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).