Unwanted guests

The creepy crawlies are making me lose the plot. A line of spinach is fair game to slugs, snails and rabbits but it is very annoying when these pesky pests take more than their fair share; for example my cabbage has been ripped to bits by caterpillars and gooy greenflies are smothering the broadbeans. 

Should I just leave the allotment untouched and a balance will establish itself with a vast range of creatures that live off and with the vegetables? No, not a bloody chance!

By definition an allotment is an ordered, unnatural place where we humans control. But to blitz all other forms of life because they eat our veg is a bit insane. 

So the pests and I need to come to some reasonable co-existance; a balanced eco-system so to speak. 

I'm no expert and I don't claim to be, but this I feel is the essence of organic farming, finding this balance. So, in descending order, here's my current list of tormentors and some of the organic farming actions I am taking. 

1. Slugs and snails: 

They eat all root crops and most leafy crops, making holes in leaves and often stripping them. Handpick, cover vulnerable veg with plastic bottles and toilet roll tubes. Slug pub bowls work great too, apparently the fermenting smell reminds the slugs of rotting fruit and they dive straight in and drown. 

2. Rabbits: 

The bigger the pest, the greater the devastation. Quick action by Jenny and Peter Young in Castlefarm by fencing and securing the entire allotment area is deterring these four-legged fiends. 

3. White butterflies:

These little fluttery angles of destruction have laid eggs on my cabbages, turnips and radishes. Best cure is prevention, cover with a fine net from the minute they are planted until harvest. I've also heard of people surrounding the plant with carpet. Daily handpicking works too. 

4. The aphid invasion of sticky goo:

Greenfly, blackfly and whitefly. These guys feed of the soft tissue of the plant and suck the sap. The best action here to to encourage ladybirds and hoverflies by planting dill and fennel. Also hand pick the aphids early, use a strong jet of cold water or nettle feed to dislodge them and cut out infested shoots. And if you think it is worth it, use a battery-powered hoover on the adult flies.

5. Birds:

Birds can completely destroy leafy crops, damage seedlings and uproot onion sets. Wire netting or a fleece helps and light reflectors such as CDs. But a good old scarecrow works too. 

6. Wood pigeons:

Other birds rob but wood pigeons are into gratuitous vandalism. Old wire baskets, wire netting and racks can be used to protect seedbed. 

7. Pea moths:

These guys will enter the pea pod and attack the pea, making it inedible. Cover peas with a fleece. 

8. Flea beetle:

The beetle eats small holes in the leaf that can check growth and kill young plants. Coat a piece of wood with heavy grease and pass it along the row of plants. The insects will jump up and stick to the grease. Also cover plants with a fleece. 

9. Humans:

Believe it or not, thieve do operate in vegetable patches. None have been spotted in Narraghmore to date. The prevention is to grow unrecognisable vegetables such as artichokes or fennel and stubborn-rooters such as parsnips and garlic that won't be lifted without a fight!

Caption: The greenfly invasion of sticky goo on my broadbeans

Greyskull the scarecrow: shiver me crows!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Our cabbage is under attack by some very hungry caterpillars. They are speedily eating holes through our leaves and are happily laying eggs on the underside of the leaves. It's the cabbage I care about not the caterpillars and the damage is sufficiently bad that it warrants intervention. 

So I'm going to kill this pest with garlic spray (leave one bulb of garlic in two pints of water overnight, then spray the next day).

I've also invested in a green fleece from the advice of a lovely lady in B&Q Naas, so the cabbage will be tucked up and protected; yet the sun and water can still penetrate. 

Large pieces of eggshell can be scattered amongst cabbages to confuse the caterpillar aswell. The theory goes that it will mistake the eggshells for other caterpillars and leave the area looking for less populated plants to lay its eggs on. Sounds egg-cellent!

Picture perfect, kinda...

