Allotmenteering Can Kill You (After a Super Week)

The hot sunny weather has been incredible again this week, allowing me to complete a variety of things down the plot, from seed sowing, to watering due to the lack of rain. It's been a balancing act keeping the seedlings both in the ground & various trays & pots correctly watered. Moving them in & out of sheds & cold frames so they could benefit from direct sunlight & back in again at the end of the day. Monday saw more Runner Beans sown into pots & trays. The last of my cloches were removed from Lettuce on my main plot but kept handy ready to combat any late frosts, which don't look likely, at the moment.

Plant Collars & Sprays Ready in Main Plot Shed

On Monday 1 row of Beetroot & 1 more row of Lettuce were sown in my 2nd plot. This completed the sowing & planting, except for Sweetcorn & Runner Beans, which are still germinating at present. It's just a case now of keeping any weeds down & watering & feeding when required. Due to the dry warm weather weeds are few & far between for a change. I can now concentrate on "filling up" my main plot at leisure, which is what gardening is all about.

Tuesday (another hot sunny day) was spent maintaining my Howard Rotavator. I had managed to obtain a similar model, minus the engine, for spares. I replaced the worn out tines, replaced the throttle cable & 2 or 3 other bits & pieces were replaced & repaired, no easy task on the grass path alongside my shed, especially when you drop a bolt or washer into the grass!! Good thing I had a magnet in my toolbox. By tea time I had stripped the spare machine down & obtained many useful spares.

Rhubarb Over Half a Butt Tall

Wednesday I decided to re-organize my water butts, which were badly sighted around the shed on my main plot. I emptied a large plastic water tank which was behind my shed, of the various items such as plant pots, netting, plastic bottles etc being stored in it, bunged up & sealed several pipe holes in its sides and emptied the water from 2 of my butts into it. After I had reinforced the wooden supports holding 1 of the butts I re-positioned the butt on top of the plastic tank at one end, supported by 2 steel bed frames, placed across the tank. The other 3 butts were placed close to the plastic tank at ground level. I can now use a flexible plastic pipe as an overflow, from the butt which is fed with water from my shed guttering, diverting it to whichever butt or tank that needs replenishing. The other advantage with the plastic tank is that I can "dunk" watering cans straight into it, rather than waiting for them to be filled via the taps on the butts. All I need now is an inverter to operate my submersible pump to supply water into the tank from the drainage ditch nearby. (Next project)??

Water Butts Sorted

My 2nd Plot

On Thursday it was time to have a clear out of all the clutter I had accumulated and not used, which was stored or lying about my plots. By midday I had loaded up my car with enough scrap metal, from old tools to chain link fencing, (and even the famous half-shaft from a milk float), to make a trip to the local scrap yard worthwhile. I was well pleased with over £20 for the lot. Buy more seeds I thought, not this time, I just had to join a queue for some petrol.
 I returned to the plot after lunch and rotavated one of my neighbours plots for her, as she was struggling to dig over her recently obtained, overgrown plot. My Howard made short work of the hard soil, the newly fitted tines worked a treat. I love it when a plan comes together.

 After the rotavating was done I erected the supports for my Runner Beans. It won't be long before the plants are ready to be planted out.
 Time for home well nearly, then came the unplanned bit. As I reversed my car from the plot a nasty scraping noise resounded from underneath it. Stopping the car I jumped out & looked underneath. The half full petrol can I had left behind the car (out of the sun) was jammed under the cars' exhaust, car still running. If the exhaust had been hot I reckon it could have been B-B-Q time. I quickly switched off the ignition and had to jack the car up to extricate the petrol can. Accidents don't just happen, there's always a cause. This one was memory loss?

Angle Shade Moth on 1 of My Pots

Plan of my Main Plot (2012)


There's always tomorrow!! (just). 


  

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show Us Yer Tips 5)!!

1. If you are sowing Beetroot seeds (a good crop for beginners) outside in drills, water the drills before sowing. Allow the water to soak in & sow 2 inches (5cm apart) 3/4 inch (2cm) deep. Each seed is actually a cluster. Thin out to 4 inches (10cm) apart. Do not sow Beetroot on freshly manured ground.

2. A few vegetables to sow now if the weather in your area is mild enough. Beetroot, Broad Beans, Peas, Brussels Sprouts (earlies), Kohl-Rabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Radish, Parsnips, Turnips. Asparagus crowns can be planted as well as, Onions, Shallots & Early Potatoes.

3. If you are running out of ground space for growing plants don't forget areas where you can grow things, sheds, fences, walls can have planters attached to them or use window boxes on outside windowsills. Windowsills indoors can be utilized  to grow herbs & other plants in various containers, as can patios & flat roofs. Trees in your garden or on your plot provide a place for hanging baskets.

