21 Mar - A Gap In The Rain

I was lamenting in a previous post that we've had little rain this winter, well, March seems to have made up for it. After the snow the rains have come. Luckily, the third weekend of March when I traditionally put in my early spuds, was relatively fine so, in went the Rocket. Actually I only planted half, I'm going to plant the rest in a month to six weeks time. (Pic - Rocket potatoes go in).

Due to the snow and rain I haven't been able to get the Sturon onion sets planted out, I usually get them in just before the early spuds. Fortunately I prepared the ground for the sets back in February when things were drier. I tilled it, added some fertilizer and gave it a few weeks to settle. So, it was just a matter of gently pushing the onions into the soft soil. I planted eight rows of eight, plenty for us. (Pic - onion sets go in with some temporary netting to stop the birds from pulling them up until they get rooted in properly). 

As temperatures are forecast to be above freezing for the next few weeks, I sowed my Bunyard's broad beans into long root trainers and left them in the unheated greenhouse to germinate. They might take a bit of time but I'm sure they'll appear at some point.

New to me are 'Patty Pan' summer squashes, never tried them before. I've sown a few into individual pots and put them inside the house to germinate. I won't sow my winter squashes for a month or two yet but as these are summer squashes I thought I'd give them a head start - I'm planning to keep potting them on so they are established plants when I finally put them out after the last frosts.

I've cleaned out the carrot barrel, dug the sandy soil mix and added a little fertilizer. Sown are the best carrots you can grow, in my opinion anyway, and they're Sweet Candle. The barrel has been covered with a perspex sheet so things should be nice and warm to help germination. 

Finally a couple of brassica varieties have been popped in. First up is kale, I don't actually each much in the way of kale but it stands well over the winter months and I use it as leafy greens for the hens when there isn't much else around. I grew dwarf curly and cavalo nero types last year with the Nero Di Toscana doing slightly better over all and, they're quite architectural when the leaves are taken from the stem, like little palm trees in the depths of winter. It's also time to sow Brussels sprouts for Christmas! Yes, we need to think that far ahead! I'm trying Brenden F1 sprouts this year to see if they're any good. I always go for F1 sprouts as they don't tend to 'blow' open and stand better. (Pic - Nero Di Toscana kale covered in winter ice).

That's it, things are finally happening on the plot. Bye for now.

 

 

08 Mar - Spring? Nah! Snow.

The first week of March has been cold but fine. I've managed to make a start on some of the allotment beds. There's been very little rain this winter (which is a worry) so my clay has been fine to work, even the winter bed that had no cover. Anyway, I've prepared a bed for the Sturon onion sets which will be going out in a fortnight or so and I've started to prepare an area for salads. Both have been dug, weeded and fertilizer added.

Then today I woke up to snow. I don't mind a bit of the white stuff but around December, not bloody March when I'm looking forward to seedlings and spring! Oh well, every thing's on hold for a few days. (Pic 08 Mar 23).

In the greenhouse I've transplanted my leeks (Elefant) from the small seed tray they were sown in, into a much larger tray. I've spaced them out and hopefully they'll grow on now for a few months before being planted on the plot in their final positions early summer(ish).

The small selection of tomatoes (Roma & Moneymaker) have been re-potted too. While the leeks can take a bit of cold in the unheated greenhouse, the tomatoes are still on the windowsill in the house - it's just too cold for them anywhere else at the moment.

Likewise, the early lettuce I sowed in February are inside too. I've thinned them out to a few per cell as soon as they developed true leaves. I've also sown a few more in a pot as part of my plan to successively sow salad this year. The early salads will go into the plot as soon as the weather permits though initially with protection.

In the heated propagator I currently have a few capsicum peppers (germination has been poor so far), a second pot of lettuce and some salad onions (I'm trying the clump in a cell method). Well, that's it for now, there will be a lot more going on this month as soon as this cold snap passes and we can all get on with spring.

Bye for now.

12 Feb - Early Seed Sowing

We're finally into the middle of February and the end of winter is in sight. Yes, there'll be frost, flurries and frustration to come yet but spring is on the horizon nonetheless. (Pic - a frosty, early morning looking across the site).

This is the month I break out the propagator and warm it up in the house. The first seeds sown are some tomatoes, this year I've gone for some Roma plum type and Moneymaker which I haven't grown for a few years. I've had problems with 'dampening off' in the past so I now raise seedlings in single use bio degradable pots with a decent seed compound. That way I reduce the risk of any fungal nasties attacking the small plants; I find this can happen when the tomatoes are being raised early in the year.