A picture progress report on the vegetables, June 7

Row D: Beetroot at the front of picture, seeds planted 12/5

Row D: Carrotts seeds planted 14/4

Row C: Cabbage at the front view, planted by seed 25/4

Row A: Potatoes planted late March

Row B: In view Broad Beans (25/4), Peas (7/4),  Mangetot (25/4), 

Runner Beans (25/4) and more Peas (12/5) all planted by seed

Row C: Cabbage planted by seed 25/4

Row B: Sweetcorn planted by seed 2/5

Row B: Peas flowers planted by seed 7/4

Row B: Onions, shallots sets planted late March

Row C: Turnip seeds planted 2/5, thinned out 7/6

Row B: French Beans seeds planted 25/4. Gone yellow, nettle feed added 

Row D: In poly tunnel courgette

WEED KILL

The weeds are taking hold! Close the shutters, hide the children, protect the seeds and let the scarecrow fed for itself. Ok so it's not blight, but an inexorable invasion of weeds on my allotment in Castlefarm is beginning to feel like an enemy attacking. 

And the weeds, unlike my sweetcorn or beetroot, seem to be enjoying this dismal wet week with unhealthy relish. 

I have creeping buttercups, docks and the nettles are doing very nicely. The great rafts of goosegrass and thistle are also showing up. But are weeds just plants in the wrong place? Well, no. A weed is acne or hairs in food. Not the end of the world but we do not want them.

There are positives I'm told. The wider the variety of weeds you have, the healthier your soil. Also they will attract a good selection of insects, something to look forward too, lovely. 

But they do contribute to the holistic balance of vegetable growing, which is the very essence of successful organic gardening. Chemical gardening is a bore. Stop it at once!

So how do we deal with weeds? Hoe, mulch or get down on your knees and hand-pick them out. Remember though timing is of the essence. You must remove the weeds before the seed. The old adage 'one year's seeding means seven years' weeding is pretty much accurate.

Full of beans

Bean there done that!

Broad beans: The broad beans are living up to their reputation as the hardiest of the legumes. They continue to shoot up and have plenty of green foliage. While they are said to be easy to grow and ideally suited to allotment growing it doesn't diminish the satisfaction for a novice allotment holder to see them thrive.

Runner Beans: Our runner beans have been growing well over the past few weeks. However the leaves had turned a shade of yellow. Jenny Young believed this was due to some mineral deficiency in the soil and recommended a nettle feed. Within a week of applying the feed the plants are beginning to return to their natural colour.

 

Potato patch

Above: our potato patch today!

Potatoes remain one of the most popular allotment crops perhaps due to its longstanding tradition or because they are so gratifying to grow. The Sarpo Axona seed potatoes we put down in March are maturing nicely. We planted them around  six inches deep and plan to add an extra one inch of soil over the next two weeks. While excessive watering can bring on too much leaf growth at the expense of the tubers, they need to be kept moist. A good dousing every two weeks in dry weather is recommended and when the flowers are forming. 

As they grow, earth them up by drawing soil over them with a hoe to prevent light getting to the tubers. This will encourage a greater yield from the base. When the flowers are open, the earlies are ready, usually after 90 days. They should be eaten soon after harvesting. 

On allotment ground it is important to be extremely careful to avoid potato disease. Problems that can arise are potato cyst eelworm, potato blight, wireworm, scab, blackleg, potato common scab, rust spot and slugs. A breakthrough is the Sarpo Axona variety. It has a near-perfect resistance to blight and good resistance to slugs and wireworm. So fingercrossed for a healthy harvest. 

Nettle feed

The rain and sunshine is working wonders at the allotment, everything is springing to life. The potatoes, broadbeans and onions are showing renewed growth and the new seedlings such as the courgettes, chicory and beetroot are taking hold. 

It is important to give vegetables extra nutrients and making your own organic fertiliser could not be easier. This is especially the case when the same patch of soil is in constant use, such as an allotment, and vegetable growing in particular uses up a lot of nutrients from the soil. So as with farming, intensive successive growing will require you to replenish what is taken out in order to maximise the crop from your patch. 

There are a plethora of ways to nourish, condition and improve your soil. Regularly adding compost definitely helps, as the soil benefits from the nutrition and structure to aid water drainage. However compost on it's own may not be enough - a regular 'top up' with an organic fertiliser is vital if you want your vegetables to flourish.

