The Good The Bad & The Future

I have been deliberating how to construct this post for several days now, due to some of the content being off topic regarding allotmenteering, but nonetheless relevant to it, from my point of view.  This has been an extremely busy time of the year for me (as I know it has been for other gardeners) not only "down the plot" but also personally too with hospital and other medical appointments.. Suffice to say I am glad that I haven't booked a holiday this year, due to the way things are panning out.

Although I have achieved most of the sowing, planting & cultivation on my plots to date, despite the climatic extremes since March, flooding and several compressed vertebrae. After a recent medical test I was informed, (last Thursday), that I have heavy metal blood poisoning from a metal on metal hip replacement I had done several years ago. So it will be out with the old and in with the new very soon. That sounds like the same can be said for dealing with the contaminated manure problem, being experienced on many of our allotment plots here, at the moment. By the time I get back down the plot I expect the weeds will have learned to grow in straight lines, so they will be easier for me to remove??

Well that's the bad out of the way.
                                                                       

My 1st Batch of Carrots

Giant Pumpkins (Hopefully)

  The good news has been the beautiful weather here for the past few weeks. The germination rate of most seeds I have sown has been phenomenal. In particular Pumpkins, Carrots, Turnips and Lettuce germinating within 5 days to a week. I think that the germination rate has been accelerated by a couple of other factors, than just the hot temperatures. 1. I have not used compost in most of my drills before sowing. The peat free stuff dries out too quickly, (so what do we want to save? water or peat), well you can't drink peat?  2. All watering in of seeds has been done using water from the drainage ditch at the bottom of my main plot. (Extra nutrients)?

A Few Gooseberries

French Beans (Germinated in 5 Days)

Blackcurrants Ripening

Runner Beans (Scarlet Emperor & Enorma) On 2nd Plot

6 Tomato Plants (Planted Out Yesterday)

Cayenne Peppers Planted Out Yesterday On 2nd Plot

Sweetcorn (Lark F1) on 2nd Plot with Cucumbers Evesham 76

Oca Plants (Looking Iffy)

Full Can of Slug Trap Liquid (Out of Date) Holding Down Strawberry Netting

L to R Onions Spring Onions Parsnips (and Turnips Going to Seed)

Bird Scarer ??

  Compared with last year, a real bonus, is the lack of insect pests. White fly, Black fly, Green fly, Slugs & Snails seem to be none existent at the moment. The only damage to my crops so far has been from Wood Pigeons (to Brassicas) Flea beetles (to Turnips) and from several Blackbirds disrupting certain mulched/seeded areas of ground, they are currently eyeing up the Strawberries & Blackcurrants, which are just starting to ripen, for their breakfasts. I am pleased to say most of my crops are looking in good condition and the watering routines during the warm evenings has been a pleasure recently.



As for the future there will be tomorrow. 

  

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show Us Yer Tips 14)!!

1. Don't leave gardening tools, or other pieces of equipment, lying around the garden or around the plot whilst you are working. They can easily be accidentally trodden on or tripped over, causing serious injuries.

My Right Arm After Tripping Over Some Bricks Down the Plot Yesterday

2. If you are planting out Sweet corn it should be planted in rectangular blocks at about 18 inches (46 cm) spacing to achieve correct wind pollination. (except for minipop). The soil should contain plenty of humus and several months of sunshine are required to fully ripen the cobs. Cross pollination can be a problem with some varieties.

3. Some tips to stop the spread of Tomato blight. Water plants in the morning, not in the evening. Keep the plants' leaves as dry as possible. Don't touch the plants' leaves with your fingers. PULL OFF a few of the lower leaves from each plant. Grow blight resistant varieties.

4.If your Turnips have gone to seed (bolted) before they have matured, one cause is that they have been sown/planted too early in the year. Other causes are, erratic watering combined with hot weather, inadequate spacing in heavy soil.

5.Consistency is the key when watering potatoes. The plants' soil should be kept moist but not wet. Water about every 5 days during dry weather until the plants flower. After flowering water about every 3 days but rainfall should also be taken into account. Stop watering when the plants start to die back.

6. Ants in your compost bin/heap. Get rid of them by frequently turning the compost. Ants in your compost bin/heap is also a sign that the compost is too dry. This is better than too wet but try to get an even moist balance by damping down the compost with water after turning it.

