Not Exactly Buried Treasure

I thought the inscription on the bottle lid was rather unusual. Made from aluminium I uncovered it whilst edging one of the vegetable beds on N1 Plot this afternoon. The grass areas where a was working have been uncultivated for over 50 years except for the grass being mowed. The inscription on the lid reads:

"KIA-ORA Ltd Suppliers of Fruit Beverages By Appointment to the late King George VI

Well There's Always Tomorrow??

Ad Libbing Into Next Season

Well, when all is said and done, planning ahead for a successful years allotment harvest can usually be thrown into chaos at the drop of a hat by the great, unfathomable British weather. After last winters deluges of rain and the associated flooding many allotments which were prepared for planting in Autumn 2013 needed preparing again when the rains finally abated. Was there a Spring? as I remember it here in Somerset, we were more or less straight into hot summery weather, giving us high temperatures and parched ground to work with, for several months, until about 2 weeks ago, when temperatures tumbled and the sun struggled to find a gap in the clouds to shine through. With only approximately 4 days with any appreciable rain here since the Winter monsoons abated, surprisingly, the majority of my crops have been good or very good, although I have sown less crops overall than I have done in previous years. Due to the hot dry Summer I decided to re-design large areas of both my plots, working on different areas of the plots as each crop was picked, or lifted from a given area, at the same time, prepping the ground ready for next year, as I think that this coming Winter will start very early and will be harsh.

The Last 5 Ranks of Potatoes Being Lifted From N2 Plot August 2014

More Potatoes N2 Plot August 2014

 As I mentioned in an earlier post,  the construction of a large fruit cage on N1 Plot to protect my currant bushes was completed several weeks ago. The previously unused ground within the cage has now been planted up with strawberry plants, which were lifted from their old bed and positioned in rows alongside the currant bushes after weed suppressing fabric had been placed over the soil.
This should save me time in the future as I will no longer have to place netting directly over the strawberries, to protect them from hungry birds, lifting and replacing the netting each time strawberries were ready to be picked. My alpine strawberries have also been lifted from the old strawberry bed. Some of them being re-planted within the fruit cage and the remainder planted into a raised bed at the lower end of N2 Plot. Both batches of plants have produced many good berries since being re-planted. My main crop potatoes were lifted a couple of weeks ago, from No 2 bed on N2 plot, despite the dry ground an excellent crop was dug up. With blight appearing on several allotments in mid August, (including mine) only a few of my tubers suffered with it, from 2 badly affected plants out of over 200. No 2 bed has been rotavated, weeded and limed and the edging tidied and will remain fallow over the Winter. N2 plot now contains only 3 large planting areas (beds), with the majority of wooden edging, surrounding the beds having been removed and disposed of. Several grass paths which were situated between the beds have been dug up, enlarging the beds and thus the growing areas ready for next year. Runner beans have been less than perfect this year and have just about finished cropping. The long hot dry weather didn't do them any favours with many beans over-ripening too quickly despite adequate watering with rain water from my water butts and earlier this year more than adequate preparation of trenches for them to grow above.

Potato Bed N2 Plot Cleared & Cultivated. Strawberry Bed N1 Plot (Right of Picture) Emptied (August 2014)

The 4 Beds on N2 Plot Amalgamated Into 1 August 2014

 A third rank of runner beans sown at the top end of N1 Plot is flowering at the moment. If the weather doesn't get any worse I should have a reasonable late cropping of runner beans. Again with climbing french beans several early picks of beans were of excellent quality and abundance, until cross pollination set in about 3 weeks ago. Parsnips sown on N1 Plot failed to germinate this year but a third sowing in one of my raised beds is looking in excellent condition at the moment. Just 1 problem harvesting them though. A wasps nest is situated immediately below the plants with its entrance through the side of a wooden pallet which forms part of the raised beds' side wall. When the hot dry weather took hold this year it gave rise to a persistent outbreak of flea beetle which damaged the foliage and slowed the growth of turnips, beetroot, cavolo nero, radish and some cabbages. Although most of the plants eventually recovered, some of the damage to their foliage is still apparent. 4 or 5 early sowings of spring onions also failed to germinate this year but another sowing last month, just prior to a rare downpour of rain, finally germinated, giving a good crop of onions.

