The passage of time on the plot is a continual shock. One minute you are sowing onions in the bedroom (don't ask), the next you are pulling them out of the ground and admiring their heavy beauty. Obviously with quicker crops such as radish and rocket one does not get that small frisson as the clock ticks much faster for them. With the slower crops it is a different matter. You inevitably reflect how things were this time last year - even with the aid of the blog it can be difficult to recall precisely what went where and why - a
nd what they were like when you were sowing the seed back in the dark January days.
We are beginning to feel the slow yet urgent rhythms of the soil as it
gathers up its energy for the grand finish of the so-called summer crops beans, courgettes and the extravagantly showy corn. However we still have around 10 butternut squash slowly ripening on the vine, raspberries, sprouting broccoli or some mystery cabbage, the January King winter cabbage and of course the leeks to keep going. Harvesting is a regular activity - as I write French bean and courgette pickles are being made.
It also means that the 3 small bare patches in Beds 1, 2 and 4 offer us more opportunity to think about Winter and Spring. But having done that, we then have to address the matter of eventual Spring/Summer growing next year because of the principles of crop rotation. It is a little like the popular party game of our youth, Twister. Of course we were still in the throes of establishing the plot architecture this time last year and really did not have the scope we have now, with good soil and well established beds.
After all that, here is The Plan.
1. Winter Bed 1 Leeks, chard, overwintering onion - the two latter from seed sown todaySpring/Sumer Bed 1 Roots - carrots, onion, chard, parsnip
2. Winter Bed 2 Spinach, overwintering spring onions, winter lettuce (sown today), overwintering onion from the seedbed after carrots gone
Spring/Summer Bed 2 Other - Garlic, spinach, onions, salad
3. Winter Bed 3 Green manure
Spring/Summer Bed 3 Brassicas - calabrese broccoli, raddicio, other brassicas
4. Winter Bed 4 Winter cabbage, spring cabbage
Spring/Summer Bed 4 Roots - maincrop potatoes (first earlies on the bank)
5. The extra potato patch at the top we have put green manure on and will use that for the pumpkin next year.
6. The main potato patch will be green manured after the potatoes are dug up and this will be the main bed for peas, beans, courgettes and corn. And maybe some more garlic.
7. The fruit cage will continue but we will introduce more strawberries.
The planning so far ahead and remembering to succession sow are two of the most difficult skills for the allotmenteer. We wonder about how we will improve our soil on the beds that will be in constant use between seasons. And there is the question - again - of timing. We assume that certain crops will be ready when they may not and some may linger on long after their bed time. What is undeniable is that there is a real thrill in sowing seeds now near the end of the main growing season for crops to eat in a few months time. We want to be able to grow all the year round and who knows - we may even beat the credit crunch with a vegetable crunch all of our own.
Two weekends in one I'm afraid. Standards are slipping but not for lack of will, just energy. It takes us all ours just to keep up with the courgettes at the moment let along share our feelings with you lot.
Last weekend, 17 August, saw the death of the peas. They had done heroically until the downy mildew got them. It is a nasty grey thing that just creeps up from the roots and even though there were still some peas at the top it clearly was near the end. It took a long time to dig it up, disentangle the various sticks and canes and netting and drag the peas back to our green compost bin at home for St Albans to deal with. We couldn't compost it because of the downy mildew but a commercial facility will be far hotter and be able to kill the bugs. We have 5 or 6 good size bags of peas in the new freezer (dragged up there using ingenious acrobatics and a good deal of nerve from Yours Truly who is quite short - the freezer is now also operational after a visit from A Bloke). RIP Peas. But we still have some growing on Bed 3 anyway.
We had to do a lot of strimming as the bloody weeds had threatened to take over in 
some far-flung corners of the plot.
