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Spud Grubber's Blog

Guy Barter

  • Date Joined: 15 Jan 2007

Recent Comments

  • Allotment this weekend:

    Guy Barter on 26 Feb 2010 at 02:01 PM

    After recent heavy rain it is going to be hard to finish digging, or prepare  seedbeds.  On the other hand temperatures in the South have risen sufficiently to make spring imminent and few days of sunny, windy weather could dry out and warm the soil significantly.  This being so…

     

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  • Allotment this weekend - what to do:

    Guy Barter on 19 Feb 2010 at 05:15 PM

    The dry weather last weekend meant that the winter digging and rotovating is almost up-to-date, but the soil temperature is still about 4C; it risky to sow outdoors until soil temperatures reach 7C.  However there is still plenty to do – allotment gardening is after all very much to do with preparation:

     

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  • Weekend on the allotment

    Guy Barter on 12 Feb 2010 at 05:26 PM

    Farmers hereabout have started tilling their fields.  The cold winds and lack of prolonged rain have let the sandy soil dry down to a workable moisture level.  The rotovator could be in use tomorrow if the grey clouds hold off and yet don’t thin so much that the soil freezes overnight.

    • This means that the few remaining un-spread mini-piles of manure need to be pulled about and levelled with a heavy rake.  This can serve as a welcome periodic break from the back-breaking task of manipulating a rather powerful and headstrong rotovator

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  • On the allotment this weekend

    Guy Barter on 05 Feb 2010 at 09:50 AM

    Last weekend frost hardened the soil; this is ideal for fruit pruning.  Soft fruit pruning was finished with the winter trimming of gooseberries and the cutting back to ground level of the autumn fruiting raspberries.  Last year crops were enormous – the productive potential of soft fruit is amazing.  I have a gap for another hybrid berry – I find these so easy to grow compared to raspberries.

     

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