 - Busy potting on for a little while most evenings - brassicas, lettuce, flowers. Spring days: everything leafing up, little birds dashing about, the light!
23.4 - Full moon - more sowing in the greenhouse - runner and
french beans, sunflowers. Got a few brassicas and lettuce out into the coldframe.
Started pinching out antirrhinums, cosmos and dianthus. Mulched broad beans with
garden compost:
.
Spread fish,blood and bone over areas yet to be sown/planted.
30.4 - Planted out sweet peas
,
brussels and cabbages .
Dianthus and dahlias moved to coldframe. Potted on antirrhinums and rudbekias.
Lovely growing weather, apple tree blossom is coming out ,
saw the first swifts over the site. Harvested the last leeks and brocoli spears
- eating the leaves now! This is how the greenhouse was looking today:
.
1.5 - May Day - up the workers! - put up supports for first row
of peas:
14.5 - Planted out dianthus and carnations:
, statice
and cleome:
,
dahlias and cosmos:
. Moved antirrhinums to coldframe. Resown gaps in pea row.
This is how the greenhouse looks today:
.
And the coldframes:
.
16.5 - Frost - took tops out of potatoes, killed most dahlias,cleomes and runner and french beans poking up in coldframe. That'll teach me!
20.5 - Planted out antirrhinums, 1 row of each, and spread mulch
of garden compost between rows:
.
Sowed a little nursery row of Hispi cabbages.
21.5 - Potted on busy lizzies. Moved following to coldframe: rudbeckias, scabious, helichrysum, leeks, bells if ireland, sunflowers. Sown helenium hoopsii (hp), and runner beans to replace those lost to that frost.
26.5 - Started picking broad beans:
.
Broad beans with early peas in front:
28.5 - Planted out rudbeckias, helechrysum, scabious
,
sunflowers. Thinned out larkspurs and centaurea. Busy lizzies,
verbena and runner beans moved to coldframe. Tomatoes planted out in growbags in
greenhouse:
.
4.6 - Sown carrots - 1 row James Scarlet, 2 rows Red
Intermediate. Planted out winter cabbages, runner beans, helechrysum golden
baby, bells of ireland, dahlias (4 survivors), french beans (2). Moved brocolli
to nursery row. This is how the plot is looking today:
.
Blossom coming out on elder trees:
18.6 - Sown last row of peas, moved leeks to nursery row. Put supports up for cut flowers.
20.6 - Cut first sweet peas.
24.6 - Spread more garden compost between rows for mulch.
Started harvesting greyhound cabbages
and peas
.
26.6 - Picking sweet peas, snapdragons, sweet williams (sown last autumn), raspberries. Set out leeks.
3.7 - Picking strawberries, gooseberries, dianthus, cosmos, statice.
9.7 - Picked first tomatoes:
.
Lifted broad bean plants and planted hispi cabbages in gaps left between rows -
cabbages should benefit from nitrogen fixed in soil by beans:
.
Potted on heleniums. This is how various crops are progressing: strawberries:
,
onions, helechrysum and scabious:
,
cosmos and rudbeckia:
,
cosmos:
,
peas and cosmos:
,
centaurea:
,
dianthus and carnations:
,
carnations:
,
antirrhinum vanity fayre:
,
antirrhinum princess:
,
statice:
,
sweet peas:
,
potatoes:
,
potatoes and brassicas:
,
peas:
,
cosmos:
,
cosmos and rudbeckia:
,
runner beans:
,
raspberries:
.
This is how the plot is looking today:
.
15.7 - What a difference a week makes! Here's how various crops
are progressing: statice, sweet peas and antirrhinums:
,
sweet peas, statice, cleome and antirrhinums:
,
sweet peas:
,
antirrhinun vanity fayre:
,
princess:
,
cosmos:
,
rudbeckia:
.
Some pictures of cut flowers: sweet peas:
,
cosmos:
,
dianthus:
,
rudbeckia:
.
Here's how the plot is looking today:
.
16.7 - 2 best brocolli plants set out from nursery row. Picked most of second row of peas for freezing. Began harvesting early potatoes, carrots, french beans, rudbeckias, carnations, bells of ireland.
23.7 - Still eating carrots, peas, cabbages, potatoes, onions and will be for the foreseeable future!
