Saturday 15 October 2011

End of year allotment update


Not really a lot to report for the end of year allotment update, this year has been a total washout at the allotment, don't think we had more than a handful of days this summer it did not rain, and probably less than that when the strange yellow ball in the sky made an appearance.


After a shaky start to the allotment year that got better with a replacement package  from Rocket Gardens, but when the sun doesn't shine and the rain doesn't stop there is only so much plants will do.

this years crop
this years plants
The best we got with the runner beans was this that between the twenty plants produced this as its total crop all year, in comparison to last years plants which yielded enough beans to eat 1lb at least 3 nights a week for 4 or 5 months as you can see here they produced masses of flowers, foliage and beans.




2010 the kids stood in front of the bean plants








the carrot crop



this year barely 12 inches tall and produces nothing
Then there was the sweetcorn, the seeds were the same type from the same manufacturer both years running.last year 22 of the 25 we planted grew too over 5ft tall and produce an average of 5 cobs a plant, again these went into the freezer and went a long way to reducing the food bill












in August last yr, this grew and produced till October





even the chickweed barely grew
The potatoes last year produced a lot of good green plants, again this year they were dying very early on due to needing snorkels to survive!!




To be truthfully honest with you it was a total waste of time, I had said way back at the beginning of this I would let you know what I thought about Rocket Gardens, and I have to say I don't think I can say anything bad  against them....ok so their plants did not grow, neither did the stuff we grew interdependently and listening to radio and watching tv programmes this was true for pretty much the whole of Scotland.

So I will definitely try them out again next year, all the wee plug-lets send ready for planting is such a big help....that is of we bother next year, it was a lot of work and a lot of expense for the results we got, but I have no control over the weather!

7 comments:

  1. Oh its so disappointing when plants dont do well. We live in the Midlands and the last few years has seen our allotment not producing well due to the rain. This year has seen an improvement for us; loads of runner beans, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and courgettes but onions, french beans and peas were dismal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. we have dug up 4 rows of potatoes so far the other 8 rows are still in the ground, when I get 2 dry days on the trot I will dig them up, plants long since died but heres hoping they not rotted.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You WON!! http://www.piginthekitchen.co.uk/2011/10/dont-kill-birthday-girl-winners-are.html

    Please see blog for details of how to claim your prize

    x

    ReplyDelete
  4. "The strange yellow ball in the sky" made me laugh!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Snow_bunny it makes that rare an appearance I have forgot its name!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Impressive was it not TheBoyandMe...not quite enough for a pot of soup!!

    ReplyDelete

Nice to see you stopping by. Thank you for your comment and I hope you stop by again.