It's Chriiiistmaaaaas!

It's been two months since my last post, namely because not much has happened that's been worthy of mention. I've been to the allotment on the odd occasion to pick a few bits and to tidy up plants as they've died back, but other than that there's been nothing to report. However, after a long and mild autumn, winter proper has arrived with a bang just in time for the festive period and I've been to the plot over the past few days to pick some veg for today's feast and to take some pictures of the pre-Christmas snow. Here's how it looked a couple of days ago.

The view from my fruit bed back across the plot


View to the shed through the cordon apples and pears

The really cold weather set in on Thursday 17th December and since then the temperature has barely risen above freezing. It is suggested that parsnips taste better after a bit of frost but I was worried they would be frozen solid in the ground! However, after some tough digging, I managed to extract plenty of good sized roots after breaking through the frozen top layer of soil. I've also managed to produce sprouts, carrots, swede, scorzonera, cauliflower and leeks for the next few days of non-stop eating, not to mention the king edwards and butternut squash stored in the garage, so I'm well pleased that all the veg for my Christmas dinner will be home grown!

On a walk up to the plot this week I stopped by at the local Wilkos store for some bird feeders and various fat-based food. There is a wide range of birdlife at the allotment, with tits, blackbirds and robins all common visitors, together with the odd thrush and sometimes even a sparrowhawk. With the cold and frosty weather they've needed a bit of help recently so I placed feeders in the big old bramley apple tree and within only a few minutes they were visited by a bluetit. The robin prefers its food at ground level so I scattered a fatball on the ground and hoped for the best that the local cats wouldn't make an appearance... I'm hoping this festive kindness on my part will be returned in the summer when the birds make a large dent in the aphid and caterpillar population!

With all the recent cold weather and long, dark nights it's easy to forget that thoughts will soon turn to spring and the growing season ahead. The winter solstice has passed and, although imperceptible at first, the days will be getting longer from now until 21st June! Admittedly I won't be doing much digging at the plot any time soon, but on Boxing Day I'll be sowing the first batch of Kelsae onion seed indoors in anticipation of a large crop in the summer. I'll also be placing my seed order in early January and visiting a potato day at the end of the month to buy the seed potatoes for next year's crop. Nothing stands still for long at the plot, and although I'm enjoying the lack of urgency that comes with one of the coldest periods of weather we've had for quite some time, I'll no doubt soon be itching for longer days, slightly warmer weather, getting out there and 'doing something' and looking for signs of the first green shoots of spring.

Have a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and a successful growing season in 2010!

Autumn is here!

The amount of leaf sweeping I've been doing over the past couple of weeks confirms to me that autumn is well and truly here. After a slow start, the trees are now shedding their leaves in profusion and have given a pretty decent show of colour to boot. It hasn't been particularly cold yet and the couple of predicted frosty nights a fortnight or so back didn't really materialise here in Nottingham - the lowest temperature I recorded was 4.8C, which was chilly enough to see the last of my cucumber plants on its way but not what I would consider unduly cold for mid October.

Down at the plot its clear to see that preparations are in order for the forthcoming winter slumber. Many plotholders had their summer crops cleared weeks ago and have dug their ground ready for it to be broken down by winter frost. I'm never that keen to start clearing too early, namely because if the weather stays mild it's possible to continue cropping far longer than might seem likely. For example, I picked my last Burpless Tasty Green cucumber during the first full week of October, the chilli plants are still in flower and going strong, a few tomatoes are still ripening at home and I've helped myself to a few portions of late runner beans. A visit yesterday, however, signalled that it was time to start clearing and the pictures below show how the plot looked as of Friday 23rd October.





It's not all doom and gloom though. I've been really pleased with how my planning has provided a plentiful supply of crops for late autumn and winter use. I've started picking the first of my parsnips, swede, celeriac and scorzonera more out of curiosity than need, and the results are exciting. The parsnips in particular are long, thin and tapering (with the odd stumpy one thrown in for good measure!) and there'll be plenty of them after most of the double row I sowed germinated first time. Here's a picture of some parsnips and scorzonera from yesterday - for scale the 'perfect' parsnip root is about 40cms long.



I also have some crops growing that will stand the cold and provide a crop early next year. The brassicas I've previously shown have really grown on well in the mild weather and I may yet get to pick some sprouts for Christmas dinner. The caulis and spring cabbage are also progressing nicely and should provide some goodness through the lean times of late winter and early spring. My white sprouting broccoli is also strong and healthy and I'm looking forward to these helping to fill the 'hungry gap' next year. This is how the plants looked yesterday, the ruby chard in the foreground and the white sprouting broccoli protected from pigeons by their cage.



