We've had a decent few days over the May Day bank holiday though the forecast is for intermittent rain this week. When the sun was out I was on the plot clearing the very last of my leeks. They were just in the process of sending up a flower spike which causes a tough core through the centre of the plant so I prefer to get them dug up. Good old Musselburgh leeks have stood well all winter, yes, they have been battered by the gales and frozen by the odd frost but, they've done well.
Musselburgh are such an old variety which I still highly recommend. My father-in-law gave me a booklet issued during the Second World War, around 1941, about growing-your-own - Musselburgh were listed as a good leek for the wartime grower. Nothing has changed, it's still a good leek. As I dig up the last leeks of 2013-14, a tray of Musselburgh sown on the 3rd Feb waits patiently to be planted out sometime in June.
I mentioned in my last post that while my runner beans, Scarlet Emperor, were doing really well, my French Beans, Blue Lake, were basically rubbish. The Blue Lake had very poor germination and when they did decide to grow, they were spindly and stunted. There is no doubt that this was because of old seed - looking at the date this is the third year since they were opened - it looks like I can use the seed for two years but not three. I did what I suggested in my last post, I went out and bought the more prolific French Bean variety 'Cobra' and have planted them in deep root trainers in the greenhouse.
Meanwhile up on the plot, I decided to copy my neighbours and get my bean poles sorted out. It's that time of year that marks a true allotment, the signature avenues of canes springing up everywhere. I usually set out two rows of eight canes in my six foot wide bed, sixteen runner bean plants with a seven cane wigwam for French beans, this provides myself and my family with enough beans to eat fresh throughout the summer and to freeze a few hefty bags too which last us into the winter. Some growers put up a positive forest of canes, row upon row - how does any family eat so many beans?? Below, my 'modest erection' as it were, of 2 rows of 8 canes - plenty for us.
Now a quick nose around the plot. The early potatoes Rocket, planted mid-March, are romping away now, too big to earth up any more. I don't sow a massive amount of parsnip but my little row of Gladiator F1 are just putting on their first true leaf and I will have to thin to one per station soon. A row of carrots are showing, the ones I used a bar to plant (see 11th April post) and I've also planted out a few carrots I tried in newspaper tubes as a comparison. The tubes were a bit of a hassle so I hope the bar method works as it's easier in the long run.
Finally, I've prepared my brassica bed by raking in lime and some general fertilizer into a well trodden down surface as brassicas need compacted soil. It always feels a bit strange shuffling over a freshly dug bed with booted feet but it needs to be done. I've also added my two 'goal posts' which provide the support for pond netting to protect the plants from pigeons and white cabbage butterflies. The forecast suggests that things will warm up in the next 10-14 days so I plan to plant out then, around mid-May.
That's it, bye for now.
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