31.7 - Vegatables are really coming now; tomatoes:
,
carrots:
,
brassicas:
,
potatoes:
,
runner beans:
,
hispi cabbages:
.
And the flowers; dianthus and carnations:
,
antirrhinums and dianthus:
,
cleome:
,
antirrhinums:
,
statice:
.
Here's some close-up pictures of the flowers: rudbeckia:
,
rudbeckia cherokee sunset:
cosmos:
,
scabious:
,
helechrysum:
,
dianthus:
,
statice:
,
antirrhinum vanity fayre:
,
princess:
.
The orchard today:
.
Statice drying in the shed:
The plot today:
.
And the wider view:
1.8 - First boiling of young runner beans, yum yum.
14.8 - Harvesting tomatoes and runner beans:
.
Progress of crops - hispi cabbages: 
,
cosmos:
,
rudbeckia:
,
scabious:
,
sunflowers: 
,
potatoes:
,
winter cabbages and sprouts:
,
peas:
,
antirrhinums:
,
carnations and dianthus:
15.8 - Onions harvested and stored away. Started picking
autumn raspberries:
Carnations doing really well now:
.
20.8 - Started harvesting Kelvedon Wonder peas. Dug up last of early potatoes - a good year.
3.9 - Dug up and bagged maincrop potatoes, also a good crop:
.
Took out sweet peas, now finished, and antirrhinums, nearly finished and being
affected by rust. Here's how the plot's looking today:
.
And how the crops are progressing - carrots:
,
winter cabbages and brussels:
,
hispi cabbages:
,
cosmos, rudbeckia and scabious:
,
helechrysum:
,
nicotiana sylvestris (self-sown):
.
18.9 - Set out two new rows of strawberries from this years
runners. Started harvesting hispi cabbages:
and more carrots:
.
Carnations still looking good:
,
and rudbeckia:
.
24.9 - Harvesting dried flowers - helechrysum:
,
statice:
.
Dahlias flowering:
.
Some cut carnations:
.
Apples ripening:
.
And pears:
.
Began spreading compost over areas where croppping has finished, to be dug in
later:
.
Black gold:
.
8.10 - Continued digging up finished crops and spreading compost. Began winter digging.
15.10 - The plot is starting to look empty again:
.
Picked last of the tomatoes to ripen inside:
.
23.10 - Brenda harvested most of her apples and pears, and let
me have a few:
Continued digging.
9.11 - Sown 1 row Aquadulce broad beans. Began harvesting sprouts and winter cabbage.
In case you were wondering this is how the plan turned out (sorry about the low quality scan):
DIARY RECORDS BY PLANT NAME 2005
Antirrhinium “Vanity Fayre F2” - Sown 7.3 in heated propagator on bedroom windowsill, in ½ seedtray. “Princess F1” - Sown same. Germinating 12.3, moved to bathroom windowsill. Moved to greenhouse 16.3. Pricked out to x24 medium modules 2.4, 2 trays of each. Potted on to 10cm pots 29.4, 12 vanity fayre, 20 princess. Remainder potted on to 10cm pots 7.5. Moved to coldframe 14.5. Planted out 20.5, one row of each.
Bells of Ireland - Sown 9.4 in greenhouse, small modules x30. Only 2 germinated. Potted on to 9cm pots 7.5. (See Sarah Ravens book p94 for instructions on freezing etc next year). Moved to coldframe 21.5. Planted out 4.6.
Broad Beans "Aquadulce" - Sown direct outside November 2004. Started picking 26.5. 1 row sown 9.11 for harvesting next spring.
Brocolli “Early Purple Sprouting” - Sown in small modules in greenhouse 7.5. Moved to coldframe 28.5. Planted out in nursery row 4.6. 2 best plants planted out 16.7. (Others given away).
Brussels Sprout Cascade F1” - Sown in small modules x10 19.3 in greenhouse. Germinating 24.3. Potted on to 9cm pots and moved to coldframe 16.4. Planted out 60cm apart 29.4.
Bupleurum “Rotundifolium Green Gold” - Sown in heated prop 9.4, small modules x20. No germination.
