A herb rockery made with... sinks!

This weekend we used the four sinks we had collected to make a herb rockery.

We had no plan or any idea how it was going to look or even how we wanted it to look. Which was a bit daft really. We started with 3 metal sinks, one ceramic, two bags of flamingo gravel, 10 red bricks and 10 breeze blocks. Oh and a small bag of ready mix cement. We decided it would be positioned at the front of the plot, right behind the small she'd but visible from the main path and right next to out path, for easy access for picking

Mr Allotmum and myself spent a good half hour arranging and re-arranging the sinks into different positions, muttering to eachother about how we had no idea what we were doing. It was rather comical. We'd never built a rockery before, we obviously thought we knew how to but every time one of us thought the layout looked good, it was dismissed as looking a bit rubbish by the other.

Eventually though, we agreed on a layout and set to get it all stable. We dug the ground a little way down to make a stable base for the sinks. As we laid each sink we filled under and around it with loose soil and packed it down. We also used whole and smashed up breeze blocks to wedge under them to stop them from moving around. Oncw all 4 sinks were in position, we edged around the base using some red bricks (which cost 20pence each from the local builders merchants). I planted some flowers in the ground around the sinks and then covered that with flaming stones. They're rather pretty stones of irregular shapes and different colours.

Once that was complete, we filled the sinks with compost and planted mint, thyme, marjoram, parsley, dill, chives and garlic chives, as well as some spinach beet seeds for good measure. I'd started these plants off as seeds some weeks back and they weren't too happy getting parched in the greenhouse.

I'm happy to say that they are doing much better outside!

All in all this project cost us around £20 and it's a nice addition to the plot.

Germinating Chilli Seeds on paper towel

Chillis. I love them. Crunchy, spicy, juicy, colourful, pungent, robust. They add a beautiful depth of flavour to any dish and I've been growing them for the last 10 or so years. This year I've totally missed the boat with starting my seeds off. By now I'd have at least a dozen or so plants ready for potting on but we've been so busy at the allotment that I've totally forgot to get them going. Dammit I could kick myself.

Even though chillis are quick to grow, some of the hotter varieties need to be started very early in the year, around January or February, to have any chance of their fruit ripening fully in the summer. Some fruits of the hottest varieties can take nearly two months to fully ripen and if you're late with your sowing... you're going to miss out!

As I forgot to plant early enough I've gone mainly for mild and medium varieties. I probably won't get anywhere near the usual amount of fruits that I normally grow in my little home greenhouse, but I can only try.

One thing about chilli seeds is that some species have a rather low germination rate, namely cayenne and habanero. Meaning that if you planted say 10 seeds, only a small amount of them would ever grow into a plant. This is a rather annoying thing about growing chillis. You plant lots of seeds and sometimes you'll only get 2 plants emerge but for some varieties you'll end up with all 10 germinating and more plants that you know what to do with. It really is a gamble.


This year I wanted to try something a bit different. With the help of our new snake.

Yes. Snake.

Noodle came to live with us at the beginning of May and she's being kept in a plastic box INSIDE a larger vivarium where the temperature is a balmy 30 degrees all round. It's a perfect germination station for my chilli seeds. So I decided to go soil free to germinate my chillis. The added benefit of germinating on paper is that you can see as soon as the seed has germinated without having to wait for it to come up through the soil. If there's been no action after 4 days - the seed's a dud and you should try another.

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Chilli seeds on paper towel

What you'll need for paper towel seed germination:

• seeds of your choice
• shallow plastic container with a lid
• kitchen towel / paper towel
• water spray bottle
• somewhere warm to keep the tubs

I got 5 plastic takeaway tubs, you know, the ones you get curry in from the Chinese takeaway? I never EVER throw these out because they're perfect for starting seeds off. Line the bottom with one sheet of kitchen towel. Sprinkle 4 seeds (yes just 4 because you're likely to get 2 successful germinations) and cover with another sheet of kitchen roll. Spray the paper until it's moist but not dripping wet. Put a lid on the tub and place somewhere warm. In this case, the snake's new home. You can use a heated propagator or heat mat to the same effect. I didn't omit light, the lights in the snake's tank are on a 12 hour timer and this didn't seem to matter to the seeds. Don't forget to label your tubs or you'll forget which is which as many chilli seedlings look identical!

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Tiny sprouting jalapeno seeds

The seeds I planted were: orange habanero, chocolate habanero, Hungarian wax, jalapeno, piquino, joe's long cayenne, ring of fire and razzmatazz. Some of the seeds were from last year's fruits and some were from my favourite chilli place - The South Devon Chilli Farm.

