by Philippa | Jun 16, 2014 | Allotment
The last week has been the perfect storm of hot humid weather and downpours of rain so when we arrived at the plots this weekend it seemed the weeds were what had been doing the most growing! Despite the weather being a bit overcast and drizzly we had a good long visit on Sunday and by the end of the day both plots looked pretty tidy.
Neil was a digging demon, I think he set his mind to finishing the digging on plot 118 and just kept motoring on, even though he was dripping with sweat and had already done a tough round of circuits that morning!
Meanwhile I did a lot of planting out from the items in the coldframe that were bursting to get out. The courgettes were planted out on both plots. The regular green zucchini variety hasn’t germinated is two sowings of several pots each time which is odd so we just have the one green variety in the dundoo organic. Neil is pioneering the crushed eggshell method of trying to stop the slugs, we’ll see if that has any success!
The brassicas that had been in the coldframe for a couple of weeks were ready to go out. You can really see the difference between those that have spent longer in the greenhouse or coldframe compared to the ones that have had more time outside. The red cabbage (drumhead) look better than we have ever grown, at least at this early stage. The cauliflowers (snowball) were a bit small and flimsy looking but I’m hoping that being outside will mean they pick up and get a bit sturdier in a week or two. They were joined by the pointed red kalibos and candissa cabbage varieties as well as the Brussels (Evesham special and Hastings).
We planted some more peas along the rustic pea frame Neil made with the sticks pruned from the raspberries and plums last year. The squash and the leeks from the greenhouse were put into the coldframe, the leeks particularly will be ready pretty soon if their current size is anything to go by. The rest of the brassicas that were in the coldframe but too small to plant out were transferred outside to hopefully firm up a bit before being planted out in the next week or two.
The zinnia and aster were planted on plot 118. They are apparently half hardy annuals, so a bit like the dahlias if we protect them over the winter they should survive for future flowerings next year. The poor acroclinium still didn’t get planted out, that’s two weeks where they have been passed over! Next week definitely!
There were just a few sowings to make for June, the kale (dwarf green curled) and cavolo nero (cavolo di toscana) and wallflowers (fairlady mixed) and sweet Williams (auricula-eyed mixed). Incidentally, one plant from last years cavolo nero is still standing and still growing, the rest bolted in the early hot weather but somehow this one has lasted. I think it officially wins the prize for longest growing crop on the plots.
At least after all the weeding we did across both plots we had the reward of a full punnet of strawberries! Pretty good considering there was only one or two reddening last week and we thought they would all be munched before this weekend. Very tasty indeed! With that and the first signs of fruit on some of the tomato plants this is the start of the excitement!
by Philippa | Jun 12, 2014 | Allotment
Oh well. With all the rain we’ve had I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. This last week seems to have been more about feeding the local pest population than growing produce for our plates! The flowers we had planted out last week were the favourite targets, some sunflowers had been totally decimated. We had bought some more organic pellets during the week and within about five minutes of arriving at the plots we had used almost a full bottle! To fill the bare spaces we planted out some chrysanthemums as they were bursting out of their tray.
We also planted out the ipomoea. We had grown some last year but left them and left them and they were never put out but even then they grew some beautiful deep purple flowers shaped like trumpets. This year I was determined to do them justice. Having wanted some more information about where they are suited to and how they grow I did some googling and discovered they can grow up to 5 metres tall! Not sure I realised that when I bought the seeds! Or that they are the same family as bindweed. They grow in the same climbing fashion, twisting round things. As soon as I told Neil that, he wasn’t keen on planting them out in case they run riot with their roots! As a compromise I planted them along the back fence of plot 118 as this gives them something to grow up without risking them spreading further.
We did a lot of watering, the tomatoes were ready for tying up and needed side shooting again. I also gave them some feed for the first time this season. They’ve grown so big in the last week they needed moving to their final spacing which meant Neil had to dismantle the side staging to make room. We potted on the peppers (new ace) and the chillies (jalapeño) and everything looks quite tidy in plot 97 greenhouse.
Outside things were looking quite good. The beetroot and carrots I sowed (or in the case of the beetroot replanted!) had germinated really well, as had the turnips which I thinned out as they were already a good size. The chard and parsnips were fairing slightly less well, so I’ll check their progress next week and see if any more sowings are required!
Despite the warm weather Neil did a mountain of digging! He cleared enough space for the hoops and canes that will cover the brassicas in the next week or two.
The sun also meant we have signs of ripening, the redcurrants are turning blush pink and there were quite a few strawberries tantalisingly close to being ready. Am just hoping the liberal scattering of pellets means the slugs will have left some for us!
And a sunny note for the end, thanks to Bob for a lovely bunch of beautiful sweet williams to brighten up the living room!
by Philippa | Jun 2, 2014 | Allotment
We knew that Neil’s ironman next weekend would mean that our visit would likely be limited to watering, so Bank Holiday Monday was a whopper of a day and fortunately it was dry and sunny all day. We had loads of planting out to do and suddenly we realised we didn’t have much space left other than areas which still needed digging over. It’s funny how you soon fill everywhere up! So Neil was a digging hero and just kept on going, which meant we had room for the dahlias, sunflowers and lupins. Some of the taller sunflower varieties needed stakes next to them so we can tie them up as they grow.
We also tied up the climbing beans which are starting to wind their way up their cane wigwam. The potatoes had gone from just peeking through the top of the soil at the end of last week to growing fully above the soil so Neil earthed them up.
