PortabelloBelle

A lot of effort has been put in over the last 2 months.

The first couple of weeks were spent just getting to a point where we could start thinking of the plot as an actual allotment, and then the real work started.

Our first target was getting a polytunnel put up, which we had done by the end of July

We were quite proud of ourselves. We worked hard and had the whole thing done in a couple of days. Nature, however, didn’t want us to have a polytunnel just yet and sent storm Floris to let us know

Unperturbed, we carried on.

The polytunnel, it was decided, could wait until later, and we would get on with preparing open ground while we had some good weather.

David got on with making a main entrance path and clearing ground to put in some beds. These first beds will be for Japanese overwintering onions, some yellow,  and some red for harvest early summer next year

Meanwhile, I cleared some ground and used pallet collars to make raised beds for strawberries. Since strawberries are really little more than weeds, they are planted in fresh top soil, with a little general purpose compost. I’ll add straw top dressing next spring to keep the fruit off the ground, and so help prevent rot.

Rhubarb went in a week later, planted into the ground with some fertiliser, to help get the roots developing before the plants go dormant for winter, buying pot specimens, rather than bare root will (hopefully) mean we can harvest next summer, rather than summer ’26

David, thinking about Christmas dinner, bought seed potatoes that, if planted toward the end of summer and protected from frost, would be ready for late December.

Planted into tubs so that they can be moved if necessary, are ‘Charlotte’ a variety of salad potato,  and ‘Maris Piper’ a good all – rounder

Fruit trees are something we want to grow. Some research told us that these can be expensive, but a nearby nursery has a “clearance” section for plants that are not in the best of health and will require some TLC. On a recent visit, we discovered a cherry tree (variety Stella) and a plum (‘Opal’) at less than ½ price. While the plum is still at home, the cherry has been planted, with some enriched compost to help it get started. The plum will be planted in September.

Some of the neighbouring plots have various types of fowl, and a couple of chickens escaped last week, we found them having a great time pecking about on our ground. We were happy to have them, as they’ll remove weed seeds and pests. Thank you, chickens!

Later on, their owners came and recovered them back their coop.

David is, among other things, a joiner, which is a good thing to be as an Allotmenteer. He’s made a gate and is building a fence to give the plot a nicer edge.

The potatoes are doing really well and have been earthed up several times. The tubs are now full, so we just have to hope they are deep enough to give us a crop we can call good. We were surprised by just how quickly they developed.

My aim is to post about the allotment every three months, as I’m aware that once it’s running properly, there won’t be much to report weekly, or even monthly, so I thought a quarterly update would avoid reader fatigue.

To round off this edition, here are 2 of the cats who live on the site. Panther, a black cat, who has issues with his sight, and Misty, who has recently started a family (I’ll attempt to get pictures of the kittens when I can, just now they’re easily frightened,  and need time to acclimatise to people.