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 20, 2014 | Allotment
The weather was much cooler today and it was very very windy so I took refuge in the greenhouse with a mammoth planting session. Neil loves sunflowers so there are several trays of them (Pacino, earthwalker and ring of fire). I also did cabbage (savoy vertus, pointed red kalibos and red drumhead), pak choi (joi choi and rubi), leek (almera), celeriac (prinz), cucumber (cucino), squash (honey bear), climbing French bean (cobra), peas (early onward, purple podded, sugarsnap and Oregon sugar pod) and watermelon (charleston grey). The staging is now heaving and it is pleasing to see all the trays in various stages of sprouting.
I also planted some flowers as well and discovered my new favourite seed! They are for the acroclinium and they are like little dots of cotton wool, all fluffy and white. Although I had to be a bit careful with it being so windy that they didn’t get blown away!
Along with the acroclinium (double mixed) we now have aster (milady), zinnia (Oklahoma), chrysanthemum (rainbow) and ipomoea (grandpa ott). The dahlia and marigolds we sowed a couple of weeks ago have all germinated really well and so we pricked out the marigolds to individual cells of the seed trays. We haven’t been great at doing this in the past with our flowers and so we are trying to do better this season. So we now have nearly 100 marigolds! Oh well, if there are spare we can put them in some planters and I’m sure they will be appreciated in the gardens of friends and family.
While I was in the greenhouse Neil was on to his second DIY job of the weekend, building a coldframe. It certainly kept him quiet for a good while as there were lots of angles to cut. In the end he had to move on to another job as he needs to buy some longer screws (in all the boxes of screws we have there aren’t any long enough, which seems unlikely but true!) so he cleared the couch grass from the rear of plot 118.
We both then tackled the digging over at the front that Neil started on Friday. It is so much quicker with two of you on the job and satisfying how much progress you can make. So much so we were able to plant the potatoes that we have chitted, only one variety this year, Charlotte, in three rows.
We think we have passed the milestone of digging over half of plot 118, woohoo!
Another exciting milestone, we spotted the first signs of the asparagus! I’m sure that it has usually arrived by this time of the year and so I had thought that maybe it had died so I’m pleased to see it again, fingers crossed we might get a crop of it this year (only about four years after we planted it ha!).
We took home the last of the leeks-I think it is a record as this year we have eaten every single leek we grew! Also a bundle of rhubarb and a tray of purple sprouting broccoli that would not look out of place in the supermarket! The leeks and most of the broccoli made a tasty tea for two. Recipe to follow…
by Philippa | Sep 1, 2013 | Allotment
Wowee! What a result! Last weekend was the annual allotment summer show. We hadn’t been sure what we would have to put in as entries in the produce competition. Some things were passed their best, some things were not quite ready enough! It’s always a bit of a gamble what will look good enough in the day or two before the show. You would think that we would be lovingly tending to each and every entry for weeks, ensuring that it is up to standard but it’s more like ‘hmmmm what looks passable and do we have enough of it?’.
This year we managed to enter our old favourites, garlic and beetroot, along with a cucumber, a single sunflower and a corker of an aubergine in the open category.
It was a good turn out for the show, with lots of items lined up in the judging tent. After the anxious wait for the RHS judge to do the rounds everyone crowds in to check out the results. We managed a respectable second place for our cucumber, beetroot and sunflower. Our poor aubergine didn’t place but the open category is always a tough one. However that was more than made up by our garlic not only being awarded a first place but also winning the best in show! According to the judge he had never seen any as good as ours! What a compliment! So as well as a certificate we have a trophy which is to be engraved! Seeing some of the previous winners on there we certainly feel like we are in esteemed company.
Massive congratulations are due to Bob who won a trophy for best plot over all three sites. This was also decided by the RHS judge who had done a thorough walk round in late July, so he definitely knows his stuff. Well done Bob!
With it being the bank holiday weekend there was plenty of time left for other allotment activities. Neil worked like a trooper as I was off on a cake course. He dug all of the onions up which despite an inauspicious start look amazing. The average size is probably the best we’ve ever had. We’ve left the drying upside down on the bench but will soon have to bring them in for storage.
He also collected a mammoth number of wheelbarrows of manure to cover the area where the onions had been.
The peas had served their time so he pulled them up for composting. Some of the broad beans were starting to flop over and no longer had any harvest worthy beans on them so he pulled up the row which had gone in first. The remainder are still ok for another week or two as they went in later and still have a good amount of pickings on them.
The raspberries have really come on in the last week. We’ve had one or two at a time up till now but this time we could take a full punnet home. The blueberries are still going strong, one plant in particular has flourished since we moved it into a large barrel planter. It’s so bushy with new growth you really have to search to find the hidden fruit.
And to prove I had a worthy excuse for not helping out with all the wheelbarrowing, here is my Gruffalo cake!
Recent Comments