I've also sown my leeks, trying Elefant for the first time this year. I've sown them in a half sized seed tray and I'll transplant into a wider and deeper tray when the plants are big enough to handle. They'll grow on there for a few months before being planted out into their final positions.

The other plant that I always get under way in early February are sweet peppers. They can take up to three weeks to germinate even with bottom heat and the plants take a fair time to develop. This year I'm growing Romano mixed for the first time, a more elongated fruit rather than a bell shape - I've done the usual Californian Wonder and the lovely Torro Rossa (bull's horns) in the past. If I've got the space I'll stick a plant or two in the greenhouse but I've had peppers with the plants out on the plot so most of them will go there.

 

As the propagator is on, I've sown some lettuce seed. Lettuce doesn't like particularly warm conditions to germinate (sowing in a hot, summer greenhouse can cause failure) so I'll keep an eye on them. If there's no sign in 10-14 days I'll put them somewhere a little cooler. It's a little early for lettuce but I hope to pop the plants out with protection at the end of March or, if it's still really cold, I'll pot them up in the greenhouse for an early protected crop.

The lettuce is part of my plan to make more of an effort with salads this year. I always sow too many, end up with a glut then forget to re-sow. This year I want to sow little and often and hopefully I can crop for a much longer part of the season. I've sown two basic types of lettuce, Webbs Wonderful and Little Gem, both have served me well in the past, not particularly exotic but they work. I've also put some White Lisbon salad onions into cells and will plant each cell out in a clump - they seem to do well that way because I thin the clump as I pick them, letting the others grow on. Again, I'll be re-sowing throughout the season.

I've taken the Rocket seed potatoes out of their bags and have stood them up in a couple of seed trays to chit. The shoots, which will become the green part of the plant, are already beginning to sprout. If you leave them in the net bags they grow through and you end up breaking the shoots when trying to get them out.

OK, that's it for this post. Things are getting under way despite it still being firmly winter. Still, let's look forward to spring.

Bye for now!

15 Jan - Welcome Back Allotment Notebook

Wow, it's been three seasons since I blogged here. It's funny, I didn't mean to stop writing this Allotment Notebook, it just kind of happened. No, I didn't give up my plot and walk away, I'm still there every day, feeding the hens and often pottering about. 

I look back at my last posts Spring 2020 and now realise it was the start of the pandemic here in the UK. Lockdown happened at the end of that March and hundreds of people were dying daily from Covid-19. No wonder things seemed a little strange and my normal activities fell by the wayside. The allotment diary being one of them. While the allotment carried on, the writing didn't.

Well, welcome back Allotment Notebook. It's time to add a few more entries, well, for the time being anyway. At some point, this year, next, the year after, I'm looking to move house and I think that'll be the end of this particular plot and, if I can't find another nearer to my new home, the end of this blog - but that's for another time.

So, January 2023 on the plot. I've already bought some seed potatoes and have gone for my old favourite 'Rocket'. I love this variety because they are cheap to buy (get them in Wilko), are quick to develop (plant end of March and start copping first week of June) and, you can leave them grow on to get larger spuds (I was digging them up into late October last year). 

I've bought two 2Kg bags which I'm going to stagger plant, the first can go in around the third weekend of March and then I'll plant the rest three or four weeks later. If I have the opportunity to buy another bag and they're not to straggly, I might pick up another bag in late Spring if they are being sold off in Wilko.

 I thought I'd try some different leeks to my usual Musselburgh this season so I've gone for Elefant. They're supposed to thicker than Musselburgh but we'll have to wait and see how they do.Also, I'm trying some different sprouts, going for Brenden F1 this time around, (I always buy F1 varieties because they don't 'blow' open and stand better). As I've used the last of my 'Big Max' pumpkin seeds I decided to go for Jack O' Lantern this year mainly because I hate eating pumpkin and only grow a couple for Halloween. Jack O' Lantern seem to grow into a nicer looking fruit with a more regular shape whereas Big Max easily produce flat sides and misshapen squashes though they are large!

That's it for now, I'll be sowing some seeds in February. Bye 'til then.

31 May - Late Spring Update

Almost everything I intend to plant out on the plot is there now except the leeks and winter cabbage which will go out soon.

The parsnips have germinated and I've started to thin them out so I eventually get one per position. The Sweet Candle carrots in the barrel are coming on well and have been thinned. The first two rows of Rocket early spuds are flowering and the second two rows I planted nearly a month later are coming through now.

