Gardening photographs 1
Gardening photographs 3
Bed and board
Plant-protection cages with flexible supports
Cloches, cheap and simple to make
Rainwater collecting, composting
Transframe, a system with many uses
Some design principles in gardeningFor years, the paths have been surfaced with wood-chips (in very large quantities) on a base of black weed-control fabric. This is a common way of constructing paths, but as the wood chips decay - even before they've decayed very much - weeds find the path almost as favourable an environment as soil. I've constructed board-walks for most of the paths in the lower allotment, and paths based on log-rolls in the upper allotment.
An extensive area in the lower allotment (adjoining the remains of an air-raid shelter from the Second World War - an 'Anderson shelter') can't be used for growing. There's a thin layer of soil covering a deep layer of plastic, rusty metal, broken glass and other detritus. Future archaeologists are welcome to excavate it. Just outside this area, I erected a large trellis (curved corrugated iron sheets of the air-raid shelter are just visible behind the trellis) and inside the area of blighted land I constructed a raised pond / reservoir with compost containers on either side. Soil and manure have been added to the compost now to make growing beds. The material in the two growing beds on either side of the pond / reservoir withstands the pressure of water.
This is a very convenient way of making a raised pond in an unpromising location. Apart from the debris, the ground here is sloping and uneven. The usual methods of making a raised pond, using heavy railway sleepers, brick walls, and so on, have obvious disadvantages. The red object visible at the side of the pond is a hand pump, for water extraction from the reservoir.
This was a very dry growing season for the most part (as well as the coldest summer for eighteen years) and although I have a 1000 litre tank in the upper allotment, as well as water butts, there's the need for more water storage capacity - and I wanted a larger pond than the one in the top allotment. (See also my discussion of rainwater collecting.)
This arrangement is intended to be more than functional. The rectangular expanses of soil and water form an effective contrast, I think. The planting in the pond has included the native British water lily Nymphaea alba.
I've designed and constructed a structure I call Transframe The components which make up the Transframe can be used to make many different structures for use in a garden or allotment, or for use by people who have no access to land. The Transframe shown has PVC panels on the wooden framework and is for protected growing: what I I call a 'growing cabinet.'
All the photos here relate to the lower allotment, where the changes have been more radical, apart from one photo showing a view inside the greenhouse of the upper allotment. One bed in the greenhouse has been used for tomatoes - not shown here - whilst the bed in this view has been used for growing tromboncino courgettes. If the tromboncino courgettes aren't harvested, they turn not into marrows but more useful winter squash, of great size. There are also two Italian pumpkin plants (Delica.)
Outdoors, I've grown two further tromboncino courgette / winter squash plants, on the small trellis and the larger trellis shown in photographs here, as well as more common courgette plants (variety 'Green Bush.') I've also grown outdoors winter squash plants ('Golden Hubbard').
The plant growing up the curved support is golden hop (Humulus lupulus aureus.)
As usual, many beds have been used to grow potatoes (this year Duke of York, Kestrel and International Kidney) and broad beans (Imperial Longpod). For the first time, I planted in late August seed potatoes kept in cold storage (Red Duke of York) for harvesting in late Autumn. These can be seen in front of the Transframe in one of the two photos which show it. Overwintering onions (Radar) were planted in three beds.
This has been a very tranquil season in terms of break-ins and vandalism. I've had one intrusion. The intruders who broke in stole some metal stakes I use for supporting boards. The defences were quite elaborate. They went to a great deal of trouble for not very much gain. Earlier, they took the Anderson shelter from the neighbouring allotment. Metal thieves have been very active in the area, and nationally. Cellar grates were stolen from a large number of houses in the area, including mine. But at least arsonists haven't struck at the site for a long time: no allotment huts or greenhouses torched.
The British allotment system isn't known throughout the world, of course. As with my earlier page of allotment photos, I stress that this land is rented from the local council.