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Broad Beans

Back from holiday towards the end of April and at last there is a chance of broad beans this summer.

Just before leaving at the beginning of April, I finally had enough and bought some Bunyards Exhibition. I planted up 96 in modules and placed them on the garage window sill.

On returning three weeks later, they were all up at around 4 inches high. Hardening them off over a few days and I put them in the cold frame. The next day some had been dug up and eaten again so rather than the lose more I placed them in the ground immediately replacing all those that failed of the Aquadulce attempts. Around 20 Aquadulce and 50 Bunyards.

 

Looks promising so far with pea netting just above them to keep the birds off and pellets below for the slugs. I have wired between the posts to give a small amount of support in case of high winds.

Alliums again

Just to show that the garlic and shallots planted last November are still going strong along  with the weeds!

Also in the background is the rhubarb – Timperley Early – chucked in the ground last year before finalising the plan. We had that a week ago in a rhubarb and almond crumble and it was excellent.

Sweet Pea Haven

Sweet Peas

Too many other events in life so just a little later than planned. 

At the end of March and just before leaving for a holiday my sweetpeas arrived from Simply Sweet Peas. I could not expect them to survive in the packaging so though it best to get them in the ground.

The hazel sticks came from next door and I spent Monday and Tuesday night before the holiday carting most of the tree onto the plot.  The left group are the “heirloom” so should be very fragrant next to the bench. The others are “blue skies” and are more modern blue ones for cutting.

The lettuces in the front are Webbs Wonderful that lasted through the winter under a cloche and still tasted good last week.

Alliums away

Garlic

Sundays weather was changeable to say the least. From cold to sunny to heavy rain to sleet and back to sun again.

At least some things are working well on the plot. Above shows the Albigensian garlic and behind that the Purple Moldovan that was planted in November.

Eschallot Grise

Also going well are the Eschallot Grise planted around the same time.

The Elephant garlic has yet to show but I may have planted that deeper.

Slightly disappointing is that a number of the potatoes that have been chitting for a while now have gone rotten. No idea why but they are all from the same supplier. Others I bought from a different supplier are much healthier and are likely to go in “real soon now”

Early Spring – or is it?

Jerusalem Artichokes

Finally got back onto the plot this weekend and decided to clear some of the rubbish. Three apparently dead Jerusalem Artichoke plants yielded the lovely harvest above and also half a dozen potatoes left over from last August that look good enough to eat.

The stainless steel spade works wonders on the clay I have in many places at the moment. I should have bought one ages ago. It is noticeably easier to work where I added manure last year so in a few years the whole plot should be happier.

I’ve dug over two of the potato beds and covered one with fleece to get a head start. I’ve got carried away this year with Pentland Javelin first earlies and Kestrel seconds. I then couldn’t resist some Desiree main crop from Lowden Nurseries and finally fell for some Swift very earlies which are in planters to beat the lot.

I should be getting the onions later this month so I have dug over and levelled one of the beds for that  but then wanted to plant the bulb of Solent Wight I bought in the Isle of Wight last year. I’m interested to see how it performs against the other garlic that I planted in November that is looking good so far.

The broad beans are still showing few signs. Just three are poking their heads up from the 96 I planted in modules and none from the second sowing in the ground yet. 

The Purple Sprouting broccoli is showing signs of recovery having been netted again to keep the pigeons away.

Last but not least I still have the last of the parsnips and sprouts to collect before they finally rot, and I lifted the first of the leeks. There are still swedes (admittedly small) and cabbages that I cannot see will be ready before next winter. 

Hopefully I’ll get a bit more time as the days lengthen but lets hope the economy doesn’t mean I have too much time!

2009 – A healthy year

parsnip

It’s been a while since I last updated this so there are a few things to show.

First is this parsnip about a foot long and 5 inches across – the first of many back in October. This was Panache from Marshalls, from my first sowing. Plenty more right up until Christmas but the later sowings were smaller and in 2009 I plan on sowing earlier and in cardboard tubes or root-trainers.  I didn’t notice the mark when I took the picture or I would have turned it round but none of the parsnips were so badly affected by pests they had to be discarded.

gourds

 

I planted a packet of mixed ornamental gourds picked up cheaply just to fill a spot and these are the result. I planted about 30cm apart each way and trimmed them back when they started spreading to neighbouring beds. They look good in the kitchen doing just what it said on the tin.

Ice

When we had that very cold snap at new year I drained the water butts before they split. You can see I just caught them in time since these beautiful ice spirals about 2 inches long spreading towards the middle. Very difficult to photograph and shortly after getting the pics the whole lot crashed to the bottom.

sprouts

These are some still left after raiding on Christmas Eve. The pest damage is only on the very outside and they taste delicious. I’m puzzled since I had two types, Montgomery and Cromwell, which should have been ready at different times but they both seem to be producing together. I did pick some and freeze them a couple of weeks before Christmas just in case I lost the lot.

From the allotment, Christmas lunch included fresh sprouts and parsnips and very tasty peas, broad, french and runner beans  from the freezer. Also desert included raspberries that were as tasty as the day they were picked.

Winter plot

 To finish – a general view of the plot as at 2nd January 2009.

In the foreground are some January King that I suspect may be Jan 2010 before they’re ready!

Under the cloche are Webbs Wonderful lettuces.

Behind these are swedes “Marian”, which we may try soon. The largest is still only about 6cm across and about 12cm long.

In the bed behind are purple sprouting broccoli, turnips that really did not work this year and on the right chard “Bright Lights”.