Earlier Harvesting August 2014

Toad N2 Plot August 2014

  A few advantages of the hot dry weather have been the lack of white and black fly this year. Although the slug and snail populations seem to have been on the increase for some time, remarkably I have had no damage whatsoever to any lettuce this year with some excellent quality plants. Sweetcorn, carrots and tomatoes have been beyond excellent. Courgettes and marrows are growing almost faster than they can be picked along with a prolific crop of very large cucumbers both inside my poly tunnel and outside on open ground. Fruit, apart from less cherries than expected, has been excellent all round, in particular, apples and a good cropping of blackberries. If many more grapes develop on the vines growing over my sheds, I think I will have to strengthen the sheds' roof structures to stop them collapsing under the weight of the grapes, amazing. All in all not a bad seasons harvest in general and only 2 remaining growing areas (beds) to prepare before the Winter weather sets in. The only other task I have to do, which has been neglected all year, is repair my poly tunnel which was torn in several places during last Winters' storms. Some time ago I mentioned in one of my posts that a family of great tits had set up home in the bird box, positioned on the side of N1's shed, and that I would try and take some photographs of the birds. I managed to take 2 photographs of the last chick on its first flight from the box. It darted from the box's entrance, flying across N2 Plot and attempted to land on a adjacent shed roof. It didn't gain enough height and flew into the side of the shed stunning itself and flopped down behind some timber getting stuck there. I moved the wood out of the way and after a couple of minutes the bird flew off, when its mother appeared with some food. It may be advisable to enlarge the pictures by clicking on them, to enable full detail.

First Flight & Landing July 2014 (Great tit)

First Flight & Landing (Great Tit) July 2014

Not a Pretty Sight of A Dead Hedgehog Skinned by a Badger (1 More Reason Badgers Should Be Culled) August 2014 (L-Shaped Bed N1 Plot)

There's Always Tomorrow!!

Rooko's August Top 10 Tips & Tryouts

1. If you are planning to have a soft fruit area in your garden or on your allotment, order the plants now and prepare the ground ready to plant them. The plants should be delivered "bare rooted" during the Winter, ready for planting next spring.

2. Blossom end rot on your tomatoes is generally a sign of calcium deficiency in the plant. Regular (but not over-watering) is possibly the answer, do not allow the growing medium to dry out.

3.If you are working on your allotment over long periods of time during hot/humid weather conditions, ensure you have drinks available to avoid getting dehydrated.

4. If you are planting out Kale/Sprouts, plant them deeply to help their development.

5. Compost heaps should be kept moist but not wet to aid the production of good compost. If the heap becomes very dry, moisten it with water. During heavy periods of rain cover the heap to stop it getting soggy and leaching out. The ideal temperature range for the heap is between 90 degrees F and 140 degrees F approximately.

6. Keep your greenhouse/poly tunnel well ventilated during periods of humid weather. This will help to curb problems from red spider mites and whitefly.

7. Old wives tale? don't plant lilac trees close to your house, you could be inviting woodworm inside.

8. Don't forget to pot up those strawberry runners.

9. Add a high in potash feed to fruiting plants and trees.

10.

SOWING/PLANTING IN AUGUST

1. Sow the following this month: Spring Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Lettuce (Winter hardy), Spring Onions, Radish, Spinach and Turnips.
2. Plant out Savoys, Cauliflowers and Kale.

OTHER JOBS IN AUGUST

1.  Keep weeding & hoeing.
2. If you are storing potatoes for later use, ensure any damaged ones are used, not stored.
3. Pinch out side shoots on tomatoes, leaving 4 or 5 trusses on each plant in general.
4. Turn your compost heap and spray with water if it is very dry.
5. Compost & manure heaps are attractive places for wasps to build their nests, so be wary when disturbing the heaps.

Planning For Next Season

Along with the cultivating, sowing, planting and harvesting this year, both of my plots have and are being re-designed. Some of the grass paths between and around the various beds have been removed with some of the smaller beds enlarged. Much of the wooden edging around most of the same beds has also been removed and a fruit cage erected on N1 Plot. I am still in the process of moving strawberry plants from their original bed, re-planting them inside the fruit cage. The new layouts of the plots are shown below.

