27 May - Garlic Rust; First Crops And Expansion.

First the bad news. I was having a general poke around my plot this week and decided to weed around my garlic. To be honest, as the garlic has been at the end of one of my beds since last November, I haven't really given it much thought. This was a mistake. I noticed that it was covered in allium rust, a fungus with the scientific name Puccinia allii; little orange pustules on the leaf that look like rust on metal. I've suffered with the odd spot of rust on leeks before but never to this extent. Perhaps the cheap bulbs from a high street store were to blame or, more likely, it was the very wet Winter which caused the fungus to flourish.

Unfortunately there isn't much that can be done to get rid of it. I've cut and stripped off as many infected leaves as possible without killing the plants and have removed the leaves from site in a plastic bag - not wanting to compost infected material. The garlic should be ready in around six weeks from now so I'm going to leave them and see what happens. I've already noticed new leaves developing from the middle of each plant so I might still get a crop. Of course, I won't be planting leeks, garlic or onions in that spot for a few years. (Below the garlic with cut and stripped leaves).

Talking about planting space, the good news is that it seems likely that that I will be taking on the plot directly opposite mine which means that I will have a 'full' allotment rather than just half. The chap who has had this plot doesn't live locally and has been on a waiting list for a plot on a site nearer to his home; a plot has come up so he's off. I've had my name down for this one for a while now as I think I'd regret not taking it despite the work that will be involved to get it into order. He needs to remove some tools and things from the shed so I won't have the keys for a fortnight yet; shame I'm eager to get started. Unfortunately, while the chap really knows what he's doing in growing terms, he was working abroad for most of last year so the plot was largely untended and is now rather overgrown. (Below pic of plot as it is now).

I'll finish today with my first crops of the season. I've dug up some early spuds 'Rocket' and have picked a few iceburg lettuce which are growing well. For me, the season has now really started and hopefully the rewards will start flowing for the hard work. Bye for now. (Below, Iceburg lettuce).