Busy Lizzie “Accent Mixed” - Plugs arrived from T&M 14.4. Pricked out to medium modules in greenhouse 16.4. Potted on to 10cm pots 21.5. Moved to coldframe 28.5. Planted out from 4.6.
Cabbage “Greyhound” - Sown 19.3 in small modules x20 in greenhouse. Germinating 25.3. Potted up to 9cm pots and moved to coldframe 19.4. Planted out 1.5(?). Started harvesting 24.6.
Cabbage “January King” - Sown 17.4 in greenhouse in small modules x30. Germinating 21.4. Moved to colframe 7.5. Planted out 4.6.
Cabbage "Hispi" - Sown outside 20.5 in nursery row. Planted out in 2 rows between broad bean rows 16.7 (after beans finished and plants dug up.)
Carnation “Spite Mixed” - Sown 12.3 in heated propagator on bedroom windowsill. “Giant Chabaud Mixed” - Sown same. Germinating and removed from heat 16.3. Moved to greenhouse 19.3. Potted on to 9cm pots 23.4. Moved to coldframe 7.5. Planted out 14.5.
Carrot “Flyaway F1” - 1 row sown 28.3.
Carrot “James Scarlet Intermediate” - 1 row sown 9.4. Germinating 25.4. Second row sown 4.6.
Carrot "Red Intermediate" - 1 row sown 4.6.
Centaurea Sweet Sultan “Dairy Maid” - Sown outside 17.4, 1 row. Germinating 27.4. Started picking 24.6.
Cleome “Spinosa Colour Fountain Mixed” - Sown 7.3. in heated propagator on bedroom windowsill in small modules tray x30. Germinating 14.3. Moved to greenhouse 21.3. Potted on to 9cm pots 23.4. Moved to coldframe7.5. Most killed by frost 16.5, 2 survivors planted out.
Cosmos “Sensation Mixed”- Sown 19.3 in small modules in greenhouse. Germinating 22.3. Potted up to 9cm pots 18.4. Moved to coldframe 7.5. Planted out 14.5.
Cosmos “Polidor” - Sown 19.3 in small modules in heated propagator. Germinating 21.3. Moved to greenhouse 23.3. Potted up to 9cm pots 19.4. Moved to coldframe 7.5. Planted out 14.5.
Dahlia “Giant Hybrids Mixed” - Sown 12.3 in heated propagator on bedroom windowsill in small modules. (Sow 2 weeks later next year). Germinating and removed from heat 15.3. Moved to greenhouse 17.3. Potted on to 9cm pots 16.4. Moved to coldframe 30.4. Most killed by frost 16.5. 2 survivors plated out 4.6.
Datura Meteloides “Evening Fragrance” (Angels Trumpet) - Sown 26.3 in heated propagator. 6seeds, 1 germinated. Moved to greenhouse 16.4. Died - cold night temps?
Dianthus “Chinensis Double Mixed” - Sown 7.3 in greenhouse, small modules tray x50. Germinating 13.3. Potted on to large modules 16.4. Planted out 14.5.
Dwarf French Bean “Purple Queen” - Sown 23.4 in medium modules x48 in greenhouse. Germinating 28.4. Moved to coldframe 7.5. Killed by frost 16.5. 2 survivors planted out 4.6.
Helenium "Hoopesii" (HP) - Sown in small modules in coldframe 21.5. Germinating 30.5. Planted out 4.6.
Helichrysum “Golden Baby” (HP) - Sown 12.3 on living room windowsill. Moved to heated prop 16.3. Germinating and moved to greenhouse 21.3. Pricked out to small modules 16.4. Potted on to 9cm pots 7.5. Moved to coldframe 21.5. Planted out June.
Helichrysum “Monstrosum Eternity” - Sown 12.3 in greenhouse. Moved to heated propagator 25.3. No germination, more sown 2.4, x20 small modules in heated prop. Moved to greenhouse 16.4. Potted on to 9cm pots 7.5. Moved to coldframe 21.5. Planted out 28.5, 45cm apart.
Larkspur “Kingsize Scarlet - Sown outside 17.4, ½ row. Germinating 4.5. Thinned to 30cm between plants 28.5.
Larkspur “Ajacis Sublime Mixed” - Sown outside 17.4, ½ row. Germinating 4.5. Thinned as above 28.5.
