Photos from week 34 of 2017

In this blog post, I have a collection of photos taken on the allotment or vegetable patch in week 34 of 2017.

Lifting my mood.

This week has been pretty tough on me. I mentioned in this week's podcast how my allotment and vegetable patch has helped with the tragic news I received. The loss of my cousin is felt by many. I have spoken about how I believe gardening elevates stress and sadness many times and the more I have heard from my audience the more I believe this to be true.Little things like this sunflower just warm the spirit with its appearance. the best thing about this sunflower is that I didn't plant it just appeared. It has continued to grow and looks rather happy although it is growing at an angle.

These little bits of land that I work on to improve and grow food on, help me when times get down

 

My grandfather.

Last year I lost my granddad who grew a lot of vegetables in his garden. At the outbreak of world war 2, my granddad was in school and taught his peers how to grow their own vegetables, which was a very important skill at this time.

Since his death, I have grown a few runner beans in his memory. I found and use a heritage variety call crusader. The day after I received the tragic news I found my first runner bean growing and ready to be harvested. Was it a sign, who knows but it certainly helped the family feel better.

I also had my mood lifted when I saw how big my large pumpkin had grown. This variety called big max is meant to produce some large squashes. The first pumpkin that was on this plant died for some reason and this one grew soon after. I am rather pleased with how it's coming along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making progress.

This week I have also been throwing myself into getting pallets broken down, cut to size and then painted ready to make beds. I have a lot of pallets to break down but progress is getting there. While preparing the wood is a long job, the wood is free. All the beds really cost me is the paint/preservative and a few screws. Recycling is good for the environment and the wallet but it does require some effort.

On the allotment, I have been preparing the empty ground. Ready to install new beds and to try to remove the couch grass roots. It's hard work digging over the ground and not a job I normally do. I prefer the no dig approach to gardening as this is less work and a lot easier to do. It is also much better for soil and test's show much better crops.

 

 

This week's harvests.

Each week I share with you all the photos of the food I have harvested this week.

Tomatoes rescued from blight plants.

 

 

 

 

More french bean. I am getting to the point of not knowing what to do with all these beans I keep harvesting.

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of apples.

 

 

 

 

 

Some disappointing potatoes. These are homeguard and Arron pilot from 3 bags.

 

 

 

 

 

A decent courgette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that is it for this week, as always please leave any comments or suggestions below.