23 November 2008 - Cold snap

Bbrrrrr. It is bloody cold. We are having what is officially known as a cold snap. Having woken up to snow this morning we decide on a pragmatic approach to the plot, notwithstanding the hilarious misunderstanding with the Council this week which had sent us a "non-cultivation" letter in error - the allotmenteer's biggest dread apart from vandalism. However, we comfort ourselves with purchasing some horse manure from a well known local garden centre (rather than waiting and hoping for local mechanisms to take effect) and having the Seed Audit.

The Seed Audit revealed a good deal of the packets had passed their plant-by date so these were evicted. However, some goodies remain. We discover that we have four courgette seeds left and some leeks and onions. We think that we will sow a few of the left-overs as a tribute - but add to the variety also. It is tempting to stick with those plants that did well, but of course, we want to expand our knowledge and experience.

We then purchased most of our seeds from the same garden centre, a list of which will be produced in due course and inserted into next year's spreadsheet. K has done an end-of-year spreadsheet which will help in making decisions. However, we can reveal that we have got some mangetout and rainbow chard seeds. We can hardly contain ourselves. We also obtained 4 runner beans from an old pod and lots of sweetpeas from dead pods. Decisions have to be made about potatoes and garlic though which cannot be put off for much longer.

Thence to the plot. All looks cold, damp and as it should be - we note that the cleared bank now means that we have a clear view of the field behind the bank and the sheep within. The overwintering onions so lovingly tended last weekend look still to be OK. The transplanted cabbage seedlings have survived, though we put a thingy over them in view of the cold snap. The cabbages continue to expand and the leeks are delicious. Something is bothering one of the kale plants so we dig it up in case it infects the others. We shiver, inspect and harvest all in the space of 20 minutes and rush home to the warm.

16 November 2008 - Some sorting out

This will be a pictureless - or blind - blog as neither of us had our phones with us to take pictures. But we know you have active imaginations and it is more important to blog than not. You have also been there with us on the long journey to get as far as we have with the plot so let the power of imagination whirl you away.

Last weekend, we took a whole load of home compost up to the plot and today we removed the compost holder and had a good old fork over. There was lots of nice crumbly well rotted stuff which N used to refresh bed 3 (we did a bit of thinking earlier about which beds needed what for next year's fun and games and not all our beds need compost) along with a bag of leafmould from last year's leaves. This bed is covered with black plastic and looks officially gone to sleep. We of course removed the last crops from it, which were three leeks left over from the main bed.

K then removed the spring cabbage (though we won't be sure what they are until they begin to grow if previous form applies) and overwintering onion seedlings from the seedbed. The seedbed was made almost entirely with top soil last year, so we put half a bag of mushroom compost and more leafmould into it and again covered with black plastic. It will then be reactivated as it were in February when we sow the leeks and brassicas as we learnt that those started from seed in the soil definitely grew better. And it's a lot easier than piffling about with seeds and such at home. Three raspberry infiltrators were removed and donated to our neighbours.

The spring cabbage seedlings were then moved into a freshly composted bit of bed 2 - as this is where the brassicas will be next year. And one - only one dammit - raddicio seedling. Apart from one superb specimen, they look a bit bitten and weedy but here's hoping. The onion seedlings were then repatriated with their brethren in bed 1 - a lot of jiggery pokery and sorting out of crowded seedlings into their final positions leave us confident that we have a good healthy lot of onions coming in June (last year the rabbits got them but this year we are quietly confident that our security measures will prevent them doing the same).

N manfully pulled up and generally hacked a good portion of the bank on our side of the ditch. It looks bleak and empty but we think of potatoes, moving the comfrey and giving the butternut squash/pumpkin much more room on this new site. We don't think rabbits eat any of these. The next step will be to cover it in plastic, though we don't want to inhibit the lovely daffodills that will emerge in spring.

The kale is producing well and we regularly eat it, now of course we are eating leeks too. The cabbages and broccoli, though a little tatty, appear to be growing. It is interesting how the whole pace of growing slows down as the days are so short. The green manure is now well established and we just have to make sure that we dig it in at the right point.

