July 2009 - Staycation Bumper Edition

Three long weeks without blogging doesn't mean that there hasn't been lots of action. And now we have a chance to catch up as we are having a Staycation - 2 weeks holiday, most of which we will spend at home. Not because of the credit crunch but because we cannot leave the allotment for a 2 week period in the summer time. Note that the search for something to provide shade is over - a £4 beach umbrella from Marlows.

So much going on and to do too. Much of the time on the plot has been spent weeding. It takes up so much time and energy, even with a fully charged wacker. And there's the bank now too. End of wingeing about the weeding.


Far more exciting headline news - we have harvested a grand total of 148 garlic bulbs on 24 July. We could probably corner the garlic market in Hertfordshire. Consulting the blog, we think we planted around 100 cloves - but that may have been an estimation, and 148 might be slightly out as quite frankly we were giddy with garlic fumes in the greenhouse (where they are drying). This picture does not do the sheer amount of them justice. We anxiously think about what we are going to do with them as this is roughly 3 times as many as last year - a few of which we still have. Lots of garlic pickling coming up and our friends can expect to receive garlic gifts. Enuff garlic already. The bag next to the garlic contains our shallot harvest, the majority of which we will pickle. The picture on the left is the same bed now populated with leek seedlings, transplanted from the seedbed. I am very proud of the expert way I did the dibber thing to make the hole and confidently placed the leekling inside. Quite different from last year. And they are not too big to move either (as last year's were according to some). (Philosophical note: perhaps the excess of garlic makes up for the dearth of peas.)

To the left is the remainder of the first earlies. The plants looked bitten and as we had already dug up quite a few we thought we'd dig up the rest. They are exceedingly tasty and no doubt our friends will benefit from a few presents of these too - as of course we have the joys of the second earlies to look forward to. To the right is the empty space on the bank where the first earlies were - now sown with green manure in a possibly vain attempt to keep out the weeds. The shadow is the Pagoda (mighty fruitcage which has received some remedial treatment to its structure).

Other breaking news from the plot.

Bed 1 - rainbow chard and a few late sown carrots coming through and an empty space where the shallots were. We think we'll go for a late sowing of peas, given the disappointing show of peas in bed 6 which got got by pea moth. This rendered half the crop inedible. The peas that were given to us by neighbours etc were much better but not enough of them. We have only frozen 2 or 3 small bags. The rest of the bed contains onions including the giant ones. There are no pictures of bed 1 or 6.

Bed 2 - as reported, garlic now pulled and replaced by leeks. Butternut squash also in residence looking happy. This was only meant to be a temporary measure before moving it to the bank but we've decided to let it be.

Bed 3 - various kinds of broccoli happening. We have frozen a fair bit and our pregnant Neighbour is scoffing quite a lot. It is delicious. The summer sprouting (?) stuff looks particularly nice. The red cabbages moved fairly recently have suffered badly from either slugs or caterpillar, but the other ones (sown in situ) look fine. Not sure what that means. The summer cabbage is also quite bitten but hopefully will be ready to eat soon as they are bloody huge. The winter cabbage also sown in situ looks good. As you can see, the nasturtiums have been a great success and make the bed look really "on trend".

Bed 4 - maincrop potatoes looking good, except for 2 which have leaf roll virus which is serious. The book says that they can be treated but apparently the chemical is no longer sold according to the garden centre. This leaves us with a moral dilemma which we have yet to resolve. As the virus affects the yield, maybe we should dig these plants up to prevent others getting infected. Or maybe the aphid that spreads the virus has gorn orf somewhere.

Bed 5 - now here's a bed that's going places. Lots of growth over the recent period. The corn and french beans are now well established whilst the squash is getting itself sorted. The main attraction though - of course - are the three courgette plants. They are already shooting out courgettes and we are now back in the familiar territory of excess courgettery. The yellow one is fab, though the courgettes look a bit like bananas. And yes they are yellow all the way through. The runner beans optimistically planted recently have come up and are climbing up their poles. I heave a sigh of relief - a plot without runner beans cannot be right.

Bed 7 - carrots are doing well and we've had and frozen lots. We've also sown some more with a view to overwintering. The parsnip plumage indicates that all is well with them too, though we don't know when to pull them up.