You can make your own organic fertiliser easily at home. The ingredients can be sourced directly from the garden or allotment. Jenny Young of Castlefarm explains that one of the simplest yet effective organic fertilisers you can make is from nettles. A liquid nettle feed are a great source of nitrogen, perfect for plants growing above ground. Nettle feed has also been attributed as a fantastic feed for tomatoes. 

To make your liquid nettle fertiliser, you'll need lots of nettles, water and a large storage butt or bucket. Firstly, you'll need to collect up your nettles - as many as you can find! If possible, opt for younger, more tender stems. Once you have collected your nettles, you can either chop them up with secateurs, crush them (wearing thick garden gloves, of course!), or shred them through a lawnmower or garden shredder. 

The crushed or shredded nettles can then be put in the container. You can weigh the pile of nettles down with a stone or brick, before adding water. You should add enough water to just about cover the pile of nettles.

You'll then need to leave the 'brew' for around 20-30 days. During this time, the mixture starts to smell somewhat, so you might want to site it in a secluded corner of your garden or allotment! The brew will also become like a rich feed concentrate, so once it's ready to use, you'll need to dilute it with water to a ration of around 1:10 before feeding it to your plants.

If you have any leftover feed, this can always be added to your compost heap or bin over winter when the nettle-growing season finishes.

Happy feeding!

Watch the blog http://haveilosttheplot.blogspot.com/ and this space

Breed like rabbits

What an exciting week for the Carrott family and the allotment. We welcomed our new addition, baby Will last Sunday and we had our first harvest, a spinach salad.  But we weren't the first to eat the spinach. A big and hairy rabbit had taken up residence in our polytunnel and devoured a patch. On a vegetable growth inspection, we came across the rabbit and even got a picture of it. We have plans of turning it into a 'Most Wanted' poster now!

green grows the rushes

Carrott Jnr gets watering but loses a sock!

Slug pub

Now I haven't come across any slugs yet, but this unstoppable pest needs to be kept at bay; prevention is better than cure. I remember the trauma as a child squashing a slug with a glass jar. It was truly gross and it makes me shudder to think about it. I do not want to repeat this torture, but if it comes to slugs vs lettuce, I'll acquire a hammer. But first I'm going to make a slug pub, a dish of organic cider (Mr Carrott's home brew) to lure the slugs to their death. 

For the birds

Hungry birds are becoming the bane of my allotment life. This week I'm going to stretch an old net curtain over the onions, shallots, peas and broadbeans now that some of these enterprising creatures have taken to their taste. Almost overnight they've pecked at the seedlings and helped themselves. My neighbours too have an array of impressive bird-control scaring devices; a cute pink scarecrow, tinker bells, toy windmills and a row of Tricolour flags. 

Birds, especially the Narraghmore crows, are smart creatures. Let's not underestimate them. I'm guessing they'll soon learn that scaring devices represent not real danger, so I'm going to improvise using a variety of devices and replacing or moving them around from time to time. Clearly this is one of the first signs of allotment madness!

Weed killer

The recent sun and rain have been fantastic for the allotment; everything seems to have leapt to life - including weeds. My last couple of sessions on the plot have involved a never-ending cycle of weeding and sowing seeds. Sadly the fine weather is having a positive effect on the weeds as it is on me. I always hand weed the shoots out as soon as I see them but they keep coming back. I dug out as any of the deep white roots as I could, but it's a bit like digging for Australia - you'll never get there. As an organic gardener, I can't apply chemicals to the plot. But I'm sure my regular attacks with fork and spade will one day eliminate these knotty problems. 

The onions, shallots and garlic spring to life!!

How we have all grown

It's now five months since our first dig into the allotment at Castlefarm in Narraghmore and dare I say out loud things are going smoothly. 

These past weeks we have been planting in earnest, indeed a race against time to get seeds into the ground. 