After just 2 days the jalapeno and razzmatazz have germinated and have sent little white shoots out of the seed casing, this is the first root coming out to take more water into the growing seedling. Next to emerge will be the first shoot. It's amazing how quickly they grow under the right conditions and you can plant them straight into a pot knowing that the germination was successful, without having to wait and wait for a shoot to appear. It's also a good way of controlling how many seedlings you end up with. Wait until the first green shoot appears out of the seed casing and then carefully pot into the surface soil of a pot. Don't bury it, let it grow a little more, adding compost as it grows.

You'll have a nice strong plant in no time without an influx of seedlings or the disappointment of empty pots from seeds that failed to germinate.

We've been so busy at the plot this week. The weather has taken a little break from raining and windy so the ground has been dry enough to rotovate.

We bought a petrol rotovator from Screwfix and in a few hours we managed to turn the whole left hand side of this area. It was bloody hard going but Mr Allotmum did an amazing job at wrangling the rotovator.

Once we'd finished and had a sit down this cheeky jackdaw came down picking up the worms that had been brought to the surface!

We're not sure what we're going to do with this area yet, maybe put some potatoes in, if we're not too late. I've got my bean sticks in and have put my 30 odd runner bean plants in.

What I've planted and what's growing? Week 18

greenhouse Basil

 This week I've planted in the greenhouse :

• leeks
• turnips
• lettuce
• runner beans
• sugar snaps
• rocket
• parsley
• basil (green and purple)
• chives
• coriander
• mint
• thyme
• radishes

There are a few more seeds I'd like to get started in the greenhouse but I've run out of space and pots!

And outside everything has started to grow beautifully, such as:

• pak-choi
• lettuces
• broad bans
• rasperries are starting to bud
• the cherry tree has blossomed

 Everything is starting to look lovely and green and lush. Spring is wonderful!

Pak Choi

Blossoming cheery tree

Rocket

Saving water on the allotment

Water is a precious thing. One minute it's raining for days and you long for the dryness of a sunny day. The next day it's baking hot and your poor greenhouse plants are parched and confused. That's the joys of British weather, it's unpredictable and extreme.

When it rains I try to think positively and see that it's watering my outdoor plants for me and filling my water butts up at the same time. On the plot we were lucky enough to inherit a large number of these huge blue water containers. I have no idea what they were once used for but we probably have 8 of them dotted around the plot. Sadly none have taps and most of them are filled with stagnant water that's been in there goodness knows how long. An added bonus is that many of them had lids which keeps the crawlies out.

It's great having them around to catch the rainwater but they're a little impractical as you have to dunk your watering can into them and when you've got arms as short as mine, it will be difficult to get water out of them when they're running low.

A solution was needed.

So on the weekend I charged up the drill, dug out a few large hole bits and set to work connecting up three of my water butts. To do this I needed to buy a few bits to connect them together - yet more cash spent on the allotment. These particular butts are located next to the greenhouse so will catch the water running off the roof. Thankfully there was already a guttering system on the greenhouse so it wasn't ANOTHER thing I had to buy.

I bought some new taps for the water butts and two connector kids off eBay. The taps were £1.89 each and the connector kits were two for £8.34.

I drilled holes in each butt to attach the connector hoses -ensuring that the first hole was higher than the hole in the second butt, ya know, for gravity to do it's thing. I also propped the butts up using breeze blocks to ensure the first and main butt was the highest, and then the third was the lowest.

Now when it rains and the first butt gets full, the water will drain through the hose and into the second butt. And when the second butt gets full, it will drain to the third etc etc.

Now I'm reluctantly hoping for rain to fill these huge containers up... it's almost a guarantee as this weekend is a Bank Holiday and it always rains on a Bank Holiday, right?

Don't ditch the Dandelions (just yet)

Ah, the Dandelion (TARAXACUM). I have a mixed-up relationship with this yellow flower. I love and loathe it all at the same time. It suddenly appears EVERYWHERE in March/April making your once well-kept lawns and paths spotted with yellow flower heads.

Let's face it, it's so tempting to rip them all up and go back to neatness.

STOP!

They may look unsightly and are un-welcomed in your garden but please don't pull them out - just yet.

Dandelions are some of the first food sources available for newly awakened bees. They're the first offerings of nectar for these sleepy pollinators and a much welcomed first meal as the bees come out of hibernation. Imagine waking from a 4 month deep sleep to be greeted by your favourite breakfast - that's how the bees feel when they see those glorious yellow flowers.

Please don't mow your lawns or tidy your paths until more spring flowers have opened up. The bees need the dandelions so much more than you need your lawn. Let's face it, how often do you sit or walk on your lawn in the soggy months of March and April?