I decided to put up a wigwam for my runner beans this year. I sowed Firestorm and Snowstorm seeds in long root trainers and they were planted out last week. Hopefully there will be both red and white flowers around the frame this year - it might look quite nice. There's about fifteen canes and if they all do OK there should be plenty of beans for us.

Last year there was an issue of root fly on the site and my cabbages and sprouts were affected. While I net them against butterflies and birds, it obviously didn't stop the fly. So, this season I've bought some fine enviromesh and my brassicas will be planted underneath. We also have leek moth so they'll go underneath too.

The Bosworth F1 sprouts and a couple of Primo II summer cabbages have been planted out with a little fertilizer and a sprinkling of lime underneath them. The leeks are still in pots underneath the mesh and I'll be dibbing them in early next month.

As usual I'm devoting a whole bed to squash. I've raised what was left of last year's Hunter F1 butternut seeds and bought in some Waltham butternut too as an interesting comparison. There were also a few old Crown Prince seeds that surprisingly germinated and some Big Max pumpkins.

In total there are around a dozen butternut, three Crown Prince and two Pumpkins (for Halloween) plus three courgette plants. They were planted out yesterday as they were beginning to suffer a bit in pots despite being potted on; as the weather has been warm they are better off planted. I've used the upturned plastic bottles as funnels again, planted at the roots they ensure an easy way to get water and food to the plants especially when they grow and bush up.

Right, that's it for now.

16 Apr - Growing Parsnips & Carrots In Heavy Soils

The key tools for sowing parsnips in my clay soil is an eight foot metal bar and a riddle sieve. I start by sieving a decent amount of compost from the compost bin (you can use bought multi-purpose compost if you want) and then add a trowel of builders' sand to ensure it flows nicely. I should have a relatively fine growing medium without stones. (Pic - Gladiator F1 parsnip),

Prepare the ground, mine was dug over last Autumn and covered throughout the Winter so was in good shape. Deep digging isn't really required just clear the weeds and ensure you can get the bar into the ground. I grow Gladiator F1 parsnips, grown in this way they become large so I only need a limited amount so the bar method works well and is worth the effort. Gladiator F1 have small cores so that's a hell of a lot of parsnip so you don't need a field full.

Drive the bar into the ground at your first planting spot, give it a wiggle in a circular motion to create a cone shaped hole in the ground, pull the bar out and drive it back into the hole with more circular wiggling. Repeat until the bar is 1.5-2 foot down, for me at this depth red clay appears on the bottom of the bar and I know I'm in the sub-soil on my plot. You should now have a lovely conical hole in the ground at your feet. (Pic - bar and holes for parsnip sowing).

Parsnips are fairly large plants, well the way I grow them anyway, so I leave a foot between planting spots. Repeat the bar process for as many as you need. I grow a limited number of large parsnips but you can equally grow smaller parsnips by creating shallower holes 6-8 inches apart or use my carrot planting method (described below).

Back-fill the holes with the sieved soil right to the top, add a little water to settle the soil then top up with more fine compost. Parsnip seed doesn't keep well so buy smaller amounts every year. Sow 4 to 5 seeds at every position and cover with some fine compost, water gently or the seeds wash away. I cover each spot with a bottomless drinks bottle just for some added protection. Parsnips can take some weeks to germinate, once they do, slowly thin out the plants to one per growing position and remove the bottles once established. (If one of your spots hasn't got a plant I have found that you can transplant a thinning to an empty spot when young). Parsnips can be eaten after the first frosts and can stay in the ground well into the new year, dig them when you need them. (Pic - Gladiator F1 parsnip grown with the bar method).

I grow carrots in two ways using two different varieties. Blunt-ended Sweet Candle F1, the most gorgeous carrots you'll ever taste, are very large when grown in a barrel or a similar container. My barrel contains a sieved sand/compost mixture which I just top up, re-mix and add a little fertilizer to each year. The barrel height offers good protection from the low flying carrot root fly too. 

To sow, I make around 20 circle marks with a small pot on top of the soil leaving a narrow space between them, this just helps me space out my sowing. I sow a small pinch of seed in the centre of each circle, cover with compost and finely water. The carrots are slowly thinned out as they grow to one per position and are pulled from the Autumn onward. (Pictured, large barrel grown Sweet Candle carrots).