Allotmenteers are always thinking ahead and as one season progresses we're always mindful about those to come. Taking advantage of the still warm soil I've planted my overwintering Japanese onion sets (Senshyu Yellow) and shallots (Jermor) and also some dwarf 'The Sutton' broad beans. I've never before tried to overwinter broad beans on the plot so it will be interesting to see how they fare. I've tried to time the sowing right so that they'll germinate and become sturdy little plants to cope with winter weather without becoming too big and floppy so that they aren't able to stand the cold and wet. Only time will tell...

I've also ordered a few extra fruit trees and bushes that will be delivered bare root at the end of November/ early December. I have a maiden Denniston's Superb plum to replace the Marjorie's Seedling that died, a red and white currant, and two M9 apple rootstocks that will become my first foray into grafting next year. There are some highly productive trees on the site so I'm hoping to be able to blag a couple of cuttings and see whether I can propagate my own trees - how exciting!

Keep watching for future updates, when I'll review how things went this year and what I'll be growing next year. I have the seed catalogues in front of me so I'll sit down one evening with a nice bottle or two of beer and plan my attack for 2010. Until then, enjoy the rest of the autumn and the Halloween and Bonfire Night festivities if you're doing anything to celebrate them.

Reaping the harvest

There hasn't been that much of excitement to report over the past month or so, with little activity taking place at the plot other than picking fruit and veg! We're finally enjoying an extended period of dry, sunny and relatively warm weather for the time of year. This has prolonged the harvest of summer crops such as beans, courgettes, luscious sweetcorn and some monster cucumbers and has helped ripen and sweeten the pears, plums and apples that have been produced in profusion this year. Here's a few photos to show the harvest of recent weeks.

A belated photo of the apricots before picking in late July/ early August.

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"Sow early for a harvest this year..." said the seed packet. Sown in March, here's the evidence that confirms the statement. The first of my artichokes, picked and eaten a fortnight ago, boiled and then dipped in an oil and balsamic dressing.

Atlantic Giant pumpkin - one of three - up against my Pear 'Beth'. It's currently about beach ball size!

Winter brassicas in their 'Heath Robinson' pigeon and butterfly proof home. Rustic but effective!

Beautiful pods of Borlotto 'Lingua di Fuoco'.

Scorzonera in flower.

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A sea of nasturtiums across the plot!

Blight strikes again

It appears my optimism of earlier posts was premature. Visits to the plot over recent days have shown again the damage that blight can do to both potato and tomato crops in a relatively short period of time.

I first noticed a few blight spots on my maincrop King Edward potatoes last week, so started removing infected leaves in an attempt to delay its effects. I suppose it helped to keep the plants growing for as long as possible but today I decided to cut my losses by removing all the top growth of the plants after the majority of the foliage became infected. I'll leave the tubers in the ground for a fortnight or so for the skins to harden and for the blight spores to disappear and then lift the crop about a month sooner than I'd hoped. Only time will tell whether the potatoes have had enough time to bulk up and provide a worthwhile crop. As for the haulms I've removed, they'll be burned as soon as I get the chance.

Unfortunately my tomato crops in the ploytunnel and outside have also been affected, with far swifter and more devastating results. Tomato blight often appears after the potatoes have been affected but decimates the plants in only a few days rather than over a longer time period. I'm particularly annoyed about the polytunnel crop as one of the main reasons for buying it was to protect my tomatoes after the failure of outdoor plants in recent years, but all to no avail. Again the plants have been stripped of diseased foliage and I've salvaged what I could of the green tomatoes. Together with the tomatillos and a few courgettes I'll make a good batch of chutney, but it's not quite the same as enjoying fresh, ripe tomatoes for the next couple of months.

Blight is now an annual occurence on our site, usually arriving around the beginning of August. Of course it is triggered by the wet and humid conditions that have prevailed in recent summers, but I also feel that, collectively, plot holders don't do enough to mitigate the effects by taking early and decisive action when it does appear. A few on our site spray their crops with Dithane but the majority garden organically and do not spray, me included. Unfortunately the term 'organic' appears to be synonymous with 'do nothing', which couldn't be further from what is actually required to obtain good crops of organic vegetables and fruit.

Soils need to be nurtured and improved annually and plants must be grown healthily to combat the various pests and diseases that would otherwise be tackled with chemical sprays. It is also vital that action be taken to address fungal infections, such as blight, that can devastate not only your own but everyone else's crops in so little time. If action is taken early with blight, such as the removal and destruction of all infected leaves on a regular basis, the plants can be maintained for long enough to at least get a half decent harvest. But if one plot is left untouched, the blight is spread around the site more quickly than might otherwise be the case and any efforts you take end up being futile.

I'm sure there is a lot of confusion about what blight actually is, its effects and how to counter them, so I'll be putting together as comprehensive a guide as possible for next year and circulate it with the quarterly newletter I produce for the site. Hopefully plot holders will then know what to look for and, more importantly, the action they can take, whether chemical or organic, to address the problem.

High summer?