Pagoda - strawberries, alas, now finished but they were much better than last year. We must pot some runners for the greenhouse. The summer raspberries have yielded their first harvest but to be honest, people, we don't rate them as highly as the autumn brigade. The fruit is not as big or firm and they seem sickly compared to their exuberant autumn relatives. The blueberry has been getting into the swing of things and we've had quite a few delicious helpings. The seedbed has been cleared of leeklings and a strange broccoli (don't know, don't ask) which just seemed to sprout and bolt in about 10 minutes. Now we have kale and (I hope) some more winter cabbage seedlings left in there. There are 3 leeks left in the seedbed from last year and we decided to let them flower to see what happened. As you can see, Mr Bumble Bee finds them delicious.

Bank - two asparagus thingies have come up and the rhubarb is looking magnificent. We have spoken already about the potatoes. The pumpkin is having issues. While it is spreading, any nascent pumpkins have been spoiled by The Slug. We have sprayed it and put pellets down.

Weather note - warm, rainy, sunny, downpours, storms - usual English summer really

Good points - opportunity to reflect on last year's experiences compared to this year and thinking "great, now we know how to do X better"; courgettes; carrots; garlic; broccoli; strawberries; potatoes; shallots; nasturtiums

Bad points - opportunity to reflect on last year's experiences compared to this year and thinking "bugger, these (X) are nowhere near as good as last year"; peas; leaf roll virus; gaps appearing in beds with no back-up plan (e.g. bed 1).

So let the pickling begin!!

27 June 2009 - Hot hot hot

Blimey, it's hot. As I type, we have officially entered into a Heatwave. There's swings and roundabouts associated with heatwaves - swings are that crops like corn and beans get plenty of incentive, but roundabouts are that you have to water and be extra vigilant for things drying out. We try not to do it too often so as to encourage a proper spirit of sustainability - for some crops (e.g. parsnips), it's actually better if they are not watered so that the roots go down really deep. On the left is my first ever attempt at strawberry jam - 1.8lb of strawberries = 1.5 jars of jam. It's a very messy and tense business but tastes delicious. This is because we have that most joyous of things, a strawberry glut, many more fruits than last year. We even had the Neighbours over for a summer bbq and plied them with strawberries so as to use some up (and to see them as well of course).

Other developments include harvesting of the first broccoli and freezing it; removal and composting of both the noble chard and spinach as they had given way entirely to the reproductive urge. In their place we have sown rainbow chard (a rainbow of chard) and overwintering carrots as an experiment.

Overwintering onions, sown so long ago now, were harvested. A few of them (4/5) were of decent size but otherwise they are tiny. We decide to pickle these. Perhaps starting them in the greenhouse in the autumn will give us a better result next year as the yield is quite disappointing given their long gestation. Likewise some shallots, though we are not sure whether it's time, to see what happens. All laid out in our greenhouse, a far cry from last year when Jan and Pat kindly lent us their.s

We have reluctantly concluded that the various sowings of peas in the dodgy bit are not yielding the required results at all, so dug them up and reconfigured that area into two runner bean wigwams. After anxious consultation of the authorities, we conclude that it isn't too late to sow them direct. Orthodoxy be damned.

As you know, we dug up some new potatoes a couple of weeks back and have decided to leave the rest for a little while longer. The second earlies are definitely looking healthier as plants, so maybe the bank is not the best start for first earlies (this is about yield not quality).

But - other bank news - the giant pumpkin however is doing well and there is one baby fruit already - not bad. The rhubarb seems to have got over its teenage angst and has produced truly majestic leaves. And there is ONE proper asparagus spear.

The courgettes are showing their first flowers, though the plants are still fairly small. The other - main - peas are so nearly ready to pick. Someone already has sampled them to assess readiness. They are not quite there yet. But very soon will be. Carrots and parsnips are blossoming (well not actually but you know what I mean).

The brassicas are doing well, though the transplanted red cabbage still look not entirely comfy in their new home. We inspect the last remaining brassicas (excepting kale) in the seedbed and see that they are now summer purple sprouting broccoli. Yikes. Other recent sowings of winter cabbage (yes I know there are some already in the main bed but I like to be sure) and kale have come up. Summer raspberries are also beginning to ripen and one majestic loganberry is daring us to pick it. Blueberries are still an intriguing shade of green rather than blue.

