The name's Pond ...

Building a pond turned out to be slightly easier than expected. Step one is obviously dig a large hole, big enough to accommodate said pond. I dug a spade or so down and dropped a slab in to give it a solid base and hopefully stop any tree roots puncturing the liner.

I used bricks and old bits of wood to make a shelf on two sides to put plants on, covering the structure with cardboard before laying a couple of tarpaulins down for extra protection against invading roots.

Then I laid the liner on. I'd bought a 2m sq butyl liner off the roll as a garden centre, which gave me a bit of extra to work with as I filled it with the hosepipe.

The left hand side (top pic) shallows up to just a couple of inches of water, with an outfall under the quarry tiles.

There are broken pots and rocks to give creatures a hiding place in the shallows. I'm going to leave it for a week or two to settle down before I start introducing plants like marsh marigold and water soldier.

As well as cheering up a dull corner, the idea is to attract some wildlife including frogs and other predators, which will hopefully start keeping nasties like slugs in check.

Tomato spoiler alert

I looked at the seedlings. The seedlings looked at me. Look guys, I know things haven't been ideal in here, but we need to get a move on.

Cold, dull days have left them failing to thrive with one or two exceptions. We're wasting valuable time.

So unlike last year, when I raised most of the tomato plants we grew from seed, I've been and bought a selection.

Now I have Big Boy and a grape tomato type, plus a few reserves, in the polytunnel; and four plants in the main greenhouse bed - a Big Boy, Black Russian and two plums.

I visited two garden centres without buying any - their plants didn't look much better than mine. The third had some real crackers, so I spent my hard-earned there.

 

Whither the weather

They reckon the cold snap's going to last a few more days before it clears off back to Greenland with the geese. The frosts are carrying on later this year than last, according to my diary. Leaving the spuds uncovered for a couple of nights was enough for Jack to give them a right old pasting - though people tell me they'll recover and grow through it.

Faring slightly better are the carrots I chucked in along a greenhouse bed, which have now had their final thinning, although a lot of the tomato seedlings nearby have got off to a disappointing start - I guess because they haven't had enough light and it's been a few degrees colder than they like it in there.

I've also chanced a couple of cucumbers nearby in a bed made from an old loft tank with the bottom cut off.

These are mini munch, which we've never grown before. They're nearly a quid a seed, which strikes me as a bit steep, but if they go well it will obviously only take a couple of fruits to put
us in profit.

They're in those pot/reservoir things designed for using with growbags, because I lost a couple of plants last year when the stems rotted just above the ground, meaning the cucumbers we ate came mainly from the supermarkets, rather than the allotment. I haven't worked out how to keep the space around them humid yet.

While it may be cold, the pear tree's blossoming a treat - hopefully it won't fall before it gets polinated.

Lotta bottle

On a brighter note, I've stuck some calabrese out - risking the ups and downs forecast for the weather - under pop bottle cloches.

I stuck them out too early, last year, according to some of the allotment sages. But they grew on well and we harvested some lovely heads before the butterflies hit.

Wonder how they'll do this time around.

Spud's up, tidy up...

The first earlies I wanged in outside are starting to show - lively weekend up the allotments, one way or another, but the first sign of life from the spuds eclipses some of the other controversies which are currently gripping the site.

We had a tidy-up over the weekend. Well. on Saturday morning. The same old stalwarts turned out - a dozen or so of our 40-odd plot holders braved the drizzle for the sake of a few blisters and a sausage roll.

Clearing up after the arson attack which destroyed a shed was one of the several tasks which needed attention.

What motivates whoever did this is totally beyond me.

Windy night, but we're looking good

The sun was dropping by the time I got up to check out the SP on the allotments tonight. I paused by a neighbour's plot (above) to survey the scene, as a gale gathered over the bay.



Rhubarb - or roo'bub, if you speak Norfolk - was nodding in the wind on my garden. I can't believe how fast it grows once this most fearless of plants gets going.

All seems well in the polytunnel, as far as the strawberry plants are concerned. I'm well-chuffed with how these are going, with some added insulation helping the cause.

Beds are now dug and dunged - so to speak - for the cucumbers and tomatoes, while the weather's forecast to get warmer. So here we go, hopefully, once the plants wake up.