On row one, 'The Traditional', we have potatoes, onions, shallots, garlic and herbs (borage and chives). Row two, 'The Experiment', we have broadbeans, French beans, peas, runner beans, chicory, radishes, rhubarb, sweetcorn and pumpkin. Next is 'The Unknown' row three, so far fennel, cabbage, turnip and a half row yet to be planted. And row four 'The mix' we have beetroot, carrots, leeks, spinach and a poly-tunnel, where I've started courgettes, tomatoes and have yet to source organic sweet pepper seeds. It's full steam ahead. 

Everyone on the allotments are sharing ideas and seeds; each proudly giving a tour of what they have planted, what's growing, what's not.

We are all nurturing the soil with Castlefarm's organic manure, caring for the seedlings, feeding them now with organic nutrients in turn hoping that they will feed us in the coming months. 

Back in February in the bucketing rain and freezing wind, we tilled the soil, the hardest part of the preparations. Then we got real and ordered a battery-operated rotavator that many of us used. Now in the past weeks, the plots are springing to life and we have faith that a good summer will yield a great harvest, fingerscrossed!

To beet the band

It was a sun-saturated weekend where the spinach, beetroot and rhubarb took pride of place. 

First up was beetroot. There's nothing like homemade boiled up beetroot with ham and mash, yum and did you know it can also be used for making wine, pasta and crisps, now that is good credentials. 

I set aside a bed with no manure dug in a few weeks back as it can cause roots to rot in some vegetables, beetroot being an example. 

Beetroot should not be sowed until the last frost and the sunshine over the last couple of days was ideal. I sowed three rows, one inch deep and three inches apart. The soil needs to remain damp until the seeds have germinated, in fact it could be fatal. It being Ireland they should be well watered alright!

Next up was Popeye's favourite. I started the spinach seeds indoors a few weeks back and they germinated quickly, not a bother at all. I transplanted them out last Saturday in three rows about six inches apart. I'm told as the weather warms, the spinach plants will bolt more quickly and I've been warned then need to be water regularly. 

Then it was rhubarb's turn. Jenny Young supplied the organic crowns/buds from here garden here in Castlefarm. To support quick spring growth, soil high in organic matter is vital and the well-rotten manure at Castlefarm is the best organic fertiliser going and we were sure to work plenty of this in weeks ago. 

Before planting I dug a hole a little bit wider than the crow, the depth was where the top of the plant was just below the soil surface and I spaced each about 10 inches apart. 

What I am unsure of, is rhubarb a fruit, vegetable or plant? An ornamental plant where the veg is prepared and eaten like fruit perhaps, it's still delicious not matter the title!

WIPEOUT

It was a bleak time in Narraghmore this morning, the transplanted beans (broadbeans, French beans, runner beans) were wiped out; swept away to Carlow in fact. My first allotment casualty. After weeks of caring, watering and talking to the bloody beans, they did not survive the transplantation or the Athy wind. All that is left is canes and string. It's tough but I'm not going to give up. I've planted bean seedlings that were left over, here's hoping for second time lucky. 

Full of beans

Next up was the broadbeans and French beans. The beds had been well-manured and tilled the weeks previously so the soil was prepared. And like the runner beans I had sowed some in seed trays weeks previously. 

So another array of wigwams quickly went up (I was fast becoming an expert!) and again I sowed some seeds alongside the constructions. 

Harvesting of all the beans will take place in about two/three months, ideally when the pods are about half and inch in diameter. However, I fear the wigwams may not stand the test of our Irish weather. Indeed I will keep you posted.

Cane and able

"Have you got your runner beans in yet," asked the lady in my local shop as I bought the papers. "I've no plans to do a runner, as today is the day," I grinned. (I know a terrible pun but I couldn't help myself). She then gave loads of advice on the bean machine of wigwams and manure, and tips on growing French beans, runner beans and broadbeans. A five-minute walk ended up a 30-minute class! So despite the rain, hailstones and the cutting wind, I was now full of renewed enthusiasm and ventured out to Narraghmore with my bamboo shoots and spade in hand. 

