I Must Be Out Of My Tree

A good productive 5 days, during the past week, down the plot, has seen a few changes to things, apart from the persistent rain, hail and heavy showers that is. Monday and Tuesday of last week were none starters due to more rain. I got down to the plot on Wednesday to find out that the plot next to my main plot had become vacant, after the previous tenants Cecil and Mandy had given it up. A shame really as we got along fine together whilst working on our plots. I had been waiting to swop my 2nd plot for this one, which Cecil and I had agreed to some time ago. The plot had become overgrown this year and I think the bad weather had caused Cecil and Mandy to give up on it, which has been the case  for quite a few other plot holders, this year, too. My first job on Wednesday was to start digging over the first of the vegetable beds, removing weeds, grass and in particular the first batches of  Dandelion and Buttercup plants, which were infesting most of the plot. Rotavating was out of the question, due to the wet ground and with the vast amount of Dandelions being well established, chopping the roots up wasn't an option either.

My New Allotment Plot (How It Looked Last Wednesday)

By Saturday evening I had cleared the first 2 beds of weeds, given a cursory mowing to the surrounding grass areas, cleared 2 large Rhubarb plants of dead foliage and weeds and transferred various items of gardening equipment from my old 2nd plot to N2 Plot. The 4 days work was slow and laborious due to the wetness of the soil and having to dodge rain showers, every 15 minutes, particularly on Thursday afternoon, with 1 shower of hailstones to boot. I used walking boards, underfoot, to avoid compacting the clay soil any more than necessary.

Lower End Of New Plot Overgrown With Buttercups/Grass

 Sundays weather was a complete contrast to the rest of the week, with sunshine all day. I didn't make it to the plot though, due to family birthday celebrations down in Devon, another county suffering with plenty of rainfall this year.

Rhubarb And Chives Weeded Saturday Top Of New Plot

First 2 Beds Dug And Weeded By Saturday

 I started work down the plot early this morning with more digging and weed removal. The sun made an appearance for about an hour, a little after midday. Just as the soil began to dry out slightly, back came the rain showers. After the third heavy downpour I gave up with the digging, having completed about 5 x 20 foot of ground, spending the rest of the afternoon transferring more equipment from my old 2nd plot. I picked 2 Sweetcorn cobs and cut a large Lettuce for tea, along with 2 Pumpkins, (for Halloween), before calling it a day. As I am writing this post the rain is hammering down yet again, but the next 2 days are supposed to be dry here. Hopefully I will be able to forge on with more digging etc tomorrow and hopefully for the rest of the week.

Progress On Central Bed Monday 15th October

A Sunny 25 Degrees Celsius Again

 It was early morning when I arrived at the plot but the glorious sunshine was already taking the temperature upwards to 25 degrees C. Yet another fine day. My first job was marking out 4 drills in the warm dry soil and sowing some more Parsnip seeds. After covering the seeds with soil they were watered in, even though the seed had been soaking overnight. It was the rattling of the rain drops on my bedroom window that broke my dream filled sleep, no plot today again, too bloody wet once more.

Having just spent a couple of hours reading through ALL of the blogs that I follow, both on my profile list and blogs I follow list (they are all gardening/allotment blogs or related topic blogs), it was nice to see that only a few were not up to date. It was interesting to see the diverse topics and view many wonderful pictures and photographs, my favourites being various forms of wildlife we have here in UK. Although each blog was unique in its own right the goals were the same, to produce good fruit and vegetables for the dinner table. After one of the worst growing seasons for many years, in most parts of the country, one thing was common to most blogs. Despite our adverse weather conditions this year most bloggers had still gathered in a reasonable harvest, which is a tribute to their hard work, ingenuity, skill and patience this year. If you fit this description the smilies are for you.

 

  During the past week I have only managed 3 visits to my plots, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mainly due to, you won't believe this, yes more rain. I spent Tuesday clearing out some old brambles from the lower end of my main plot to make space for my cultivated variety to take their place. Once the roots had been dug out I completed some weeding around the same area. Then I finally got round to covering one of the beds on my second plot with black fabric and weighting it down with various heavy objects, harvested a few more Carrots, (Autumn King and Flyaway), before departing for home.

About 50% of Octobers Carrots Affected by Carrot Fly Earlier Ones Were Perfect

 On Thursday a few odd jobs were called for so my second compost bin was cleared out of various items such as pea sticks which were bundled and tied up, then stored away in the dry for later use. The other various poles, sticks and tree branches from the bin were made into a log pile underneath the roof of my manure heap, for the use of any hibernating creatures over the Winter. The newest compost on the top of the pile was then transferred into the second bin before I use the more mature compost, on next years Brassica bed, when the rain lets up. I removed the cloches from my over wintering Carrots to allow some moisture into their soil, they have certainly had plenty of that since Tuesday. Before leaving for home I harvested afew more Runner beans, Cucumber and Sweetcorn.

