Bright sunshine this Easter Bank Holiday Friday, and the forecast is rain later on, so its on to the allotment. The whole site is covered by blossom, and in the gardens surrounding the site. It is amazing how spring blossom there is in this inner city area, and definitely a change over the years I have lived here, the Council has taken care to plant flowering trees in the streets, and the residents have filled their front gardens with blossom trees, looks fantastic. Around our streets in the London Fields area, Magnolias of all sorts predominate.
Just outside the allotment site the Tree Musketeers have planted a small orchard, and this year we should start to see the fruits of their labours (sorry). Earlier this week there was a memorial planting of an apple tree to one of the founder members of the Hackney Allotment Society, Chris Waller, who died late last year. His plot was famous for the enormous amounts of manure he managed to haul on to it, raised its level several inches above everyone else, and of course gained wonderful fertility.
Apart for putting in beetroot (Boltardy) lettuce (Multired and Multigreen) and sweet pea seedlings and sowing salads for succession, its seed planting time in the greenhouse, small amounts to make sure there is a succession of crops, climbing french beans Cobra, a favourite and much tastier than runner beans, Helda, and I am trying Neckar Gold this year, Broccoli Purple Sprouting and more beetroot and salads.
The stepover apples are just coming out into flower, it looks as if there will be apples on all trees this year, despite the good crop last year. The bees are out in the sun, and I see that our resident beehives have increased to three.
Leek seedlings have gone in, Atlanta, the plan is
