23 Apr - Squashes, Sweetcorn & Sowing Direct

The weather for April has been wonderful to date but I gather from the forecasters that things will take a downturn next week. However, there's been loads of things happening so let's get to it.

First of all seed sowing. On the plot I sowed some Detroit beetroot direct on the 19th April and also a row of Nantes carrots to accompany my Sweet Candle. With the Nantes I created a narrow trench in the bed by using a spade and wiggling it from side to side to make a 'V' shaped slit and filled it up with soft compost. I'm hoping that this will allow the Nantes to produce a half decent crop despite my heavy clay soil. These will be extra really as I'm hoping my Sweet Candle carrots will produce like they did last year - they were massive! Talking of carrots, the Sweet Candle are just showing now. (Pic - Sweet Candle F1 carrots).

I've also sowed some French Breakfast radish direct to the plot on the 22nd April and have begun to harden off some lettuce and spring onions by removing them from the greenhouse - these will go in the same bed as the radish in the next week or so.

In the greenhouse I've sown sweetcorn into root trainers (19th April). I still had some Swift F1 from last year but they didn't do too well so I bought a packet of Incredible F1 and mixed them up as Incredible have always performed well for me. (Pic - sweetcorn sown in root trainers).

It's time for my Summer and Winter Squash to be started off too. I sowed a couple of pumpkins (Big Max) a week or so ago, now it was the turn of the rest. As last season, I sowed a load of butternut Hunter F1 that did so well for me - I literally had a box and a sack full, (see 14th Sept 2014 post for butternut results). I've sowed a few of my Sweet Dumpling/Pumpkin hybrid saved seed - I've no idea what they will develop into but they are fun. My new squash this year is the lovely looking Turks Turban, I've sown ten seeds and I really hope they develop well.

As for Summer squash, I've just chosen courgette Atena F1, again new to me. These are supposed to be a yellow variety so I'll be interested to see how they do. I've sown five seeds in the hope of at least four make it to be planted out. The squashes have been brought indoors where there is a more steady temperature - the Hunter and Turks Turban have been placed in a heated propagator to aid germination.

Now, a round-up of where I am at the moment. In the greenhouse the brassicas are doing well, the cauliflower are especially large. The kale I sowed around 10 days ago (see 13th April post) are already showing and the beans, both French and Runner have started to emerge from their root trainers. I've prepared the bottom of the greenhouse for the tomatoes by adding some new compost and fertilizer, the tomato plants are growing well and will be planted in the next week or so. I've pricked out around 40 leeks and they have been transplanted into a larger tray to grow on until they can be planted out in early June. (Pic - beans germinating in root trainers). 

Now to the allotment where things are beginning to move along nicely. The garlic is growing strongly and the onion sets have put out a few green leaves each. (Pic - garlic growing on well).

My early and second early potatoes are showing strongly too. I've earthed them up twice now but they keep poking through the top of the mounds so, fingers crossed, there won't be any frost to blacken the tips. (Pic - early potatoes are showing strongly).

I didn't sow peas last year as I just didn't have the room but as I've more space this season I sowed pea, Hurst Greenshaft, on the 6th April. All five rows seem to have pushed their heads above the soil so I will need to consider sorting out some support in the next week or two. (Pic - Hurst Greenshaft peas begin to sprout).

It's not all good news on the plot though. I had a good look at my Bunyard's Exhibition broad bean plants and they seem to be under attack from little bugs already so I've taken the step of giving them a quick spray to see if they recover. I'll keep an eye on them over the next few days to see if there's any re-occurrence. (Pic - broad beans under attack from pests).

I need to finish on a sad note, one of my hens, Jolene, had to be put-down due to illness this week. She was literally a funny old bird and I hope she enjoyed her little bit of freedom with me after being rescued from intensive rearing. RIP Jolene.

13 Apr - Sowing Beans, Pumpkins & Kale

The month of April is marching on rapidly and looking at last year's entries I was a little further ahead than I am now. I put that down to the weather as it was warmer earlier last year though the weather now is sunny and warm so things will catch up rapidly.

I sowed some beans today in root trainers. First were the runner beans, Prizewinner, I put in 20 of those - I think I had 16 canes up last year and I'm hoping for 18 or maybe 20 this year- just a few more. I also sowed 12 Cobra French beans - I'll either do a wigwam again or, if I get 12 plants, I might do some normal rows. (Pic - runner and French beans in root trainers). 

