18 Feb - Sowing Toms, Chitting Kittens & Update

My notebook entry today is a quick update on my progress in February. I planted some tomatoes yesterday (17th Feb) which are intended for cropping under glass. I sowed two varieties, a cherry and a standard tomato. I also started off some sweet peppers, California Wonder; these are basic bell peppers which are flavoursome rather than being hot.

My main basic tomato of choice is Alicante, an AGM variety that produces heavy crops of lovely tasting and medium sized uniform fruit that are equally good for slicing up in a sandwich or acting as the basis for a pasta sauce. I'm also raising the excellent cherry type tomato Gardener's Delight, one of the best small toms. In recent years I've gown the same number of each but the Alicante have been so versatile that I may only stick a couple of Gardener's Delight in tubs and use my usual growing space for the Alicante this year.

Here's a quick leek comparison. The Musselburgh leeks were sown on the 3rd Feb (see notebook entry for that date) and the first image is from Feb 9th while the second is Feb 17th, basically a week between pictures. They have really got away well. They have been moved from the house to an unheated greenhouse.

My broad beans, Sutton, were sown on the 3rd of Feb too (see entry for 4th Feb) and these are the beans on the 17th Feb. I planted 25 seeds but only 19 are showing strongly, this is quite a poor germination rate but, after a bit of a dig around, there are others germinating so there might be a few more popping up soon. The broad beans have been moved from the house and are now in an unheated greenhouse though I'm keeping an eye on overnight temperatures. If we get a heavy frost forecast I will either cover them with fleece or will bring them inside.

My last issue of the day involves the problems of chitting potatoes on a warm windowsill. The seed tray full of Rocket and Sarpo Mira seemed to be the ideal bed for my young kitten, Dougal. No harm done, though I've moved the chitting spuds to the unheated greenhouse for their own safety! Again I'll protect against any frost.

 Until the next notebook entry, bye from Dougal and me.

16 Feb - Tidying Up Storm Damage

I suppose it was inevitable given the appalling weather we've been having here in the UK that the site would get hit. I've already recorded how there was a small stream running through the site during January because of the incessant heavy rains (see video posted Jan 24th 2014). This time around it wasn't just the rains but the some of the strongest gales I've encountered for some years.

There have been gales and high winds most of the winter but on the night of February 14th/15th the winds were extremely high for a number of hours and the next day I went out to see what was going on at the plot. I was relatively lucky, my black plastic covers were dragged around despite paving slabs holding them down, also my canes were blown from their storage post, some being snapped in half in the process. I seemed to have acquired some orange buckets too, no idea who they belong to!

Unlike some of my neighbours I have a greenhouse in a sheltered position in my garden, fortunate really as my neighbours' greenhouses on the plot were hard it. Three panes missing from this one >>

Another one located further up the site (pictured below) has a large number of panes broken >>

Well today there was a bit of sunshine so I had an opportunity to do a spot of tidying up on my site and even a bit more winter digging. It's going to be raining again next week but I'm hoping that breaking up the soil will help it drain a bit quicker. Fingers crossed the weather improves in the next four weeks so we can start to think about planting our onion sets, broad beans and early potatoes. Still, that seems a long way off at the moment!

12 Feb - Broad Bean Germination

Virtually overnight my broad beans have made an appearance in the deep root trainers. The broad beans were sown on the 3rd of Feb (blog posted 4th Feb) and this morning eighteen of twenty-five are showing - I'm still expecting a few more to pop up over the next few days. The variety is the dwarf broad bean 'The Sutton' and they have been inside a propagator indoors.

My leeks, 'Musselburgh' are also doing very well in the propagator, again they were sown on the 3rd February and were showing six days later. They have now developed further with an excellent germination rate. I'll give them a few more days then I will slowly acclimatise them to cooler temperatures before moving them to an unheated greenhouse to grow on.

08 Feb - EU Law Threatens Allotment Growers?

First up I'm not an 'EU Basher' but this story is worthy of note. It's strange how a seemingly innocent piece of legislation can have an impact far beyond that for which it was (possibly) intended. Take the EU proposal called 'Plant Reproductive Material Law' for example (catchy title). This proposal is designed to ensure that plant seeds are 'safe' for the European public and that plant material has been tested to ensure quality and conformity.

Unfortunately what this means in real terms is that a small seed retailer will have to pay between £500 and £3000 to get new seed varieties approved by the EU. Many UK seed companies, popular with domestic vegetable growers, have already said that they will not be able to pay for 'official' testing and approval. If this legislation is approved then the choice of veg varieties for domestic and allotment growers will be massively reduced and heirloom seed will basically disappear overnight. Effectively it will make it illegal to sell seed not on the approved list. More worryingly, it has been pointed out that five companies will own the rights to 95% of all seeds sold in Europe. Clearly that can't be a good thing, can it?

The good news is that on January 21 2014 the EU's Environment Committee voted overwhelmingly to recommend to the EU Commission that the legislation be withdrawn as it "would concentrate power among just five companies that dominate the seed market, and discriminate against non-industrial traditional plant varieties rich in genetic diversity". Let's hope that the EU Commission listens to its own Environment Committee and we can carry on swapping, breeding and buying a large range of vegetable and flower seeds. 

For further information on how the legislation will effect small producers see the Reel Seeds website for more information and updates.

