26 Dec - Christmas Post

This is the last post of 2015 and I thought I'd finish on Christmas lunch. I'm still not brilliant at planning ahead for growing vegetables throughout the Winter though I am getting better. Looking around the site there's really only three of us who have Winter veg and one of those has really planted for early Spring crops. 

I've currently got leeks, kale, parsnips, Brussels sprouts and swede on the plot. Unfortunately I forgot to sow savoy Winter cabbage which is always welcome in the depths of Winter. Of course there is still a fair bit in store; pickled beetroot, potatoes, garlic, onions by the bucket load, frozen beans both runner and broad plus a few Winter squash. So, there was a fair bit of allotment food on the plate for Christmas lunch, not forgetting the Yorkshire pud made with eggs from the chickens on the plot too. 

A word about the chickens; I've had some up and downs with them since I started with poultry keeping. I began with four rescue hens but I've leaned my lesson with them, they really seem unsuitable due to their poor health. Yes, one or two will do OK but generally the majority of them will simply die due to their poor start in life. At the time of writing I have one left from my original four and my neighbour has two left from his original four though he's had them a shorter time than me. I'd love to be able to recommend getting rescue hens but I can't, in my experience they just don't work out despite being pampered. They all came to me with issues and, despite being wormed and having a suitable diet, those issues never really went away - in some cases they directly contributed to their deaths. I'm afraid it's better to get some young birds, just before 'point of lay' so they can settle in before starting to lay.

At the moment I have five birds, the last of my rescue hybrid hens who pops out the odd egg but is generally semi-retired; I've a Light Sussex who lays most days; a mad Rhode Island Red who is both massive and very loud, she lays virtually everyday too; then I've two young Cream Crested Legbars, one of which has started laying lovely blue eggs on the 9th December - I'm just waiting for the other one to start. So, I'm getting three eggs from five chickens most days so that's pretty good given that we are at the darkest time of the year.

Well, that's it for this post, the next one will be my seed list for the upcoming season. See you in the New Year.

08 Dec - Review Of The Season

We all want to get better at what we do and I found that to improve my skills on the allotment I had to remember a few things from season to season. What varieties of particular vegetables grow well on my plot? Which varieties failed? Is it best to sow that one direct or can it be raised in pots first? After trying a few methods I found that an online blog was the best way for me to record the 'what, when and how' of it all – I could add pictures too. (Pic below - late Spring 2015).

So, December’s blog has found me in reflective mood then, thinking about what worked on the plot this season and what didn’t. The first thing that occurred to me was the weather; Spring and Summer were cooler this year, plants seemed to be at least three weeks behind where they were last season. While most things eventually caught up, the fluctuating temperatures contributed to a poorer crop of Winter squash which prefer steady, warm days. Nevertheless, I still managed to get a good number of Butternut and Turks Turban, though not as many as I would have liked, plus a couple of pumpkins for Halloween.

Last season sweet corn caused me problems, there were cobs but the plants themselves were largely stunted and poor. I put this down to a new variety I was trying, so this year I went back to planting my usual sweet corn Incredible F1 and, sure enough, I got much better  results, some of the best corn I've ever had.

As for failures, I have to mention the cauliflower. I've tried a few times to grow successful cauli’s but without success. Despite adding lime to the soil, watering regularly so they never dry out, protecting them from pests and generally pampering them, they still performed miserably. A quick mention of Brussels Sprouts too; last year I grew Bosworth F1 and they were fantastic, producing large, tight sprouts from November to March. I tried Trafalgar F1 this year and, while I have a decent crop, they are nowhere near as impressive as the Bosworth so I’ll be reverting back to those for 2016.

There were successes of course; these included Sweet Candle F1 carrots which were fantastic, as equally good in the local vegetable show as on the plate. They grow to a large size and are the best tasting carrots I’ve ever had. Likewise the Gladiator F1 parsnips with their long pale roots, sweet taste and small core. I had ample soft fruit too; strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants abounded throughout the height of Summer.

Other vegetables I will be putting on my shopping list again include the Sarpo Mira main crop potatoes which were indeed blight resistant, still growing well into late Autumn. The early potato Rocket produced bucket after bucket of egg-sized tubers from ten weeks after planting though the second early potato crop wasn’t as good - I think I’ll just plant more Rocket potatoes next season. (Pic - Sarpo Mira main crop potatoes).

