30 Jan - Sarpo Mira, Seedlings & Storms

This is the last update for January. We've had two days of extremely high winds and rain, apparently we are naming storms now and this one was called 'Gertrude'. Well, Gerty did her best to batter the allotments but luckily there hasn't been any damage above plastic covers being blown about and water flooding the site. 

On to what was supposed to be some happier news. My Sarpo Mira potatoes have arrived from Thompson & Morgan. I always buy them from them because they sell by number rather than weight which is extremely useful when I want to buy 60 main crop spuds for my plot. So, I ordered my annual three bags of 20 sarpos and was disappointed to find that only one bag actually had 20 seed potatoes inside, the other two bags were short.

While this is insignificant in the scheme of things, T&M sell specifically based on number, they make a point of it. They don't advertise approximately 20 spuds, they sell them by the bag of 20 tubers. It's like buying a pack of 10 fish fingers and only getting 8 - a bit of a rip-off. Anyway, a quick email and I've been promised that they will correct the order. Still, I'm definitely thinking that I might as well just go to my local garden centre next year and save myself the postage costs. (Pic - Sarpo Mira laid out to chit).

The tomatoes and leeks I sowed in a heated propagator are up and running - I was surprised how quickly they germinated this year. The hardest stage is the bit that follows though; I've taken them out of the propagator and, while the leeks will be fine, the tomatoes need a warm sunny windowsill to grow on. They usually get a bit 'leggy' when sown early but they can be re-planted deeper when potted on so they become study little plants. (Pic - newly germinated tomato plant seedlings).

That's it, see you in February.

28 Jan - Garden News Appearance

Well, blogs can throw up strange things sometimes. I write for the local South Wales Argus, mainly because of this blog and recently I was contacted by Garden News for some content a week or so a go. I sent them a few things based on their brief and they kindly sent me a copy of the edition I appeared in. 

I was expecting a few of my lines to be in but they put everything in. Thank you Garden News, very kind though I think 'Expert Insight' was pushing it a bit!

Garden News - January 30 2016

23 Jan - Sowing Tomatoes & Leeks

Just a quick post today. Well, I couldn't wait any longer so I've unpacked the heated propagator, bought some seed compost and made a start on sowing.

The first sowing was of Marmande Beefsteak tomatoes. I haven't grown these for a few years so I thought I'd give them a go this season. I'm also growing my usual Alicante tomatoes which always do well. I'm starting both of these off in the heated propagator indoors. If/when they germinate I'll be planting them on into individual pots, again keeping them indoors as my unheated greenhouse will be too cold for sometime yet.

I've also sown my Musselburgh leeks in a small seed tray. These will also be germinated in a heated propagator then transplanted and thinned into a larger tray where they will remain until they are planted out in May/June.

That's it for now. Bye ...

21 Jan - Winter Weather At Last!

Just a short post about the weather so far. November, December and the first part of January have been very wet indeed. The ground has been saturated for weeks on end with muddy puddles forming as soon as there was a new spot of rain.

January 17th saw a cold and misty morning; this was the start of a few days of colder weather moving in. I'm presuming the mist was the result of the warmer wet air encountering the cold air that was set to stay for nearly a week.

By January 20th the allotment site had changed rapidly. The cold air had transformed the plot into a proper Winter scene. The morning temperature was reading -4. The saturated ground was now frozen solid and the water barrels full of thick ice. It's amazing the difference a few days and a bit of cold air can make.

Everything left on the plot is hardy enough to stand these cold snaps. The leeks, parsnips and Kale will survive OK until Spring. Luckily I remembered to turn the water off to the site before the cold weather set in - the last thing I want is burst pipes! 

However, this means bringing water from home each day for the hens who seemed rather grateful for the cold weather because it meant it wasn't raining on them! Despite the cold, dark days the hens are laying really well, my second young cream crested legbar has just started producing eggs so I'm getting two nice blue ones regularly now.

That's it, an usual post all about the weather but I like to record the seasons on the site as well as the produce. Bye for now.

12 Jan - Early Potato Chitting

Yes, it's that time of year again; the marker of the new season proper - I've bought my early potatoes. As they performed so well last season, I'm  planting 'Rocket' again but, I've decided not to plant second earlies this time. The Rocket went on to out-perform the second earlies so I've bought an extra bag of those instead as I have the space just to dig them up when needed - I was still taking them in August and I started digging them up in June!

