Chris and Steve's Weblog - City Chickens

Prunus Royal Burgundy

Chris — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:59:42 +0000

I went to Aldi today to buy a Mountain Ash and came back with a flowering cherry. The tree I wanted was sold out. You have to be quick and early to get what you want. I intend to start it off in a large pot for the first two years and then put it into the chicken run. Although the tree is on a dwarf root stock, Colt, it will eventually grow to a good size and provide shade, keep the scratching area dry and hopefully avoid the waterlogging we get in there at times.

(Prunus Royal Burgundy is a small tree with stunning, reddish-purple leaves and beautiful, double rose-pink flowers in spring. These bowl-shaped blooms present in groups of two to four just as the leaves are starting to emerge. Having a rounded to spreading growth habit with beautiful, coppery-red, peeling bark. The foliage takes on brilliant shades of bronze in the autumn and the flowers are followed by attractive, cherry-like fruit)

They’re In

Chris — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:18:27 +0000

We have been lucky in that since we moved onto the site there has been no vandalism. Until now that is. Rob and I arranged to meet at the plot at two o clock to plant a few seeds etc. When we arrived we found that the place had been vandalised and the big metal shed broken into and our lovely rotavator stolen along with everyone elses. How they gained access to the big shed , which is a big metal container like the ones used on big ships to transport goods, I can’t imagine. It had very hefty padlocks etc but still they managed it so must have come prepared and had a large vehicle to transport all their spoils. Sheds were ransacked and tools stolen. Our brassica tunnel, which we had spent time restoring after the snow, had been kicked over.

However, also in are the first of the Charlotte potatoes planted in bags. A row of Parsnip Hollow Crown, a row of Beetroot Boltardy and two rows of Pea Meteor. I scattered some seeds of Carrot Early Nantes and Carrot Eskimo in the big carrot bin too. The robbers did leave us a few old tools that were obviously not up to their standard for selling on.

The site is not insured as the chairman and the treasurer do not feel it worth it but we feel that knowing the items were insured would have helped that sick feeling we had last night.

First Egg From The Runner Ducks

Chris — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:22:01 +0000

We have the first egg from the Runner Ducks which has been promised to Frank our allotment plot neighbour so look out Frank your breakfast is on its way.

Sweet Corn – Sweet Bounty

Chris — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:43:09 +0000

I have been chitting the sweet corn seeds for a few days and have decided to sow a tray of coir pots today so the first twelve seeds are in. Need more pots now or toilet roll tubes for the rest or maybe even sow the others straight into the ground.

Butternut Squash – Hunter and Avalon

Chris — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:37:34 +0000

Today I have sown eight seeds of Butternut Squash Hunter and Avalon. We have grown these before with mixed results and I intend to sow more soon as they need a long growing time. We are hoping for a good harvest as we all love them mashed or roasted.

First Seeds Sown on the Plot

Chris — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:58:24 +0000

Rob has sown the first seeds of the season in the lean to. He has put in a row each of Spring Onion De Barletta, Raddish Pontuil and herb Summer Savory. The Summer Savory was sown by mistake as it was in the lettuce seed box but if I can get a few good plants going all well and good.

Herb Summer Savory – Satureja Hortensis

Summer savory is a half-hardy annual that self sows freely and has a strong, hot and slightly bitter flavor reminiscent of thyme. Plants grow to about 14 inches and have slender, erect stems with sparse bronze leaves and small, pale pink flowers. Native to the Mediterranean, it was much in demand in early Rome where it was thought to be a powerful aphrodisiac.

Asparagus Gijnlim

Chris — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:49:24 +0000

We have just ordered five crowns of Asparagus Gijnlim. I have been reading up about this vegetable which I have eaten for the first time ever and quite enjoyed. Apparently if you can get a bed established it could give you a harvest for up to twenty years. The crowns were £1.50 each and delivery is free. We have a raised bed that we could build up a little more and with a little magic from the rotavator and a barrow load of good compost mixed with a bit of sand we may be on to a winner.

Gijnlim is an early season Asparagus, a high yielding male variety producing medium thick, mid-green spears with closed purple tips. Support may be needed for the stems of the tall growing ferns. The asparagus stems will go yellow in the autumn, cut off at ground level in the following Spring. Water well in dry weather. Keep the bed tidy by pulling weeds by hand. Around February/March time give the bed a dressing of general fertiliser. After the cropping season give the asparagus plants a mulch of rotted compost or manure.

Sweet Pea Spencer Mixed

Chris — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:57:32 +0000

My first attempt to germinate some saved sweet pea seeds came to nothing so I bought a cheap packet from Aldi of Spencer Mixed and yesterday I sowed them in small pots, two seeds to a pot. It is quite late to start them so heres hoping for better success this time.

Spencer varieties are one of the most popular, satisfying amateur gardeners and exhibitors alike with their large, scented and colourful flowers. The strong stems may be trained as cordons on canes for high-quality blooms, or allowed to scramble freely to make a colourful screen. Plants need a cool moist root run, helped by mulching after planting, and regular watering in dry weather.

Build and Repair

Chris — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:26:35 +0000

Rob has been off work this week and though we have had other calls on our time we have still managed to get quite a few hours in on the plot.

The fruit cage has been fixed, the fruit bushes in there pruned and the strawberries tidied up ready for the new season.

The bean trench has been dug and a new frame erected. Seeds should go into individual pots in April.

The brassica tunnel is almost finished being repaired and would be finished if the drill hadn’t run out of steam at the last minute. The brassica seedlings are coming along and some have been repotted already

Rob has started to build a second brassica cage but I haven’t seen it yet as I was at home repotting about fifty seedlings of tomatoes and brassicas.

The lean to is tidy and ready to receive a few rows of lettuce, spring onions and raddish which should be harvested before the tomatoes and cucumbers are ready to go in.

The courgette bin has been repaired, extended and filled with good compost from the ‘daleks’ and the seedlings are looking good and healthy so far.

We have made a start on a raised bed for the melons which we have covered with a metal cloche which we shall cover with polythene once the plants are in.

Dahlia – Bishop of Llandaff

Chris — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:16:27 +0000

An impulse buy from Lidl today. Corms for the Dahlia Bishop of Llandaff.

For early flowering, tubers may be started off in boxes in April; use a light soil mixed with compost. Keep slightly moist, cool and free from frost. When the danger of frosts has passed, plant out the sprouted tubers. If used as a cut flower, cut the stems only when the flower has fully developed