The Cobra climbing French beans were very productive as usual, so too were the Bunyards Exhibition broad beans, the wonderfully named Hurst Greenshaft peas and the Primo II Summer cabbage. (Pic - an abundance of Hurst Greenshaft pea pods - July 2015).

Overall, it certainly hasn't been a bad year despite the cooler weather. Everything, except the cauliflowers produced crops; in addition to those listed above I've had plenty of lettuce, onions, garlic, leeks, beetroot, tomatoes, runner beans, sweet peppers, courgettes and fruit. It could have been worse! Bye for now. (Below - two pics - early Summer and Winter).

22 Nov - First Cold Snap Of Winter

We've had such mild weather throughout the Autumn though it's turned increasingly wet over the last week or so with heavy rain, making the allotment site very boggy. The main cause were two storms which hit the country; the remnants of hurricane 'Kate' swept across the Atlantic and was quickly followed by a storm called 'Barney'. Both contributed to the high winds and heavy rain.

This weekend has seen a dip in temperatures however. Overnight Friday/Saturday saw a dusting of very light snow up on the mountain and today (Sunday) saw a decent frost on the local cars and patches on the allotment site.

There's still a few things to get from the patch. I'm getting two eggs a day from the Rhode Island Red and the Light Sussex chickens, the Warren is currently moulting and the Cream Crested Legbars are still too young - no eggs from them at the moment. The sprouts are not as good as last year but there are some swelling on the stalks; the parsnips are nicely formed in their pre-drilled holes, there's still plenty of Sarpo Mira spuds, squash, onions, kale and leeks too. 

With a nod to next season, I've been shopping online for seeds which have now arrived. I've a decent range of things to grow for the 2016 season and I'll be listing everything in a separate post.

Bye for now.

1 Nov - Pumpkins & Sprouts

Things are certainly winding down now though this season's pumpkins had their spot in the limelight yesterday on Halloween. I grew two variates, Big Max and Jack O' Lantern. The JOL was grown by accident really as I saved some seed from a hybrid squash last year and it developed into one of the parents.

My wife always carves the pumpkins and she informs me that the Big Max was much easier to cut and carve than the JOL. The texture of Big Max was much softer and took mere minutes to clean out. This year she carved a 'Green Man' pumpkin and a 'Village Idiot' pumpkin (no idea where she got the idea for that one from!). (Pic - above 'Green Man', below, 'Village Idiot').

As can be expected, not too much happening on the plot at the moment. Nevertheless, I've started picking Brussels Sprouts and managed to get a small handful for a 'taste' this Sunday. The variety is Trafalgar F1 but unfortunately they aren't a patch on the Bosworth F1 I grew last year. The plants are much smaller and have been slower to develop; it'll be Bosworth next season.

I've dug up my Gladioli flower bulbs and they are currently drying out in a bucket. When the stalks die back I'll give the bulbs a quick brush to remove the earth and they will get stored for planting next spring. There's a bit more weeding to be done and a few more strawberries to thin, otherwise things are pretty settled for the Winter. 

The weather has become misty over the past few days making the days rather dull and dank. Of course, the clocks have gone back too so it's dark at 16.45 pm, all very tedious and depressing. Ho hum, I suppose that's the British weather for you. See you next time.

21 Oct - Courgettes, Spuds & Leeks

The weather has been lovely for the past week or so though, at the time of writing, it's all grey skies and drizzle. Seeing the forecast, I put my back into the plot and got everything as tidy as I could over the past few days.

The first job to finish off was the bed where the Winter squash and runner beans had been. I started digging over this area last month but got sidetracked with other things. I'd left two of the four courgette plants in the bed too as they still looked healthy; sure enough they were producing courgettes right up until this week when I dug them up. (Pic - courgette 'Atena' still producing mid-October).

The only plants left in this area now are the Musselburgh leeks. I decided to remove the enviromesh cover and frame on the basis that most of the leek moth threat has passed and the plants could do with the extra light during the increasingly shorter days. The plants have suffered some damage, mainly due to holes in the enviromesh, and I spotted and removed three caterpillar/cocoons. 