7. Although our recent weather has been hot & dry with few slugs/snails out to cause problems, one method of keeping them off your Strawberry bed is to spread saw dust/shavings around the Strawberry plants, after each rain shower.

8. A good reason for keeping your plot/garden weed free is that Cutworms are more likely to infest ground that contains plenty of weeds, than weed free areas of ground.

9. Wooly Aphid spray. Mix 1 cup of water and 1 cup of nasturtium leaves.  Simmer the mixture for 20 minutes, allow to cool and add water to equal the amount of the remaining simmered liquid. Spray the aphids.

10. Add extra mulch around the bases of your plants to retain moisture during hot dry periods of weather.

Flea Beetle Damage to Turnips

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show Us Yer Tips 13)!!

1. Many gardeners will be growing Potatoes this year, but remember the plant itself is poisonous. Do not eat the leaves, stems, flowers or seed. If any of the tubers are green or partly green do not eat them. Be safe.

2. If you are planting out Runner beans from pots try the following procedure. Water the beans well, in their pots about 30 minutes prior to planting. Meanwhile prepare the planting holes. Use a dibber to creates holes to about the depth of the pots, this keeps the soil slightly firmer than using a fork or trowel. Add a used tea bag to the bottom of each planting hole and add water to the hole, then firm each plant from its pot into the hole. Water all the plants again after planting is complete.

3. French climbing beans like a sunny sheltered growing area. They will require supports up to approximately 6 feet (1.8m). They make good companion plants for low growing vegetables that like shade, such as Lettuce, Cucumber, Radish.

4.Some plants that may deter Carrot fly. Coriander, Lettuce, Rosemary, Sage, Salsify. The Onion family.

5. Avoid watering Strawberries late in the day. The drop in temperature at night can add to the chance of rot or mould to the plants.

6. Five weeds that are harmful for various reasons, (under the 1959 Weeds Act) are, Broad-leaved Dock, Common Ragwort, Creeping or Field Thistle, Curled Dock, Spear Thistle.

7. Carrots are said to grow better when grown near chives. Chives will also deter aphids.

8. Save the planet, activate your compost heap, get a pee bale. (Men only). Sorry ladies.

9. Finding some extra room in your greenhouse now that the weather has improved? Use the extra space for hanging up and drying off your "smalls".

10. This is a link to an excellent website with information about wild flowers/plants CLICK HERE.

U.F.O. Sighted Over Somerset

Purple Pea (All His Colleagues Have White Flowers)

 The shining red disc in the sky was sighted this morning as it rose higher from the east, emitting a good deal of heat from it's core as it blasted away the remaining annoying clouds. Due to another week of full cloud cover and low night time temperatures it took me a while to remember that the last time I had seen this phenomena it was called the Sun (Not the newspaper).

I must apologize to everyone who follows my blog and to those whose blogs I follow, for my recent lack of posts and for not looking in on the blogs I follow. I have been struggling lately to resurrect my second plot after the flooding a few weeks ago. Due to several compressed vertebrae since the beginning of March, after a days' work down the plot I could hardly lift a cup of tea, let alone my computer mouse. The problem is not fixed yet but getting there. More physio tomorrow.

Buttercup Bank Strimmed Back But Leaving Most Wild Plants Intact to Attract Pollinators

I managed a full days' work down the plot today enjoying the return of the welcome and much needed sunshine. Lots of the clay soil on my second plot is still compacted after drying out from the flooding, mostly on my fruit beds which can be left for a while yet. I got the soil around my Runner beans ho-ed over and replaced half a dozen plants which had died back due to cold night time temperatures & the recent lack of sunlight. I planted out another row of Sweetcorn and finally planted out the first of my Cucumbers, (under a cloche), in between the Sweetcorn. Two more rows of Carrots (Norfolk Giant) were sown on my main plot. The first of my Giant Pumpkins (American) has germinated over the weekend despite the cool weather. These were sown a couple of months ago using compost inside a cardboard shoe box, situated on top of my manure heap.
I sowed six more today along with more Carrot seeds in the barrels at the lower end of my main plot.

Compacted Clay on Strawberry Bed

Cucumbers Planted Out Under Cloche

In general most of the vegetables which have been planted out or sown direct earlier in the year are now doing well, despite lack of sunlight recently. Germination and growth with various sowing in pots and trays being kept in cold frames, sheds & greenhouse have been problematic, due to damping off or lack of sunlight & warmth.

