The Patch is Moving !

Because of google's  privacy issues, we're no longer using blogger to post news about the patch.

You can, however, keep up to date at our new site here :    The Compton Patch

We will be looking forward to your comments !
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Up The Pole !

When we first started at Compton Allotments, we were allocated a 15′ wide plot with a fence running down one side to separate our crops from the pigs in the neighbouring field.  In the following year the pigs were moved and the land used to create more individual allotment plots and our plot expanded from 15′ to 22′.

Our raspberry canes grow on wires strung between posts that we erected when it was a 15′ wide plot leaving a spare bit of land where we grew odd things that took our fancy.

This year we are growing hybrid berries (Tayberry, Loganberry  and Bosyenberry) and I have bought the materials to construct another wire frame which would stretch right across the 22′ wide plot.

Now being a man who likes order in all things (yes, I know there is another name for this !) it would be unthinkable to have one frame for the hybrid berries which was wider than the adjoining frame for the raspberries.

So, as you can see from the picture I have extended the raspberry bed by installing another pole and stretching wires across from the old pole. Once this was done, I removed the obsolete pole and this will be used when I constuct the frame for the hybrid berries.

Berries

We ordered three berry plants which arrived last week, so this morning we were down at the patch planting them.

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One Tayberry, one Loganberry and one Boysenberry have been planted in a 22′ row with 6′ spacing between them.  I will be erecting posts at either end of the row and then stretching wires between them so that we can tie-in the canes as they grow.

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Raised Beds

As it was a very pleasant morning in Compton, we took the opportunity to construct another raised bed.

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The new bed is the nearest one on this picture and was built around the carrots remaining from the summer sowing and the shallots which were planted in October. 

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The raised bed behind is one constructed earlier this year where three rows of garlic are being grown.

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Once these crops have been lifted, the beds will be topped up with a mix of fresh soil and compost and used to grow squash and courgettes.

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November wood smoke

We’ve had a productive afternoon down at the patch.  I finally got round to fixing the door handle on the polytunnel and Heather got a fire going to burn the prunings from fruit bushes… there’s something very evocative about Autumnal wood smoke.

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We have built one of our planned six raised beds in the polytunnel and have sown Winter leaves (mizuna, mustard greens and spinach) which we hope will provide us with a cut-and-come-again leafy greens.

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Mission Accomplished

The door is on, the floor levelled and the frames for the raised beds will be constructed sometime in the coming weeks.

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Meanwhile,  there are plenty of other jobs to be getting on with :

• The bed where we will be growing climbing beans has been cleared and two trenches dug out… these will be filled with newspaper and waste that would normally go on the compost heap.  The trenches will then be filled in and the bed covered with a layer of cardboard until we are ready to sow seeds in April.
• The soft-fruit bushes will be pruned back to maintain a good shape and encourage more fruits.
• The step-cordon apples will also be pruned and side branches tied into the wires.
• Another bin will be constructed to hold leaf litter… the leaves will slowly break down to produce a very rich compost.

What we did today...

We have already cleared all the perennial weeds from around the polytunnel, fixed gravel boards along the outside, lined the gap between the boards and the tunnel with black polythene and filled this with shingle to  prevent any weeds growing close to the tunnel walls and to allow the areas around the tunnel to be strimmed without damaging the walls.

This is what we did today :

• Attached a mesh screen to the back doorway of the polytunnel.

• Hung a polythene blind at the back doorway to raise/lower as temperature dictates.

•  Rebuilt the front door and re-covered it in UV stabilised polythene sheeting.

On Wednesday, the door will be hung and we will then concentrate our efforts on preparing the allotment beds, leaving the remaining work inside the polytunnel for those cold and rainy days when it is not possible to work outside.
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