Allotment - Harvest 2011

Looking back on 2011 in the Allotment I wasn't overly happy but on seeing some of the pictures again I don't feel too bad, we did manage a good crop of a lot of vegetables. I felt a little disappointed in the returns overall but that was down to my own mistakes as much as anything else. Not protecting vegetables from pests was a major faux pas that we wont be repeating in 2012. 


Below are some pictures of the harvests from last year. 

Digging up the first of the Main Crop Potatoes. 

A good selection of veggies for dinner. Left to right from picture, some Alpine Strawberries, Butterhead and Cos Lettuce, Peas, Potatoes, Runner Beans, Carrots

After we harvested all our Main Crop Potatoes, we set them on some newspaper in the apartment to dry before placing them in a large plastic container to exclude light, we left the lid slightly ajar so the air could circulate . They stored in this manner until Just after Christmas when all we were left with were the small potatoes we were too lazy all along to peal. It does not look like many in the picture but for our needs they were ideal. 

Some of the carrots harvested, we generally harvested them as we needed them until October when I lifted them all, cleaned, peeled and froze them for later use.

The first Turnips were harvested in early July. These ones are a variety called 'Purple Top Milan' and were harvested a little bigger than tennis ball size. The Turnips following on from these suffered from a lot of pest damage due to not being covered during their growing season. Also in the tray was some Rocket. We were not short on Rocket for our salads during 2011 at least, it grew quicker than we could harvest it. That said we did plant about 10 plants so we were knee deep in Rocket before long. It really is a prolific cropper. 

Allotment - Sowing the first seeds

We began sowing seeds in late March with a view to planting out in the allotment once we got the keys so to speak. Our aim was to try and plant some of the fruit and vegetables we eat regularly and also a few more exotic types.

We bought 2 propagators, basically a covered seed tray that traps heat inside, some seeds require a lot of heat to germinate which cannot always be guaranteed in March in Ireland. We also purchased a plethora of small to medium size planting pots, trays, compost etc for all the other seeds we planned on starting off at home.

Seeds sown in Propagator for moving to allotment at a later date were as follows:

Tomato - 8 seeds total, 2 seeds per pod so 4 pods

Cherry Tomato - 3 seeds total

Peppers - 24 pods planted (we never realised before hand that 1 seed equals 1 plant and each plant can produce 6 - 10 peppers - we will learn for next year)

Strawberry - scattering of seeds per pod, 15 pods total

Leeks - 20 seeds in total, 2 per pod so 10 pods

Cucumber - 3 seeds total

Seeds sown in pots or trays, placed in Cold Frame to germinate for moving to allotment or finishing off at home were as follows:

Basil - 8 seeds total, 2 per pod so 4 pods

Butternut Squash - 3 seeds sown, 1 per pot

Sunflower - 2 seeds per pot, 3 pots total

Seeds sown in pots or trays, left on a sunny windowsill to germinate for moving to allotment or finishing off at home were as follows:

Sweetcorn - 9 seeds were sown individually in 3 inch pots

Broccoli (Autumn - Green Calabrese) - Sown in a seed tray, approx 24 seeds in total

Carrot (Autumn King 2) - After reading up on the internet I tried sowing 12 in peat pots to be grown at home and transplanted to the allotment - very much so experimental

Parsnip - After reading up on the internet I tried sowing 12 in peat pots to be grown at home and transplanted to the allotment - very much so experimental

Runner Beans (Scarlet Emperor) - 5 seeds were planted in 3 inch pots

Baby Beetroot - Sown in 3 x 5" pots, approx 9 seeds per pot

Allotment - Getting Started

We had been thinking about growing some veggies at home for a while and we finally decided to take on a plot in an allotment. We considered growing some on our balcony but

While living in Navan waiting to close the sale of our new apartment in Stepaside, we began looking at options but eventually decided to take on an 80m2 plot in Glencullen, very near Johnnie Fox's pub. It is a private allotment so there are no waiting lists unlike the council plots where you could be waiting years for a plot. The only downside is the cost, €305 euro per year is steep but we view it also as a pastime and not a money saving exercise.

Before we actually took on the allotment we went a little crazy in Garden centres, spent a small fortune on seeds, pots, trays, compost, propagators, tools and even a garden shed (we did get a really good deal on it however). The allotment site itself comes rotivated which is great, means you can start sowing straight away and it cuts out a lot of weeding, hoeing and shovelling that would otherwise have to be done.

We had a fairly grand plan in mind for the plot which involved building raised beds from used scaffolding planks, a mini polytunnel, erecting a shed and getting it to be the best looking plot in the allotment (all cosmetic of course but once all that is right from the start, in the long term it will make for less maintenance and a better sense of achievement)

The shed was the first item to be constructed, the first thing I did was to dig down to subsoil level where the soil is a little more solid than topsoil, then I placed 6 concrete paving slabs on a level base before topping them off with a layer of hardcore for added drainage and increasing the level of the shed off the ground. It took some help from Laura's Dad to hold the sides together while I screwed it all together but we eventually got it standing and assembled. I wasn’t impressed with the number of screws supplied with the shed so I went ahead and used about the same amount again to be sure it was well connected. It still feels a little lightweight though so I will have to look at something else in the near future to try and improve the overall strength.

I sourced used scaffolding planks from a scaffolding company who were looking to offload some, I got 30 x 6' planks at €2.50 each and 6 x 4' planks at €2 each. It was a little expensive but having read all the benefits for having raised beds I think it will pay off in the long run. The beds themselves took the best part of a full day to firstly paint with a non toxic wood preservative, secondly to connect together and lastly to fill with soil to the required level. The paths in between the beds will be covered with a black anti weed layer and topped off with a thick layer of bark mulch once we get around to it. I got some metal brackets in Woodies which did the job of connecting each plank together brilliantly and was definitely a cheaper option than getting timber stakes for each join. The added benefit of course being we can if we want to in the future simply unscrew the planks from one another and make a bed bigger, smaller of split them.

The next job was to construct a frame for a covered hoop house (I don't like calling it a polytunnel as it is a little on the small side but will hopefully have the desired effect) The intention of this is to grow vegetable that like the warmth and protection from the elements such as Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Butternut Squash, Broccoli and Strawberries. It comes from reading info online and hopefully will work out; this year is very much about experimentation.

I got some 1/2" household PVC pipe to form the hoops, there will be 9 hoops covering one of the beds and strengthened using bamboo canes as the support frame, over this I will place the plastic and hopefully it will be able to stand up to some strong winds given that the location of the allotment is on the side of a mountain. I fixed the PVC piping using some bendable steel bracketing to the scaffolding planks of the bed itself, I also used timber support columns at every second hoop. The bamboo canes were tied using gardening string covered in duct tape and lastly will be tied with cable ties. It feels pretty strong at the moment but we will just have to wait and see over the next few weeks and months. I have yet to put up the plastic covering but will be doing so in the next couple of days.

Keeping an eye on the spiralling costs we bought a cheap compost bin in LIDL, it will do for the short term. Looking at it all at the moment we have spent a small fortune but hopefully it will be an investment into the future and next years costs will not be as high. As I mentioned above it is more of a pastime than a money saving exercise, we could have just got the plot and planted some seeds but we wanted it to be somewhere to come, spend a few hours working, relaxing and just enjoying the outdoors. Let’s hope for a nice summer