2 January 2011 - Happy New Year y'all

Happy New Year - and here's to another great year of growing (some) fab produce.

This is by way of a Note for the Archive really rather than a genuine Blog. It is to record that we planted the garlic today - 56 Solent White (Bed 9), 13 Elephant (stalking along on the bank) and 18 Large Solent White (Bed 5). And the strange mutant garlic from yesteryear is still going. We are a little afraid of what it might become.

Weather note: somewhat less cold (a balmy 3 degrees) and cloudy.

Kill record: 3 more stiff little bodies to collect - yay!

December 2010 - Deep and crisp and even

Well it has been a long time. Festive greetings and a Happy New Year to all our readers!! We have been distracted by the Downstairs Improvement Project over 6 weeks in October/November during which time we more or less left the plot to its own late autumnal devices, having done the requisite sowing of green manure and plonking of real stuff on appropriate beds. It does show our growing confidence with the plot, that we can let it be for a while without panicking. We did of course pop up and avail ourselves of produce as and when required - kale, cabbage, leek and parsnips.

And then the snow came. On Saturday 17 December there was a blizzard for about 4 hours in St Albans. Traffic came to a halt and the main roads were blocked by stranded vehicles. And the allotment became a place of magic, our very own Narnia. We went up the next day and we were the first to go there after the snow, as was evident by the complete lack of tracks, other than those of rabbit or bird.

After marvelling at the transformation, we managed to find ourselves a little winter harvest - miraculous isn't it - that snow and ice can fall and yet some vegetables can still be found. Our ancestors of course had to deal with this on a far more perilous basis. We have also been eating and enjoying our potatoes, squash and garlic as per usual. And had our first dried beans yesterday.

The cold weather has been with us for some weeks now, the temperature hovering around 0 degrees, and it hasn't really inspired us to get on with our usual tasks. We have garlic to plant and beds to reinforce, the shed to clear and tools to clean.

Just after Christmas we had a very welcome visit from my friend and colleague (and some say one of the wise men) Joseph. He is the first from my place of work to witness our pride and joy. The plot looks somewhat shabby and sorry for itself at the moment, various things having died or grimly carrying on. The leeks especially seem determined to keep up appearances. I think - and hope - that Joseph was genuinely impressed with what he saw. He asked the odd intelligent question and seemed happy to pose with a garden implement for the blog. He certainly appreciated the home-cooked produce the night before - a stunning Spanish pumpkin soup, followed by shoulder of lamb with garlic, potatoes and peas. I attempted a raspberry and blackberry fool which refused to set - but was drunk nonetheless with appreciation by the guestage.

We realise that the Downstairs Improvement Project has prevented us from the usual excitement of ordering seeds and potatoes. We will get on the case - because no matter what the weather throws at us in between, spring will come and we must continue our great endeavour.

Pest control note: Many mice have been caught. Most pleasing. Especially as one of the parsnips clearly had been nibbled.

24 October 2010 - Beans and stuff

And so dear reader the mighty Tower of Borlotti was finally laid low and the runner beans dismantled as we had the first sharp frost of the year. We picked a lot of pods and then - fatal error - took out the beans. Unfortunately some of the beans got rotten very quickly afterwards and had to be jettisoned. We now know that you leave the beans in the pods as long as possible and dry the pods first. We are trying to dry out the remainder. The trouble is that they are nice and moist in the pod, and that liquid is very hard to dry off. It is quite viscous. Never mind, we have learnt the hard way.

Last weekend I sowed a couple of row of turnips - apparently the leaves make nice green veg. No sign as yet.

