A Christmas List of Surprises?

The period between Christmas and new year was not one that I expected to set foot on a frost and fog bound allotment, however, the powers that be had plans for the morning, which included one or two surprises – my Christmas gifts. I was positive that my Christmas list contained many things that I wanted, most of which seem to have been supplanted with other gifts that may have been the bright idea of ‘Mrs Claus’, and wholly more practical in relation to project 63. So the host of computer peripherals, photographic accessories, and one or two articles of clothing, seem to have been disguised as 8 lengths of 2x2 wood, wood stain, innumerable bags of compost, wire and ratchets for training fruit along the cut down 2x2, and other such accessories, including the equivalent number of post holders to be driven into the ground.

The general consensus seems to be that the fresh air and exercise will do me good! All I seem to recall from my exploits in 2016 was constant back ache, a snuffly nose, and the ability to be on the site most weekends, some in conditions that most wouldn’t contemplate drawing the curtains for let alone venturing out in. The phrase little and often seems to have been replaced with right away and all at once!

On a very cold frost laden morning, the 16 ft lengths of wood were cut and stained (need a second coat) in preparation for training the raspberries that had been dug up pre - Christmas and gently heeled in waiting for their new home to be turned over and manured. A couple of extra posts are required as I plan to grow a couple of grapes, a white and a red, which were actually on the list of requirements that Mrs Claus operated with for the festive period. Both are planned for the side of the shed and wildlife area, which is south facing where they should hopefully prosper.



Having considered the successes and failures from the initial project 63 foray, seeds have been ordered for 2017, with the emphasis on those plants that seemed to prosper well, with one or two different varieties to mix things up a little. The intention is to also read some of the instructions this year to avoid the same (easy to make) errors from last year, where the Peruvian cucumber rather overtook the poly tunnel and supressed virtually everything else planted. They apparently can grow in excess of 40ft, and therefore planting 3 in the space of 3 ft now seems a little rash, and more importantly heralded no product.



I am also hoping that the world of fruit and vegetable growing is unlike the world of high finance, and that past performance can be an indicator of future success. There were several veggies that performed really well, specifically some of the courgettes which produced and produced, the Psycho Mira and early potatoes, squashes, and would like to view that we can replicate these successes in 2017.

With almost a years experience behind us producing regular trugs of vegetables for our chosen charity, we are considering whether we add a further charity to our donations for 2017. Of course much depends on how successful we are growing the produce, however, with some valuable lessons learnt, the hope is to improve on what was achieved in 2016.

Project 63 remains as it is described, a project, with the principal rationale to grow and provide fruit and vegetables for charitable causes. The hope and aspiration remains to experiment with some varieties of crop that may not be considered by most.

Finally, During 2016 the project has had considerable assistance from various quarters, not least our neighbour Chris, the Community Payback Scheme, Derek, Peter, Daryll and others, for which we are enormously grateful.