Leek “Lyon Prizetaker” - Sown 9.4, ½ seed tray in greenhouse. Moved to coldframe 21.5. Planted out 18.6. (Bit late!).
Lettuce “Salad Bowl” - Sown 19.3 in greenhouse. No germination, more sown in heated prop 9.4. Germinating 12.4. Removed from heat 13.4. Moved to greenhouse 16.4. Potted on to 9cm pots and moved to coldframe 7.5. Planted out 15.5.
Lettuce “Lollo Rosso” - Sown 19.3 in greenhouse. Germinating 24.3. Potted up to 9cm pots and moved to coldframe 18.4. Planted out (at Ina’s) 2.5.
Lettuce "Little Gem" - from Arthur - planted out 29.4.
Onion “Stuttgarter” - sets planted out 19.3. Harvested 15.8.
Parsnip “Tender and True” - ½ row sown 28.3.
Pea “Early Onward”- 1 row sown 19.3 (one packet kings seeds = 1x20 foot row). Germinating 3.4. Started picking 24.6.
Pea “Kelvedon Wonder” - 1 row sown 16.4. Poor germination. Gaps and another row sown 18.6. Started picking16.7 and from second row 20.8.
Potatoes - Early - Bought in 25.2, 2.5kg “Lady Christl” for chitting. Planted out 28.3. Earthed up against frost 7.5. Started harvesting 23.7, last ones dug up 20.8.
Potatoes - Maincrop - Bought in 25.2, 2.5kg “Desiree” for chitting. Planted out 16.4. Harvested and bagged 3.9.
Rudbeckia “Goldilocks Improved” - Sown 26.3 in small modules in greenhouse. Germinating 4.4. Potted on to 9cm pots 29.4. Moved to coldframe 21.5. Planted out 28.5, 45cm apart.
Rudbeckia “Cherokee Sunset” - Sown 26.3 in small modules in heated propagator. Germinating 2.4. Removed from heat and moved to greenhouse 9.4, germination only 30%. Potted on to 9cm pots 29.4. Moved to coldframe 21.5. Planted out 28.5, 30cm apart.
Runner bean “Enorma” - Sown 23.4 in large modules x48 in greenhouse. Moved to coldframe 7.5. Most killed by frost 16.5. More sown 21.5 in large modules in greenhouse. Moved to coldframe 28.5. Planted out 4.6.
Scabious “Tall double mixed” - Sown 2.4 in greenhouse, x30 small modules. Germinating 11.4. Potted on to 9cm pots 7.5. Moved to coldframe 21.5. Planted out 28.5, 45cm apart.
Statice “Sunset” - Sown 26.3 in small modules in heated propagator. Germinating 31.3. Moved to greenhouse 2.4. Potted on to 9cm pots 23.4. Moved to coldframe 7.5. Planted out 14.5.
Statice “Art Shades Mixed” - Sown 26.3 in small modules in heated propagator. Germinating 30.3. Moved to greenhouse 2.4. Potted on to 9cm pots 23.4. Moved to coldframe 7.5. Planted out 14.5.
Strawberries - runners dug up and planted in new rows x2, 18.9.
Sunflower “Valentine” - Sown 17.4 in medium modules x48 in greenhouse. Germinating 26.4. Moved to coldframe 21.5. Planted out 28.5, 75cm apart.
Sweet Peas “Galaxy Mixed” - Sown 7.3 in greenhouse, 23x9cm pots, 3 seeds per pot. Germinating 14.3. Moved to coldframe 25.3. Tops pinched out 9.4. Planted out 29.4. Began picking 20.6.
Sweet peas Everlasting (from Ina) - Sown 17.4, 5 to a 9cm pot, 9 pots, in coldframe.
Tomato “Gardeners Delight” - Sown 19.3 in heated propagator. Germinating 23.3. Moved to greenhouse 26.3. Potted up to 9cm pots 18.4. Potted up to 15cm pots 8.5. Bottoms of pots removed and planted into growbags in greenhouse 28.5.
Verbena Bonariensis - Sown 2.4, small modules x10, in heated prop. (Use seed tray next year). Germinating 16.4. Pricked out to medium modules 7.5. Moved to coldframe 28.5. Sold at open day in June.