The corn is definitely having a growth spurt and we hope that the french beans will catch up. They are in the game but seem a little shy. The onions have rallied and are getting weekly doses of magic juice. We have great hopes of rivalling Mr G in this year's show.

We have been experimenting with making a shelter to provide shade over our bench, as it is very hot in full sun and there is no shade elsewhere. The search for Sir N's perfect shade solution continues.

24 June 2009 - Viral carrots

We are entering the season of plenty.

Brought carrots to work for Sally and David. See their feedback here (if necessary, scroll to 24 June 2009).

6/7-13/14 June 2009 - 24 Hour Rolling News

Two weekends' worth in one blog. There is simply not enough time to garden, do allotment, tend greenhouse and now blog. But we must try. The greenhouse is very beautiful and even has some things in it, mostly tomatoes which is ye traditional greenhouse croppe. However, we have enlivened the proceedings with a melon (cripes!), cucumber, chili and sweet peppers. Whether any of these will survive the mysterious rituals of "damping down", raising blinds (wot blinds?), temperature control and ventilation who can tell. As far as our loyal readers are concerned, the chief value of the greenhouse is the opportunity it affords us to get more developed stuff on the plot at an earlier point.

(There may be editorial changes to this post along with pictures.)

Rather than go Bed by Bed as in recent blogs, we'll just give you an overview of proceedings.

Seeds sown - more Winter Cabbage and Kale in the seedbed, additional remedial peas for what we had fondly hoped would be a flourishing pea/mangetout area but is sadly not (fear not, the other peas at the end of the plot are doing great). This is a mystery, as we did dig in two trenches there of household compost.

Plants moved/planted - practically all the brassicas have been moved from the seedbed to the brassica bed. These are broccoli (2 sorts) and red cabbage. Not much space left so the winter cabbage/kale can only be moved once the summer crops are eaten. Everything on this bed looking very healthy, including the first broccoli which are now developing their calabrese heads, so here's to the Power of Lime. And the new netting solution not only looks great but seems (touch wood) to have prevented any Cabbage Whites from invading and laying their dastardly brood. But we mustn't count our eggs (or cabbages/broccoli). We donated two broccoli seedlings to Jan and Pat. Sunflower seedlings planted at the end, along with a couple of runner beans.

A few french beans and corn, sown directly into the ground, have come up. However, there are large gaps. Plan B (sowing some at home, buying from Homebase) has been put into action. The weird thing was that by accident and certainly not be design there were exactly the right number of seedlings to fill the gaps - spooky.

Weeds - weed weed weed weed, along along the bank and a huge effort in the Pagoda, where the many tall grass stems were getting seriously out of hand.

Construction - we began the assembly of a temporary shade shelter thingy to affix to the shed roof, as we have no shade on the plot.

General progress notes - all appears to be doing well, other than the peas mentioned above. We have been carefully selecting carrots as delicious hors d'oevres. Munching a just picked carrot is true joy. One of the first early potatoes made an early entry into the world due to the vigour of the weeding exercise and it was duly served with supper. We take a bite and are instantly rewarded by the sublime taste of early potato, a reminder of why we got so much into growing our own in the first place. There is really nothing like it - no butter or salt needed, just the true taste of potato.

The recently planted broccoli and squash appear to have survived, bar one which went to the slugs. We purchased a large pumpkin seedling and have defiantly planted it on the bank, surrounded by a temporary plastic pot and many slug pellets. And strawberries! We have now picked our first bunch and they are lovely, though evil mice have had a go at a few of the ripe ones. We put down traps baited with strawberry - which are completely ignored. Rats (ho ho). Onions, shallots, parsnips and garlic all looking healthy, and indeed, the overwintering onions look almost ready for eating.

Unfortunately, the runner beans sown into the Pagoda seem to have been consumed which is sad for me, who likes eating them. Although we remain hopeful that one or two might defeat the weeds and rise up.

Soon we will be eating, on a regular basis, broccoli, onions, garlic, cabbage, carrots, strawberries (and blueberries), potatoes and peas. Yum. And that's before all the bean and courgette frenzy.