07 Feb - A Spot Of Winter Digging

What's that yellow ball in the sky? It's the sun! Well, for a short while anyway. We were promised a brief sunny interlude in-between two more bouts of heavy rain and very high winds and the forecasters seemed to have got it right.

The day started bright, breezy and comfortably warm; despite feeling a bit unwell this week, I decided that an hour or so on the allotment was the type of medicine that would get me back on the track to full fitness. As the covers had blown off one of my beds I thought I'd give it a quick turn over with the fork to see if it was claggy and compacted. To my surprise it wasn't too bad; I only had to use my foot on the fork a handful of times, otherwise I was able to just push it in and turn the ground over without too much effort. (Just as well as I wasn't feeling particularly strong!).

I haven't bothered replacing the covers on this bed as it won't be used in earnest until around May for the runner beans and then in June for the winter squash. As gale after gale seems to be sweeping over the country at the moment there seems little point as the plastic will just be blown from the bed anyway. As I write this afternoon the weather forecaster has just issued a high wind warning again for this evening with the possibility of 'structural damage' - not good. (Below, bed quickly turned over with a fork).

After a few freshly pulled leeks covered with cheddar on toast for lunch, I popped back to the plot to take a look under the covers of a small section of another bed that will host my broad beans next month. Again, my clay soil was surprisingly easy to fork over and didn't look too bad at all. Despite the plastic being on and off due to the weather it wasn't too wet. I recovered this area and weighted it down with planks and bricks in the hope of keeping the worst of the weather off it over the next few weeks. Well, time to enjoy the last of the afternoon sunshine before the next storm sweeps in!

04 Feb - Sowing Broad Beans

I'm sowing my broad beans early this year - I prefer to sow them in the spring rather than the autumn as there are fewer losses though I can't really call the start of February 'spring'. However, the pressure is on a little this year because, if you have read yesterday's post and my seasonal plan (published Jan 15th), you will know that I'm trying to get my broad beans harvested and cleared by mid-June so I can use the same spot on the plot for leeks. 

I'm sowing the dwarf broad bean 'The Sutton' as the variety crops well and I don't have to bother with sticks and string to keep them upright as they are bushy enough and self-supporting. They always seem to do well for me though, like most broad beans, they benefit by having the tips pinched out as soon as the usual black-fly appears.

Just a note here; if you want fresh broad beans throughout the season then successional sowing (a few new plants every three to four weeks or so) is what is required so you can pick them over a number of months. I like my broad beans as additions to pasta sauces so I like to harvest them over a short period, blanch them and freeze them in one or two sessions. So, I want to plant them all together in the hope they develop and crop at the same time.

This year I'm trying deep root trainers for the first time. Not sure if they will work out or not but they are supposed to be good at developing straight roots and they open up, providing a home-made plug plant that can be potted on or planted with the minimum of root disturbance. The version of root trainer I'm using has eight hinged 'books', each with four modules. The kit comes with a clear propagator type lid and a plastic rack for the books to fit into, allowing them to stand up so they can be used like any other module system. They are re-usable though somewhat delicate, I anticipate that they will last a few seasons if handled carefully before needing to be replaced. Spare book kits are available.

The root trainers were filled with compost easily enough and as the broad beans are large seeds, they were just pushed into the modules with more compost added on top. After a quick water they were put into an electric propagator indoors. The only downside with the root trainer system as that all the books need to be in the rack whether they are being used or not to keep everything rigid. So, as I only ended up sowing 25 seeds I had a few modules spare. As always, I'll let you know how I get on.

03 Feb - Sowing Leeks

Seed packets often say that sowings can be made from February onward. Unfortunately the unwary beginner soon finds that sowing seed outdoors gets few seedlings because they don't germinate or, if they do, they get picked off by rot, pests or frosts. The soil is just too cold and wet in February and, in my neck of the woods, seems to be the month that generally gets snow too. For most of the UK, February is often colder than January. February is seldom the time to sow outdoors, even with cloche protection.

However, there is no doubt that this winter, while extremely wet, has been very mild with only the odd heavy frost. I took a picture of my unheated greenhouse thermometer today at 2pm and it was reading 10C (50F). Very mild indeed. With this in mind I decided to sow some cold tolerant vegetables, namely leeks.

The leeks I'm sowing are an old favourite called 'Musselburgh', a variety that has been around for many years. I've tried a few different leeks but I keep coming back to good old Musselburgh because they stand well throughout the winter and seem to put up with frost and snow without any trouble, lasting well into March-April before going to seed. They have a decent blanched shaft if transplanted deep enough and taste great.

I've sowed some leeks into a small seed tray this week and have placed them in an electric propagator to germinate. I usually start my leeks relatively early and, as soon as they have established, I transplant them into a larger, deeper tray to grow on for a few months in a cold greenhouse. Despite leeks being able to tolerate cold, they'll be covered with horticultural fleece if frosts are forecast. The leeks will eventually be hardened off outside and will planted out in June.

My plan this year is to get my broad beans in early - harvest them all for freezing by mid-June so my leeks can go in the same spot on the allotment. This is the first time I've attempted to do this. While the time scales appear to work, the weather will probably cause issues. Still, let's see what happens, I'll let you know if it works or if it doesn't! (My 2014 seed list and planting plan are in my January 2014 posts).