This is the third very wet July in a row now, and possibly forming something of a trend based on the jetstream flowing across the country in high summer as opposed to well north of the British Isles. It's a long, long time, July 2006 or maybe the unseasonably warm April 2007, since I was worried about water shortages and my waterbutts have remained full throughout the summer thus far. Even if things dry up now I think the ground is so well charged with water that there will be no danger of drought affecting my plants. Although the rain is welcome, I would appreciate some settled weather now to help ripen the outdoor tomatoes and other fruits that rely on sunshine and warmth to attain their full depth of flavour

After yet more copius rainfall this week, with over an inch on Wednesday and a similar amount during Saturday's deluge, the sun finally shone on Sunday for a trip to the plot. As my sister was visiting for the weekend it was a chance to show off the allotment in its prime and send her back to Harrogate with a bag of fresh veg. I was also able to demonstrate the delights of a freshly picked apricot - the 4th and final ripe fruit I'd been saving in anticipation of a family visit. It was/ they were all delicious!

Everything appears to be flourishing thanks to all the rain, with the beds looking full and lush and no signs (yet, touch wood) of any blight, mildew or general ill health amongst the plants. We managed to pick some huge beetroot, several large courgettes, a punnet of raspberries and blackberries and about half a bag full of beans. There are also some decent squashes forming now, with the first of the butternuts also setting fruit.

Here's a few pictures to show how things have progressed since mid July.

Looking across the plot to the polytunnel - rows of celeriac, beetroot, scorzonera, carrots, parsnips and potatoes...

Pumpkin patch and a close up of my biggest Potimarron squashes

Baby butternut squash - sadly damaged

Boltardy and Burpee's Golden beetroot washed and ready for the pot!

Highly productive tomatillos

Painted Ladies in bloom and a rare glimpse of some blue sky

Out and about

Although I've been to the plot several times each week this month, there's not that much to update in terms of new activity. After the hard work of spring, the plot is now in its mid summer lull, with most of my time there spent picking crops, such as runner beans and courgettes, and weeding in between the rows.

I've picked more beans already this season than the whole of last year and there's plenty more to come, with the Painted Lady runner beans both prolific and pretty with their red and white flowers. The Borlotti beans are slower this year but I noticed yesterday that the first flowers are forming. I've also picked some fantastic Boltardy and Burpee's Golden beetroot - taking little and often I've been able to thin the rows to allow others to grow larger and have managed the crop so that I won't be left with a massive glut for pickle in the autumn.

The last of the summer raspberries are still ripening and they'll soon be replaced by the first of the autumn crop. Having moved and thinned the raspberry canes in February to create room for my cordon apple and pear trees, this year's harvest of summer raspberries has been a pleasant bonus and there are now plenty of sturdy new shoots forming to carry next year's crop. Seemingly earlier every year, there is now also a steady supply of ripening blackberries, although the major harvest should come in August when I hope to make some type of jam or preserve from them.

Given the lack of action at the moment, I've used the last couple of weekends to get out and about and visit some gardens. A trip to Garden Organic, in Ryton near Coventry, was a fantastic afternoon's stroll around formal and informal vegetable, fruit and ornamental organic gardens. I've taken plenty away from this visit, such as companion planting and techniques to get the best out of organic growing systems and it was also pleasing to see that many of the techniques I use were exemplified as good practice. One thing I'll definitely be trying is green manure on fallow beds, helping to lock in nutrients and providing some back to the soil when they are worked in.

The other trip was a day at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. The house and grounds were impressive but I was most interested in their large kitchen garden. Again it was pleasing to see that many of the techniques and growing styles were similar to my allotment, although of course on a much grander scale. They were growing a wide range of crops, some in orderly rows and others in smaller, mixed bed systems - similar to my experiment of old and new growing techinques this year. It was disappointing not to be able to enter the vine houses but a view through the glass revealed some very impressive bunches indeed - one to consider for next year maybe..!

A time of plenty...

The plot has been left a bit to its own devices recently, with only fleeting visits to pick and to keep on top of weeding. It's amazing how everything has responded to the warm weather of late, none more so that the plethora of weeds which tries to engulf everything as soon as my back is turned. I'm keeping on top of the pernicious perennial weeds as soon as they appear, such as the dreaded bindweed, but some of the annual weeds manage to get a foothold until they are either hoed off on a dry day or pulled when it's rained. The recent monsoon has thoroughly soaked the soil and so such weeding is almost a pleasure!

It's not just the weeds that have taken off recently though. Below there are a few pictures I took around the plot on Sunday 5th July and you'll see the extent to which things have grown since I last took some pictures in mid June. I am eagerly anticipating the first of my Painted Lady runner beans, the first of the courgettes have been picked and fried, the broad beans are groaning under the weight of pods and the salad potatoes have provided enough to feed a small army. Add to that a regular supply of raspberries, some tayberries kindly offered from my neighbour's plot, huge (well, I think so anyway!) gooseberries and a helping of red and blackcurrants, it really is a time of plenty - and long may it continue.

Sweetcorn reaching for the sky!

