Junior P's busy week

We've had a busy week here at plot 45. After a week of neglect while we were in Cornwall The plot went wild (see previous post) and needed some taming.

First issue of the week was rust on the broad beans.

Most of the plants had fallen over so it was time to get he helpers in aka the junior P's. Having 6 weeks off school I struck a deal with older P's in exchange for 1 hours work on the plot, they could have an afternoon at the their friend's.

Bob and Jas stripped the beans off the plants while CP ate as many as she could.

The result:

Over 9.5 kg in the shells.

Once shelled we had about 4 kg. Gave some to Mum W and the rest are in freezer or drying out ready for seed. Good work kids. :-)

I started on a rescue mission. Our purple sprouts and broccoli had been waiting to go in for weeks. I took them up to the plot and thought I had left them in a safe place, only to find they had been half eaten by something.

Mark had cleared an area for me so I set to getting them in while the junior P's loaded wood chips into the wheel barrow.

At this point its touch and go as to whether or not they will survive. The nettle fertilizer is stinking well so I thought why not and decided to try it out. That's the great thing about being the first year on an allotment, you can experiment and see what works best for you. Everybody has their own ways of doing things and is happy to share their ideas and methods and when you try something and it doesn't quite turn out how you expect you get encouraged to keep trying until you find your own way. I'm digressing.

As per our new method of barking everything we dig/transplant, I barked the area.
 

Finally I covered the plants to keep the rabbits and other wildlife off. Not sure How well they will grow, but have given them a chance. Need Mark to help secure the frame and net it properly, (two hand job) not a bad attempt for a one armed bandit, with a little help from the junior P's. ;-)