Unfortunately my clay soil and the persistent carrot root fly doesn't really allow for a good crop of Sweet Candle in the ground so, for smaller but more numerous carrots I grow Resistafly F1 which really do live up to their name - I've had great success with this variety totally uncovered and unprotected.

To combat my heavy soil I once again make up a bucket or two of sieved home-made compost or bought compost mixed with a trowel or two of sand. In my tilled ground I push the spade into the earth about 6-8 inches down and wiggle back and forth making a narrow 'V' shape, repeat down the line so you have a shallow 'V' shaped trench. (As spades are curved, I turn the spade around and repeat in the trench just to even up the 'V' shape).

Back fill the narrow trench with your fine compost mix and run some water into the trench to settle then top up with compost. Sow your carrots thinly on the compost and lightly cover with a little more fine compost and give it a pat to ensure good soil to seed contact. Again, lightly water. If you're not growing Resistafly or just want to give added protection, cover with fine mesh. Thin the carrots after germination but not too much as I find pulling smaller carrots leaves others to grow on. (Pic - Resistafly F1 carrots grown using the 'V' tench method in heavy soils with no mesh protection).

That's it for the plot, my carrots and parsnips are sown. In the greenhouse, my plants are coming on nicely; the Roma tomatoes are probably going to need to be potted on again and the Bosworth F1 Brussels sprouts are just beginning to put out 'true' leaves. I'll call it a day here so bye for now.

11 Apr - Onions Planted & More Transplanting

It's Easter weekend and the sun is shining. However, the necessary Covid-19 restrictions are still in place so hopefully the streets ought to be quiet. The plot is getting underway now after a late start and I've noticed a few members have started digging their allotments ready for the season.

I put in another row of Rocket early potatoes, I had intended to put them in a fortnight after the first row but this particular batch are beginning to look like a net of wrinkled prunes so I thought I'd bung them in rather than give them another week in a rapidly warming shed. Wrinkled spuds will grow, the development of the shoots via chitting causes moisture loss and shrinking. As soon as they go in the ground roots will develop anyway. I bought the other two bags of earlies a few weeks after the first batch and they have clearly been stored in a cool place by the supplier as they look in perfect condition. (Pictured - a second row of early spuds go in on the right-hand side with enough room for another two rows in the coming weeks).

I've finally got around to planting my Sturon onion sets, about a fortnight to three weeks later than usual. I haven't gone overboard in terms of numbers, just 60 odd, enough for us. I did similar last year and I still have a load left. Planting onion sets is straightforward, ensure that the soil is finely tilled, rake in some fertilizer and just push the mini-onion set into the earth. If it's dry, water the area to make the soil softer. 

I know it's obvious but make sure you plant them the right way up, the flatter root plate goes downward, the pointy stalk bit upward. Plant 4 to 6 inches apart, leaving enough room so they are not crowded and so you can do a bit of weeding around them in the coming months. Give them a bit of water and push any back in that float away! Check regularly as the birds will probably pull the odd one up, just stick it back into position - the bird mischief will stop as soon as the onions are rooted.

In my garden greenhouse the Alisa Craig tomatoes have been potted on into single pots. I tend to sow seed into a single pot, wait for them to germinate and develop 'true leaves' then transfer them to individual pots. The Roma tomatoes I potted on last week are looking good. (Pictured - Alisa Craig tomatoes ready to be potted on and Roma tomatoes developing well).

As with the tomatoes, I'm late sowing my broad beans. I tend to grow Bunyards Exhibition as they provide large full pods of beans which I harvest in one go then blanche and freeze. If you want them fresh then sow in succession, every three weeks or so. I like broad beans as an addition to pasta sauces so freezing is the easiest option for me. I've sown into long root trainers and will plant out when large enough to handle. (Pictured - Bunyards Exhibition broad beans in long root trainers).

The next job done over the past few days was to do a bit of thinning out of the Bosworth F1 Brussels sprouts. The last of the seed, which was two years old, was sown into a 9 cell tray - given the age I was a bit concerned that germination would be poor but my worries were unfounded, I think every seed I put in sprang into life. Anyway, I've thinned the seedlings to two per cell and I'll eventually reduce to one per cell.

Lastly, I transplanted and thinned out my Musselburgh leeks. Like the tomatoes I tend to sow them thinly into a wide, shallow pot or tray to germinate. When they are big enough to handle I dib them out with a pencil and plant them into a deeper tray or pot, spacing them out to grow on. The leeks are usually planted out into the plot at the end of May to early June. (Pictured - transplanted Musselburgh leeks).