Grapevine "Greening Up"

                                                                         

1st Pumpkin Growing

Carrots in a Barrel

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show Us Yer Tips 12)!!

1. Tired of tying & pegging down netting to protect your plants, veggies & fruit, try the following method. Place garden canes/sticks around the perimeter of the plants you wish to protect. Place more canes/sticks across the planting area. Place an empty upturned plastic bottle over the top of each stick. Lay the netting over the top leaving an overlap all round. To hold down the netting use more plastic bottles filled with water placed over the overlapping netting. When you have finished with this method the water can be returned to your water butts/tanks for re-use.

2. Try planting beans alongside Sunflowers. The beans will benefit from the pollinators attracted by the Sunflowers.

3. If your Rhubarb has started to flower cut off the flower stalk immediately as allowing it to grow will weaken the plant.

4. A good method of weed control around your fruit trees is to plant strawberries.

5. Try planting Lemon Balm and Mint in pots. These can then be strategically placed and/or moved around the garden or plot to deter many insect pests.

6. Clubroot (a fungal disease) is generally associated with cabbages & other crucifers. 2 examples of plants outside this group that can also be affected are, Ryegrass & Red Clover.

7. Make a simple bird-scarer for your plot or garden. Take 1 medium sized potato 3 birds feathers ( each approximately 6 inches long & as straight as possible) Push 1 feather into one end of the potato (about 1 inch) and push the other 2 into the potato, approximately half way along its length, on each side, keeping all the feathers pointing out straight. Attach a piece of string through the potato and hang from the end of a long stick or cane pushed into the ground. The profile should look similar to a bird of prey, thus keeping other birds away. (Not guaranteed, but it does work)

8. Several plants that prefer an alkaline soil are: Cabbage, Celery, Cucumber, Geranium, Olive, Pinks, Thyme.

9. If you have a few empty spaces in your garden flower beds try planting a few vegetables such as Lettuce or Radish in amongst the flowers.

10. This one is a link to free pergola plans (a guide for beginners)  CLICK HERE

Level Playing Field

The Somerset Levels and Moors are now inundated with rainwater. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the area, The Levels and Moors are low lying wetlands in central Somerset, situated between the Mendip and Quantock Hills. Extra massive pumps have recently been brought in and installed at Curry Moor to pump millions of gallons of water off the Levels to protect them and their wildlife inhabitants. Pumping out at a rate of 1250 gallons per second, it is expected to take at least 2 weeks to complete the pumping, if further rain doesn't halt the pumping operations.

The Levels

The Levels
Images Used With Permission of Eugene Birchall Under The Creative Commons License

Back to the plots. Due to the continuing wet weather, apart from 2 afternoons, (Saturday & Sunday), last weekend was the only time I got to work down the plots for a few hours. The soil was to wet to work on when I arrived at the allotments, so I constructed a roof over my large manure bin, using old pallets. Covering the pallets with a pond liner which allowed rainwater to flow off  into a plastic water tank behind the manure bin. By the time this was done the soil surface on my 2nd plot was drying slightly but only where the Potatoes were earthed up. I managed to loosen up the soil on the ridges using a hoe, weeding them at the same time. I used walking boards between the ridges to avoid compacting the wet soil in between the ridges. By tea time I had completed 10 ridges and loosened the soil to let air & warmth into it.
On Sunday afternoon I concentrated on running a cultivator over the middle area of my 2nd plot to loosen up the soil and remove the few weeds growing in that area. The Strawberry bed was still far too wet to walk on even using boards, so the drier areas, I could reach from the paths were hoed over. After checking the various seedlings still in my sheds & cold frames I left for home, hoping that the coming week would see some much needed sunshine and no more rain.

Harvesting more Rainwater

Sprouts Like the Extra Rain

 

Rain Compacted Soil

Blackcurrants Will They Ripen With No Sun

100% cloud cover again for most of this week along with the accompanying rain put paid to further progress on the plots, until this afternoon. Last nights national & local weather forecasts were wrong yet again for this area with heavy rain overnight and lighter rain for most of this morning. I arrived down the plot just after 1 o'clock this afternoon as the sun finally broke through the cloud. The temperature rose rapidly and within minutes birds were singing in the adjacent hedgerows, several small white butterflies were fluttering about and many flying insects were taking to the air. Half a dozen male & female Blackbirds were hopping about carrying hoards of slugs & worms in their beaks. The dreaded Wood Pigeons had left their saturated roosts in the nearby Ash trees and were eying up various Brassicas for their lunch. Steam was rising from most of the shed roofs as the sunlight warmed things up. What looked like a pleasant afternoon was soon interrupted by more showers. I did manage to get some more weeding done and 2 rows of Runner beans planted out from their pots in the shed. I left for home at about 4 P.M. as the ground was still too wet to achieve much else.