Still, they aren't too bad with damage mainly on the outer leaves which were stripped off. I weeded around the leeks and added a sprinkling of fertilizer to give them a boost going into the Winter. There are a number of decent sized leeks so I dug the first one of the season - lovely! They should continue to swell now and put on a bit of growth.

This side of my allotment is now completely weeded and roughly dug over for the Winter. I'll cover as much as I can with black plastic as I find that this helps to preserve the soil structure which can get very heavy and boggy as it's clay. Covering it allows me to get on it early in the Spring.

The last main bed to be dug over is the one with the main crop potatoes in it over the other side. I started harvesting them early this month and have finally got them all up. I wasn't too hopeful about getting a decent crop looking at the plants themselves as they looked rather stunted and poor. Of course, they have mostly gone over now but the blight resistant Sarpo Mira seem to go on, growing well into Autumn when all the other potatoes have long gone. (Pic - digging the Sarpo Mira spuds at the start of the month - finally finished!).

Nevertheless, once they were all dug up the Sarpo Mira's have performed well again this year. There was no evidence of blight on them and there were enough decent sized spuds to make them worthwhile. Last year there was a lot of scab on them but I had grown them in soil that had been limed the year before for the brassicas. This season I grew them in a different rotation order and there was very little little scab evident.

The grass around my plot was longer than I thought so I borrowed the communal strimmer and gave it a once over; I've also weeded and covered the potato bed. Talking of strimming, the full plot next to me is vacant again; this plot needs a lot of work as it's really overgrown. Myself and the site secretary strimmed the weeds and grass down in the hope that a couple of people on our waiting list will take it in hand. It's been decided that we'll split the full plot into two half plots, less work for those involved and hopefully a greater chance of someone getting at least one of them straight.

I'll end this post with a picture of my plot on a sunny 20th October 2015. Most of the plot has been covered and the grass cut. Bye for now.

07 Oct - Tomatoes, Sweet Corn & Carrots

We've had a few days of heavy rain showers though the temperatures have been pretty good over the first week of October. Wow, October already?! Time's flying this season, Autumn is well and truly here.

What great harvest of sweetcorn this year. Last year was pretty poor, I had some but it wasn't great with too many stunted plants. In my last few posts I have mentioned picking corn cobs and this week I've picked the last of them, I've had loads of lovely corn. While I eat a few cobs fresh, I mainly tend to boil them up then freeze the corn, it lasts longer and we use it in all sorts of things.

The Sweet Candle F1 carrots looked pretty good when I pulled a couple last month so, I thought it best to pull the lot this week. I only barred in three rows, around 21 carrots in all. Believe me, that's plenty! The carrots are massive and taste delicious. I had a few attacked by slugs and a couple that had forked but, even these were edible with a bit of judicious trimming as they are so large. Again, I keep some fresh but the majority are peeled and blanched in boiling water and then are frozen for use throughout the coming months.

It's quite hard to see just how big these carrots are in the picture but you can get some idea by looking at the width of the sink to the left and a large cake tin and toaster to the top of the photo. Anyway, these were all prepared and bagged up in the freezer, plenty for the Autumn and Winter months. Job done for another season

Into the greenhouse now and it's time to clear out the tomatoes. It's been a bit of a mixed year for toms'; I tried Shirley F1 first of all, they were expensive and there were only a dozen or so seeds in the packet. Worst of all, only four plants germinated where I normally get good results in a heated propagator. I actually sowed a second pot of my usual Alicante to make up for the losses and, to be honest, there wasn't that much difference when the plants finally started producing. There's no way I'm shelling out for Shirley again, I just can't see that they are worth it. (Pic - tomato plants 'gone over' in the greenhouse, time to clear them).

That's it for this post. See you soon.

21 Sep - Bean Poles & Carrots

Yesterday dawned misty and Autumnal; a bit of a surprise as we've had good weather for most of September so far. It didn't last long, the sun soon burned off the early morning haze, just as well, I had a few things to do.

The first thing on the agenda was the state of my bean poles. A number of the bamboo canes snapped and the I've been propping up the rows with bits of timber. Time for them to be removed. It's always a bit sad taking the runner bean rows down as it kind of marks the end of the main growing season. Still, they have produced well though only low down on the vines; there were stacks of beans 2 to 3 foot off the ground but virtually nothing above that, not too sure why though a few people have mentioned problems with beans this year.

