Polytunnel Activity, Planting Tomatoes, Garden Birdlife, etc..

Last year I gave up my allotment. It was too far away and not doing what I wanted (unlike many allotments, despite the fact there are over 100 plots, rarely are there any people about. Everybody seems to go on a Sunday morning when I can’t make it so there’s nobody to see when I do go). However, what this means is that I’m spending more time in the garden and I’m getting more things growing there.

Polytunnel May

Starting with the polytunnel. My aim in the tunnel is to grow enough french beans, lettuce and cucumbers to keep us fed through the summer. Here you can see what’s planted now (except for the cucumber hidden on the left). The bench will eventually have most of the determinate tomatoes but at the moment its got random collections of various things.

Tomatoes: I’ve potted up all the indeterminate tomatoes into their final buckets and, over the next few weeks I’ll position them around the edges of the greenhouses and string them up to the supports which are already in place. So what you can see here is the tomatoes in their buckets with the strings tied though the bottom of the buckets draped in the pot ready to be tied.

Raspberries: One thing I’m happy about is my raspberries. I think that autumn fruited raspberries are the easiest fruit to grow and produce the best tasing raspberries. I brought 12 canes back from the allotment and squeezed them in between the greenhouse and the fence. They didn’t grow much last year but I fed them and this year it looks like we’re going to get a reasonable amount of fruit. They’re just beginning to flower so I expect to have ripe fruit starting in July/early August. Hopefully the squirrels won’t bother them.

Bluetits: I’m pleased to see that the Bluetits are back. We had them in the birdbox earlier in the year after we’d had a warm spell but they seemed to go away. However, they’re back. Getting a picture of them coming out is hard work (or too hard for me) so here’s a picture of one of the pair going in. I’ve seen them coming out with something in their mouth so hopefully this means that they’ve already got young. Now all we have to do is hope that the Greater Spotted Woodpecker doesn’t find them. In previous years, the woodpecker has predated the nest but this year the box is in a different place.

Finally the ducks. Now this is a bit strange. Last year we took out our pond. Its under the trees, fills up with leaves and last year killed all the tadpoles and snails. So we decided that the pond was best got rid of. However, the ducks obviously didn’t know that so they’ve turned up and are wandering around where the pond used to be. I just hope the fox doesn’t get them.

That’s it I’ll keep you up to date with what’s happening as it goes.