Runner Beans Finally Planted Out

Beautifully Coloured Creature

A Coat of Many Colours

There's always tomorrow??

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show Us Yer Tips 11)!!

1. If your Tomato plants are still sitting in pots/trays & are looking in bad condition due to the recent cold, damp & lack of sunlight, try insulating the pots/trays to keep some warmth at soil/root level.

2. May/June is the time for planting out Brussels Sprouts (weather & ground conditions permitting). Use a dibber to make a hole for each plant. Keep plenty of soil around the roots of each plant and plant to the first set of leaves. Firm in well to avoid wind rock later. If the weather/soil is dry water in well.

3. Old Bar-B-Cue skewers are a good tool for catching slugs with, if you don't like handling slugs. (Who does)?

4. Lawn fertilizer (adults only) 1 can of beer, 1 cup of Epsom Salts, 1 cup of Ammonia, 2 cups of water. Mix together add to sprayer and spray the lawn.

5. Put seeds you are going to sow into the fridge or freezer (for 1 week) prior to sowing. This should speed up their germination time.

6. Mix equal amounts of cider vinegar and water together. Spray onto fruit trees during the growing season. (This spray is supposed to be effective against Fire blight).

7. Got an old wheely bin, fit a tap to it and use it as a mobile water butt. Do not overfill it, ensure that it does not tip over whilst moving it.

8. Garlic is a good companion plant to Celery, Cucumber, Lettuce, Peas, Roses and some fruit trees.

9. Freezing & using Leeks. Remove the outer leaves, rinse, pack & freeze. Plunge into boiling water for 10 minutes to use.

10. This tip is a link to advice about constructing a wooden planter: CLICK HERE

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

Image courtesy of National Gardening Bureau

 
1. When sowing Peas into pots, half fill the pots with compost & water well. Fill up the pots with dry compost and sow the the seeds at half inch depth. The seeds should draw up enough water from the wet compost, and there is less chance of the seeds rotting. Other larger type seeds could also benefit from this method too.

2. Orange peelings (rinds) scattered around flower beds/planted areas may deter cats.

3. Leek rust is a fungal disease affecting Leeks, Garlic, Chives & Onions, accelerated by high Nitrogen & low potassium content in the soil. The effect shows as bright orange spots on leaves and can restrict growth if severe enough. Some control can be achieved by, not crowding plants, buying resistant varieties, disposing of affected leaves after harvesting.

4. Attract Tachinid flies into your garden/plot by planting, Aalyssum, Calendula, Dill & Fennel. These predatory flies will dispose of many garden pests for you.

5. If you have any plants that need thinning out do it when the soil is moist or water before thinning. Water again after thinning is completed. This method puts less strain on remaining plants.

6. Plant Lettuce between your Strawberries. The Lettuce will provide moist conditions which Strawberries will appreciate.

7. Fuchsias do not mind cool temperatures. They do not like very hot temperatures. Keep their soil moist but not wet. "Misting" the plant if the leaves are drooping is beneficial. Add fertilizer every couple of weeks whilst the plant is blooming.

8. If you are arranging cut flowers in vases which include Daffodils. Put the Daffodils into their own vase because they give off a compound which can be toxic to other plants.

9. Yep another Aphid spray. Chop up 3 to 5 Rhubarb leaves & add to a quart (U.S.A.) 1.136 liters (G.B.) of water & boil for 30 minutes. Strain the liquid and add 2 DROPS of washing up liquid. Add the liquid to a spray bottle & spray the aphids. DO NOT USE THIS SPRAY ON EDIBLE PLANTS.

10. A few vegetables for sowing this month if weather conditions allow are: Runner beans, French beans, Beetroot, Broccoli, Calabrese, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chicory, Kale, Kohl-Rabi, Lettuce, Peas, Radish, Spring Onions, Swedes, Turnips. Sow Sweetcorn, Marrows, Pumpkins under cover.