Painted Lady runner beans

Atlantic Giant (baby) pumpkins

The Kelsea giant showbench onions

Rampant tomatillos with the globe artichoke in the foreground

Inside the polytunnel jungle - tomatoes, chillies, melons and sweet potatoes

Plenty of potatoes - Pentland Javelin and Charlotte

Mid June update

Another warm and sunny weekend here in Nottingham, so more time was spent lazing in my back garden than down at the plot. I headed there once it had cooled down a bit late on Sunday afternoon, namely to dig some more potatoes for tea but also to plant my Cobnut squash. As is always the way I found several other jobs to do and also took a few pictures to gauge progress.

Here is the inside of the poly tunnel, with the first flower trusses formed on the larger cherry tomatoes and chillies.

The next picture is a closer shot of my two melon plants. The one to the left I bought from a nursery, the one to the right I have nurtured from seed and is currently progressing well.

The final picture is across the plot from the other side to the poly tunnel, showing how things are progressing.

I have a heavy work schedule for the next couple of weeks so time at the plot will be limited. It was pleasing to see on Sunday that the first raspberries were ripening, the gooseberries were swelling nicely, and many crops seemed to be progressing towards at least a small harvest in the not too distant future. Given some rain and sunshine I hope to report back towards the very end of June with positive news and a wealth of fresh fruit and vegetables for the table.

First potatoes of the year!

I finished work slightly early today so I nipped to the plot for a spot of weeding and tidying. I also thought it was an opportune moment to see how the potato crop was progressing. It's 11 weeks since they were planted, and the conventional wisdom is that the first earlies should be ready for lifting from 12 weeks onwards. At my plot the Charlottes, second earlies, have been in flower for a week or so now, with the Pentland Javelin showing no signs of flowers just yet. As flowering is also viewed as a sign that potatoes are nearing readiness, I thought I'd stick the fork into the row of Charlottes and see what I found. Up came a dozen or so small to medium sized potatoes, followed by a similar amount from the next plant. Small, and perfectly formed, they were fantastic lightly steamed with flat leaf parsley and melted butter for tea!

Judging by what came out of the ground the crop still has a week or two to go before there are a large number of decent sized spuds, but this first rummage is always the most exciting of the year. I'm also aiming to take 'little and often' this year, as opposed to lifting them all at the same time and wondering what an earth to do with kilos of potatoes, so I'm happy to sacrifice a couple of plants in the name of early gratification for my stomach!!!

Some welcome rain

After the heat of last weekend and early this week it's been a steady decline temperature wise over the past few days, culminating in two decidely chilly weekend days more reminiscent of October that early June. Although it's meant time at the plot has been severely limited this weekend, and the tomatoes and other tender crops will no doubt sulk, the copious amounts of rain that have fallen over the past 48 hours were desperately needed and will have done the plot a world of good.

It always seems strange to friends of mine when I look to the skies and hope for rain, but that's what happens when you become a gardener and allotment holder. The ground has been needing a thorough soaking for a few weeks now and there's plenty of time to wish for long, hot summer days. The problem in the past two years has been too much rain when we needed sunshine and warmth to ripen fruits, so I'll gladly take a washout weekend in early June in exchange for a dry, warm July and August...

On Saturday afternoon the clouds parted enough for me to get out for a couple of hours. The soil was perfect for weeding so I spent some time removing a range of annual weeds that were obscuring the neat rows of parsnips, carrots, scorzonera and beetroot. This accomplished, I also managed to plant some leeks - a new variety to me called Pancho. In the past I've always grown Musselburgh but this year I'm trying two different varieties. Pancho should put on some good fast growth and provide slender leeks from late summer onwards. For overwintering I've chosen a variety called Toledo, which will be planted after the early potatoes are lifted and will sit in the ground all winter to be taken when required.

Having played around with my water butts last weekend, in anticipation of some rain, I now have three of them linked together and being fed by guttering on each side of the shed roof. By the end of Saturday the first butt was full and today's rain should have gone some way to filling the next. I doubt I'll manage to get all three full this summer but it should provide me with enough water for those plants that need extra help in the coming months. The winter rains should them fill all three and mean I'll be self-sufficient in water, which is an important consideration on a site with no access to water whatsoever.

I was hoping to get the remaining pumpkins and squashes in this weekend but the cold and damp means they'll stay in the safety of my greenhouse for another week yet. Once they're in, all the first round of crops will have been planted and the next step will be to start harvesting the early potatoes and thinking about the autumn and winter crops that are going to replace them.

A taste of summer...

Well for a Bank Holiday weekend the weather has really played ball. Admittedly it wasn't 'Hotter than Spain' here in Nottingham, as some of the press suggested earlier in the week, but for the most part the sun shone warmly and we're now being treated to some showery rain. Perfect growing weather!

Down at the allotment things are progressing nicely. The warmer weather and the rain we had during the week have really pushed the plants forward and the site has now taken on its 'more green than brown' look - a beautiful view to greet you when entering the site through the top gates.