Further back are the leeks that still need another month or so and the sprouts.

I’m already up on last year as all the heavy digging and manuring was done before the rain and cold. I will need to get out there and replant the broad beans soon as I can see none of the 96 have survived the birds and mice.

The shallots and garlic I planted are looking OK but not up to last years levels yet.

 Here’s to a good, healthy 2009.

Yet More Triumphs – Largest Pumpkin, Third Prize

3rd prize pumpkin

 

A very unexpected bonus last Saturday when Mike, one of the allotment wardens, pulled up and handed me an envelope. Inside was not the expected summons to pay the next years rent but my Hundredweight pumpkin at 40 inches diameter had won me third prize in the largest pumpkin competition judged that morning. Luckily for me Dennis was not allowed to win more than one prize or his would have taken first, second, and third! I understand Mike himself had won second.

My wife Joan has already made pumpkin pies and pumpkin soup that was perfect yesterday.

I’ve been too busy to do much on the allotment lately let alone add anything to the blog but here are a few recent goodies.

Cauliflowers

I was very pleased to get these caulis since everyone told me how hard they were to grow. They were given to me by our friends Barbara and Jim as 6 plants ( all the year round ) so I put them in to the only space available at the time along with the lettuces. The cabbage whites had a field day as you can see. One failed to grow at all, two grew but the centres were eaten before forming, one I picked but froze and when it was taken out a week later it looked disgusting but the one here on the left was perfect in a cauliflower cheese on Monday night. I’m hoping we catch the other before it goes off.

red and white onion strings

Just to prove that the winning onions were not a fluke here are some of the Red Baron and New Fen Globe I strung up in the garage. About 5Kg each string and all the smaller ones are in hessian bags. As I wrote before, the White Prince were hopeless.

cucumbers

Last but not least, here are about a dozen of the cucumbers (Marketmore) that have such flavour and texture compared to the shop ones.

I’ll save the cornfield for later.

Bathford Flower & Veg Show – A First

First Prize - Onions

The culmination of a good year so far was being awarded First Prize for Onions in the Bathford Show on Saturday 6th September 2008. I thought they were good with such a golden glow (New Fen Globe) when I lifted them but it is nice to know that the judges agreed. I read up about showing them but discovered on Thursday night that I really should have started preparing them about six weeks ago and not two days before the show. Maybe next year. I was tempted to oil them but settled instead for whipping the ends. I also notice that I should really make the ends a bit shorter. I’m sure I lost a few points for that. I’ve included the other 9 entries below to show that I had some worthy opposition.

The Competition

I also succeeded in taking second place with my cucumber (Marketmore) grown outdoors. I’m not too disheartened as the winner was a greenhouse grown, arrow straight, perfect example.

A lucky dip gave me second place in the “Longest Bean” entries with 18 and a half inches (White Lady).

A final selection based on smaller is better for the Purple French climbing beans (Empress) gave me a surprise third place.

Second Prize - Cucumber

 

I also entered sweetcorn – top not quite ripe but the rest looked wonderful, courgettes – too big, beetroot – too small, runner beans – not good, potatoes – too small.

As a final thought on this – I grow the veg for flavour rather than to look good.  

The beans have been appalling this year, both to get them to grow and then to pick them at the right stage. Almost all of the white onions I grew have rotted but the reds are not too bad.

After almost 30 years my Chamomile Lawn takes shape

Chamomile Lawn

Back when I bought my first house in Midsomer Norton in 1979 I had plans for a chamomile lawn in place of the scrappy grass fronting on to the Fosse Way. This was before the novel of the same name that was published in 1984 and has no bearing on this!

I spotted a tray full of the Treneague variety which doesn’t flower and is reckoned to be the best for this and, using guestimates of sizes, reckoning on getting about 4 of 5 sprigs from each pot, I bought the tray of 18 plants. I spaced them as described at around 5″-6″ spacing and it was just about right for the small area in front of the bench. I’m not sure how long they will take to fill out but I’ll wait.

Allium is not lost

Garlic Plait

After my worries with the garlic I am very pleased with the results of my first attempt to plait them. I tried following the directions given from the Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight but could not grasp it until I found a pictorial sequence froman American farm site Bloomingfieldsfarms and realised that you just keep three strands and do centre – right - left repeatedly.

Shown are twenty five Solent Wight garlic. I planted thirty cloves but some were eaten, some split and some rotted . The largest are about 3cms diameter. Weighs in at 635grams.

I suspect I may plant one or two of the other varieties but in general I don’t think I gained much from the other thirty odd bulbs. Early Purple, Chesnok Wight, Albigensian Wight, Iberian Wight and Lautrec. The Early just did not seem to work at all but the others provided acceptable garlic.

We haven’t investigated how they differ in flavour yet.

The Onions

 Two for the price of one today. I decided not to risk losing more of the onions to rot or any other so here are 100 of my finest Red Baron, White Prince and New Fen Globe drying in the brief sun. I must try to devise a better rack for drying them.

Overall I ended up with 86 New Fen Globe, 77 Red Baron and 45 White Prince a total of 208 out of about 300 planted. Next year I will definitely not put them so close together as the whites were particularly badly hit by rust and rot.

My First Cucumber

First Cucumber

My first cucumber poked his head out on Wednesday this week. Just two inches long but ready to go. Since then I have noticed a couple more and the squashes starting to fill out. I’m tying them up to the wigwams and they are about 2 ft high so far.

I think it must be down to the warmer week we have just had.