That's it for this update. Stay safe. Bye for now

08 Apr - Sowing As An Expression Of Optimism ?

What can I say that hasn't already been said about the 'lock-down' and Covid19? The world has taken a very disquieting turn. I suppose I'm very lucky that my plot is over the road from my house, I can literally walk across a quiet residential street and in 30 seconds I'm there. It's a small site with a handful of plots. It's unusual to have more than one or two people there at the same time, even in the height of summer, just as well because I have hens on my plot that need sorting every day.

While my wife has her allotted daily exercise time walking the dog, I have mine at the plot. I suppose it's useful too, growing food for an uncertain future. It appears that others think so as well, according to seed suppliers there has been an 'unprecedented' demand for vegetable seeds which combined with a lack of available staff has caused supply issues. As I write this Suttons Seeds has had to implement queuing to access its website (I was 274 in the queue when I took a quick look!), Fothergills are saying that they are 'experiencing higher than normal demand' and Thompson Morgan have been putting daily notices on its homepage saying that due to circumstances and high demand they aren't accepting phone orders, online only. 

I suppose that most regular growers have some sort of seed stash they can go on with or probably ordered their supplies before the chaos started. Of course, a lot of allotment members intended to support their own site shop, buying seed communally, I hope they are being supplied adequately. As for me, my site is so small it doesn't have a shop, or anything else for that matter, so I always order my seeds online at the start of the year. I've got a few favourite suppliers on ebay. I was a bit late getting my onion sets and potatoes, which I always get locally, however I was lucky buying them just before 'lock-down'.

So, let me get back to some form of normal allotment banter and write about progress this month. Everything I sowed in the heated propagator in March (I was late) has germinated. The Roma tomatoes (pictured) were first to show and they have already been potted on into separate pots; I'll be potting on the Alisa Craig batch this week. The leeks are up and likewise, they will be transplanted into a more suitable container very soon. The Bulls Horns sweet peppers have just made an appearance, they are always slow to germinate.

A week a go I sowed some Bosworth F1 Brussels sprouts (pictured) and some Primo II summer cabbage. Both have already produced seed leaves in their cells. Everything is out of the propagator and is in an unheated greenhouse, I'll move seedlings into the house if a sharp overnight frost is forecast.

It's somewhat galling that as soon as the awful storms abated and the sun finally came out, the necessary movement regulations began. As I've said, my quiet plot is across the road from my house so I'm extremely fortunate to be able to go there. As such I've actually been able to get some things done at last.

I'll be dividing my half plot into four beds again this year to ensure crop rotation. I've already dug two, the third was dug in the autumn and still has its covers on, the fourth is tatty and un-dug as it contained the winter crops, this will have the squash in June so plenty of time to sort this one out.

As I noted in a previous post I'm only growing earlies in terms of spuds this year. I'm planting four long rows of Rocket at fortnightly intervals, the first row went in at the very end of March. The last row should go in around the middle of May and, if all goes well, I'll be digging the first row around the second week of June as Rocket are ready in around 10 weeks.

Well, that's it for this post. It feels a bit strange making plans for the future given the uncertain times. I suppose gardeners and growers have to be somewhat optimistic on some basic level otherwise why plant seed if you don't expect it to grow and produce fruit? Sowing and planting is an expression of optimism in difficult times.

Go to your plot for short stints of daily exercise only if it is safe to do so.

Bye for now.

10 Mar - A Late Start To The Season

A combination of a trip to Malta last month and subsequent stormy wet weather in the UK has caused a bit of a late start this year on the plot. To be honest I've not done a thing up there since November. I'm there twice a day to sort the hens but it's so wet I haven't bothered to remove the covers. All I've done is pull up the last of the dogeared brassicas from the Winter bed and fed them to the hens.

I'm even a month behind with sowing my leeks, tomatoes and peppers. I usually start them off in a heated propagator at the start of February but as I was abroad it all got put aside. Anyway, all three have now been sown. 

Musselburgh leeks have been sprinkled into a plant pot to germinate, I'll transplant two dozen or so into another container when they are big enough to handle. I've sown Roma tomatoes (good for sauces) and some regular Alisa Craig toms separately, again I'll transplant five or so of each into their own pots to grow on when the true leaves appear. Finally the Bulls Horns peppers have been sown, I find that peppers always take a bit longer to germinate and develop.

While I usually get my early potatoes in January and set them out in trays to chit properly, I didn't this year. I only bought them a week a go and they're still in the net bags, sprouting away nevertheless. Ooops - they look OK so I'm not too worried. Spuds are tough blighters. Oh, I've also bought my Sturon onion sets too.