Doing a runner:

I had given the runner beans a head start by sowing them in seed trays weeks previously. They  grow to about six feet high and, like us all, definitely need support. The wigwam is the most preferred option I'm told. So the caning began in earnest. 

My hands turned purple with the cold as I knotted the twine around four to five bamboo canes. I transplanted the runner beans at the foot of the canes and sowed more seeds directly below. 

I also twisted some twine around the canes, which will give the growing plants more to grad hold of. Other methods are to erect a criss-cross of canes, which looked complicated, but I tried a variation anyway! 

Little Green Fingers Help Out!

Birds and vampires

Next up were the onions and shallots. We got the sets a few weeks ago, again from Fruit Hill Farms. Sets are miniature bulbs, which means they get off to a fast start having more stored energy that a seed to work with. Sets are planted flat end down so that the tip is just above soil level. 

A great tip I got was to nip the tops off to stop the birds thinking they are worms and pulling them out. 

And to keep the vampires away, two rows of garlic went in too. I broke the bulbs apart into cloves, 'cracking' is the official term, and planted them a good two inches below the surface with the top pointed up. 

On the agenda next week is wigwams and bamboo creations so the beans can runaway with themselves!

Hot potatoes

The planting began in earnest this week. Top of the list was the potato sets, 'blight resistant' sarpo mira from Fruit Hill Farms. I had them 'chitting' in egg cartons for a number of weeks. Some sprouted well, some not at all. Anyway, in they went. I dug holes six inches deep; placed the seed potatoes in; piled in the manure; and covered with soil. Voila. I lost count how many I planted, roughly 24 in total. 

Tilling to the bitter end

The spring sunshine marked a brilliant productive week, not only for the allotment but also for my suntan. There was lots of sunshine, lots of tilling and lots of planting. 

The tilling was endless. We tilled to the bitter end to get our soil like powder. This clearing the ground has been ongoing for weeks and it's not joke. It's strenuous work, but we got there in the end, with a couple of casualties, blisters on my hands and the raised beds are no longer straight. A little bit crooked in some places, a bit like a winding staircase, but I'm told vegetables can grow in any nook and canny. 

Then I hear about a battery-operated rotavator doing the rounds at the allotment. It's possibly the "best invention ever" my neighbour tells me. I don't doubt it. I've seen it's success on other plots and whoever invented such a thing is a genius. So tip of the year, hire a rotavator, it will save you weeks of backache and pain. Too late for us, but it's already on my Christmas wish list. 

Allotment envy

The title says it all, allotment envy is the new green-eyed monster. I'm not sure if I want to admit this in print but I'm jealous of my neighbours beds and his soil is just perfect, as fine as flour. Yes I know no two allotments are the same and yes mine did have a week of neglect, but I doubt even with 10 weeks of hard toil would my patch compare with the earthy beauty it borders. 

Rumour has it he is a professional gardener and tills his soil through a sieve! Well the guy is a genius and I'm determined to discover his secrets and catch up. With this in mind, I've taken the entire week off work so me, Mr Carrott and the Carrottettes can get dug in. 

Politics in spades

Trevour Sargent does it, Eamonn Ryan does it and even Michelle Obama does it. 

Ireland's Green Ministers both have veg patches and America's First Lady is turning part of the South Lawn into an organic veg garden to provide food for the first family. This is all breaking new ground. 

Speaking of which, Get Ireland Growing, a campaign to encourage those interested in community gardens and allotments, was launched by the Green Party on Sunday. 

It's aim is to promote growing your own to save money, to improve public health and to enhance community spirit. Now this is one recipe that can take us all forward. 

It's website, www.getgrowing.ie, features advice, allotment success stories with links to community facilities and gardening centres. Minister Sargent will also be providing regular YouTube clips with growing tips. And personally I can't wait to see the Eamonn Ryan clips. Delicious. 

One potato, two potato....oh chit!