On my plot I've spent a good few hours weeding, planting and muck spreading in the past couple of days. Everything is now poised and ready for the tender summer crops to be released from their pots into the warm soil of my raised beds.

The first of such plants went in on Sunday - the various climbing beans. Many on the site had put them in several weeks ago, with many suffering and eventually giving up the ghost in the chilly evening breeze. However, temperatures of 20C and some rapidly growing beans overspilling their root trainers meant they were the first tender crop for the plot. The picture below shows how they currently look, and after only a couple of hours in their new home they were reaching for the sky and twining round their supports.

I've also finished planting the polytunnel now, with 14 tomato plants and 10 chillies/ peppers located snugly inside. The one remaining plant is the melon, to be grown up the trellis at the back, but which is still only at 2nd true leaf stage and about 2-3 weeks away from being ready. Here's how it looked yesterday.

The first earlies, broad beans and onions from seed are progressing well, especially after I weeeded the bed by hand today and removed the competing thistles and chickweed. The picture below shows the bed, which has overwintering onions at one end, the Kelsae giant onions from seed in the middle, and the broad beans at the other end. The second photo shows the rows of potatoes with the cordon apples and pears behind.

The final shot from this weekend is one of which I'm extremely proud, not for its photographic quality but more for what it shows. I've managed to nurture 5 apricot fruits to about walnut size so far and, with a bit of luck, I'll be tasting a home-grown, allotment ripened fruit some time in July.

Next week the courgettes, pumpkins and sweetcorn go in and then it's time to sit back and wait for the harvest!

Mid-May quick update

Not a great deal to report at the moment due to a number of factors limiting my time at the plot in recent days. The weather curtailed the bulk of the weekend's potential activity, although it has to be said the rain has been most welcome and I, for one, am not complaining!

The other main reason for lack of activity is that all my hardy veggies are now in the ground but I feel it's still a few weeks too early for the tender crops to be going outside, so there's not an awful lot to do. Most of my squashes, cucumbers, beans and sweetcorn are progressing nicely but they're still a fortnight or so away from being planted out.

I did visit the plot this afternoon, dodging steady drizzle and heavy showers, to make a start at planting the ploytunnel and the celeriac. It was quite pleasant in the polytunnel listening to the rain beat down on the plastic cover, whilst inside all was snug and relatively warm. The melons and chillies are nowhere near ready yet but a few of my early tomatoes have progressed well and are now in and ready to reach for the sky. The strongest plants are from the Red Cherry seeds I received free from Gardeners' World magazine, follwed by the beefsteak 'Faworyt'. I planted 8 plants of mixed varieties in total, with space for a further 6.

Outside, I have created a double staggered row to accommodate the 20 or so celeriac seedlings and also found space for my globe artichoke. This should hopefully establish well this year, come through the winter relatively unscathed, and start to produce for us next year. Having never cooked and eaten an artichoke it will hopefully be worth the wait...

The final, possibly controversial, piece of news is that I'm thinking of digging out the asparagus and using the space for squashes. I love the idea of fresh asparagus and when we do pick some it is really tasty. The problem is that from 10 crowns we get enough for about two or three small portions are year and the production is staggered so that some spears have gone over by the time others are ready. Given that the land is taken up 12 months of the year for a crop of no real note, the space is being somewhat wasted. I might consider lifting and relocating some of the crowns, but I think the days of a dedicated asparagus bed might be numbered.

Some more seeds sown

Having finished work a bit earlier than expected and after some decent rainfall had softened the ground, I thought it was a good opportunity to sow some seeds direct in the ground. I've done a fair bit of digging in preparation recently so I simply ran the hoe through the surface to create a nice fine tilth perfect for sowing seeds.

I am yet to plant anything in my raised beds so I decided a few rows in the traditional side of the plot would be best. Spacing the rows 30-40cms apart and sowing thinly in shallow drills, I have now sown Carrot 'Autumn King', Beetroot 'Boltardy' and 'Burpee's Golden', Scorzonera and Swede 'Brora'.

One of the things that was noticeable when I covered the seeds was how much the soil had warmed up from only a few weeks ago, when it was cold to the touch. As gardeners we are always looking to steal a march on the seasons by planting early but I sometimes wonder whether it's worth the effort. The seeds sit in cold, damp soil and their later-sown counterparts nearly always catch up. Maybe it's time to relax a bit more and accept that, outside at least, there's no need to rush things.

With the warmth and moisture now available I'm expecting rapid germination, particularly of the beetroot. Having never before grown Scorzonera I'm not sure what to expect - the seed was certainly interesting!

In other news, the first sweetcorn seedlings have popped their heads through the compost in their root trainers and are now reaching towards the light. There's no action thus far from any of the cucurbits but I expect this will change in the next couple of days. At the plot the Pentland Javelin potatoes are showing through and the first of the asparagus spears have appeared.

