Previous Years Diaries - 2023

Over the last 3 years of growing (2025 being our 4th year) I have kept a growing diary, starting with a 8 meter square growing bed at home in the back garden.  Then in 2023 we started our first season growing on the allotment and continued to keep a diary on paper.  In order to share my adventures with others, this year I started these allotment diaries, so I've now stopped using paper in favour of the blog.  In an effort to keep all my diaries in one place, I've transferred all my previous years entries into one page which if anything else, will help looking back easier to do.

Date	Diary Entry
January 8th	2 x 1/2 tray onions sown indoors.
January 14th	1 x 8" pot leeks sown indoors.
January 15th	1 x 8" pot leeks sown indoors.
January 17th	Cara and Red Duke of York seed potatoes received (2.5kg of each).  Set out in 2 blue trays to chit.  10 x main crop Cara given away as spare.
January 28th	Transplant onions into cells (approx 50).  1/2 tray onions sown indoors. Leeks have germinated.
February 11th	Turned home compost.  Sow 5 x Tumbling Tiger tomatoes indoors.  Sow red lettuce in trug.  Sow Sweet Pea Judith Wilkinson into soil blocks.  Bought Red Barron onion sets.
February 12th	Uncovered 9 beds on allotment and mulched strawberry beds.
February 14th	Sow strawberry seeds.  1/2 tray Sweet Fresca 1/2 tray Baron Solemacher.  Sown indoors in covered seed tray.  Kept warm and moist.
February 19th	Put 1st cold frame out at home.  Moved leeks and 1st onions into cold frame.  1/2 tray onions still indoors waiting to be pricked out.
February 23rd	Finished bed edging on allotment. Bought leeks and onions back in from the cold because of frost risk.  Strawberries showing signs of germination.
February 24th	Sow 20 Sweet Pea Cupid Mix into soild blocks. Bought strawberry Elsanta bare root (x3), strawberry Selva (x3) from Wilko.  All bare root.  Planted into 1 tub and put under plastic outside.  Pricked out 1/2 tray onions and put into cells.
March 5th	Fitted hoops and netting onto some beds.
March 6th	Sow 4 small pots (2 seeds in each) Cauliflower Tirza F1 in propagator indoors.
March 9th	Cauliflower seeds all germinated.
March 11th	Moved all onions and leeks back into cold frame after cold weather period.
March 12th	Sow 1 row peas in gutter and left under glass on plot.  13 containers Red Duke of York potatoes sown on plot.  6 x Strawberry Sweetheart and Pegasus planted into strawberry tubs on plot.  1/2 tray (10 ish) seeds Sprouts Brodie F1 sown indoors in propagator.  Potato compost mix 1/4 home compost 3/4 previous years plus a sprinkle of dried seaweed fertliser.
March 13th	Sow 4 x Squash Autumn Crown indoors.  Sow Courgetter Jackpot x 3 indoors.
March 18th	8 x cauliflower seeds moved into root trainers.  8 more seeds sown just in case. Second cold frame put together and set up at home.  Moved some lettuce into the garden.  3 new spud buckets of home compost taken to plot. 2 rows on Red Barron onion sets planted in allotment - approximately 50 total.  4 blue buckets sown with wild flower seeds.
March 21st	Sweetcorn Rising Sun (last years seed) sown into 8 pots - 2 seeds per pot kept indoors to germinate. Potted on 12 sprout seedlings from 1/2 seed trays into individual root trainers.  Moved tomatoes out to cold frame.
March 23rd	Direct sow 2 x rows parsnip Gladiator F1.  Transferred final 4 strawberry plants into planter on plot. Planted 5 tubs main cropt potatoes.  Seeds were well chitted and starting to go soft. First signs of peas starting to germinate.  Strawberry Albion x 2 and Fenella x 2 plants bought and added  to planters on plot.
March 25th	First tray of mixed lettuce ready for harvest.
March 26th	Sow 6 tomato Tumbling Tiger seeds.  Sow 1 blue tray of mixed lettuce.
April 1st	Built this years carrot cage.
April 2nd	Sow radish Cherry Belle (1 row) and Mixed (2 rows) at end of carrot bed.
April 7th	Transferred 3 rows onions Fasto into allotment bed. 2 rows carrot Flyaway F1 and 2 rows carrot Top Weight into carrot cage. Sow 11 pots of beans and left in cold frame.  Sow 16 pots sweetcorn Earlibird F1 and left in cold frame. Sow 3 pots squash Sunshine F1 and left in cold frame.
April 9th	Transferred 6 lettuce temporarily into leek bed.  Built pea structure.  Sow direct 3 x sprouts (4 seeds in each place) into allotment bed.  Sow 3 blue buckets Nigella seeds.