With the Grand Slam last weekend I neglected the allotment, in fact I simply just ignored it. I had planned to plant the first crop of seedlings but instead I was glued to O'Driscoil, O'Gara, O'Connell & Co and no, I didn't feel guilty.
Then I had to take Mother's Day off to attend the glorious homecoming and even got a glimpse of the Six Nations Cup. Oops, I'm going to have to dig deep this week to overcome the relapse!
On the agenda is the potato. Supermarket potatoes don't come close to the buttery, melt-in-the-mouth floury taste of the Irish spud. Little did I know that growing potatoes was as controversial as the pension levy. Debate rages every year over whether you should "chit" seed potatoes before planting time or if you can just bung them into the ground.
For the unskilled (me!) chitting aka greensprouting is putting your seed potatoes in a cool but light area, rose end upward for several weeks so they form strong, strudy shoots.
Some experts, including Paula Prender, our allotment teacher in Castlefarm, Athy encourages chitting in that it gives the potatoes a head start in the growing season so they mature nicely before a blight strikes.
My mom, daughter of an Offaly potato farmer, is strongly opposed to the idea of chiiting; so much so she laughed heartily at my neatly-rowed seed potatoes in egg cartons.
She reasons the sprouted potatoes will find the soil to cold when planted out and their growth will slow as a result. "You're fussing over them, pampering and spoiling them; they aren't grandkids you know," she jokes.
To find out what method works best for me, I'm going to do both and see what happens; the proof will be in the potato.
And to get the debate really raging, should I leave all the shoots on the chitted potatoes or rub some off? Answers on a postcard please!

Look who's talking!

A strange snippet into my daily routine. I've formed the habit of talking and singing to my seedlings each morning and at night, when bringing my son to bed, we say goodnight to kale, to lettuce, to mr spud and mr onion and so on. 

This is perhaps the first sign of allotment madness, but it turns out that there my be some truth to the belief that talking to plants and veg helps them grow. 

Plants need carbon dioxide to grow and when you talk to a plant, you breath on it, giving it that extra infusion. However, for this to have any real effect on your favourite veg, you have to spend several hours a day conversing with it in close quarters. 

And did you know the idea of talking to plants was first introduced in 1848 when a German professor Dr Fechner suggested the idea. He believed plants were capable of emotions, just like humans and you could promote healthy growing by showering your plants with attention and talk. Just don't let the neighbours catch you!!

Pictured Carrott Jnr showering the seedlings with attention and talk to help them grow

Seeds of happiness

My leeks and onions have sprung and are not dead as I feared last week. My runner beans continue to live up to their name and will need to be planted into bigger pots shortly. All the others - kale, lettuce, peas, broadbeans, spinach and herbs are growing to plan. Once this cold spell passes, I'll start planting them out and begin again with a new batch of seeds. 

My seed potatoes have arrived. They are currently in egg cartons in my utility room and getting ready sprout. Once the sprouts appear, they'll be ready for planting in my fresh cultivated soil!

In the trenches

There are various ways to get manure into the ground. My preference is single digging. Start at one side of the bed and dig a trench one spades depth and width. Pile this soil into a wheelbarrow. 

Using a spade add a layer of manure. Now dig a trench next to the first trench. Upturn the soil from the second trench into the first. 

Repeat this until you get to the far end of your plot and use the wheelbarrow soil to fill in the last trench. Now can you dig all that? 

A word of warning, this is tough, labour-intensive work so helpers such as husbands and little ones are an advantage!

The plot thickens

This week is all about preparing the soil. The plots had been ploughed several weeks ago and are ready to be tilled. The benefits of this are it provides more oxygen, water drainage and makes it easier for roots to penetrate the soil. 

The other reason to till the soil is to incorporate organic matter such as compost or manure to help improve the quality. As we learnt in our class this week, the ideal fertiliser is good old manure and it is plentiful supply thanks to the Young's herd of organic cows at Castlefarm. So we spent the weekend shovelling shit!

Going potty

My seeds arrived, hurrah! I ordered them from The Organic Centre in Leitrim (www.theorganicentre.ie) and it took less than a week. The grand total was €114 for more than 30 packets - everything from broadbeans to swiss chard, with a bit of cabbage, turnip, carrots and pumpkins in between. So it's time to stop planning and start potting. 

