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.

Late autumn update

Not having written anything since late September pretty much sums up the amount of time I've spent at the allotment in recent weeks. With a continuing busy work schedule my free time for tidying the plot has been scarce to say the least. That said, I've been enough times over the past month or so to gather in the last of this year's fruits and summer vegetables.

Amazingly, the cougettes continued producing right up to the end of October and eventually it was me who curtailed their existence to clear some room. In previous years the first chilly nights of September had knocked them back but these were obviously made of much tougher stuff. The pumpkins (six from one plant) and the butternut squash (three from one) were picked before any frost could damage them and they have ripened nicely in our front room. After the fun of Halloween there are still a couple left for winter soups.

The sweetcorn was a great success and the last few cobs have now been frozen for use over the winter. I thought about leaving the plants in the ground over the winter but in the end they were uprooted and burnt on the allotment bonfire this weekend. I'll definitely grow the same variety again because they managed to ripen even in this poor excuse for a summer.

The final main crop of this year was the bramley apples. The old tree did us proud and we now have about two sackfuls awaiting treatment. I've given a fair few away but there are still more on the tree so some element of mass processing will be required. Spicey apple chutney will make stocking fillers for Christmas and, if I can get hold of a decent fruit press, I have my mind on a gallon or two of cider!

A quick visit this afternoon in the the drizzle and murk confirmed that the over-wintering veggies are doing well and will ride out the cold and damp until spring. I expect a good crop of purple sprouting broccoli, some fine spring cabbages, and a harvest of leeks throughout the winter months. I also checked the parsnips and was pleased to find long, clean tapering roots that were easy to lift thanks to the work I've put into the soil over the past few years. This year I started them off in grow tubes and planted them out individually once they'd germinated and got a good set of leaves. On the evidence so far it worked a treat and I'll do the same next year.

Once the bramley sheds its leaves it is in for a haircut as it has grown far too large and is also now shading some of the other fruit bushes. I have a number of winter tasks to keep me busy, such as some more raised beds and a new path, so there should be something to report on for the next few months. Thoughts also turn to next year and I have a selection of seed catalogues to peruse. After watching a rerun of the Victorian Kitchen Garden recently I'm keen to try some old vegetable varieties and see how I do with them. I'm also going to turn my hand to giant veg and have bought some mammoth onion seed to try. Apparently it should be sown on Boxing Day to maximise the growing season - that definitely beats cold turkey butties and an old Bond film!

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

After a particularly poor summer, it's nice to be treated to a bit of sunshine and warmth like we've had for the past few days. Warm and settled weather is quite common at this time of year but after the endless cloudy, damp days of August an Indian summer seemed an impossibility.

It's a really nice time to be out pottering and harvesting at the allotment, particularly as the mellow sunlight of September is less harsh and bright than that of June or July but possesses enough warmth to make you feel like it's still summer. The dewy mornings, the subtle change in colour of the leaves, and the squirrels busily burying nuts everywhere, are an indication that summer is indeed on the wane, but whilst it stays dry and fine I'll gladly take every opportunity to get down to the plot and make hay whilst the sun shines.

This late spell of warmth has seen the courgettes continue flowering and fruiting and there are still a number of embryo fruits to form and swell if the evenings remain on the warm side. The pumpkins are now more orange than green, the sun helping to ripen and harden their skins for winter storage. The warmth has also helped the sweetcorn to ripen perfectly and we are now enjoying large, well filled cobs as and when we feel like a treat - boiled, smeared with butter and a twist of black pepper they are divine!

In readiness for winter, most of the beetroot has been harvested and will be boiled and pickled as soon as I can find the time, ditto some of the red cabbage that will go perfectly with winter stews. There is also a fine crop of borlotti beans, the speckled red pods dangling from the plants in readiness for picking and creating some hearty, warming soups. We will use most of them fresh from the pod, although some will be dried and stored for use in the coming months.

Last week I put in a few blocks of spring cabbage to plug a few gaps and deposited several long scaffold planks down at the plot in anticipation of some winter graft. I didn't get round to completing every raised bed this year so some free planks will finish the job nicely. They are 4m long and 20cm deep so will create perfect raised beds to be filled with the mushroom compost I'll soon be ordering. There'll be plenty of jobs to keep me occupied over the coming months.