My Allotment

Micro Gardening in the dark

Richard — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:27:21 +0000

Mushrooms

Too cold and damp to do much on the allotment at the moment. Just waiting for the manure.

So instead here is the result of my birthday present mushroom farm. This is after about 10 days in the dark. Looking good.

Three little mushrooms

A close up shows that with patience I should get a few more and with luck we could have some for breakfast by Christmas.

Popular Penguins

Richard — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:18:04 +0000

The Penguin

Just to show it is not all work, I could not resist showing Lianna’s penguin made from vegetables. Four weeks earlier and I think it could have been a worthy contender in the Bathford Flower Show.

This was after a hard morning helping me to harvest and also clear the peas and sweetpeas to leave room to put the strawberry runners. Not sure how many will take but we’ll see.

Strawberry runners

Last of the Cucurbits

Richard — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:06:12 +0000

Crown Prince pumpkins

I decided not compete on size this year and just as well having seen the monsters growing. Instead we chose these blue / green pumpkin called Crown Prince. Only two pumpkins out of three plants so not really sure where I went wrong apart from lack of water.

cucumber

I have also been disappointed with the cucumber crop this year. Not even good enough to think about entering for the show but when eaten it still tastes good. Just not enough and too late. This is one of two reasonable size ones and although there are maybe another half dozen on their way, the salad days are almost over! I planted five plants, two types, Marketmore and Burpless. The Burpless just did not survive and I think next year I will try to grow these closer together for cross pollination. I also suspect that the roots were suffering from the other gourds planted.

Decorative gourds

These are amazing and great value from just five plants. This is still the same 79p packet from Lidl last year and there is enough seed for next year. There are at least another half dozen on the plants including a light green bottle type. The only snag is that when sowing or transplanting I have no idea what I will get until they form the fruit.

Secret Ingredients

Richard — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:10:56 +0000

There must be some secret ingredients here since I have never been able to grow carrots before but my grandaughter Lianna gave me some for my birthday last year and success at last.

Lianna with carrots

She also helped with digging up the Main crop Desiree potatoes around 26Kg in total. Also shown here are the second early Kestrel which I left drying far too long. Out of sight (in the garage) is another full 25kg bag of first earlies Pentland Javelin from some time earlier.

Second and main crop potatoes

As a consolation prize here is the infamous “duck potato” mentioned last time!

Duck Potato

The Master of the Onions

Richard — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:20:51 +0000

Well, thanks to my granddaughter Lianna, I decided I really ought to enter for the show even though the entries had to be in on Wednesday and my sister Rosemary’s funeral was on the Thursday. A regular forced day off on Friday left time to recover from that and Saturday morning saw me rushing around picking and selecting.

Here is the unexpected result – a second prize to go with my first from last year. This year the onions arrived just days after leaving for holiday and so they sat in a jiffy bag by the back door for nearly three weeks gradually rotting. I decided to plant up what I could and managed to lift around 45 New Fen Globe and 55 Red Baron that were reasonable.

The day of the show and I desperately tried to find three matching onions in reasonable condition and this was the result. Next year may be less daunting and I’ll try to do a better job of whipping the necks.

Also unexpected was the third prize for these runner beans – Aintree. They have been erratic but again I managed to find five similar ones to display.

Just to show that everything isn’t always easy, I also entered french beans, courgettes, beetroot, shallots and the longest runner. I was going to enter the cucumber but it was only about 5 inches long and I preferred to let it grow and eat it.

I also was in trouble as I forgot to enter the novelty potato that we dug. A Desiree shaped like a classic rubber duck.

Next year I might try the “4 veg in a seed tray” to show off the others such as garlic and squash that look and taste so good.

High Summer

Richard — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:04:31 +0000

After last years prize winning pumpkin but less than thrilling squash I am pleasantly surprised by the first Festival squash picked on Monday night. About 5 – 6 inches but aesthetically wonderful. Several more on their way but some time off I think. Other cucurbits are coming along but not photogenic yet. (cucumbers, pumpkins and decorative gourds)

My sister is very ill and so this and other family issues leave little time for the allotment at the moment but it is still wonderful to be able to sit and think by the chamomile lawn and lavender bush and keep the stress down. Joan bought an echinacea plant after seeing it on mtp a couple of weeks back but it is in the garden at the moment until I decide exactly where it should go to add to the sense of calm.

It is very reassuring to see that the allotment will produce its bounty even without me attacking the weeds. I just need to remember that I do need to sow or plant first.

Below is a selection of lettuce ( Webbs Wonderful, Lollo Rosso and others), peas (Hurst Green Shaft – not impressed so far), runner beans ( Aintree ), courgettes (Pomodoro and AN Other), beetroot (Chioggia) and carrot thinnings.

The onions will need to be lifted soon as the necks have all gone over. No prizes this year I suspect!

Summer Selection

I also cut back almost all of my tomatoes in the garden yesterday as the blight had got to them. I’ll try to save those few left but interestingly of the four varieties, only the cherry type ( Red Alert) was least affected. The left over plants that I put in the mini greenhouse look more promising now even though they are still in 4″ pots and on a liquid diet.

New Pickings

Richard — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:22:19 +0000

Black Red and White currants

Finally decided that I should pick the currents at the weekend. Not sure about the weight but must be a couple of pounds of blackcurrants.

The Redcurrants were lost at the start of the season. I think the wind got to them or possibly birds right at the beginning. I netted the three bushes quite early and lost very few. I look forward to eating them later.

Eschallot Grise

The shallots have dried out nicely so I trimmed them to about 3 ins and will hang them in the string bag. About 1.5 Kg (189 bulbs) from 12 surviving plants. I lost four to rot and then another before I decided to cut my losses and lift them several weeks ago.

The broad beans plants were all lifted and some left over runner and french beans put in their place as a second crop.

Lollo Rosso and Winter Density lettuces doing well in their nursery between the leeks. Also just sown Webbs Wonderful, Ice King, Mixed Shades and Salad Bowl to give me some later lettuces.

: Overview

Just to show that there are other things going on – a shot from the North East corner looking up and across the allotment.

In the foreground are Cabbages – Savoy Endeavour, Ruby Perfection and Candice.

Runner and French beans – Aintree and Empress

Onions – Red Baron and New Fen Globe,

Potatoes – Desiree

Out of Shot – Parsnips and Celery,

Middle beds from the bottom:

Peas – Hurst green Shaft ( almost ready to pick)

Onions,

Potatoes – Kestrel

Cucumbers – Marketmore and Burpless

Pumpkins - Crown Prince

Decorative gourds ( some of last years still going strong)

Broccoli, Spinach, Swiss Chard

Far beds:

Leeks – Musselburgh

Lettuces – various

Potatoes – Pentland Javelin

Carrots – Early Nantes and Parmex

Beetroot – Chioggia and Wodan,

Sprouts – Berwick and Cromwell

Lettuces

Sweetcorn

At the top is Sweetpeas, Lettuces, Rhubarb, Sunflowers, Courgettes – Gold Rush, Pomodoro and unknown green, Squashes

I can’t remember all the specifics so I’ll update this later!

Home again

Richard — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:31:03 +0000

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

Richard — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:13:41 +0000

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

Richard — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:18:52 +0000

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”