I feel that I've made a start despite the poor weather we've had. The plot itself is going to take a bit of drying out before anything gets planted, hopefully we'll get a bit of sun at some point.

That's it. Bye for now.

22 Feb - Misty Morning

Not a lot going on at the plot. I took a few pictures while feeding the hens this morning. All quiet in the enveloping mist and murk. Roll on spring.

04 Jan - Seed List & Thoughts For 2020

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. My thoughts have been turning towards the upcoming growing season on the allotment, especially in light of the awful season I had last year. I won't dwell on the disappointments I had but, suffice it to say, it was the worse year on the plot I've had in over a dozen seasons growing there.

While I won't wallow in the misery of last season, there are lessons to be learned and I'd be a fool not to heed them. Firstly, brassica root fly seems to be an increasing problem on my allotment site, by that I mean all the plots not just mine. Traditionally I've netted my brassicas to protect them from pigeons and Cabbage White butterflies but this ordinary net no longer seems to be enough. It's time to go with the enviromesh type protection like one of my plot neighbours. 

I've used this type of fine netting to successfully protect my leeks from leek moth which sadly first appeared around 2010 and now is an unwelcome visitor every year. As the adult brassica root fly is a centimeter long, enviromesh type netting should provide adequate protection - it worked for my neighbour last year so I'd be a fool not to go down that road. (Pictured - enviromesh type netting protecting from leek moth).

My biggest disappointment was the first ever failure of my Winter squash crop. I've always been successful with Hunter F1 butternuts over the years and along with them I've grown many other squashes like the silver Crown Prince, the pumpkins Big Max and Jack O' Lantern, the exotic looking Turks Turban and small but perfectly formed Sweet Dumpling among others. (Pictured are Crown Prince & Turks Turban from 2016).

The cause was certainly weather related. When I planted the squashes out in early June the weather became overcast and cool for a number of weeks, squashes hate this and typically don't subsequently go on to develop flowers and fruits. There's no easy solution to this except hope the weather gets hotter from June onward. To help, I'm growing two types of butternut in the hope that at least one of them will cope with whatever conditions appear; I'll also chuck in whatever squash seeds I have knocking around. I'm also trying a different courgette this year, one that will flower and fruit in cool, overcast conditions. 

I've also decided not to grow main crop potatoes this year - shock horror! When I downsized plots there seemed little justification to spend a lot of money in sourcing Sarpo Mira, the best and most reliable main crop I've ever grown. Unfortunately they still aren't available locally and high postage costs for a couple of bags just isn't justifiable for me. Nothing compares to them so I've decided to just grow Rocket early spuds instead. They are reliable, cheap and will grow to a decent size if you want them that way. So, instead of chucking all my earlies in towards the end of March as usual, I'm planting double the number but in succession. Four batches will go in from late March to the middle of May.

So what am I sowing in terms of seeds this year? 

Leeks - Musselburgh

Tomatoes - Roma and Alisa Craig (as I already have them) (greenhouse)
Peppers - Corno Di Rosa Toro (Bulls Horns)
Broad Beans - Bunyards Exhibition
Runner Bean - Firestorm & Snowstorm (red & white flowering)
Lettuce - Lollo / Little Gem
Salad Onion - White Lisbon
Brussels Sprouts - Bosworth F1
Cabbage - Summer - Pimo II
Cabbage - Winter - January King
Potatoes - First Early - Rocket
Onion Sets - Sturon
Parsnip - Gladiator F1
Carrots - Sweet Candle & Resistafly F1
Beetroot - Boltardy
Courgette - Sure Thing
Pumpkin - Big Max
Butternut Squash - Hunter F1 & Waltham (plus Crown Prince if I have some left)

Swede - Best of All

That'll do for now. Bye.

26 Nov - Lovely Autumn Day

Not too much happening on the plot - no surprise given the growing season I've had coupled with the time of year.

All of a sudden, virtually overnight, the leaves have dropped from many of the trees and Autumn gold is turning to bronze on those leaves which have managed to cling on for a few more weeks . 

I've had a bit more of a tidy up and the remaining spent beds cleared of crops and weeds. They've been covered for the Winter. Only one bed remains now, it contains some stunted sprout plants, useless for me but will be hen food in Winter, parsnips and a few January King cabbages.

That's it for November and probably the season too. See you next year. Bye.