Sunday Update

It was another fine day today so I managed some time at the plot to fit the plastic cover to the polytunnel. After a bit of jiggling to stretch it over the framework it seems to be quite snug, pinned to the ground with metal pegs and some wooden batons for extra stability. I've decided to plant directly into the ground, albeit through some black weedproof membrane, mainly to take advantage of the extra water/ dampness that will percolate through the ground. I'm hoping the plants' roots will seek out this water, supplemented by a crude irrigation system I'll rig up to a waterbutt, meaning fewer visits to the tunnel will be required and I can rest easy that my plants won't wither and die. Before the membrane goes down I need to improve the soil as it's an area only recently reclaimed from the bindweed and couch grass which hasn't been cultivated before. A mixture of composted manure, organic soil improver and chicken poo pellets should do the trick.

Here's a couple of pictures showing the almost ready tunnel.

Seed sowing frenzy!

After the balmy (or should that be barmy?) weather of the past few days, with temperatures and sunshine well above average for the time of year, I thought it was time to get a wriggle on and sow some of my tender crops. The tomatoes and chillies have been enjoying the sunshine and warmth of my mini greenhouse and so it's time they had company. Talking of which, the mini greenhouse has been a real bonus to me this year, with seeds and small plants having room to shelter and grow without me incurring the wrath of my wife by using virtually every window sill and spare surface area for my seedlings. Here's how it looked a few days ago.

So on to the seeds. I pricked out and potted on about 25 celeriac seedlings and finished off the remaining small pots in the tray with a couple of rows of summer red cabbage 'Kalibos'. In larger pots I have now sown, in no particular order: Atlantic Giant pumpkin, Cobnut squash, Potimarron squash, Jaspee de Vendee squash, Hearts of Gold melon, Burpless Tasty Green cucumber and One Ball and Kojac courgettes.

In root trainers I have sown 32 x Honey Bantam F1 sweetcorn seeds and in another tray of root trainers 8 x Painted Lady runnerbeans, 8 x Cobra climbing French beans, 8 x Purple Teepee dwarf French beans and 8 x Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco (Borlotti beans). Here's hoping for a full and speedy germination and no sharp cold snaps between now and the end of May.

The greenhouse and its mini plastic companion will soon be stuffed full. With space at a premium it will be handy to have the polytunnel available to relocate some of my larger plants, such as the tomatoes, which have now been hardening off for a week or so. The framework is up and I have the base ready to anchor it down. A dry and calm day tomorrow should see me finish off the outer polythene sheeting and weed mebrane inside and it will then be ready for action. I'm still undecided as to whether large containers/ growbags or direct into the ground is the way forward - need to be decisive and quickly!

On a final note, I'm trying sweet potatoes for the first time this year. They are a bit of a gamble in our short, cool summers but some plastic protection for warmth and an early start might give them chance to produce a fair crop. Unlike normal potatoes, which are planted direct into the ground, sweet potatoes are grown in this country by producing 'slips'. These are shoots that grow from a mature tuber once is is placed in water. They are then potted on at about 7-10cms in length with a view to establishing a good sized plant to go out once all risk of frost has passed. The slips can be bought from online seed suppliers but they cost a fortune, so I've been growing my own. Here's a picture of the sweet potato and its fledgling slips taken a week or so ago, the largest of which has now been potted on and resides on our kitched windowsill.

There are about 4 or 5 more to come, although at this time they're still a bit small. It will be interesting to see how things progress and whether I can manage a worthwhile crop later in the year.

Easter weekend update

Well the weather finally decided to play ball today after three days of grey dampness. The rain was needed but it's a shame it had to fall over a bank holiday weekend which offered plenty of opportunities to get down to the plot. Still, after a grey start the sun began to shine late this morning so it was off to the allotment with my remaining seed potatoes, onion seedlings and fledgling broad beans.

Although there is still plenty of bare earth around the site is starting to green up now and on a suuny spring day it's a wonderful place to be. I therefore spent a pleasant hour of digging and turning soil before getting down to the real job at hand - planting!

The King Edward potatoes had been chitting in my attic for a long time now and had developed nice stubby chits just waiting to burst forth. There is some debate as to whether it's actually worth chitting maincrop spuds but I always have done and there doesn't seem to be any harm in continuing in this way. I managed two rows spaced about 60 cms apart and they went in with a handful of chicken manure pellets to give the new shoots a boost when they get going. In all I've managed six rows of potatoes so I anticipate a good crop and a steady supply from late June onwards.

The onion seedlings went in the bed next to my over wintering onions. That way I can keep an eye on them as they develop and compare the size of bulbs to those I planted in late September. The idea is to start harvesting the over wintered crop from about June, which should be finished when the Kelsae onions are ready in late August. There was space at the end of the bed so this is where the broad beans (The Sutton) now reside. I started them off in root trainers about a month ago and they have grown into sturdy little plants with strong roots. Having never before used root trainers but having read the blurb, they do seem to produce a healthy root system so I'll be using them for my other beans and sweetcorn later in the year.

