Netting the polytunnel

Another step forward in preparing the allotment for planting was taken last night. The polythene covering of the polytunnel was removed some time ago, leaving a raised bed and the polytunnel frame. We have now added to it a net that keeps off the hens, ducks, rabbits, wood pigeons and other animals that think they can have a free meal at our expense. I will be planting out the large numnber of onions growing in the greenhouse later this week.

Also last night I shipped a load of our chicken manure up to Dad's allotment in Marley Hill where I'll be planting the potatoes later today and tomorrow. The cold, lingering end to winter has delayed planting so this job has to be done and finished soon to take advantage of the fact spring has actually arrived.

Another henhouse

This is the new henhouse we bought on Friday and assembled this evening. Snow White and Atilla, our two boss hens, can be seen checking it out. It will be used as a nursery unit for the 7 chicks but in the future it will be used as a home for the quails we are planning to hatch. We now have three henhouses in the corner of the allotment so we have ended up calling it Henhouse Avenue.

And still they keep growing

We are still on a learning curve when it comes to hatching and raising our own chicks. This week we started to feed them growers pellets which we mix with the chick feed. Over the next few days we will gradually increase the pellets until we have weaned them off the chick feed. The chicks are growing remarkably quickly. We took this photo yesterday. They must be about 5 times bigger than they were when they hatched 5 weeks ago.

A friend is taking 3 of them and we will keep the others. He may have to take them a bit earlier than expected.

Building cold frames

We have been planning to make some cold frames on the allotment and we have identified the site where they are to go - next to the fruitcage. But what about the materials from which they will be constructed? I didn't want to pay for new materials so we went on the look out for anything that could be recycled. Then a house near us had an extension built and on the front drive was a load of demolition waste from a wall that had been knocked down to make way for the extension. In it was a couple of old, double glazed window units. We asked the couple if we could have them and they were quite happy for us to take them. They even said that they had talked to other people living here to see if they wanted them for local allotments (one of whom spoke to me this morning to ask if I wanted them). So, in what must have been a bemusing sight for other local residents who didn't know what was going on, there we were, sorting through a pile of building waste on the drive of another house, and then carting off a couple of window panes!

Once we've got all the materials we need, we'll build the cold frames. We have courgette and gherkin seeds planted in the greenhouse. I suspect they will eventually be planted into them.

Dry Earth

This time last year we were experiencing the start of an incredibly wet period that lasted until December. My fear was that we would end up with the same problem this year. Things have turned out differently. We had a late start to spring. And now that spring has arrived, it is warmer and dryer, much much dryer, than last year. Take a look at the photo above, taken on the allotment this afternoon. See how dry the ground is. It's so dry that it is cracking up. We have been bringing over water each day as the water butts are nearly empty.

We have had one modest downpour this month and that's about it. I never thought I would hear myself say this but I really would like to see some rain. Tonight, my bizarre dream may be about to happen. The weather forecast is for rain. Alas, it looks as though it will last through the day as well and will bring with it a few days of colder temperatures. That's not quite what I wanted.

It will mean there will be less opportunity for the bees to get out and about. If the temperature is too low, the bees will stay in the hives. Today however has been warm again and they were out in force, as they have been every day for the past couple of weeks. Hopefully we will have a honey crop this year, unlike 2012.


Favourable weather means the bees have been active for the past couple of weeks.

Transplanting soft fruit

Last year, we planted a large number of soft fruit bushes on Dad's alotment. Today, I started the task of digging them out and transferring them to our allotment to replant them. The reason for this is a decision to refocus our main allotment on growing fruit and keeping poultry. We will use Dad's allotment to grow most of our vegetables, though some will be grown on two beds on our main allotment. They will have cages over them to protect them from the hens, ducks, wood pigeons and rabbits. The other factor that helped us to decide to refocus what is grown where is flooding.

We are probably overdoing our concerns but last year was such a bad year for the weather that, even though this year looks as though a repeat of the wet, miserable temperatures and rain is not on the cards, fear of them will linger on for ages to come. Crop yields in the mud of the allotment last year were so poor that we are not going to leave ourselves vulnerable like that again, even though we are putting in extensive drainage. Dad's allotment is better drained and did not have any flooding or mud last year. That's better for veg growing. The soft fruit on the other hand survived the wet conditions (and the hens) in better shape.

The photo above shows some of the transplanted soft fruit bushes. They have been arranged so that they will in effect form a hedge along the side of the main path into the allotment. There will also be room for us to net them if needed.

Chicken manure

In past years we have had to buy in manure for the allotment. Well, that problem and expense is now behind us. Our hens and ducks produce plenty of fresh manure on a daily basis for us. It is mixed with wood shavings (and sometimes shredded paper) which we use as bedding in the hen and duck houses. The ducks pee an awful lot more than the hens with the result that the bedding is rich in ammonia. It all makes for a good, slow release manure.

We learnt by trial and error last year however that creating an open top compost bin in which to store the muck from the hen and duck houses is not so good an idea if the hens can get into it. They end up kicking it out onto the ground and then spreading it around again. The bottom corner of our allotment was therefore in need of a clean up. I spent this morning digging up the manure the hens had kicked onto the ground and took it over to one of the main beds where I left it in piles. The hens then kindly spread it across the bed for us.

Yesterday we built a new compost bin using wood salvaged from some pallets. The bin now sits on the path outside the allotment so the hens can't get to it. We will fill it gradually and any other allotment holder on our site can help themselves to the contents.