We'd been meaning to get over to the allotment to dig up the rest of our potatoes for a while, but with four weekends away from home it was much later than we'd hoped by the time we got there last weekend. Our potatoes were late in anyway, as most of them didn't make it into the ground until after our party in June. I've no idea how I managed to be so late with them, but I was hoping that they would recognise the earth and do their growing thing, even if they were a bit behind everyone elses.
And they did. Phew.
It's our second year of growing potatoes and once again we weren't disappointed. We ended up growing them in the same part of the plot as last year, as, well as you're coming to know my plans to dig over the allotment, complete the circle work in our garden and everything else, were a tad ambitious!
But they grew, and last Sunday we dug up our second batch of potatoes. Almost 10kgs.
FRESHLY DUG SPUDS
Which is a lot of potatoes for someone that rarely buys potatoes!
Digging them up was quite addictive, and it wasn't long before our paper carrier bag was heavy. The challenge then was to get them home without them dropping through the bottom of the bag. That would have been disastrous, but no doubt funny afterwards.
They have done their magic though and improved the soil - the picture below is where they grew, and while there are a few weeds (ignore the edges, where there are a lot of weeds!) there are significantly less than on other parts of the plot. Plus the soil is soft and crumbly and full of large worms, which must be good. I think some of those large worms got a bit peckish as some of the potatoes had large worm shaped holes in them, but I guess I can spare a few when they've put in so much work on our soil!
Elsewhere on the plot my tardiness is benefitting other wildlife, the birds have started nibbling the sunflower heads, and I'm more than happy for them to do that. I only saved a few of the sunflower heads last year and still have lots more sunflower seeds than I know what to do with. I will save some of the smaller sunflower heads, because, well... free seeds!
This year the sunflowers on the allotment have grown super thick stems, some have had a single flower at the top like the one above, but others have had smaller flowers all the way up the stem like the one below. I like both types equally and it'll be interesting to see what kind I end up with next year!
I was pleased to see the rosemary cuttings thriving, in fact no longer cuttings and more like a bush. They've grown so well that I plan to take cuttings from this and plan to grow a rosemary edging to our plot.
Before leaving I stripped the small apple of its apples and while some of them are small the colour - and taste - is fantastic. And while they look good on our table, we will be eating them!
The potatoes also got another look over once we were home - there's three different types in here, two whites and a red - and I'm loving the colours in the box. They're now in double paper carriers in the shed, and I'm hoping that they store well. Last year we stored them in the house and even though we'd chosen a cool place, they still sprouted.
It could be that we'll be eating our home grown spuds at Christmas if I'm lucky. I'll also be looking out for some potato recipes!
There were also more borlotti beans left than I'd thought, no longer fresh though as they'd semi-dried on the plants. They're all podded and drying fully so they can be stored. They also made for a great picture!
Being back on the plot was great, but there was also a reminder of how much we still need to do. We're aiming for our next few visits to be much sooner. We've a few more potatoes to dig, and I want to weed the edge of of this section and put down some membrane so we can avoid repeated weeding here. We've already weeded it more times than we need to, so this time we're taking further precautions.
I want to take some cuttings from the rosemary, I'll take more than I need as I expect I'll lose some over the winter. And while our potato growing area is clear, unless we get some garlic and onions to plant there we plan to cover it with tarpaulin, which of course we need to buy.
The central bed which has been covered since we inherited the plot is on our list to dig over. The optimist in me thinks it will be an easier dig, but the realist isn't quite so sure. We'll see, and you never know by the start of the growing season we could end up with another section semi-tamed.
I mean, stranger things have happened!