Now is the time to start ordering and thinking about the varieties of things we want to grow. A large glass of wine and a few gardening mags should do the trick. We should do a proper seed audit to see what we have left - and decide now we have missed the autumn garlic planting spot - and whether to use our own garlic.

One of us was feeling decidely low par when entering the plot. Leaving it a couple of hours of hard work later equilibrium of a sort had been restored.

1/2 November 2008 - A word from our sponsor

Once again, an unconsciable lack of communication regarding the plot for which the usual drivelling apologies. Two reasons mainly - first, K's mobile, which had the latest plot pictures on, broke and had to be sent off to be fixed; and second, we snuck away to France for a much-needed two week holiday. Having now retrieved the phone and pictures, bloggery can commence.

Unfortunately, the site was subjected to a particularly unpleasant attack of vandalism about a week before we left. Our neighbours Jan and Pat suffered the most and had to rectify all sorts of damage on their return from holiday. Our famous saloon bar entry gate somehow caused offence to the morons concerned and was kicked away from its hinges. Appropriate action is being taken but it seems as though other local sites are also been targetted. The only mildly positive note is that the produce itself was not trashed, only people's "hardware" (sheds, equipment, etc).

The weekend of 4 October we spent some time weeding and tidying the plot, and discovered much to our astonishment that the so-called "pumpkin" had in fact been masquerading as a butternut squash, of which it managed to produce one. We were still able to pick carrots and of course the trusty raspberries and kale, which is pretty good when you think about it.

The green manure (field beans and clover) was beginning to get well established. We shall have to remember to dig it in at some point. We. are unsure as to whether field beans actually produce any beanage.

N pulled up the dead courgette plants and, because this variety grows kind of upwards, it was very obvious to see where a fruit had been removed. N counted 89 such marks - from 4 plants! We were amazed and pronounce it the most productive of our crops this our first year. Everything looked sad and wan, but we still managed to find a few runner beans and although the sweet peas were definitely beginning to flag, their flowers still smelt sweet.

Fast forward to 1/2 November - quite a lot has happened in the intervening period. We suspect that there have been many raspberries in our absence as there are still some coming now (though not as many of course). The leeks look really leekish and we have chosen one for N to pick for supper tomorrow. The most exciting thing is that there was a heavy snowfall earlier in the week (in October!) while we were still away and while other structures on the site yielded and buckled under the weight of the snow, the Pagoda stood firm. N is quietly smug.

Otherwise, the kale is still good and very tasty. The cabbages that K had thought of as purple broccoli are now looking significantly better, presumably because the cold has killed off whatever was eating them. Indeed, they look uncannily like January King (JK) cabbages. The other cabbages, that K thought of as JK cabbages, now look as though they are purple broccoli. There was obviously an elementary slip-up in the process earlier. It shows the importance of good labelling but does add a certain element of "je ne sais quoi" to the growing process.

Disappointingly, the seeds planted in September in Bed 2 failed to materialise. The overwintering onions in Bed 1 are still there but not as many as we would like, and the chard has been munched on. The seedlings in the seedbed (spring cabbage and overwinterinig onions) seem to be OK, though the cabbage has been a little eaten. (If indeed it is cabbage as I seem completely unable to identify the damn things again after sowing.)

Bed 4 (ex-courgettes, beans, sweetcorn, butternut squash) has now been completely cleared and dug over. We intend to put compost on and cover it though want to make sure we are doing the right thing for what we want to grow next year. Bed 2 (ex-carrots - got the final ones up today) etc - needs digging/composting also.

We also stripped the last vestiges of dead sweetpeas, beans and thousands of nasturtiums from the Pagoda. It is sad to do this yet very satisfying at the same time.

We look at the bank with its weeds and stroke our chins meditatively. We hope to acquire a free greenhouse from somewhere and want to put it on the bank (once cleared). It's going to be another busy winter.