Is it a bird, is it a plane, no, it’s a …

…Rainwater Collection Thingy in the making.

Digging the plot has provided me with a mound of weeds and sods. As this mound grew larger over the months I wondered how I could utilise it. So a cunning plan came to mind… mould it into an Rainwater Collection Thingy (RCT). Having gathered some used pallets from the local tile shop over the last week, I was ready to get started. 

Using a staple gun, I covered the flatter side of each of the pallets with some dark plastic sheeting I had lying around and then fenced off the mound with the pallets, plastic side facing in. I used wooden stakes to keep the pallets in place. All I need to do now is cover the mound with more plastic to block out the light, and come up with a way of getting the rain to flow into the barrel. Total cost: Nothing but time and a few brain cells!

Apart from being a thing of beauty, the RCT has one other known purpose… to turn the mound of sods and weeds into a loamy soil that can be used in years to come.

I also managed to plant my ‘Charlotte’ second early potatoes. Another good days work!

Pallets waiting to be useful.

Charlotte’s ready to go.

It’s a bit sketchy.

The plot thickens.

Just looked through my seed packets and decided roughly what’s going where at the allotment. I hope to have some potatoe bags dotted around the plot as well. Thinking of giving sweet potatoes a bash this year too. Vegetables I am trying for the first time are broad beans, butternut squash and spinach. Because of past failures, leeks and celery are only maybes for this year. I may grow lettuce, salad leaves, spring onions and herbs in the garden at home. Oh yeah, and I might try growing mushrooms in coffee grounds… It’s all a bit sketchy!

Posterized Potatoes.

Epicure, first earlies… kitchen window sill.

Yes, it’s chitting time! These potatoes should have been on the window sills a couple of weeks ago (when I bought the seeds) but I left them in the boot of the car for a week, and then on the hall floor for another week. They appear to be chitting away happily despite this negligence. There is a little bit of mould here and there, no doubt from being left in the packaging for so long, in the hot car boot.

They are on the window sills now, waiting to be interred on Paddy’s Day. I have three varieties at the moment, Charlotte (second earlies), Epicure (first earlies) and Kerr Pinks (main crop). I will probably try one more main crop variety, without chitting, to see if it makes any difference.

I tried to take some half decent photos but was unhappy with the results, so I added a ‘posterizing’ effect in Photoshop. It’s actually the ‘Cutout’ filter but I think ‘Posterized Potatoes’ makes for a better title.

Charlotte, second earlies… bedroom window sill.

Charlotte… landing window sill.

Charlotte… bedroom window sill.