The final job for today was to get the first of my 'direct sown' crops into the ground - Parsnip 'Cobham Improved Marrow'. The seed packets always say sow from February but I usually like to hang fire to make sure the soil has warmed sufficiently to speed up germination, which can be notoriously slow with parnsips. A double row 30cms apart should be sufficient for our needs this coming autumn and winter. During my next visit I also hope to get some Autumn King carrots and my beetroot (Boltardy and Burpee's Golden) in, again sown direct, followed in a couple of weeks by my first attempt at swedes.

I'm starting to get itchy fingers now in terms of sowing the tender crops, such as courgettes, squashes and runner beans, but I know it's still too early so will hang fire until at least the end of the month. I like my plants to be established before they are left to fend for themselves on the plot, so they'll have a month, or thereabouts, to germinate and grow in the relative comfort of my house or greenhouse, before being hardened off and planted out at some time after the late May bank holiday. Still plenty to do between now and then!

BST begins

Well the clocks went forward last night and the new dawn heralded a relatively warm and sunny early spring day for the arrival of British Summer Time. Having got most of the household chores out of the way on Saturday, I had a few spare hours to maintain progress at the plot.

I've managed spend quality time at the plot over the past couple of weeks. On Tuesday the van was in for its service and MOT so, with a day off work, I made light of some bindweed and couch grass and managed to plant the first early spuds - Pentland Javelin. I also began to turn the soil in preparation for future crops, with a robin in close attendance picking off the odd worm that I brought to the surface.

Today was another settled day and the soil is now dry at the surface and easy to break into a fine tilth. Having turned another few feet of soil and prepared the ground I planted a couple of rows of my second earlies - Charlottes. They are in nice and deep and earthed up with a good mound of soil so I'm hoping that any major late frosts will be finished by the time they poke their tender shoots above ground. If not I'll nip down with some fleece or simply earth them up some more.

Looking at last year's diary I planted all my potatoes on 13th April. I think it was more lack of preparation and time than cold weather that resulted in the later planting but this year I'm hoping for an earlier crop. The maincrop - King Edward - can wait a couple of weeks yet and they'll probably go in around the Easter weekend.

In the greenhouse I've been pollinating the blossom of my apricot tree to help set some fruit. The doors and vents have been closed and no insects have been sighted so I'm hoping this manual intervention will prove fruitful later in the year.

Apricot Blossom

The outdoor trees dotted around my plot - plum, greengage, various apples and pears - are still some way from blossoming but the buds have swollen and will soon be breaking given some more mild weather, so it won't be long before I'll be able to assess the potential crop.

On a final note, it was the allotment AGM on Friday and I was voted in as the new Chairman! It will certainly be an interesting year as I get to grips with my new role.

Late winter/ early spring..?

I'm never sure whether early March heralds the start of spring or winter's last stand. After a few weeks of relatively benign, dull and mild weather it appears to be turning colder again for the change of the month. What is noticeable now is the ever increasing amount of daylight we receive. This all bodes well for my seedlings as they will benefit from the extra and more intense light.

I managed to get to the plot a couple of weeks ago and plant the fruit trees. It was pretty hard work tying them all to their supporting wires but the end result is really good. I couldn't take a picture because of the drizzle but next time I'm with camera on a decent day I'll grab a couple of photos.

This Sunday, the first day of March, was lovely here in Nottingham and so I spent a few hours digging the earth and relocating my raspberry canes. With a bit of effort I have reclaimed about 2m of ground from the couch grass and bindweed so have been able to accommodate the fruit trees and my raspberries without losing any further growing space. I also managed to clear the asparagus bed of weeds and gave it a good mulch of well rotted manure so here's hoping for a fine crop in May.

It's nice to see all the buds fattening on the fruit trees and bushes and the apricot, in the shelter of the greenhouse, looks ready to break any day now. I'll keep it in the greenhouse for another month or so yet to protect any blossom, assuming there is some, from late frosts. It will require me to pollinate the blossom by hand with a fine brush, but I can think of worse jobs! The only downside of seeing all this activity is the reminder that I'll have to get a move on if I wish to move any more plants - the Morello cherry struggled in its pot last year so I might have to plant it out in the open and quickly.

At home I'm busy chitting my seed potatoes and have sown the first batch of tender crops. This year I'm growing Pentland Javelin (first early), Charlotte (2nd early) and Kind Edward (maincrop) - old favourites that have produced well for me in the past. They have good strong chits now and I might risk the first earlies pretty soon, under the cover of a plastic cloche, to see how quickly I can be digging and eating new potatoes. The seeds that went in yesterday are my chillies, tomatoes, tomatillos and some morning glory. They are in windowsill propagators and I hope to see some action within about a week.