More Sweetcorn Runners and Cucumbers

 Sunday started off on the wrong foot when after finding out I could take videos with my camera, then forgetting to take it down the plot, I discovered that every one of my grapes had disappeared from the vine, a great pity as, despite the lack of sun they were ripening nicely, recently. A host of hungry birds were no doubt to blame and obviously the use of netting is called for in future. After hoeing and weeding part of my second plot I tidied up and cleaned some pots trays and tools as the afternoon came to an end.

The Mixed Lettuce Loves the Rain

This is More Cheerful

Top of My Back Fence in the Rain Tonight

Plot or Not

Well just as I was thinking the gardening year was slowing down, a week like the last one comes along and reminds me how lucky I am to be able to get away from it all down the plot. No such luck, since the beginning of last week. A running battle on the phone with the "tax man" alias tax man prat, took up most of my time last week. Then my car went in for its M.O.T. on Wednesday only arriving back this afternoon after more delays than Abu Hamzas extradition. At least I managed more decorating.

Saturdays Harvest

 The weather locally has improved slightly from just over a week ago, with a slight rise in day and night time temperatures and sunny spells during the days. A few rain showers, mainly overnight, have given the Runner beans on my second plot a new lease of life, with some excellent specimens harvested on Saturday. Even a few more Strawberries are developing again. The Mustard which was sown earlier has germinated helped by the rain showers. As Mustard grows faster than most weeds it should save me from more weeding over a large area of my second plot for a few weeks at least, until it is forked into the soil as green manure.

Saturdays Harvest

I did manage to borrow a friends car on Saturday, visiting the plot for four hours. I finished turning over the last few feet of one of my vacant vegetable beds. Luckily I had kept a spare spade in my garage, which I took to the plot with me, as my shed keys were on my car key ring, (remember the M.O.T.). The black plastic sheeting I had intended to cover this bed with was locked in the shed of course. I carried on with some weeding during the afternoon and then harvested some veg before leaving for home.

When You Can Take The Marble???

  Hopefully I will be back down the plot tomorrow to get something constructive achieved and take a few more photographs I missed out on at the end of September.

Rooko's October Top 10 Tryouts And Tips!!

1. October is usually the best time to prune Climbing Roses cutting away any dead wood at the same time.

2. Sowing any/some of the following for overwintering in milder climates can be done in October. (Broadbeans, Round seeded Peas, Carrots, Winter greens, Onions). Some cloche protection may be required. Planting of Spring flowering bulbs can also be done in October.

3. Planting fruit trees/bushes should be done at this time of the year. Add plenty of organic material to the planting area prior to planting.

4. If you are harvesting your Cabbages for storage, check them for slugs hiding in the leaves. Rinsing the Cabbages with salt water should remove any slugs but ensure the Cabbages are dry before storing them in a cool place.

5. Rhubarb can be lifted and divided in October keeping root damage down to a minimum.

6. Remove yellowing/diseased leaves from Brussels Sprouts and check the heads of the plants for any caterpillars lurking within the younger leaves.

7. Have your Beans stopped production? Cut the stems off just above ground level and compost the foliage. Leave the roots in the ground over Winter to release their Nitrogen into the soil as they rot down.

8. Mulching around shrubs and border plants is a good idea in October. The mulch will help to keep nutrients in the soil over the Winter months.

9. Dig over empty vegetable beds (October/November) adding well rotted organic materials as you go along.

10. Start the process of cleaning out pots and trays ready for later use. Disinfect them at the same time using seed and plant friendly disinfectants. Ensure the pots and trays are dry before storing them.

Wintery Autumn

Cold wet and drab weather today is keeping me indoors with the morning spent preparing more veg for the freezer, (Runner beans, French and Borlotties), which were harvested yesterday as I enjoyed a few hours of warm sunshine down the plot.

Mixed Lettuce Borlotties and French Beans Harvested Yesterday

  Over the past couple of weeks "bus mans holiday" I have been occupied doing some decorating indoors and more garden maintenance. Despite these distractions and the colder weather I have still manged to get a few more Autumn jobs done down the plot. The area used for growing Potatoes on my second plot this year has been sown with Mustard seed with 1 other bed being forked over. This bed will be covered with black plastic sheeting, (hopefully this week) and left fallow until the Spring. Most of my greenhouse Tomatoes have been harvested now, with the outdoor ones still ripening slowly.

Runner beans Raspberries Swede and Rhubarb Harvested Yesterday

 On my main plot the over wintering Onions have germinated well, as have the Spring Cabbages. These were the out of date seeds which I mentioned in my last post. More Lettuce seeds have been sown along with over wintering Carrots (Berlicum). The Lettuce, Carrots and Cabbage are all underneath cloches due to the recent drop in temperatures.