Anyway, I picked another few hand-fulls of beans and uprooted the vines and canes. The bamboo has lasted a good few years but I'm going to need a few replacements for next year as a fair few have finally weakened and snapped. (Another thing on next season's shopping list). Most of the roots were left in the ground as they develop nitrogen nodules and can be dug in.

I'm still digging over the area where the Winter squash were - I do a bit then get side tracked. It's only a matter of pulling any weeds up and roughly turning over the ground. I plan to cover as much as I can in plastic - I'll get around to finishing it at some point.

I've had a look at my Sarpo Mira maincrop potatoes; the first few plants were pretty unproductive but the next few produced some nice sized spuds. I'm hoping for a few pound over the next few weeks despite the plants looking pretty ropey.

My Sweet Candle F1 carrots look good again this year. I've pulled a couple to see what they are like and I'm pretty happy. I've used the bar method for the second time this season and it certainly seems to work. A couple of nice 'uns!

That's it for this update. I'll see you in October.

16 Sep - Sweetcorn & Clearing The Winter Squash

The weather has been largely wet for a few days with more heavy rain forecast. I thought it best to harvest the squash crop in one of the sunny spells rather than leaving them resting in wet mud; besides, most of the plants have gone over now so they weren't going to grow any bigger.

Last year I had the pictured plastic crate plus a sack just of butternut squash; this season my butternut hardly fill half the crate. As mentioned in my last post I think the cooler temperatures this Summer had a detrimental effect. Anyway, I've got some nice Winter squash so things aren't too bad. (Link to last year's squash harvest).

I cleared away the squash vines and started roughly turning over the ground. I'll pull out any weeds and will probably cover the area with black plastic over the Winter. 

I had another look at my sweetcorn and I was pleasantly surprised. Last year was almost a write-off but this year I seem to have gotten some good results. Most of the plants have two good sized, well pollinated cobs on them. The recent winds have seen a few of them keel over now so I thought I'd pick a few that were lying on the ground.

Pictured are the first five I picked with the tassel end trimmed and the outer leaves removed. Overall, not a bad collection. Fingers crossed the rest of the sweetcorn harvest will be as good.

On a more sour note; my leeks have had an attack of leek moth. I've discovered a few larvae on the leaves and some damage at the centre of the leeks despite the covering of enviromesh. I'm hoping the damaged ones will recover but, even if they do, they never seem to get to the size of the unaffected ones. Oh, well, I'll keep an eye on them for the next few weeks.

That's it for now, see you next time.

08 Sep - First Of The Winter Squash

We are into September already and the weather has been bright and warm. I've tackled the strawberry patch, well most of it, by detaching the runners that have spread everywhere and by generally thinning out the plants. I think I initially planted them too close together which encouraged mould to grow on the fruit in damp conditions due to lack of air flow.

I've taken up a few old rhubarb plants that have been poor this year and have replanted the area with the best of the strawberry runners and thinnings. Can you have too many strawberries in June and July? I don't think so.

The Winter Squash plants are beginning to die off now. It hasn't been a great year for such squashes, size and number are much reduced compared to last year. I put this down to the cooler summer with more radically fluctuating temperatures. May and June were particularly cool so the squashes didn't get the sunshine and warmth they really needed to get going. Nevertheless, I managed to get some fruit so I must be thankful.

Below are the first of the rather splendid looking Turks Turban squashes. I've never grown these before but I'm impressed with their look and taste. We've had one roasted on Sunday, it was surprisingly easy to cut and prepare. (Pic - Turks Turban Winter Squash).

I always grow a couple of pumpkins for Halloween though we have started eating them too, (initially we didn't like the taste but both the flesh and seeds are better roasted). This year I have two varieties, neither are particularly massive but are nevertheless large enough to carve at the end of October. The pumpkin on the left just beginning to turn orange, is Jack O' Lantern; the one on the right is Big Max.

The sweetcorn will be picked very soon as the cobs are beginning to look fairly good, much improved on the paltry crop last season. Most of the plants have two good cobs, most look to be well pollinated too. Anything a bit ropey can go to the chickens, I'm sure they will mop them up.

The weather forecast for the next week doesn't look too great with rain and winds predicted. So, I'm ending this post with a late evening picture of the plot in the fading sunshine. Bye for now.

