Update

Got the last of the spiky stuff bagged up ready to go to the fire, and finally got the plastic down. Plan to lift it and level the ground soon, but in the meantime it can start to kill off and stop the weeds.

Harvested some Carrots, although some looked rather black, and some were mush. :-(

Also got some Parsnips and Rainbow Chard up, but the Parsnips weren't very big.

The Raspberries badly need staking up. I need to make a good fence support for them.

Beans haven't done much at all, but they do look full of leaf, so we'll see.

Weeds are still growing like a menace.

Update

Wow.  Last week was hot, but this week we seem to have had a minor heatwave.  Its somewhere between 25 and 27c but the humidity this last few days has been 90 and 100%,  Its hellish.
I've had a bad headache all day, but knew I had more work to do so waited till 4pm to go up to the plot.

2 hours of sweating buckets had the back end finally cleared.
Only the shed area to do next, but that's full of stone lumps and slab pieces and great mats of grass :-(

Got several piles of brambles and seed infested weeds to get rid of now, then level it all so its safer to walk on.
Then I need to get some decent edgeing wood to stop it all migrating onto the path, get the black plastic sheeting down to stop the weeds, get the raised beds down and the paths between decided on.

The pumpkins have been sat in the sun and ripened up nicely :-)

Todays over pic :-)

Update

SO, the back end has got very overgrown again, as I've been concentrating on the other end.

Went up today to start the clearing.  Now whilst I like the idea of an airdropped run of Agent Orange, its somewhat frowned upon after Vietnam, so I just attacked it by pulling and digging.  

Most of it was yet more 'Good King Henry', which is easy to pull out, but it was all heavy with seed pods, so I hope not too many dropped, or will die off when under the plastic. I composted it all, so also hoping THOSE seeds don't survive.  Lots of 'hoping'.... 

The mass of brambles was another matter. That was a right pain, and a couple of the main root lumps will need digging out soon, but at least I've hacked my way to them. 

I've been collecting a bunch of good straight bramble twigs, as I plan to use them as a natural barrier against slugs for my lettuce (going in soon, late I know, but worth a try).  I've seen it done and its supposedly very effective.

So here we are so far.

Update

Haven't had a lot of time to get up here recently, but managed a brief hour here and there.

Weeds have gone mental as usual.  I plan to cover all the ground this winter and really try and kill most off. Got some black plastic damp proofing for the job.

More spuds collected today.

Carrots seem to be finally growing.  Parsnips too but still very small.

Pea plants never seemed to grow at all and have all vanished.

Bean plants seem to have finally grown and are about 3ft high on the poles now. 

Pumpkins have grown, ripened and most fallen off the vine which had almost died back.  Very impressed !

Sadly, all 3 of my clematis are doing very badly. In fact 2 of them seem to have vanished entirely.

Update - Rain at last! / First results.

So, after so much dry weather turning my soil to something like a desert, weve now had about 10 days of heavy rain.  Great !

However, this has made the weeks grow like mad, so they needed attacking.
The Veg has grown some too, but not as much as it should have, and several other growers have said the same thing. 

Having said that, my Pumpkins have shot out in all directions, attacking my bean wigwam, rooting into my pea lines, and skipping over the path to attack the plot next door lol.
Some hacking back was required, but I was chuffed to find 4 or 5 very large pumpkins that have grown in very short order due to the sun and rain we've had.

Whilst weeding, I had a test dig and pulled up a couple spud plants, to happily find some great potatoes, along with the largest of the Beets that have grown, and a couple shallot clumps. Very happy to get this little lot home, the first of many I hope !

Update

Another VERY dry week.  Not half as much growing as I'd hope or expect.
Trying to keep up with a good water every week. I'd like to do more midweek but just don't get the time.

Having said that, the Pumpkins are going nuts lol.  Got about x6 fruits appearing on the two plants that are trying to take over the plot :-)

Update

So things looking better since the major weeding.   Still more in there though. 

Pumpkins going nuts

Good King Henry / GooseFoot / Fat Hen

Trying to rescue the Carrots from the Goosefoot.

There's hardly any carrots up so far, but I'm told there's a LOT of people struggling with slow or non-existent growth at the moment. 

In this image I've weeded half of two rows, showing how overgrown they are. 

Good King Henry / GooseFoot / Fat Hen

Suddenly over run with this stuff EVERYWHERE.
Thankfully its easy to pull out.

Pumpkins

Was kindly gifted a couple Pumpkins from Rita and Jose.

Stuck them in the Permanent bed for now as haven't got anything about to go there.

Veg 'n' Weeds

Things starting to show :-)

But difficult to tell Veg from weed at this point.

Updates

Lots done this time.  Had some help too !

Pea frame built.

3rd Clematis planted at the end of a path.

Some heavy digging getting roots out.

Shallots showing !!

 

Clematis

Ive tried to grow Clematis in my home garden for years, and because its so shady and North facing, I've lost over 20 of them :-(

Now I have the plot, I've put some in on the back of the composters in .  Should look good !

Update

Shallots covered to keep birds off.

Beetroot and Spinach being planted.

Hori Hori

Got myself a Hori Hori trowel.  Its really just a European copy made by 'Darlac', as the real things are not cheap, but its sturdy and really is as versatile as they say.  Really enjoying using it so far.

Update

Starting to look much better :-)

Far end is dying off as we keep attacking it.

Got some Raspberries planted up too in the fruit bed. :-)

Pressed for Time - Getting some Seeds in !

Yay !

We finally got some things in the ground. Springs getting on, and though we're later than we wanted, we're still in the race.
Pink Fur Apple Potatoes, Carrots, Shallots, Parsnips.

Pottery

All along the way, as we've been clearing and digging, I keep finding shards of white pottery.
Archaeologists call them "Sherds".
Some have really pretty glazes mostly of blues but some other colours.
I've been collecting them, and asking the other plot holders to keep them for me too. I plan to make a mosaic with them and maybe mount it on the shed eventually.

Bed Progress

Got to the edge of the measured area for beds.  Now just to get the edges and paths laid out.
The main beds take about half the plot.
Remaining space at the end will be for raised pallet collar beds, and the planned shed at the end !

New Old Tools

Friend of mine gave me some old tools.  They're really well made as they're old school :-)
Cleaned them up and oiled them, so they should last a lifetime. :-)

Beds - Getting there slowly.

With forays for scrap wood, and fitting in time where I can, the beds are slowly coming together.
Whilst I plan to use the "no dig" method, I did in fact dig them over once to start with, then covered them to keep weeds at bay until I get to planting.
I don't have access to any wood chip yet, so plan to use any rotten wood no good for building as a 'layer' on the pathways for the time being.

Mini Beasts

Don't remember the last time I saw a millipede, but seen several while digging and clearing.
Seen a few centipedes too.

Amazing things.

Making Beds

After a winter of being extremely busy in life, and only a few visits to tackle weeds, we finally got to getting the levels done, and making some edges from the old wood and some plastic barriers that were buried there lol.
Back breaking work :-( 
Now frantically trying to get things done for Spring.

Plan is to have 5 beds with paths between. Not raised, but at least edged.

x1 fruit
Beds A B C for yearly rotation of crops.
x1 Permanent bed. So far thinking of Asparagus to start with.