April 14th	Purchased more seeds from Premier Seeds Direct.  Lettuce Mixed Mesclun, Cauliflower All Year Round, Onion Snowqueen F1, Rocket, Dhalia seed mixed.
April 15th	Moved peas from cold frame to bed.  Direct sow 2nd row peas into allotment bed. Second sowing of remaining sprout seeds.  Sprouts and cauli moved from cold frame at home to cold frame on plot.
April 30th	Emptied home trug of salad and sow carrots.
May 1st	Transfer out sweetcorn Rising Sun into allotment bed.  Transfer out 3 squash plant Autumn Crown into same allotment bed as sweetcorn.  Transfer out 3 sprout plants and 6 cauli plants into allotment bed. Transfer out spare oniosn to replace failed garlic. Sow 10 more tubs of sweetcorn Earlibird for home bed in pots.  Sow 10 pots of beans for the allotment.
May 6th	Split out 1/2 seed tray strawberry Baron Solemacher and planted into strawberry planters on plot. Strawberry Sweet Fresca failed.
May 7th	On the allotment, took old pea structure down and replace with a length of chicken wire.  Planted 2 more cauliflowers.  Direct sow 2 rows Swede.  Carrots are showing some limited germination.
May 8th	Erected 3 teepees for beans.  Direct sow 1 teepee of beans.
May 10th	Straw mulched strawberries.
May 13th	5 bean plants transferred out.  3 rows onions planted out.
May 14th	Sow 1/2 seed tray Cape Gooseberry under cold frame.  2nd sowing 3 x Autumn Crown squash into pots.  2nd sowing 15 swede Marian into cells.  Direct sow beans around 3rd teepee.  Some carrot sowings failed so direct sow carrot Top Weight to fill in the gaps.
May 26th	7 bags Westland Manure moved to plot for corn, squash, beans and leeks mulch.  Sowed 3rd row of peas.  Potted on last 3 tomato Tumbling Tiger into final pots at home.
May 27th	Direct sown beans struggling and about 50% have some sort of leaf miner damage.  7 more sown in pots to replace them.  Transferred 6 strawberry Baron Solemacher into troughs.  6 pots of strawberry plants left.  Transferred out 12 sweetcorn Earlibird into home bed and added 2 bags manure.
May 28th	Transferred out remaining strawberry plants into 3 large tubs.
May 30th	Manured leek bed.
May 31st	Transferred out 10 bean plants from pots and added chicken manure pellets.  1st pea pods showing on 1st sowing of peas.
June 3rd	Sow 15 Kohlrabi in root trainers.  Sow 25 beetroot Cylindrica into root trainers.  Sow 8" pot corriander seeds.
June 14th	Start harvesting peas.
June 17th	Harvest Elephant garlic.  Harvest 2 tubs Red Duke of York spuds.  Moved toms and courgettes to  allotment.  Transferred out last beans.  Pulled up bolted radishes and dug out old raspberry bed.
June 22nd	Transferred out beetroot Cyclindrica at end of leek bed.
June 23rd	Harvest more peas.  Harvest 2 tubs potatoes.  Fed tomatoes.  Added chicken manure pellets to peas and courgette plant pots.
July 1st	Harvested last of 1st sowing of peas.  Pulled up the row.  Transferred out Kohlrabi in it's place. Transferred out beetroot at end of onion bed.  Harvested 12 Red Barron onions.
July 2nd	Cobs forming on corn.  Squash also starting to form.  Sow 8 pots cauli All Year Round and 2 pots of  Tirza F1.  Mixed up cauli and srouts so accidentally ended up with 2 beds of sprouts instead of 1 plus a bed of cauli.  Seedlings look the same!
July 16th	Bean harvest started but some plants lost to black fly.  Carrot harvest also started.  Harvested last of 2nd sowing of peas.  Plants now dying back and some pods now have pea moth.  Harvest 2 more tubs of early spuds and 2 lettuce.  Swede and corn developing well.  Tomatoes are developing but staying green but not ripening yet.
July 21st	Last of Red Baron onion sets harvested.  Still waiting for white onions to go over.
July 29th	All white onions harvested.  Carrot harvesting continuing but some are rotting back already.  All Year Round cauli nearly ready.
July 30th	Tomato harvest started.
August 4th	First sweetcorn cob from allotment harvested to test.  Blackfly have severly damaged the crop in it's early development phase.  More tomatoes harvested.  This years seem larger than last years, but are fewer in number.  There was leaf damage to the plants early on possibly caused by high temperatures combined with poor compost.
August 5h	Purchased from Castrees: 6 x Purple Sprouting Red Fire, 6 x Cabbage Golden Acre.  Will grow on further before transferring.