4. Chamomile Tea can be used to control Damping Off Disease. Add a few drops to the soil around seedlings.

5. Cleaning Spades (and other tools) Fill a bucket or other container with sand, add engine oil (new or used) to the sand. When you have used the tool plunge it in & out of the sand a few times to clean it. The sand will clean off the dirt & the oil will protect the metal.

6. Tomato plants like high temperature soil. Keep the ground around the base of your Tomato plants covered with black plastic bin bags or similar to keep the heat in.

7. Soak bare root plants in water for several hours before planting out.

8. A 5% increase in organic materials, quadruples the soils ability to store water.

9. March is the time to plant flowering bulbs & tubers.

10. If you like planting flowering bulbs, plant them into pots, bury the pots in the required places in your garden. When the bulbs have finished flowering the pots can be lifted for use later.

Old Master Unearthed

As one of the objectives of this blog is to keep a record of my sowing & planting activities I ventured into the world of drawing yesterday. Using Googles' Docs I created a plan of my 2nd allotment plot. Well, I expect Leonardo Da Vinci had to start somewhere & I don't suppose he had the advantage of such a sophisticated piece of software as Google supplies???????

The green areas are grass paths. All areas are planted except for Runner Beans and Sweetcorn. One row of Lettuce & 1 row of Beetroot has been sown at the top end of the Sweetcorn area today. The plot width is 10 metres. Length is 30 metres. Oddly enough the plan is not to scale!!

Going to Seed

Runner Beans & Cucumbers Cold Greenhouse

Cucumbers & Peas Cold Greenhouse

O.K. so having trawled through hours of information on the internet, read dozens of gardening books & catalogues,  I've come to 2 conclusions about vegetable gardening.

1. The answers lie in the soil.
2. The weather controls almost everything, especially the gardener.

Well maybe 3, if it feels like the right thing to do at the time then do it. Easter Weekend is the traditional time, or so it's said for planting Potatoes. Well this season I'm going with the weather if I can estimate what its going to do from one day to the next. Can't complain so far this year as the following seed sowing "calendar" will show.

Main Crop Trenches Before Planting

After Planting (Desiree)

January: Mainly mild up until the end of the month.
 (Got my back & front gardens into shape after the Winter & actually mowed the 2 lawns, first time ever in early January) Planted a couple of shrubs & trimmed back various hedging.

DOWN THE PLOT:

9th January - Parsnips (Gladiator) sown, 1 x 15 foot row.  They are currently 2 inches (5cm) tall. Sown direct.
9th January - 140 Peas (Kelvedon Wonder) sown. All are growing well in deep trays.
16th January - 150 Peas ( Oregan Sugar Pod) sown. Most have germinated & awaiting planting out. In trays.
16th January - 40 Runner Beans (Enorma/Scarlet Emporer) sown 50% growing in cold frame 50% in cold greenhouse, awaiting planting out.

February: Very cold/icy until the middle of the month. 2nd half of the month slightly warmer up to 9 deg. C.
20th February - 30 Cucumber (Marketmore) sown.Growing well in cold greenhouse. 4 failures. In deep trays.
20th February - 30 Tomatoes (Gardeners Delight) sown. 20 growing well in cold greenhouse. In deep trays.
22nd February - 150 Cabbages (Spring Hero) sown. All doing well in cold frame. In trays
23rd February - 50 Oriental Cabbages (Questar) sown. All doing well in cold frame. In trays.
23rd February - 210 Cabbages (Landjeck) sown. All doing well in cold frame. In trays.
24th February - Leeks (Musselbrough) sown. 15 foot row. Showed through 3 days ago. In situ.
25th February - 60 Lettuce (Iceberg) sown. All doing well outside in trays with glass tops.
26th February - Early Potatoes (Maris Bard) sown 1 and a half 30 foot rows. In trenches.
27th February - 25 Cauliflower (All Year Round) sown. 2 inches (5cm) tall. In polystyrene box outside.
28th February - Carrots (Autumn King 2) sown 2 x 15 foot rows. In situ.