Be kind to the bees and they will reward you tenfold when it comes to visiting and pollinating your garden. Bees are in rapid decline in the UK and they need all the help they can get. They're falling in number due to many reasons including disease, pesticide use and lack of food sources for them to visit.

So just for now, please leave the dandelions alone and let the bees have their fill. Why not stop and watch the bees bumble around the dandelions in your garden?

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If you're wondering how to use those flower heads, here are a few ideas:
12 Things to Make With Dandelion Flowers (Nerdy Farm Wife)
How to Eat Dandelion Flowers (Tactical Intelligence)
Dandelion Uses and Benefits (The Wellness Mama)

Using shredded paper as garden mulch

Shredded paper around Pak-Choi plants

Now that the allotment season is in full swing, I’m concerned that all my hard work will be undone over-night due to invaders of the slimy variety. Yes, slugs and snails are my number one pet hate at this time of year. Last week I headed to the plot just before darkness fell to undertake a night time raid and stop those garden sods (as my grandfather calls them) in their slimy tracks. Much to my annoyance, they had managed to get around my copper tape force field and my trusty plastic bottle barricades. Those little buggers were happily munching their way through my sprouts and lettuce plants. Enough was enough.

Paper mulch around lettuce plants

Once I’d forcibly evicted those bad boys, I was tempted to douse the whole plot in slug pellets a foot deep. I knew I needed to formulate a kinder and less chemical-ridden plan of action.

I took to google and found many different “tried and tested” ways to keep slugs at bay. From beer traps to pellets, picking them off one by one with tweezers to sprinkling cinnamon everywhere. The list of methods was huge.

One thing that kept popping up was mulching, it's placing a thick layer of organic matter around your plants to keep pests and indeed weeds, at bay. Mulching is usually done with rotten organic matter like compost or horse manure. Now, I don’t have a horse or access to a ready supply of poo. Nor the spare money in my pocket to purchase it - so I had to look closer to home to see what I could use.

Shredded paper and water

I do accounting for the family business and have a never ending pile of paper recycling. As I work from home, this paper is stacked in a box under my desk as I’m not allowed to put it in with my household recycling as it’s considered commercial waste. Disposing of it at home could land me a £1,000 fine. I’m not willing to risk it - especially as every letter or envelope has the business name and address printed on it!

So I looked around online and saw that you can in fact use shredded paper as a mulch for your garden. Winner! Something I have a never ending supply of, that doesn’t stink, and I can collect by the boxfull every few weeks for free.

So out came my trusty shredder. The poor love didn’t know what hit it as I started to shred hundreds of pages of paper. I was always conscious of what I was shredding as it’s final destination will be around the fruit and vegetables we’re planning on eating.

Here's few tips on what you shouldn’t be shredding for garden paper mulch:

• Coloured or glossy paper, like magazines or flyers. This doesn't break down well.

• Anything with ink that ISN’T black (metallic and coloured inks can contain heavy metals which you wouldn't want in your soil)

• Any envelopes with plastic windows - take the windows out first and put in household recycling

• Staples are OK but take care if children will be helping lay the mulch (obviously they won’t break down in the soil)

Sprouts protected by paper mulch

After an hours worth of shredding I had a black bag FULL to bursting with tiny strips of paper (I have a crosscut shredder). I took this bag and a large builders bucket to the allotment. I then emptied the paper into the bucket a bit at a time and added water from the water butts. Now, a bit of advice here, don't do this outside on a windy day - the paper bits will end up EVERYWHERE. I did this part in the greenhouse sheltered from the wind because yes, it was a windy day.

I left the paper and water together for a little while so it could soak up the moisture and then headed out to my raised beds. The first to be mulched were the sprouts and lettuces as the damn slugs had been at them the worst. Just take a few handfuls of wet paper mulch and pat it around the plants. Don't try and spread it about as you'll disturb the soil surface and end up with mud in your paper. You want the mulch to be at least 1 inch deep all around. As you go, press down on the wet paper firmly. You'll feel the water come squelching out and it's very satisfying but it serves a purpose. By pressing and compacting the paper you're creating a thick woven barrier against weeds and slimies. When the paper starts to dry the moisture will go to your plants and the paper will dry as hard as concrete. Honestly, it will be very firm. Plus, if you've got different colour paper in your mulch it will also look quite pretty. I think so anyway.

The old boys at the allotment think I've lost my mind covering my newly planted planters with shredded paper mulch, but they'll see that it's a fabulous weed barrier and also great for keeping slugs and snails AWAY from my new plants. When everything is grown and harvested, the paper can be turned into the soil and will break down. Wonderful.