Rocket, like Swift, are some of the fastest growing early spuds. They can be dug from 10 weeks onward which means that if you chit them well and plant them in mid-March you can be digging them from the first week of June.

As always, I've placed them in seed trays with the rose end (the end with the eyes) pointing upward. These 'eyes' will develop the chits - not the spindly roots seen on a potato left at the back of the cupboard - rather the stalks that will go on to support the leaves. (Below - the 'chits' that will develop into the stalk and leaves of the potato plant).

I've also purchased my main onions. I've never grown main crop onions from seed, I always use sets. To be honest, unless you are looking for something unusual or are growing for exhibiting, onions sets are the way to go. They are easy to store, plant and raise - they also don't 'bolt' and go to seed as they are heat treated to prevent this. I've gone for my usual 'Sturon' onions - they always do well for me.

That;s it for this quick update. Bye for now.

02 Jan - Seed List For The New 2016 Season

It's the New Year and my thoughts turn toward the upcoming growing season. I read somewhere, years a go, a piece about how people who grow crops and raise animals tend to think differently about the passing of the seasons and years. It's not just the loss of 'awareness' of Spring moving into Summer, or Autumn drifting into Winter that so many people today are largely out of touch with. After all, who can blame them given their limited exposure to the 'outside' world? Merely encountering a few second interlude from centrally heated house to air conditioned car or gazing out of an office window isn't enough to experience the seasons on anything more than a cursory level.

No, not just the fading awareness of the seasons then, something more, it's related to the idea of 'expectation'. Most people, in the normal course of events, expect an improvement in their lives; that the economy will improve, that their wages will rise, that they will acquire more worldly goods, that their standard of living will increase. In other words, their expectation is that things will be better than the year before and, that this modern belief is natural and justified. That is not to say that these things will inevitably occur but, the general expectation is that they will happen, that things will be better than the year before.

Those that grow things have a different view, they realise that the weather and environment will impact greatly on what they accomplish over the year. Just because there was an indifferent growing year in 2015, it does not follow that there will be a better one, or a worse one for that matter, in 2016. Growers know that there will be 'good' years, 'indifferent' years and 'bad' years; there is no expectation that things will improve each season. On the contrary, many of us who tend our little plots can relate tales of halcyon growing seasons of yesteryear!

Yes, our growing techniques can improve with experience, our new technologies can help with cultivation and, our seed choices may contribute to a better harvest; nevertheless, we are at the mercy of our environment and all we can do is try and give ourselves the best chance of a bountiful harvest. Our expectations are always tempered by nature.

So then, to 2016. With no expectations of a better year above blind faith and hope in my heart, here's my 2016 seed list:

(Those marked 'new' are a variety I've never used before so are new to me).

Onion
Leek - Musselburgh
Garlic - Germidor (saved cloves)
Onion Sets - Sturon
Spring Onion - White Lisbon

Brassica
Kohl Rabi - White Vienna

Swede - Wilhelmsburger
Cabbage Summer - Primo II
Cabbage Winter - Tundra (new)
Brussels Sprout - Bosworth F1
Kale - Nero Di Toscona

Turnip - Snowball

(Might give Cauliflower - Autumn Giant another go)

Legumes
Broad Bean - Bunyard's Exhibition
Runner Bean - Firestorm self-pollinating (new)
Climbing French Bean - Cobra

Dwarf French Bean - Nautica (new)

Pea - Hurst Green Shaft

Root
Parsnip - Gladiator F1
Beetroot - Detroit II
Carrot Large - Sweet Candle F1 

Carrot Small - Nantes 5
Potato Early - Rocket

Potato Main Crop - Sarpo Mira

Salad
Radish - French Breakfast
Lettuce - Lollo Rossa, Mazur & Iceberg
Sweet Corn - Incredible F1

Spinach (Perpetual) (new) 

Squash
Winter Squash - Turks Turban

Winter Squash - Crown Prince (new)
Butternut Squash - Hunter F1
Pumpkin - Big Max

Pumpkin - Jack O' Lantern
Courgette (gold) - Atena F1

Courgette (green) - Defender F1 (new)

Greenhouse Plants
Tomato - Alicante

Tomato - Super Marmande
Bell Pepper - California Wonder
Cucumber - Marketmore