March: First 2 weeks of March cold again with heavy mist & fog, most daytime temperatures down to 3 degrees C, with a few exceptions.
1st March - Spring Onions (Ramrod) sown. 1 x 15 foot row. in situ.
6th March - Peas (Hurst Greenshaft) sown. 4 x 15 foot rows. Growing well. In situ.
8th March - Turnips (Purple Top Milan) sown. 2 x 15 foot rows. 1 inch (2.5cm) tall. In situ.
8th March ? - Maincrop Potatoes (Unknown) sown. 4 and a half 30 ft rows. Already through. In trenches.
12th March - 70 Peas (Hurst Greenshaft) sown. Just showing in cold greenhouse. 7 failures. In pots.
15th March - 100 Runner Beans (Enorma/Scarlet Emporer) sown. Inside sheds. In pots.
20th March - 9 Oca tubers (Oca) sown. Into pots. Being kept indoors.
21st March - Maincrop Potatoes (Desiree) sown. 6 x 30 foot rows. In trenches.
22nd March - Carrots (Norfolk Giant) sown. 3 x 15ft rows. In situ.

Onion sets, comprising Ailsa Craig & Stuttgarten have been planted on various dates in different locations around my plots. They are currently in different stages of development and no problems so far.
2 trays of Brussels Sprouts sown in February were a total failure in my cold greenhouse. 2 x 15 foot rows have since been sown direct.

Froggy is Well Camouflaged

Froggy Safe from My Spade

Mouse Shelter in My Shed (Or Always Keep Yer Seeds in a TIN)

An amazing 16 degrees C today. (Warmest day of the year here so far).

There's always tomorrow.

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show Us Yer Tips)!! 4

1. Many plot holders on my allotments are currently busy using rotavators & strimmers on their plots, but how many of them wear sturdy footwear & eye protection whilst doing so??

2. When sowing seeds remember the 3 basic rules, don't sow too early, don't sow too deeply and don't sow too thickly.

3. To prevent slugs getting into your pots/containers, smear vaseline onto the outside of the pots/containers.

4. Start thinking about making plant collars before its time to plant out your seedlings.

5.Here's another "organic" spray recipe against insects attacking your plants. Although it is not harmful to your health it will kill beneficial insects as well as the baddies. 10 garlic cloves, 10 small chillies, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 1 litre of water, 1 teaspoon of washing up liquid. Blend, liquidize & strain. Add the liquid to a spray bottle to use.

6. Apart from the fact that the Marigold is a beautiful flower, why plant it in your garden or down the plot?
     (a) They will attract Butterflies.
     (b) They are a natural repellent of, nematodes & other pests.
     (c) They are beneficial to the health of Tomatoes, Potatoes & other vegetables.
     (d) Some species of Marigolds can be used medicinally.

7. If you are running out of plant pots/trays remember to recycle old plastic bottles & food containers as cheap alternatives.

8. If you are staking young trees use old tights or bicycle inner tubes, correctly tied to the stake & tree, to avoid damage to the tree bark.

9. This is the time of year to check your garden/allotment over & remove rubbish and other items that slugs & snails can hide under before they come out to attack your seedlings and plants.

10. Check the sharpness of your gardening tools now, well sharpened tools, especially hoes & spades need less effort to use if they are kept sharp.

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show us Yer Tips)!! 3

1. Now is the time of year to mulch & feed your fruit trees/bushes to promote healthy growth.

2.  If you have any plants suffering from Downy Mildew try the following remedy - mix 1 part milk with 9 parts water and spray the stems and tops of leaves with the solution. Reapply after rain. 

3. Although Tomatoes will flourish in most soil types, they will fare better in soil which has had well decomposed organic material added to it. Also add Tomato feed during the growing season.

4. When Planting Beans DO NOT plant close to any of the following, as they may have adverse growing effects: Chives, Fennel, Garlic, Leeks.

5. Got the space, but don't want the extra work, try planting a few perennials such as: Globe Artichokes, Asparagus, Jerusalem Artichokes, Welsh Onions, Radicchio (Biennial).

6.  When planting out your Brassicas add a small cube cut from a Rhubarb stalk to the bottom of the planting hole, this is said to protect against club root.

7.  If your Brassicas are being attacked by Caterpillars sprinkle flour over them, leave it overnight and rinse the flour & dead Caterpillars off, the following day.

8.  If the soil around your plants is dry to your touch, 3 to 4 inches below its surface, then generally speaking your plants need watering.

9.  Plant Basil close to your Tomatoes to protect them from, Whitefly, Aphids & Mites.

10.  Click HERE to get yourself a free gardening journal. Its a PDF file in a blank monthly calendar format, to print off, with monthly tips. I like this one because of its simplicity. It may be too simple if your an expert gardener.

 

Waiting for Oca

Last week the weather looked liked it would give us a glorious warm & sunny March. How things have changed in 48 hours. Shrouded in mist & fog for the last 2 days with the temperatures well down on last week, a visit to the plot yesterday was curtailed.
After sowing a few Runner beans & Sweetcorn seeds into modules & pots inside my shed, the cold, dampness in the air, wouldn't allow my fingers (and toes) to warm up so I left for home about 1-30pm. Several of my fellow plot holders were in attendance during the late morning, doing various tasks on their plots but most of them left early too.