Another RIP but not so tragic was that for the Volunteer Potatoes which showed distinct signs of some unpleasant ailment. They were accordingly dug up and were ginormous. They of course had been in the ground right from the beginning as it were. Very interesting as a biology experiment. A couple were donated to our Next Next Door neighbours who were delighted. We would enter one for the biggest potato in the forthcoming St Stephens Gardening Club Show (yes, it really is coming up again - thanks for sticking with us all this time) but it has minute holes which indicate The Maggot.
We also found time to make our very first courgette chutney - 4lbs courgettes, ginger, 2 heads garlic, 2.5lbs onions, 2.5lbs brown sugar, malt vinegar, cayenne pepper. God knows what it will be like. It filled about 14 scavenged jars and is safely stored in the garage. We will know in 3 months whether it was worth it. It took me back to the time I worked in a pickle factory for the summer before university - halcyon days. It is the first time that either of us has done anything remotely like this. Is it a natural part of the aging process? Or have we only now got with the real zeitgeist?
Today (24 August) was a different kind of trip. It was full of banter and wisecrack with our various friends and neighbours up on the plot, including a revelling in the mighty victory of N, Pat and Jan in the recent St Stephens Garden Club Quiz. In fact, Burydell took 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. Beijing forsooth.
Other than the normal weeding, we were alerted to the presence of bloody caterpillars on some of our protected cabbages. This led to a mild tantrum from one of us especially as we had spent so much on the mesh. However, it was a useful reminder of the importance of tending - general looking and checking. There can be interesting revelations. Tending the purple sprouting broccoli for caterpillars I suddenly thought - these are not purple sprouting broccoli at all - they are some kind of cabbage. Ho hum.
The other crop we mentioned last time as being on its way out was also
duly shuffled off. Thank you broccoli - Ironman lest we forget - for your fabulousness. Mr G told us today that though he didn't like broccoli, he did like ours. Perhaps we should send some to George Bush. N noted that its root system was very complex and also threw up new shoots. Does this mean that if we had left it a whole other load of plants would have come up? We decide to experiment and plant a couple of shoots in the newly-cleared bed.
This means that we now have three half-beds clear. Beds 1, 2 and 4. We have raked them and got them ready for their next crop.
No-one had warned us how hard crop rotation is. We spent 2 hours going through Rubik-cube like diagrams and discussions, querying different definitions of plant groups, and generally panicking. We now have A Plan. And we shall share that with you tomorrow.
A little bit of everything today. We have been on holiday for the last ten days and have visited the plot intermittently only for harvesting and basic weeding purposes. It is truly a productive plot and we have spent some of our holiday thinking about how to preserve our crop. It is not just the joy of trooping up there and thinking "I'll just pick a bit of this and that for me tea" - it is also the responsibility incumbent on anyone who grows more than they can reasonably eat or give away - to store. The upside down picture to the left is of the sweetpeas.
Storage is thus An Issue and not just confined to Ikea shelving systems or rearranging the garage.There are three basic methods of storage. Firstly, keeping in a cool, dry, place and using as needed - this is for potatoes (though they prefer the dark) and garlic (so far). Secondly, freezing. And thirdly, making preserves (e.g. chutney). We have not yet tried the latter but fully intend to do so and have been blagging jars off our Neighours.
Plaiting the garlic was a truly absorbing pastime. This is what people
did before telly. After some cursi
ng, replaiting and storming off in tears we created 4 garlic plaits containing 13 bulbs each. The elephant garlic bulbs are prepared similarly but are way too dignified to plait. We have already had some roasted with chicken and they are indeed milder than the smaller variety. Apparently they are not even garlic but are related to the leek. But that's another story.
The second method has led us to purchase a small freezer as our existing facility is filling up quickly which has been put into the loft and a Bloke is coming to install electricity up there. Seriously folks, we just don't want to waste it, even if it is courgette. We have been freezing courgette, peas, broccoli and beans. However, don't be thinking that we are a bunch of meanies - we have given away a significant amount of produce which has been much appreciated by friends, home and plot neighbours, lady from shop and family.