I hope to be back at the plot this weekend to find a space for my strawberry runners and to start preparing the main beds for seeds. That is if I can shift this miserable head cold that currently sees me sat at the computer sipping lemsip and wearing a snood, courtesy of my mother-in-law, to keep my neck warm! It looks as ridiculous as it sounds!!!

Until the next time...

It's cold out there!

After a short break to La Palma for some sunshine and plant spotting, we got back home to a cold shock with a blanket of snow covering most of the country on Monday. We had a second heavy fall of snow here on Thursday and, although there is a slight thaw, I don't think I'll be doing any gardening for a while. Professionally this is a problem as the few jobs I have at this time of year will start to back up and I can't get out to earn any money. On the plot front it's a real problem as the work I want to do to get things in place for the spring is on hold indefinitely until there is a sustained thaw and the ground becomes workable.

Here's a couple of snaps taken at a wintry-looking plot on Tuesday 3rd February, a day after the first decent snowfall in several years here:

Doing what little I can, I've sown another batch of Kelsae onion seeds just incase the first lot don't pull through. I potted them on a fortnight ago but they are looking a bit leggy and were also subject to an assault by our kitten a couple of days ago as she can now climb and reach places that were previously out of bounds!!! It appears nowhere is safe! I have also sown the first two 'Emerald' artichoke seeds in some spare compost to see if I can steal an early march and maybe get a small crop this year. The packet says 'sow early from Febraury to March for a crop this year' so nothing ventured, nothing gained...

My order of apple and pear trees arrived the day before we left for La Palma and with weather conditions as they currently are I've had no chance to plant them. To keep them (hopefully) safe for a few weeks, I've put them in a large pot left over from an old tree planting job, filled it with old compost and topsoil, and bubble-wrapped the pot to keep out the frost. Being dormant they should pull through fine provided I can keep them damp and away from the worst of the weather. The full list reads as follows: Beauty of Bath, Lord Lambourne, Laxton Superb, Worcester Pearmain, Rev W. Wilkes and Ashemead's Kernel for apples and Beth and Beurre Hardy for pears.

My seed order also arrived a couple of weeks ago so I'm now all set and ready to go as soon as the weather allows. As well as the aforementioned artichoke, this year I'll also be trying for the first time celeriac (Monarch), tomatillo's, swede (Brora), melon (Hearts of Gold), scorzonera, squashes such as 'Jaspee de Vendee' and 'Potimarron' and chillies such as 'Padron' and 'Pinocchio's Nose'. With the polytunnel I'm hoping to be able to grow chillies, melons and tomatoes more successfully than would be possible outside and also use it to extend the season at both ends for early and late crops of salads.

Although I like the snow, I'm now looking for an early start to spring so I can get all my jobs done before work takes over and the plot has to start fending for itself. Let's see what the rest of February brings.

The first post of 2009

After a couple of months away from the blog I thought it was abut time I sat down and wrote a few words. I can't say I've spent that much time at the plot since early November, namely due to the weather conditions and a lack of time, but behind the scenes things are progressing well and there's plenty to update you with.

The first of this year's crops has already been sown - on 2nd January I sowed the first lot of mammoth 'The Kelsae' onions. They went into moist, pre-warmed compost in a seed tray and were then placed where they could be kept constantly warm. After only 7 days the first green shoots were showing and I now have them by a south facing window, surrounded by tin foil, to maximise the little light avaiable at this time of year. I'm not exactly sure whether I'll be able to keep them in the optimum conditions required for giant onions but I'll give it a try and also plan a second sowing in February as a back-up.

Another major project for this year is to create a line of 45 degree cordon apples and pears where the raspberries currently reside. I'm moving some of the raspberry canes to the fruit area of my plot and will use the posts and wires already in place for the trees. There'll be a fair bit of digging and soil improving before the trees go in to ensure they get the best possible start. To save on cost and to allow me to train the trees as I want, I've gone for one-year, or maiden, whips on MM106 rootstocks. I'm not expecting much this year or next but it's a long-term project and I hope to have apples and pears from August through to at least the New Year. I've chosen some old varieties for early, mid season and late crops - apple varieties include: Beauty of Bath, Laxton Superb, Reverend W Wilkes and Worcester Pearmain and pear varieties include Beth and Beurre Hardy.

The final project I have in mind is to move the shed from its current position to an area at the back of the plot I've rescued from nettles and brambles. In its place will go the new poly tunnel I treated myself to this Christmas! I want this up and ready soon as I plan to use the poly tunnel to get my seedlings off to a good start before the outdoor sowings are done later in the year.

In the coming weeks and months I hope to have regular updates on progress. Fingers crossed we get the cold weather out of the way by mid February so that the soil can be prepared and ready for the first early sowings. My seeds have been ordered, some have already arrived, so in a future post I'll give details of what I'll be growing this year. It's potato day on 24th Janaury so I'll hopefully have a new selection of seed potatoes to try this year... Until the next time.