August 11th	Tomato harvest continues.  1/2 French beans now finished and removed.  Other 1/2 still producing. Carrot harvest continues but have left them too late and ground is wet.  Last 1st early spuds harvested. 1 bucket was rubbish.  From 3 seed potatoes, only 4 usable tubas were produced.  Rest were too small. Sweetcorn from the plot harvested.  Blackfly and bugs got to it.  Only 5 cobs were OK.
August 12th	3 Sunshine F1 squash harvested from home.
August 13th	More tomatoes and beans harvested.  Lifted remaining carrots and emptied bed.
August 17th	Harvested beetroot Cyclindrica from beds 1 and 2 on allotment.  Prep'd bed 2 for cauli.  Added lime and 2 bags manure.
August 22nd	All Year Round cauli transferred into bed 2.
August 23rd	Golden Acre cabbage potted on from plugs into pots.  Cut off foilage from 5 tubs Cara main crop spuds.
August 24th	Cleaned a manured bed 5.  Manured bed 4.  Removed environmesh from sprouts on beds 7 and 8.
August 25th	Emptied carrot bed.  Harvested all 5 tubs Cara potatoes.  Harvested last beans and pulled up plants. Turned compost heap on allotment.
August 27th	Transferred out Purple Sprouting Red Fire into bed 5 under environmesh.  Old blackcurrent bed pulled out.  Carrot cage taken apart.  Manured bed 3.
September 2nd	Transplanted 2 more strawberry tubs to home and started to prep ground for mini hooped polytunnel.
September 3rd	Erected mini hooped polytunnel.
September 5th	First digestate delivery made on allotment site.
September 6th	Second digestate delivery made on allotment site.  Bed 3 cardboard and digestate cover.
September 9th	Bed 1 cardboard and digestate and watered.  Transfer cabbage Golden Acre into bed 1.  Thinned out swede that haven't formed or that have clubroot.  Cut back and thinned out squash plants.
September 14th	Cut foliage off tomatoes and left fruit.  Continue with light watering and moved into mini polytunnel.
September 22nd	Harvested more tomatoes from mini polytunnel.  Weeded and cleaned paths between beds 1 to 6.
September 23rd	Went to Malvern Autumn Show.  Bought reduced price seeds.  Carrot Autumn King and Early Nante. Hurst peas, Red and green dwarf french beans and cucamelon.
September 24th	Shaped ground ready for new beds 10 and 11.  Sprouts not quitre ready yet.  Lettuce plug planted into troughs and put in mini polytunnel.
September 25th	Onion sets arrived from DT Browns.  Bought on advice from allotment neighbour.
September 26th	Still harvesting tomatoes.
October 1st	Harvest a further 1 - 1.5kg tomatoes.  Planted out cabbage into bed 1.  Planted out onions sets into bed  4.  2 rows red, 2 rows yellow, 2 rows white.
October 5th	Finished cardboard and digestate bed 5.  Covered with membrane and left for winter.
October 6th	Harvest squash from bed 6.
October 7th	Final tomato harvest.  All plants pulled up and compost mixed into compost bin.
October 8th	Seed order place with Premier Seeds Direct.
October 14th	First cauliflower head formed.
October 15th	First overnight frost.
October 22nd	First pickings of sprouts.  All good.
October 26th	Harvest first cauliflower but no signs of heads on any other plants.  Fitted edging around beds 10/11 and put in stakes for blackberry bushes.
November 29th	Still picking sprouts.  Acquired a bath from work for growing carrots and have put it into place. 2nd Cauli head has appeared.  Planted blackberry plants Loch Ness and Valdo.  Still harvesting carrots at home from trug.
December 2nd	Very hard frost (-5).  Harvested 2nd cauli, first parsnip and more sprouts.  Installed wire for blackberry plants and drilled holes in bath.
December 3rd	Emptied compost bin into spud buckets and filled bath with compost.  Delivery of digestate.  Put some in bottom of compost bin.
December 10th	Put more digestate into compost bin.  Thin layer of digestate on top of spud bucket and back.  Seed potatoes ordered from DT Brown.
December 12th	Chilli seeds Numex Sandia and Peppers Cubanelle purchased from Premier Seeds Direct.
December 20th	1/2 trailer horse manure from High House, Ledbury put into compost bin.
December 22nd	Sprout harvesting continues.  1 bed now finished and stripped back.
December 25th	Ordered heat mat and grow lights from Amazon.  Ordered 2 quad grow systems from Harrod Horti.
December 26th	Plenty of heat in the manure pile.  Horse manure experiment... 4 broad bean seeds potted in compost/manure mix.  4 seeds potted in compost only.  Some manure also put into sock and left to soak in water.  Idea is to water the pots containing compost only with this  'tea' when germination has occured.
December 30th	Moved experiment beans into heated propagator.  Harvested last of sprouts, dug up stalks and hoed bed.  Covered with membrane.