Back to the plot. The courgettes are still throwing out fruits but we worry (!) that they appear to be slowing down a touch. Magic Water is duly applied. We have become adept at courgette recipes and fully intend to make some chutney.
We have three kinds of beans - tiny thin beans, French beans and good old fashioned runners
(in the Pagoda). They are all doing well. We are beginning to recognise that period of pomp when a plant is at its most productive and to make the most of it. The next crop to be harvested will be the corn - we had two cobs today but it was too early, though they were delicious nonetheless. The raspberries are threatening to deluge us soon and the onions are pushing themselves up and over. The "show" onions look magnificent but we have to wait.
More autumnal delights are the butternut squash which are going great guns, so much so that we decided to "nip" some off to encourage larger fruit. They also need more room, poor loves. The leeks we transplanted with bated breath seem to be more than happy in their new home. The winter cabbage, sharing a bed with the broccoli, looks expansively cabbage-like and the kale, also transplanted with bb, at least has not died. It needs to acquire more leafage. The purple sprouting broccoli looks better than it did.
Today we sowed raddicio, overwintering onion and spring cabbage in the seedbed; and carrots, pak choi and spinach in amongst various crops. The carrots say you shouldn't sow after June but we thought - to hell with it. We also intend to sow overwintering spring onion when we can find a suitable space.
We have two crops that appear now to be past their best - but we salute them for their heroic performance. The peas (first lot) alas appear to have downy mildew and although there are flowers on the plants it all looks a bit dire and production seems to have slowed to a halt. The broccoli are still throwing up "tasty sideshoots" (quoted from the packed) but are taking up a lot of room. We feel uncomfortable like at the end of a visitor's stay - just when are they going to leave? We still are eating carrots as and when, usually as a juicy crunchy starter.
Other activities included N removing the cross-struts (or whatever technical term is appropriate) that had precluded the act of walking upright in the Pagoda. Brillia
nt. N al
so did a useful bit of wood-tidying into a handy new organiser made out of a pallet and fixed to the shed (thanks to Pat for that idea). The second peas needed some remedial work and now have a new set of poles and a home-made net.
Issues to resolve: what to do about strawberry "runners"; what to do with summer-fruiting raspberries in terms of support
Weather note: sunny, showers, moody
The passage of time on the plot is a continual shock. One minute you are sowing onions in the bedroom (don't ask), the next you are pulling them out of the ground and admiring their heavy beauty. Obviously with quicker crops such as radish and rocket one does not get that small frisson as the clock ticks much faster for them. With the slower crops it is a different matter. You inevitably reflect how things were this time last year - even with the aid of the blog it can be difficult to recall precisely what went where and why - a
nd what they were like when you were sowing the seed back in the dark January days.
gathers up its energy for the grand finish of the so-called summer crops beans, courgettes and the extravagantly showy corn. However we still have around 10 butternut squash slowly ripening on the vine, raspberries, sprouting broccoli or some mystery cabbage, the January King winter cabbage and of course the leeks to keep going. Harvesting is a regular activity - as I write French bean and courgette pickles are being made.
It also means that the 3 small bare patches in Beds 1, 2 and 4 offer us more opportunity to think about Winter and Spring. But having done that, we then have to address the matter of eventual Spring/Summer growing next year because of the principles of crop rotation. It is a little like the popular party game of our youth, Twister. Of course we were still in the throes of establishing the plot architecture this time last year and really did not have the scope we have now, with good soil and well established beds.
The planning so far ahead and remembering to succession sow are two of the most difficult skills for the allotmenteer. We wonder about how we will improve our soil on the beds that will be in constant use between seasons. And there is the question - again - of timing. We assume that certain crops will be ready when they may not and some may linger on long after their bed time. What is undeniable is that there is a real thrill in sowing seeds now near the end of the main growing season for crops to eat in a few months time. We want to be able to grow all the year round and who knows - we may even beat the credit crunch with a vegetable crunch all of our own.