Weather notes: very rainy few days has made a huge difference to the plot. Plenty of sunny days, some quite hot. We now have a sprinkler device (we have to keep up with Jan and Pat after all).

Philosophical note: I ponder as to what our harvest will look like this year, in comparison to last year. We did so well last year, knowing very little. Now we know more, but will this in itself make any difference? There is no doubt that we will have a different kind of harvest - more garlic and onions, less peas. But that is part of the "fun" and a cost-benefit analysis (hours worked/output) seems totally inappropriate under the circumstances.

30/31 May 2009 - Phew wot a scorcher

Lots of work on the plot this weekend which was beautiful - hot and sunny with a slight breeze. We divided our forces so that N was engaged in erecting (ahem) the new Greenhouse which is great, and I did a lot of stuff on the plot. There are photos but frankly one is a little cream crackered so forgive me this time for not adding them.

Aside from the usual strimming and weeding (we do seem to get a lot especially around the borders which is a real pain) the following activities took place.

Bed 1 - chard is beginning to bolt and the overwintering onions are looking like real onions. Big job was to sort out the various onions as it seemed that there was a lot of space being wasted with the erratic germination of the original sowings. I am confident that I now know the meaning of the phrase "to know one's onions" as you really have to know what is what when sorting out the various seedlings. Suffice to say after a lot of pondering bed 1 is now the happy home for all the onions that have emerged, including the remedial onions sown at home. Not many red onions, alas.

Bed 2 - garlic is going nuts and the space vacated by the various onions has been given a bit of compost from the blue bag. We are using this as a temporary nursery bed for 1 courgette and 3 squash seedlings, duly planted and watered. I also used a new anti-slug product, a kind of gel that claims to be kind to nature etc whilst being deathly to slugs. We will see.

Bed 3 - the seedlings sown direct are looking great, as is the spring cabbage. They are carefully covered with enviromesh. I moved the first sown broccoli (February??) into the same quadrant as the spring cabbage. They are already showing their heads - they are calabrese. Unfortunately they have all wilted with the shock of the move though we are optimistic they will improve with judicious watering.

Bed 4 - just watered the maincrop potatoes and removed the purple sprouting broccoli.

Bed 5 - all traces of kale and rocket now removed (both covered with some hideous grey bug thing) and put onto reordered compost area. 3 courgettes and 2 butternut squash were planted, again after a bit of extra compost was added. Very excitingly the corn and beans sown a few weeks ago are beginning to appear. We have some "spares" in case things are not altogether successful and have been offered some corn seedlings by Derek. We are great believers in sowing direct, even though we will have the greenhouse to start things off. Will our lives change? The peas are beginning to show too, though I am confused now between peas and mangetout. Oh well.

Bed 6 - peas are still doing great one side, not so great the other, though hopefully they will catch up. Lots of weeding here including getting rid of comfrey, which though removed from this area, still has a grip. Never mind, it goes straight into enriching the compost.

Bed 7 - the carrots are looking terrific, and the parsnips too. No sign yet of the second sowing of parsnips.

Pagoda - strawberry fruits and apples are forming well. Some remedial work needed on the summer raspberry fixings. They seem a lot more trouble than the autumn variety, though the latter have invasive characteristics similar to comfrey. The seedbed was weeded and all is doing well. I planted some runner bean plants inside - and a giant pumpkin. (There is also one in the compost shelter.) No sign yet of sweet peas.

Bank - the weeds are doing well (too hot to weed up there) and the potatoes are growing. Rhubarb still looking ratty and only one asparagus has shown itself. We plan to plant the butternut squash up there once the first earlies are up.

It doesn't look much when you write it down but gee it's a lot of work. The plot is now beginning its summer phase with the removal of the last winter crops. It's not just the manual side of things, but the thinking and working out alternatives and spacings. One has to be flexible and not panic too much. Sunday was enlived by a lovely bbq with our erstwhile neighbours, Jan and Pat - a great way to celebrate progress so far and to look forward to the harvest to come. We are still eating last year's maincrops - probably just enough to last until the first earlies come - and the garlic. Frozen courgettes and broccoli are available if need be. Aren't we lucky!