31 Aug - Bank Holiday Weekend

The last week has seen poor weather with cool temperatures and long periods of heavy rain. I suppose you could call it a typical Bank Holiday in August! Luckily there has been the odd sunny break and I've been able to get on with a few jobs on the plot.

Firstly I decided to check on the parsnips; as I planted more this year than last season I thought I'd dig one up to see where we are. The blighter put up a fight but I eventually got one out of the ground with the minimal of swearing. Quite chuffed actually, they are looking good and there'll be another two months before I start taking them properly so plenty of time to put on a bit more growth. They should be a decent size by the end of Autumn. (Pic - first trial parsnip - picked 2 months early but a good size nevertheless).

Well, as I hinted in my last post, my cauliflower experiment has gone to pot! The plants were firmed in well, grew strongly, I ensured that they were watered regularly but, they still formed little florets which bolted to flower. Oh well, win some, lose some! Maybe I'll have another go next year with a couple.

Still, this has given me the opportunity to tidy up the brassica bed. Out went the cauliflowers; along with them I picked the last of the kohl rabi which has been very successful this year - I've still got a load prepared and stored in the freezer. (Pic - kohl rabi - variety White Vienna).

I've added a bit if granular fertilizer to the sprouts and kale, both looking a tad small to me but, there is still time for them to grow larger yet. There are sprouts developing on the stalks so I'm pretty sure we'll have something by Winter. There are still a few summer cabbages left too; they look a little untidy but that's just the outer leaves, the heads are heavy and solid. (Pic - brassica bed weeded and tidied up - sprouts in the foreground; a few summer cabbages, kale, and carrots under cover in the background).

Thanks to Croesyceiliog & Llanyrafon Community Council, we had some funds this year to buy and repair tools. We finally managed to track down a part for our broken strimmer which arrived this week so I was able to cut the grass around my plot. 

I consider August Bank Holiday a high-tide mark in the season - it's an opportunity for many plot holders to put a few hours in at the allotment. Crops are harvested, the ground is weeded and turned over, grass is cut and things are put into some order because, from now on, the season is beginning to wind down. 

Autumn is just around the corner, yes we will hopefully have some fine weather ahead of us with warm days still to come but, the evenings and mornings will start to get increasingly chilly and more and more allotment beds will become empty. It's a time for blackberry picking and wine making, storing harvests and picking tree fruit. I love the approaching time of year, it's fantastic, lets hope we have some fine weather to enjoy it.

See you next time.

18 Aug - Mid-August Update

It's official, it hasn't been a great growing year for some fruit & vegetables according to Gardeners' World. One particular fruit highlighted is the tomato - it's been suggested that the fluctuating temperatures have produced a sporadic crop that has been slow to ripen. I can vouch for that; one minute in the greenhouse it's been in the 40's by day then by night it has fallen as low as 4C. 

I certainly have a good number of tomatoes in the greenhouse but they have taken a long time to develop, no doubt giving a truncated fruiting season this year. There will be many more that won't ripen before the temperatures really start cooling in the next six weeks.

On a more positive note, the new potatoes have been really good. The variety Rocket have been great and, though the second early Maris Peer could have been more plentiful, they turned out to be a good size. I've dug up the last of them now and the remainder will easily last us into September. I've cleared the weeds, tilled over the new potato bed and have covered it, mainly to keep the cats off and to cut down the number of Autumn seeds blowing onto the earth.

Just a quick mention of some other things cropping at the moment; I'm still taking cabbage, kohl rabi, potatoes, courgettes, runner & french beans, finger carrots as well as the stored onions, garlic and broad beans. Still developing are sweet corn, beetroot, kale, swede, winter squashes (butternut, turks turban and pumpkin), main crop spuds, parsnips, leeks, main crop carrots and brussels sprouts. Unfortunately my experiment in growing cauliflower doesn't look promising but more on that later in the month.

One job that needed to be done was the removal of the old raspberry canes and the tying in of the new growth. I mainly have summer fruiting raspberries which means that the fruit grows on the previous year's canes. So, I've been cutting out the spent canes that developed last year and fruited this year while tying in the newly grown canes that will provide the raspberries next summer.

Once the raspberry rows have been tidied up it was a lot easier to do a spot of weeding around their bases. The rest of the fruit bed needs a good sort out too but that can wait a few weeks as I've other jobs to get on with.

See you next time.