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.