16 May 2009 - There'll be some pictures with this one

So now for the picture show. A productive day yesterday with photographic evidence now to show you for each bed. Stay put and enjoy the ride. We begin with a picture of potatoes coming up on the bank. Both first and second earlies are now showing well. Rhubarb looking a bit eaten still. One asparagus. We plan to put squash up here as there's more room. And the comfrey are flowering and attracting bees!

Weather note: changeable, sun, rain, usual spring stuff but no frost recently
Bed 1
Shallots, overwintering onions, giant onions, normal onions, chard, spinach. This bed has been a stalwart over the winter. The normal onions need sorting.




Bed 2
The magnificent garlic and patchy onions. Hard to weed. Some sorting of onions needed (cf. above).








Bed 3
Brassica bed divided into quadrants. On the left are a few spring cabbages and 2 cauliflower. On the right red cabbage, winter cabbage and summer sprouting broccoli - sown direct into the bed. All protected by N's ingenious new contraptions.

Bed 4
This is the maincrop potato bed, still with a few purple sprouting broccoli plants sharing the space for a wee while longer.




Bed 5
This bed is still betwixt and between. You can see where we sowed french beans and sweetcorn, marked by bottle cloches. In the foreground is the pea/mangetout frame. This has had to be adapted slightly as though they are coming up (finally - rejoice) it is in an irregular fashion, probably due to the design strategy adopted by Luc (aged 2 years). The green patch is the opportunistic rocket sown a while ago now. The purple flowery things are the wonderful kale, which look too pretty to uproot at the moment - see how big they are. Though they will have to be soon, to make room for courgettes and squash.
Bed 6
You can see that one side of peas has come up strongly. We planted the kindly donated seedlings by neighbours last week on the other side. Another example of N's innovative approach to construction.






Bed 7
Welcome to the famous carrot bed. Thriving for the most part. The thinnings indicate that the carrots are not forking (missus) which is great. N very pleased. I got permission to sow another row of parsnips at the end, as the first row are doing really well.






Fruitcage
At the bottom is the seedbed. The broccoli seedlings are doing particularly well and the first lot should be moved soon. Leeks, red cabbage, various broccoli and of course kale. The green bushes are raspberries and behind them are the strawberries which are flowering profusely - more I think than last year. Apple trees at the end, with the loganberry inbetween. Blueberries on the left and summer raspberries on the right. I took the opportunity to plant some runner beans all around the edge as the spares we planted last year did really well. The household does not appreciate runner beans as much as french beans, hence they don't have the usual pean/bean arrangements. The fruitcage, aka Pagoda, is a bugger to weed.

And so ends our visual entertainment. I don't know how to switch off the underline function so here's looking at you - and you looking at our blog.

9-10 May 2009 - A little catching up to do

Once again, technical issues prevent photos being added at this time but we couldn't carry on keeping you in the dark. We promise a picture only spectacular soon. We realise too that while there has been much work on the plot, you probably don't believe us given the length of time since our last communique. We have been preoccupied with holidays and garden improvements. Of the latter, we can only reveal at this stage that we are now the proud possessors of a New Greenhouse. This means that not only can crops be started earlier (a source of much anxiety when we spot others' more advanced seedlings) but be able to grow tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and cucumbers. Hoorah! We just have to get the damn thing up now without breaking anything. Perhaps we should dedicate a separate blog to the GH... We digress.

A summary of each bed's contents and progress follows.

Bed 1 - some onions have sprung up from the seed planted a while back (two sorts - red and ordinary). Only some have appeared but we are now the proud possessors of several Giant Onion seedlings courtesy of Mr G, purchased at the recent Allotment Plant Sale (19 April) as well as the overwintering onions. The chard is going positively bonkers in the spring air and we have had lots to eat and some spinach to. The parsnips have failed to come up - I glean from books that parsnips are fairly fussy about soil and it is noticeable that the ones sown in the carrot bed (bed 7) have come up. The shallots are doing their hippy thing.

Bed 2 - garlic is doing very well but again the onion seeds sown are variable - they come up in little patches which is frustrating. May have to rethink the onion strategy. We baulk at sets. It seems like cheating. No matter, we have sown some "emergency" onions in the temporary Greenhouse facility at home for transplantation.

