They loved these alkaloid filled plants. I think they would be toxic to humans and horses if eaten to excess..

A lone Ladybird wandering around on the plot. These are such happy insects.I love finding them in the allotment or in the garden. They are aphid eating machines.

The Cabbages are nearly ready to be harvested. All the blood, sweat, bites and stings seem worth it once it has been washed, prepared, and cooked. The satisfaction of eating your own grown fruit or veg is amazing!I am almost evangelical..just try it and see.

The finished plates with artfully arranged New Potatoes, Pea’s, Globe Artichoke, and three types of Courgette from Hils (normal, yellow, and round).
We ate the New Potatoes with some Chicken on Tuesday. They tasted lovely. I need to go back to harvest the rest of the Charlotte New Potatoes.
The RHS Tatton Park Show yesterday was amazing. I took over three hundred photos. Tomorrows post will be about this years show. It runs untill Sunday if you are near Cheshire.
There was so much there to see. It is one of the highlights of the year for me..

Once, way back when I had my allotment, I let one of my Leeks go to flower. Just to see what happened. The result was amazing. A beautiful, spherical, pom-pom that exploded from its papery case and attracted bees from miles around. So this year when I came back from holiday and found that the last clutch of my Leeks had already sprouted alien-esque flower heads I decided to let them flower.

It’s been a long wait. Each day brought the tiny, purple and white flowers closer to the surface. So close infact I could see them through the skin of the pods! But still they didn’t open. Then suddenly, pop!

Out they came.

And so, so beautiful they are. Each flower being made up of hundreds of tiny flowers to make this amazingly round ball of loveliness.

Even the bees love them, so everyone’s a winner.

This shows some of my small plot. The Runner Beans are growing up the Canes. The Courgettes are looking healthy with their pop bottles wedged in to water them. The Cabbages are forming beautifully beneath the Black netting on the left. The Winter Onions are behind the Runner Bean Canes. The Summer Onions are to the right. Behind them all rows of Potatoes are growing on in the dry summer heat.

I have this beautiful Gallardia in flower in my hexagonal planter next to the Shed. It has a little aphid hanging on it too. My allotment has two small planters, a miniture garden for when im away from the new house.
The allotment is always alive with the sounds of the birds and bee’s. Insects are running wild. I heard a Woodpecker today, and saw a little Hawk hunting high over the allotment plots. The only sounds was bird song and my scraping Hoe.

The Hot weather has thrown up some problems however. The Carrots have barely germinated, and there seems to be a serious infestation of little white flys on the Swedes, Cabbages, and Broccoli’s.What can i plant to stop the White Flys? The Garlic leaves have picked up a Rust infection from somewhere. Why is that?
I am not a Vegetable expert so I will read up and google these problems.I am trying to keep on top of the Weeds, but forgot about the pests. It will be an ongoing struggle to keep them all in check.

Despite the sunburn, nettle and thistle stings, and sweat pouring off me, I love the peace of the allotment. I photographed this magnificent Shield Bug walking down a blade of grass. The allotment plot may be manipulated by me, but nature is always all around me. My camera is a regular companion always ready to photograph Bugs or Beds (Vegetable ones that is).

I wandered from my plot to a deserted one that is going wild. These flowers were lovely like plump Daisys. They have such happy flowers in the White and Yellow. I think they are called May Weed..

Growing in the midst of an overgrown plot were these Foxgloves. These are such a traditional English Cottage garden plant. These had purple speckles on their gloves throats. Once they have flowered I will try to collect some seeds. These are the flowers of an English Summer, with the steady drone of Bee’s collecting the nectar from their deep cups. I watched Swifts flying around above me swooping and soaring. They are the Birds of an English Summer with their shrieking sound. I also heard a mournful Cuckoo today at the plot.
After five hours weeding, making coffee, and admiring the wild flowers we drove back. Cat stopped the car on the road out of Walton. The sun made these fields of Wild Poppies shimmer in the sunlight. They bloom in great swathes in the farmers fields. They are such an important part of the Summer. I love the blood red blooms.
Tomorrow we go to Birmingham for Gardeners World Live at the NEC..

History of Allotments
Allotments were first introduced in 1845 as field gardens for the landless poor. Originally intended to grow food Victorians thought it would ‘keep them from the evils of drink’. (A cool beer or glass of wine at the end of a session on the allotment is just the job now-a-days.)
In 1908 the Small Holding and Allotment Act made it a duty of Local Authorities to provide allotments where there was a demand.
During both World Wars allotments were a vital source of food & the number of allotments peaked in 1943 at 1.4 million. There is less than a quarter of that number now.

First Steps

• Time spent preparing a new plot is seldom wasted time. Remove weeds.
• Put in permanent structures like good paths, a compost bin, water butt and a shed.
• If the land slopes use raised beds or make a terrace.
• Arrange the beds so you can rotate crops (see below).
• Check the site and association rules.

Planting your Crops

• Grow what your family like to consume or use.
• Easy vegetables to start with include Potato, Leek and Runner Beans.
• Courgettes, Tomatoes and salad crops are only slightly more difficult.
• I would have an area for cutting flowers but that is my personal preference.
• Sow seed sparsely, thin out to avoid over crowding and do not sow too soon in the season.
• Give herbs there own area in the sun.

Crop Rotation
Different plant groups do different things to the soil. Using 4 beds, rotate the following crops around so that after 4 years each bed has been used by each group.

1. Potatoes
2. Legumes; Peas, Broadbeans, Other beans, mangetout etc
3. Brassicas; Cauliflower, Cabbage, Sprouts, Broccoli etc
4. Onions and roots

Lettuce, Courgettes are neutral and can go anywhere. Soft fruit and rhubarb may go around the edges or in there own space.

I’m tapping my fingers  frustrated by the weather – everything seems to be around 3/4 weeks behind this year !

Strawberries have less flowers than this time last year

Peas are slow to germinate, so are my broadies..

I was down there Sunday sprinkling some annual seeds in my flowerbed..

Poached egg, love in a mist, sunflowers, calendula and nasturtium along with a tray of marigolds. We left after 2 hours of tidying, weeding and chatting just before the heavens opened, so they have been well watered in..

The frosty nights we’ve been having lately have not been kind to my damsons either – having frost when they are in bloom usually means no fruit to follow- Ho Hum..

The good news – There seems to be life on my asparagus bed - I was about to give up, thinking the crowns were dead and virtually made my mind up to try again with autumn planting ones.. When, on a flying visit to check my sweet potatoes I noticed little green shoots -whay hay..

With Jack frost hanging around I’m So glad I covered my sweet potatoes with fleece also, enviromesh alone would not have protected them as they can’t tolerate  frost at all.. I’m now reluctant to remove the fleece even though the weather has improved - I think  I’ll keep it on until June to save me sleepless nights Lol

My early and main potatoes did get a sprinkling of frost. Not as bad as some on my site -theirs has turned black – it looks like mine should bounce back ok as they were not planted early, so the damage to mine is minimal *phew*