13 Sep - Friday The 13th !!

It's Friday 13th, not that I'm too worried about having bad luck today because, as you know if you have read my previous posts, this year has been unlucky throughout. Anyway, I've continued to tidy up the plot. 

I've had a weed around the brassicas, not much there to be honest apart from a few Winter cabbages (January King). I'm keeping the stunted and under-developed sprouts in the ground because the leaves will provide some much needed greenery for the hens in January and February when the grass is gone. Chicken food is all they are fit for.

I've finally admitted to myself that the squashes have had it, apart from a few small butternuts, the crop didn't materialize this season so I've cleared the beds, dug them over and covered them with my plastic covers. Out of sight, out of mind. The same goes for the potato bed, all finished so dug over and covered until next year.

That's it really, so bye for now.

24 Aug - Already Wrapping This Season Up!

As I said in my last post, I've had a bad season. It's usual to have the odd failure, pests, disease, weather, bad luck, etc, can all hit a particular crop and cause a failure - it happens. Unfortunately I've had a number of different problems hit my allotment and the results have been the worst year for growing veg I've had in a dozen years on the plot. It's truly been an allotment annus horribilis.

I was right about the Picasso main crop spuds (see my last post) they dwindled away to nothing and there was very little in the ground underneath them. The squash plants remained small, undeveloped and fruitless despite the weather getting hotter - they just didn't get off to a good start after being planted out and never recovered.

I'm not going to have a rant about Shirley F1 tomatoes this month; I know people swear by them but they've been pretty useless for me on two occasions now. Sorry, they're over priced, unreliable and not worth the effort, I'm going back to cheap and cheerful next season, give me simple Alicante, Roma, Gardner's Delight or Alisa Craig any day.

My Sturon onions have done well though, even despite some very dry weather throughout July and August. I have had to water them and they aren't the biggest I've ever grown but they're respectable. 

My Firestorm runner beans were doing well until some freak high winds the other night snapped and demolished the supporting canes - oh dear, more disaster! Still, at least we managed to eat a good number of them. I've had lettuce from the plot, the carrots in the barrel look good and the parsnips look healthy so that's something.

I'm already clearing the plot in places, there's a few early spuds to come up and the whole potato bed can be cleared of any remaining weeds and leveled out with a rake. It's already pretty well dug over. I've removed the broken runner beans and canes this week and weeded the area. The squash bed has been an utter disaster, what a disappointment this year, never mind, I'll try again next season.

Well, I'm winding down already, a bit of an anti climax. Usually the plot would be busy into late September and early October with squashes galore but not this year. 

That's it. I'll post next month if there is anything to say! Bye for now.

26 Jul - It's An Annus Horribilis!!

Well, things aren't going great, I'll admit it. Let's go for the successes first. Runner beans have developed well, the onions likewise, we are still eating my Rocket early potatoes, there's a load of broad beans in the freezer and the tree is full of ripening plums.

Now to the bad news and this season there appears to be a lot of it. The Picasso main crop potatoes look pathetic, the plants are small and I doubt very much if there's anything worthwhile underneath them. The brassicas are awful - I said last month that I had given some spare sprout plants to my allotment neighbour and his Brussels were twice the size of mine, well, his have all keeled over and died. Closer inspection has shown root fly at the base. Both my summer cabbage and sprouts are stunted, no doubt due to a lack of root development despite rubber disks at the base of the stems.

The most tragic for me are the Winter squashes which usually provide lovely food well into the new year. Not this time. None of the squashes have flowered at all, not even the courgettes which usually produce so well that they are a plague by the end of the Summer! 

I'm not sure about the Picasso spuds, maybe they just aren't suited to my clay soil but more likely it's because the weather has been dry and they have suffered. The brassicas have been hit by root fly, I'm certain of that so I'll have to have a think about how to combat that next season.

The squash failure is curious but I think I know why they haven't done well for me this year. I planted them out in early June as usual but unfortunately the weather became relatively overcast and cool for a few weeks. Squashes really don't like that and cooler temperatures just after planting really interrupt their development cycle. I'll leave them in the ground but I know from past experience that signs of fruiting should be appearing by now if there's going to be a decent crop.

Anyway, I'll sign off with a picture of a more fruitful squash crop from a previous season just to remind myself that I'm not a total idiot! Bye for now. 