Bed 3 - we have now moved into quadrants for the various broccoli as this bed is quite big. Several spring cabbage seedlings purchased from Homebase are doing very well, as are two cauliflowers (purchased from the aforesaid plant sale) - this is quadrant 1. Quadrant 2 is a daring experiment in direct sowing of seeds cutting out the middleman of the seedbed. Here are winter cabbage, summer sprouting broccoli and red cabbage. They have come up and are looking sprightly. Remedial netting has been applied to defeat the White Cabbage Butterfly, curses on it for being both beautiful and deadly. The nasturtiums are beginning to come up but only a few marigolds so far. No matter - we have sown marigolds at home for transplantation.

Bed 4 - purple sprouting broccoli has been good but now coming to an end. Not so sure it is worth the extremely long wait but tasty nonetheless. We have planted our maincrops there (2 weeks previous). I find potato planting timings a little arbitrary but they were planted before the end of April which is the main thing. We worry about being able to eat all the potatoes ars we are still eating last year's crop (which my sister pronounces as very tasty mashed).

Bed 5 - this bed is still in transition (to use a work phrase). The kale are well and truly spent. We have let them flower both in a homage to their mighty performance and to admire the lovely yellow flowers on these strong yet delicate purple plants. They will, alas, be pulled up soon to make way for courgettes (both varieties now sown at home), beans (ditto), corn (ditto - but as last year I am unhappy with their progress), squash. May be reduced to buying some corn seedlings, chiz. We have had frustrations with sowing peas and mangetout in this bed as for some reason very little has come up. We may have to resort to emergency measures and will probably sow some at home. This bed will soon look very different. A little patch of rocket, sown a few weeks back, is now resplendent though no radishes (unless we have eaten radish leaves without knowing of course).

Bed 6 - we sowed peas there a few weeks back and have patchy success with germination. Application of mousetraps didn't seem to help. Remedial resowing has resulted in a few more plants but we were saved from doom and despondency (we love our peas) by the kind offer of some 14 extra seedlings from a kindly neighbour with some to spare. N had to repair the netting structure which was blown around by the wind but is now looking fab.

Bed 7 - carrots sown at various times are coming up as are the parsnips. N very excited and applies himself vigorously to the thinning process. Might see if I can sneak another row of parsnips in without N noticing - is it too late?

Pagoda - one apple tree (Cox) in better shape than the other, which again has been beset by ants. The first apple tree has blossomed well, as have the loganberry and the bigger blueberry. Little blueberry is still in short trousers. Raspberries, both summer and autumn now getting going, and the seedbed is pretty full of broccoli (various sorts), red cabbage, leeks (two rows) and of course kale. The first lot of broccoli seedlings are now quite big and will need to be moved soon. The sweetpeas are beginning to sprout upwards.

The Bank - first earlies have come up and looking good, with second earlies beginning to show. I sowed some sunflowers on 19 April, but none look to have come up yet, though the Bank is not the most hospitable environment what with the never ending battle with The Weeds. One asparagus of the two crowns planted has made an appearance too. The rhubarb is being eaten by something but is otherwise growing. (These two latter crops can not be eaten this year of course as it is their first year.) The comfrey is about to blossom - these plants are incredible in their rate of growth. Many flowers on the strawberries (which have self-increased due to runners).

Other developments have been the welcome arrangement with a nearby horse stable whereby we can purchase good manure for 25p a bag (proceeds to Association). We now have a lovely stash of the stuff gently maturing in one of the compost areas.

Weather note: mostly typical spring weather, mixture of sun, wind and showers. We have got sunburnt a couple of times up there but have still managed to enjoy our allotment picnics. It has been more dry recently and we have had to water. Otherwise, fasten your seatbelts for the next phase, which will be a positive orgy of planting in Bed 5 and expansion of contents in Bed 3. We are definitely more organised this year - but can we match the success of last year? This must be the gardener's dilemma, and incentive.

Good things: potatoes, garlic, apple tree, various brassica seedlings coming up so reliably, carrots, shallots, sun
Bad things: patchy onions, peas, mangetout, little blueberry, wind blowing stuff about, usual slug anxiety