As a newcomer to growing vegetables, I was amused to see how different seeds can be: onions, small and sliver; broadbeans, big and brown. Some were almost too small to see. 

The more thrifty gardener can use empty recyclable milk and yogurt pots or egg cartons. I opted for the shop-bought variety, five seeds for €5, each tray takes 40 seeds. 

I filled the seed trays with damp compost (Shamrock Organic Gold) and gently firmed it down. I placed one seed into each pot and covered it with a light layer of compost. 

The aim is to successfully germinate the seeds and for that you need moisture, air and the right temperature over a period of two to three weeks. 

Seeds I potted were kale, lettuce, broadbeans, dwarf french beans, runner beans, leeks, peas, onions, rosemary and a whole lot of thyme. On my schedule for the coming weeks is cabbage, chicory and spinach. 

I loosely covered the trays with cling film to keep the moisture and heat in. It is important to keep the compost moist; I got carried away though and may have drowned my leeks and onions as there is no sign of any germination taking place, so careful not to over water. As it is I'll be starting over with my leeks and onions. 

The peas and beans have thrived, with the prize specimen already reaching nine inches; my girlfriends are impressed!

For the moment, my kitchen has been invaded by seed trays, taking over all available counter space and window sills. Just a couple more weeks and they'll be out of the house and into the ground, only to return as fully grown and edible vegetables (hopefully). 

What's up next, shoveling shit - digging deep with muck and manure!

The first look

In our first class, back in January, as well as getting to know each other, we went through the priniciples of sustainable organic vegetable production, equipment, seeding and transplanting materials an allotment design plans. 

Then with our trench coats in hand and wrapped up warm, we ventured out to the allotment site. It was a cold four degrees. There the virgin allotments were, more than 30 plots, 5mx7m, bare and untouched. Let the ploughing, fertilising, sowing and planting begin. 

Shabby clothes

Dresscode for an allotment is old, shabby clothes (that won't be a problem!), hat, gardening gloves and solid wellies. Essential tools: Felcro prunes (if you can afford them), spade, shovel, fork, hoe, hula hoe, three-pronged cultivator, stakes, string, spray bottle and a 'borrowed' shopping basket for easy transport. 

And very importantly get labels and a record book. If I'm to be anyway successful, this is vital for my sanity (to remember what I planted three months down the line and when I did it) and for the the survival rate of my veg. 

Pots, roots, legs and bras

So I'm off to a good start. I've planned the vegetable plot and have worked out a rotation plan. I'm working  the vegetables in four groups - potatoes, roots, legumes and brassicas (in short 'pots, roots, legs and bras). This is to cultivate the soil for years of optium growth.

The plan tomorrow is to sow early spring vegetables into indoor pot trays to give them a good start - leeks, broadbeans, french beans, peas, lettuce and garlic are top of my list. 

Wish me luck!

Pick a packet or two

Over the past week glossy magzines readings have been replaced by seed catalogues. With the frost and snow now is the ideal time to curl up with a good gardening book (Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening by Pauline Pears) and order your seeds. 

So I've picked up a packet or two (at www.castlefarm.ie and www.organiccentre.ie); in fact I've picked up E80 worth of seeds, but don't let that put you off. 

I ordered things that I love to eat (leeks, broadbeans, spring onions, cabbage) and things my husband (garlic, cauliflower, potatoes) and kids (sweetcorn, peas and pumpkin) love to ear. I'll turn into a seedaholic at this rate!

Can you dig it?

Owning an allotment is the ultimate workout I'm told: fresh air, back ache, dirt under the fingernails and the joys of growing your own is something I am looking forward to.

The plan is to be self-sufficient by growing vegetables in my new allotment in Castlefarm, Narraghore, Athy. So as a 'townie' from Naas with Offaly blood in my veins (don't hold it against me!), it will be a challenge. 

A word of warning, this is by no means an advice column, merely an experimention and record of a newbie allotment holder/veggie grower. 

The advice in February is to prepare a plan and buy your seeds and tools. They say to start small and gradually expand your edible horizons, we'll see!