You will be relieved to hear that we found the garden book with the proposed plan for next year. So there is rotation and scope for innovation too. We want to try brassicas in two places - covered and not covered - and see how things go. Here is the list for next year for posterity.
Bed 1 - carrots, parsnips, leeks, shallots (no manure)
Bed 2 - potatoes (no manure)
Bed 3 - corn, courgette, beans etc (manure)
Bed 4 - brassica (manure and lime)
Bed 5 - in two sections - brassica and peas, squash, onions, garlic and corn (manure/manure and lime)
Bed 6 - onion, spring onion, celery (manure)
Bed 7 - strawberries
Bed 8 - undecided (Others or Brassica) (manure)
Bed 9 - garlic (no manure)
Bed 10 - undecided (Others) (manure)

Whether to manure or not is quite complex. We have already described the green manure strategy. More green manure was sown (Bed 4) and we planted a few little chard seedlings which had been started in the greenhouse. The brassicas are looking very good in their enclosure apart from the bloody White Fly which I spray futilely with organic spray.

The mysterious garlic is going great guns, as you can see. It is very odd but at least we now only have to buy one lot of garlic. We think Solent White again, as it is so very good and keeps well.

We also ponder the compost situation. We have acquired a great mass of dying left-over plants which are not going to rot quickly. Next weekend we are going to make some adjustments which will mean covering the open section so it rots down quicker, and that we have better access to the stuff which is in the compost container. Another load of kitchen stuff will be taken up and added to the mix.

A lovely time on the plot. This time of year is quite special. We still consume produce (broccoli, celery, cabbage, beans) but it is definitely slowing down. We are on the cusp of Hallowe'en and even the weeds are looking sleepier. We are donated 2 lovely Cos lettuces by Jan and Pat and march home laden with good things - including a Monster Parsnip destined for lunch. We are thrilled by the size of it. Some things definitely do work out in the end.

16 October 2010 - Autumn bounty

Hello peeps. Two October weekends in the plot and there is now increasing evidence of slowing down. Last weekend we planted over-wintering onions in the carrot bed (kindly donated by Jan thus saving a dash to Ayletts), dug up the remaining potatoes, picked a cabbage and celery and raspberries and broccoli. And apples and blackberries (for free). Oh and the second large pumpkin so we're all good to go for Hallowe'en/Bonfire Nite.



Potato note - the maincrops (planted in the new bed near the shed) were not great in yield. We don't know whether it was because the soil was insufficiently enriched or the soil is pretty stony. We have now manured the bed and covered it over. The second earlies on the other hand were much better, and we also had quite a few volunteer tatties. We think we have sufficient for the winter.

The green manure planted in Bed 1 is looking great but the other bed didn't come up, so we sowed some more of a different type. We ponder whether it's OK to put green manure on a bed that doesn't need manuring for next year's crop. We think it's OK because "it's plants not manure". The Tower of Bolotti is still intact and we will harvest and dry the beans soon.

Last weekend I did the plan for next year's crops which I shall share with you once I have found the damn book where the planning is done (a scribbled freehand plan of the plot with lots of pencil rubbing out). We are having extensive internal works (new kitchen, decorating etc) and everything is a bit discombobulated at present. One thought is that next year we could trial growing brassicas without netting, as we note that those who Go Commando (as it were) do not seem to suffer disproportionately, whereas we get nasty slugs which could be eaten by the birdies if they could be reached. The thing about crop rotation is that it gets tougher each year, and the division into groups is all very well (Brassicas, Roots, Others) but you are more likely to want to eat more Others as it includes stuff like garlic, beans, peas, courgettes, etc, than Brassicas, even though rotation means you should follow Roots with Brassicas (or whatever way round it is).

Yesterday we pulled up and harvested the last of the courgettes. Not quite as productive as last year, especially the yellow courgette, but still tasty. We also pulled and harvested the butternut squash (25 fruits - a record) and 13 (small) yellow patterned pumpkins. They are drying out in the greenhouse. We think that we didn't dry them/harden them off enough last year, resulting in about half our crop being spoiled.

One of nature's miracles has also happened. You will recall our sorrow at the dodgy garlic harvest - only half the cloves we planted were able to be harvested - and the theories about whether it was our own garlic or the new stuff that was dodgy. Well it turns out that we now have a load of garlic growing exactly where the dodgy stuff grew. We cannot work this out as I'm pretty sure I dug up all the nasty yellowy plants that grew. One thought is that the new garlic was an autumn planting variety. Which in turn saves us more money as we were going to buy autumn as well as spring planting variety.