Who Knobbled My Potato??

Runner, French and Borlotti beans are still producing well, along with an abundant supply of Sweetcorn, Cucumbers, Rhubarb and Raspberries. In fact due to the vast amount of Autumn Raspberries developing, I had to use some of them up with some more jam making last week. The last of my Cabbages have been harvested and for the first time in 3 seasons my Swedes are excellent in size and flavour, mainly due to the damper Summer weather.

I Think These Are Capsid Bugs Just Hatched On a Dead Nettle

 Last Monday was a sad day for our allotmenteers with the funeral of one of our fellow allotment holders, George B. George was a stalwart of our allotments for well over 50 years. His vegetable growing knowledge and expertise was second to none. He was well known around Somerset, Dorset and many other areas for his vegetable growing prowess and the excellence of his produce. George was always willing to share his knowledge and experience with others. He will be sadly missed. R.I.P. George.






 

Thursdays Top 10 Tryouts (Or Show Us Yer Tips 28)!!

Firstly my apologies to all my regular readers for the lateness of this post today. As you know my top 10 tips have been a weekly occurrence for the last 6 months. Unfortunately due to recent events on my "home front" I will now be posting the tips on a monthly basis, on the first day of each month, starting from October 2012. Thanks for looking in

Best wishes Rooko.

The Piece De Resistance

The Long Awaited First Sweetcorn

 Today my evening meal is special. This years trials and tribulations down the plot will be forgotten as I savour my first delicious mouthful of SWEETCORN, which I picked an hour ago. Picking the first 2 ripe cobs this afternoon made the long sunshine less rest of the year fade into insignificance. I had checked several cobs last week to see if they had ripened, no luck on that occasion. Maybe the fact that the cobs had old tights fastened round them, to deter earwigs, which seem to like my Sweetcorn every year, had something to do with them not developing 100%? Sweetcorn should have a full post just dedicated solely to it, but I'm far too busy at the moment, so I'll crack on with an update on what's happening down the plot lately.

Simple Sweet & Savoury

 A couple of weeks ago I was replacing my Strawberry plants on my main plot. That job took a little longer than expected, but is now completed, with 78 new 1st year runners planted out and the 3 year old plants removed. All the new plants have their own markers alongside them to indicate how old they are.

Strawberry Bed With New Runners Planted

Brassica Bed Main Plot Brussels + 3 Cabbages

 After the Strawberries had been replanted, it was time to lift the remainder of my main crop Potatoes on my 2nd plot. This took me a couple of afternoons but the effort was well worth it with a very good crop of large Desiree Potatoes only a handful of which had been affected by slugs or blight. I now have more than enough Potatoes to see me through this coming Winter. Potatoes are already selling at inflating prices in some areas of Somerset. Harvesting of Runner and French beans as well as Peas, Mixed Lettuce and Cabbage has continued when required. My Autumn Raspberries on both plots have been excellent in their taste and abundance recently, far better than the Summer ones were.

Legumes Bed Main Plot

 I took a break from the plot yesterday to concentrate on overdue work on my back garden which has been more or less neglected this year. The weather was warm and pleasant with a cooling breeze. After a full days work hoeing the borders pruning shrubs and trees and mowing the lawn it was 7-30 pm. A good days effort left me with 8 rubble bags and one of those collapsible canvas containers full of weeds, leaves foliage and grass cuttings, to be disposed of. Fence painting and patio cleaning can wait for a while.

This Beauty Settled on My Bird Feeder in the Garden Yesterday

 Today I was back down the plot by 10 a.m. After checking my Brussels sprouts and ridding them of Caterpillars, (an average of 2 Caterpillars per plant), using the traditional method of picking them off by hand, it was time to rotavate the top area of my 2nd plot where my early Potatoes had been growing. Hopefully I will be sowing Mustard seeds in this area tomorrow. That done I sowed 2 rows of over wintering Onions (Senshu and Keepers). I don't hold out much hope that they will germinate as both seed packets were out of date, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Remaining Carrots & Leeks Main Plot

 More areas of the plots are looking bare and empty at the moment a far cry from a couple of months ago. I still have a few more over wintering vegetables to sow within the next few weeks and any unused ground will be sown with green manures, rather than leaving compost or manure on their surfaces to rot down. 

Grapes Finally Starting to Ripen Main Plot

Pumpkins Still Developing on the Roof of My Manure Heap

There Are Quite a Few Cucumbers Under There Somewhere

Raspberries & Rhubarb Still Going Strong

Blighted Tomatoes Removed from Plot

 

There's always tomorrow.