The next vegetable to be sown today was Kale. I fellow plot holder sowed Kale last year and I've been impressed with it. So, this season I'm giving it a go. I'm growing Nero Di Tosacana 'Black Tuscan'. The plants grow very large so I've just done a tray of 12 cells and I doubt if I will use all of them.

My Brussels Sprouts, Trafalgar, looked a bit small and leggy when they came up but they have developed fairly well now. To help them along a bit I have re-potted them so I can plant them a little deeper, effectively shortening the stem - this is fine to do with plants like brassicas and tomatoes. (Pic - Brussels sprouts re-potted).

Finally I've sown my first Winter squash of the season, pumpkin. This year I'm trying the variety 'Big Max' which is new to me. I've been growing 'Jack O'Lantern' for years, mostly from saved seed but they were 'crossed' with other squashes and it was getting pot luck whether I'd get a pumpkin or not so I bought new seed. I stuck three seeds to a pot, too many but I have loads of them, and I'll thin to one plant per pot. (Pic - Big Max pumpkin sowed into pots).

That's it for now - I'll be sowing more squash soon.

06 Apr - Broad Beans & Peas

It's been a lovely Easter Monday, the weather has been very warm indeed, an ideal day to do some work on the plot. The first job of the day was to plant out the broad bean plants that have been raised in root trainers in the greenhouse.

There were 19 Bunyard's Exhibition altogether so I planted out 5 rows next to the onion sets. I raked in a sprinkling of Growmore first and then just popped them in with a trowel, a quick and easy job. To fill up the rest of the bed I planted 5 rows of Hurst Greenshaft peas, a variety I've not grown before. I just scraped out a shallow trench and sprinkled the peas in, having first divided up the packet into five even batches for each row. (Pic - this bed is now full with garlic, onions sets, broad beans and peas).

I'll be sowing parsnip and carrot soon so it was time to take the covers off the required bed and see what shape it was in. I dug the bed over last summer after taking over the plot then tilled it in the  late Autumn. However, the bed had a fair number of sprouting Sycamore seedlings due to the tree behind the shed. It dropped loads of little helicopter blades throughout the Autumn, perhaps I need to get the covers on earlier at the end of the season. (Pic - bed with loads of Sycamore seedlings).

Despite the Sycamore the bed was in pretty good condition through a little damp; the sun forecast this week will help dry things out a little. I'm hoping that a quick once over with the tiller will uproot the unwanted weeds and seedlings and the sun will dry the roots. A quick rake over and it looked fine.

I got plenty done today though there is a fair bit to do this week, I think I'll put my main crop potatoes in soon too along with barring in some root crops. That's it for now.

03 Apr - Start Of April Round Up

It's Good Friday at the start of April so it's a good opportunity to see where I am in terms of the allotment. However, most of the developments are occurring in the greenhouse where my sowings so far are currently growing.

First up are the brassicas. All of them are doing well through the Brussels Sprouts initially looked a bit spindly - still, they seem to be growing better now. The kohl rabi, summer cabbage and cauliflower have sprouted well - the cauliflower so well in fact that they have already developed true leaves and I've potted them on into separate pots. (Pic - brassicas in the foreground).

The Marketmore cucumbers have also done very well - I placed three seeds into two pots and I have now thinned down to one plant per pot. I find two cucumbers are plenty for us throughout the summer - I end up giving them away. (Pic - Marketmore cucumber before being thinned to one per pot).

Despite the germination rate of the Shirley F1 tomatoes being poor (only 4 decent plants from 12 seeds) the plants have come on well. Added to these I had to sow some Alicante to make up for the deficiency, these have almost caught up with the first batch. I've now potted these on. (Pic - Shirley F1 tomato plants before re-potting).

I didn't place the Bunyard's Exhibition broad beans in the heated propagator, I just left them in the greenhouse to get on with it - and get on with it they have. They were sown in deep root trainers which I used for the first time last year and proved to be particularly useful for broad, runner and French beans. Out of 20 broad beans, 19 have germinated well.

The leeks are growing strongly in their seed tray too, I will need to separate 40 or so out in the next week or two and plant them in a larger deeper tray I keep especially for growing on leeks. They will stay in this tray until June when they will be planted out on the plot. Talking of the plot, my garlic have sprouted well since the cloves were planted out at the start of March. There only seems to be a single gap where a clove hasn't put forth a leaf. (Pic - garlic sprouting on the plot).

That's it for now, until next time, bye.