These reflections may seem trivial to you, but there is something joyous about getting something for nothing, and for your disappointment to turn out to be misplaced. Only occasionally do we win battles in our plot, and yesterday we felt we had truly trounced the naysayers.

So, for winter, we have growing: parsnips, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, kale, petit posy and leeks. We also sowed some turnips, not for the root but for the leaves which are meant to be tasty. We'll keep you posted.

19 September 2010 - Family Occasion

Well looky here - it's both sets of our existing parents! For the first time, N's mum and K's mum and dad met for Sunday lunch and a parental inspection of the plot. All in all, a very nice interlude before we went away on holidays for two weeks. So not much allotment news for the last part of the month. See you in the next post.

To [sic] for me – 5 September 2010

The judges have spoken. Far be it from us to quibble.

However…

• runner beans: no prize – beaten, I think, fair and square by quality competition
  
• runner bean (longest): no prize – the measuring tape cannot lie
  
• parsnips: no prize – our multi-pronged beasts, a Post-It Note advised, were given too much fertiliser
  
• garlic: 3rd Prize – despite the fact that the 2nd Prize-winner hadn't had its stalks tied (rules are to be obeyed)
  
• any other vegetable (our borlotti beans): 2nd Prize – a respectable finish; 1st Prize went to the Ladies' giant celeries
  
• raspberries: 2nd Prize – against some strong competition
  
• a jar of chutney: no prize – a Post-It Note: "To sweet for me"; a fellow entrant was described as "To hot for me".

Is this the place to debate the skills-set required of chutney judges? Or that they should cherish flavour? Perhaps not. Perhaps I'm just infused with bitterness, the way some of our potatoes are infused with ants.

Work cures all, so with middling heavy hearts we returned to the plot. Here's where we are, at what can be described as the twilight of Summer.

Bed 1: dead peas and petit pois removed, leaving a squash plant and some late-planted peas.

Bed 2: K rearranged the brassica to give them more space. The frame and netting seems to have held up (held out the Evil Cabbage White Butterfly) for the most part. Next season, I want to have a go at erecting our old tent's inner 'rooms' as shelters.

Bed 3: Roughly a third of our first- and second-early potatoes have been harvested.

Bed 4: The lovely black french beans are done, leaving some corn, courgette and celery, along with the Leaning Tower of Borlotti.

The Bank: Home to two major pumpkins, a newly discovered squash, rhubarb, a lingering asparagus and some thriving comfrey. Also home to nettles, blackberries and weeds.

Bed 5: Corn finished, leaving celery, squash, red onions, a tower of runner beans and chard.

Bed 6: Mediocre carrots, many victims of mice. Sharp spring onions, thriving parsnip, alleged kohlrhabi and (eaten last night) three artichokes (delicious).

Bed 7: Still full of do-nothing raspberries, plus some volunteer potatoes.

Bed 8: Our maincrop potatoes.

The Fruit Cage: Raspberries galore, yet no apples, cherries or plums (we are not alone in our fruit failing). Satisfactory blueberries. Something oniony in the seed bed.

That's better. I've forgiven the judges, and am even more inspired facing next year's competition.

Showtime! - part one – 4 September 2010

Once more we face the judges' results at the annual St Stephens Gardening Club Show. We spent this morning, like anxious parents at a teenage beauty pageant, staging our exhibits:

• runner beans
• runner bean (longest)
• parsnips
• garlic
• any other vegetable – we choose our first-ever crop of borlotti beans
• raspberries
• a jar of chutney.

The mood seemed sombre to me, many people grumbling that this past growing season had not been their best. Entry numbers seemed low to me, too.

Well, we'll see the results in an hour's time. Fingers crossed (like the twisted roots of our parsnips).