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20 Feb 2016

10 Plans For My Allotment in 2016

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1. Keep on top of weeding
I NEVER want the garden to look like this again! This was the result of 3 months of allotment abandonment in 2014 (too preggers to walk let alone garden). In the end we were too scared to go up there and even look at the state of the place. We paid a guy to do 8 hours of digging, fill up some rubbish bags and throw all the weeds out. Very expensive in Zurich when giant rubbish bags cost about five quid a piece. 2015 was way better but still far from perfect. I think the minimum we have to aim for is to weed twice a week...



2. Get into companion planting
Planting different types of veg and flowers together can work wonders on your garden - flowers attract bees, bees pollinate your veg plants.



3. Sort out and use the compost heap
We have a huge compost heap that we've been bunging stuff into for the last 2 years, never turning it, never covering it properly. Hmmm...time to sort it out! A second compost bin is probably the way forward.


4. Grow fresh herbal teas
We have loads of herbs in the garden. Would love to plant some chamomile, lemon verbena, mint (in pots otherwise it will take over) to make my own tea...Any other ideas?

5. Use my plums
We have 2 glorious plum trees. One doesn't seem to produce plums anymore but the other fruits gorgeous golden plums. Two years in a row we have missed these beauties and arrived at the allotment to find them rotten on the ground. 2016 will be the year of the plum!
 

6. Harvest when small
Small courgettes are delicious, massive marrows not so much!These bad boys were heavier than the two babies growing inside me at the time.


7. Cut flowers regularly
Many annual flowers will bloom over a long period if cut regularly.









8. Enjoy relaxing in the garden
We have a beautiful garden, complete with a 2 room shed that is fitted with a dining room, table and chairs, BBQ, sun loungers. I am sad to say we have never had a bbq up there and never had any friends over to visit. Shameful! There always seems to much to do but this year I really hope we can actually enjoy some time there and not do any gardening.



9. Fill the garden all year round
This year I will plan better and maximise our space - I need to make sure that there are crops growing in the whole of the garden and not leave huge areas empty. There is nothing worse than weeding a patch of ground that has nothing growing in it!


10. Plant only edible flowers
My toddlers love to eat and aren't all that fussy. They are still at the stage of picking up handfuls of sand, soil, sticks..you name it..and shoving it into their little mouths. Argh! I have just bought a selection of edible flowers from Higgledy Garden. Fab shop that often ships to Switzerland for free and all packages come with a handwritten note. Lovely. 








What are your plans for 2016?

8 Feb 2016

What We Managed To Grow in 2015

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A look back at what we managed to grow this year.

Successes:
Garlic, courgettes, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, redcurrants, calendula, nigela, sunflowers, rhubarb, candytuft.

Failures:
Radishes, Echinacea (didn't even appear), fennel, tomatoes (needed more love and attention).  

Haphazard but colourful bunch of flowers!

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