Cabbages & Peas in Cold Frame (8th March)

For the last couple of weeks, up until yesterday, I have been busy sowing various seeds both outside & into various containers in my sheds & greenhouse. The lettuce I sowed outside a couple of weeks ago have already made an appearance. I sowed 50% under cloches & 50% in the open. Both rows germinated on the same day so in future, unless the weather is seriously cold, I will dispense with 1 more task, that of laying down covers to warm the soil over Winter.

Rhubarb Doing Well 1 Tray of Lettuce & 1 Tray of Cabbages Hardening Off (8th March)

All the Peas I have sown both under cover & in the open are doing well as are the Parsnips. My Rhubarb plants are looking in very good shape. I enjoyed a nice Rhubarb crumble at the weekend with 4 stems from 1 of the plants. 28 out of 30 Cucumber seeds sown into pots in my greenhouse are coming on well as are the first batch of Runner beans and Tomatoes. Several trays of Cabbages are well on their way but no luck with the Brussels Sprouts that germinated a couple of weeks ago. Although I have not had any damping off yet, it seems that the sprouts don't like being sown in good compost, so last Sunday I sowed another 2 rows directly into soil in my Brassicas bed.

More Peas & Cabbage in Cold Frame Runner Beans in Pots (8th March)

Most of my fruit bushes are budding at the moment and the Strawberry plants have a good amount of new growth on them. The Onions don't seem to mind either the colder temperatures or the changes in temperature and seem to be developing merrily away. No sign of any Carrots popping through yet though, except for the few that were sown last October.

Goji Berry Plants "Greening Up" (8th March)

Yesterday, against my better judgement I ordered some more Carrot & Lettuce seeds and also some,
(new to me), Oca.
Oca is from South America (The Andes) and is similar to Potatoes with a hint of Lemon taste. The tubers can be eaten raw, roasted, boiled, fried, steamed or mashed. As they are late developing (harvest from November to December) and don't suffer from diseases associated with Potatoes, if I have any problems with my spud crop then the Oca will hopefully be a welcome addition.

Gotta go now & water some seedlings in the greenhouse. Wishing you good germination & warm weekends to come.

There's always tomorrow.

A Thought From The Cree

 Only after the last tree has been cut down
Only after the last river has been poisoned
Only after the last fish has been caught
Only then will you understand that money cannot be eaten

                                                

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show Us Yer Tips)!! (2)

1. Save your used tea bags/leaves & coffee grounds & add them to your Strawberry patch as a feed.

2. When its time to cut your Cabbages, make a X shaped cut in the end of the remaining stalk, this should re-grow giving you some extra greens.

3. If you use Hens eggs keep them in a container in the kitchen, they will keep longer than in the fridge.

4. To test an eggs freshness put it into a container of cold water, if it floats its gone off.

5. Try spraying plants infected with aphids, with sugar spray to attract Ladybirds but don't spray the Ladybirds.

6. When your Tomato plants have grown to about 4 inches (10cm) in height remove a couple of their lower leaves near the ground to prevent mould/fungus.

7. Plant outdoor Cucumbers in amongst your Sweetcorn plants.

8. An easy way to make a "drill" or "furrow" for sowing seeds or planting is to put a strong stick or metal tool handle along the ground and make a dent by pressing it down into the soil with your foot.

9. Before sowing Carrot seeds sprinkle them into some dry sand and then sow them to give you a thinner spread of the seeds.

10. Try sowing some Daikon this month for picking in May/June.

A BIG Thank You

Due to the overnight & this mornings' heavy rain and cold winds, I spent the day indoors rather than risking getting soaked down the plot. At about 4 pm I received a phone call from my Allotment Representative, who informed me that my shed & several others had been broken into overnight. I went down to my plot to inspect the damage. I was lucky on this occasion, only a slightly bent metal fastening on my shed door was apparent. Three or four other sheds had been damaged and their padlocks forced off. One of my fellow plot holders poly tunnel was badly damaged where it had been slashed open. Luckily the thieves were disturbed by one of our plot owners who lives nearby, before they could cause anymore damage or theft.

I would just like to say thank you, to these spineless scum, who sneak around in the darkness damaging & stealing other peoples' property. Whether they think so or not, they have NO right or justification for taking or damaging other peoples property. If they haven't got a brain to EARN a living then I suggest that they earn an education before someone teaches them a lesson they won't appreciate!!

Maybe tomorrow!!