We always try to avoid the brassicas getting too leggy, which can be a challenge at this time of year when the weather varies from hot to cool and back again and greenhouses are not the best place for them for very long. But put them out too soon and they are vulnerable to slugs, caterpillars and other pests. Some were ready to be potted on and to be kept outside of the coldframe, so we potted on the cabbage (candissa, red drumhead and pointed red kalibos), cauliflower (snowball) and the Brussel sprouts. The hastings variety of sprout had done much better than the Wellington variety we have previously used and so I only actually potted those on, consigning the others to the compost pile. There are only so many sprouts a two person household needs, even with Neil’s love of them!
There was some sowing to be done in the greenhouse as all of the remaining squash were ready to be sown before the end of May. We have autumn crown, metro pmr f1, little gem rolet, bon bon, buttercup and crown prince f1. I also had to do some re-sowing. Only one or two Savoy cabbages survived the hot greenhouse a couple of weeks ago so I sowed some more. The cucumbers that we put into the greenhouse beds on plot 118 were ready to go into their final spots. Outside, either a hot burst of weather or a gang of slugs had meant that the germination of beetroot and parsnip had been pretty patchy so I sowed more of these also. The new sowings outside included turnips (snowball and Milan purple top) and carrots (early market, flyaway f1 and autumn king 2).
There were two remaining beds on plot 97 that we had yet to dig over and add manure to and given it will only be a couple of weeks until they have to have plants in, now was to time to do this job so that the soil isn’t too acidic with manure when plants go in. One of the beds was where we had taken the strawberries out from a few weeks ago. They had probably been in for three or more years and once the plants were removed you could really see the difference between that bed and the others which have had manure and compost added to them a couple of times each year. So we added much more matter to it than we usually would, just to get it up to the same depth as the rest.
We also planted out the pak choi which look super healthy at the moment and will hopefully benefit from being in a partially shaded bed so that they don’t bolt. We even managed some comprehensive weeding, meaning that both plots were in a great state to be left for a further week or two before our next visit. This year seems to be the year of the mare’s tail, I’m waiting for it to be declared a delicacy in the finest restaurants so that we can feast like kings as we are certainly experts at growing it! Fingers crossed there won’t be much more of it when we get back this weekend!
by Philippa | Apr 27, 2014 | Allotment
This weekend was a bit of a DIY based weekend with lots of bits and pieces being finished up and by the end of a couple of days at the plots things were ship shape.
Neil had a day off and used it to pop to the glass merchants for some large glass pieces to replace those we lost in the storms. It’s only so long you can have a greenhouse with half of one side open to the elements! This was all fitted with no problems, despite the fretting I always do when Neil is working with glass! Neil also finished off the coldframe and so we could start filling it up with some of the flowers that will be too warm in the newly sealed up greenhouse. Our dahlias and lupins were ready to prick out and thanks to Bob giving us some spare ice flowers we suddenly looked like we had quite a selection of flowers, we just have to make sure we are disciplined in planting them out in a timely fashion which has been our downfall previously. We just need to come up with a way of opening the frame to varying levels, until then a snazzy wood baton will have to do!
While I weeded the strawberry and asparagus beds Neil was suspiciously quiet but all became clear after a short while. He had been on a bit of cleaning up frenzy and had quickly fashioned a tool board to hang everything up. No more losing screwdrivers for him! He also did a good tidy and sweep out of the shed on plot 97. A braver man than me given all the spiders that have taken up residence there over the winter! (note: first strawberry flowers of the year spotted, only two visible so far).
Neil finally replaced the wheel on our wheelbarrow and collected a celebratory couple of barrows of manure to test it out! My mum visited on the Sunday and joined us in some weeding (thanks Mum!) which extended to the clearing the front of plot 97. Having cleared our front so well it was a shame to stop there and so all three of us blitzed the front of our neighbour’s plot opposite. It was a bit neglected and nettles and brambles were straying into the path so as well as helping them out it makes things a bit nicer for us too and with three pairs of hands it was quick work.
Looking forward to another bank holiday next weekend. After all this time enjoying the plots we are actually *whispers it so we don’t jinx ourselves* ahead of plan!
by Philippa | Apr 21, 2014 | Allotment
We managed another few hours at the allotments again and this afternoon was a scorcher! Still quite gusty but a lovely warm wind and sunny enough to get a bit of colour.
Neil’s main task was to continue building the cold frame. After a visit to screwfix for some hardware and a full charge of the power saw he was able to start putting together the frame he built yesterday and cut the Perspex pieces. He didn’t quite finish putting the Perspex in and he wants to design someway of keeping the top propped open but it looks great! I think he is planning on a coat of woodstain once it is all constructed.
I pulled up the brassicas from under the netted tunnels. Most had gone to seed bar one little cavolo nero plant which I left in as we can probably get another crop or two from it before it’s done. Was a bit sad that it was the end of the sprouting broccoli as we have had bumper crops compared to previous years and it has been so tasty. We had the last of it with our roast this evening. I think the netting creates a good environment for weeds as I had to pull loads of them out and lots of grass seeds had sprouted from the manure that had been around them so it was a good couple of buckets of weeds to remove.
I think I had the clearing bug then as I cleared out the strawberry bed on plot 97. It was the last bit of plot 97 to need any work doing so it was satisfying to finish that job. We had such a good year with the strawberry bed on plot 118 last summer and we have extended that with the runners we grew, so another bed of inferior cropping plants was unnecessary. So they were all dug up ready to make space for another crop. I kept a handful to one side and planted them up in a container as mum might like to try some for her garden.
The digging up of the strawberries brought the robin back for grubs and there were other signs of wildlife enjoying the sun.
I finished off with some weeding on plot 118, which is finished aside from the area where we have some green manures that need digging in. Hopefully the weeds won’t all be back by next weekend!
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