22 Jun - Early Spuds & A General Round-Up

The Rocket early potatoes have not disappointed; I've been digging lovely sized spuds since the very beginning of the month. Good ol' Rocket, they've come up trumps once again. This shows that my easy plant method is quite suitable for potatoes. Saying that, the Picasso main crop I'm trying for the first time this year, look a little 'weak'. There's still plenty of time for the spuds to develop and, after all, it's what is going on underground that's important. Fingers crossed.

The final bed this year has been dug over and the Winter squashes planted out, Butternut Hunter F1, Big Max pumpkin and some generic courgette, possibly Black Beauty. I've planted all the squashes in the usual way; i.e, planting an upside-down plastic bottle with the bottom cut off next to the plant to act as a funnel for watering and feeding. It looks silly at first but when the plants go haywire it's difficult to see the bottles let alone where the stems go into the earth.

I'm not sure if my precautions against brassica root fly have failed but both the sprouts and Summer cabbage look like they are struggling a little. It appears they just haven't 'grown away' since being planted out. I'll give them a bit of a feed and will hope for the best. What's galling is that I gave some spare Brussels Sprout plants to my allotment neighbour and his are double the size of mine - there's something up on my plot and it isn't good!

The onions are doing OK and are beginning to swell; the broad beans are romping away too. A word on broad beans - I'm not a fan of insecticide but I do use it on the broad beans at a very specific time. Just before the flowers come out I spray the tips for black-fly which is a real pest on broad beans at this time of year. Spraying later hurts the bees which love the flowers and isn't good at all - likewise spraying earlier doesn't catch enough of the black-fly to be effective. Any infestations after flowering can be dealt with simply by nipping out the affected area, usually the growing tips.

That's it for me. Bye for now.

31 May - Beans & Squash

At the end of last month I sowed runner beans, Firestorm, into long root trainers in the greenhouse. They develop so rapidly that sowing them too soon when it's still cold outside will leave you with large plants running out of nutrients and past their best. The end of April to early May seems right for runner beans; they are ready to go out the in late May.

Meanwhile their more hardy cousins, the broad beans, are getting away well in the plot; so too are the onions which are all sprouting green shoots. I've set out the frame and nets for the brassicas and have planted out Summer cabbage Primo II and the sprouts, Bosworth F1. Recently I've noticed that root fly seems to be a problem on the site with a number of site holders seeing their bassicas collapse and come to nothing. To help with this I'm putting rubber disks around the plants to provide some protection from the root fly.

Things are generally moving along, I've put out some lettuce in the plot, Little Gem and Lollo Rossa; I've sown a line of Bolthardy beetroot directly and have noticed that the parsnips, Gladiator F1, I sowed last month are finally germinating (I forgot to mention these in April). I've also sown a few rows of Resistafly carrot along with some Sweet Candle carrots in a barrel.

Earlier this month I sowed my usual Hunter F1 Butternut, Courgette and a couple of pumpkins for Halloween, Big Max. They have grown on well in the greenhouse and will be ready to go out next month. Just like the runner beans, sow too early and you end up with large plants, getting past their best stuck in the greenhouse but it's too cold for them outside.

That's it from me. Bye for now.

13 Apr - A Busy Month

First my Sturon onion sets were planted early in the month; I usually try and get them out the same time as the early spuds but a few weeks late isn't going to be a problem. Usual planting strategy, make sure the soil is finely tilled with a bit of fertilizer raked in. Simply push the onion sets into the earth (root plate down) a couple of inches apart so the stem is showing above the soil. Simple really. Check regularly until rooted as the birds often pull them up by the stems, probably thinking they are worms. Just push any uprooted onions back into their spot.

My main crop potatoes have been planted, I'm trying Picasso this year. Just a few rows to see how they go. The best main crop I've ever grown are Sarpo Mira but unfortunately I can't get them locally and my downsized plot doesn't justify postage costs for such a small amount.

I've sown in long root trainers and subsequently planted out some broad beans, Bunyards Exhibition. They always do well though watch out for black fly just before the flowers appear. They will need support as they grow.

I've transplanted the Bulls Horns peppers into their own pots to grow on in the greenhouse. Peppers are quite slow growing so I start them off early in the year inside a heated propagator. The Shirley F1 tomatoes (see my complaints about them in my last post) seem to look a bit poor, ho hum. Bosworth sprouts and Primo cabbage have been thinned to one per cell and are developing well in the greenhouse.

That's it for now. Bye.

04 Apr - Dusting Of Snow

Typical, just after I've put my early spuds in the ground we have snow! Still, I don't expect it to last and the spuds are safely underground and I've popped the covers back on. Just a couple of pics.

Bye for now.