  N1 PLOT

N2 PLOT

There's Always Tomorrow!!

Salute The Kernel

First pick of sweetcorn today (at 15-30 and 17 seconds) worth the wait? I expect so its almost tea time.

There's always tomorrow!!

Some Rain At Last

I was woken up this morning at silly o'clock by the almost forgotten sounds of raindrops splashing against my bedroom windows. Relief at last I thought for the plants and the ground down my plots, both of which have been starved of any appreciable rainfall for several months. Watering of my plots this season has been done by utilizing water from the drainage ditch situated at the lower, southern end, of my plots. Even that supply was about to dry up. About three quarters of an hour after the first downpour of rain, another followed, only lasting for about 10 minutes, but enough for a reasonable drenching of the ground. I ventured down to my plots later at about 10-30 a.m. to pick some veggies for this weekend. Having thinned out 1 row of cabbages yesterday and replanted some of the thinnings I was glad for the earlier rain, needed to re-establish them. Most of the parched clay on my plots had soaked up the rainwater down to a depth of about 4 inches (10 cm) or so.

Another Pick of Peas (Mid July 14)

Since my last post and during possibly the busiest time of the gardening year, many tasks, other than sowing and planting, have been carried out on both of my plots, whilst fruit and veggies have been developing. The fruit cage I was constructing on N1 Plot, is finished apart from about 50% of the wood preserver still needing to be applied to the wooden framework. The netting for the roof of the cage will be added next year, as most of the fruit growing within the cage has now been picked and frozen or sold at last weekends car boot sale I attended. I am currently covering the ground of the cage with weed prevention fabric (where my strawberries will be moved to and planted). Stronger fabric will be used for paths between the planting areas or "strips", until the full area of ground is covered , except under the currant bushes.

More Gooseberries (Mid July 14)

  For some time now I have been considering removing the wooden edging surrounding most of my vegetable beds on both plots. After the fruit cage was built I began to remove some of the grass paths, along with the wooden edging, running between many of the beds. No easy task during the hot or muggy weather of late. Several paths have now been removed and the turf stacked adjacent to one of my compost heaps to break down ready for re-use as soil. Recently, watering of the plots has mainly been carried out during evenings as the sun was going down, to avoid rapid evaporation during the mornings or afternoons. I am currently constructing a metal cage (box on legs), which, when completed will stand on the bottom of the drainage ditch, with a submersible pump inside the box. The whole contraption is being made from part of the framework of an old greenhouse and the leftover pieces of chicken wire from the fruit cage project. I just hope I've measured the depth of the mud in the bottom of the drainage ditch correctly, at 2 feet 6 inches or just short of a meter, otherwise the project is sunk.

1st Pick of Carrots (July 14)

Harvesting has been fairly regular lately, with a good crop of marrows, lettuce in abundance (and strangely left alone by the armies of slugs and snails), beetroot,  some excellent carrots, runner and french beans are just coming into their own. Most of my peas have been picked and along with currants and gooseberries are already stored in my freezer. My courgettes and main crop potatoes should be ready for harvesting this coming week, with a while to wait for cucumbers and squashes which are slow in developing at the moment. What to sow next week is the next puzzle.

O.K. Lets Get This Years Deformed Carrots Out of the Way

Fruit Cage Finished Ground Cover Going In (July 14)

Gardeners Delight (July 14)

Asparagus Picking Up At Last (July 14)

Grapes in Abundance (July 14)

The End of Another Day (July 14)

There's always tomorrow!!

Gimme A Correct Weather Forecast Here Please

With rain forecast for last Friday, part of yesterday and again for today it was no surprise to find myself down my plots, enjoying hot sunny weather with an intermittent cooling breeze. Well at least MY crystal ball was still working correctly the last time I consulted it. At present the unproductive rain clouds have passed overhead leaving a clear blue evening sky, so I assume temperatures will drop considerably overnight with more hot weather again tomorrow. Just finished watering most of my plants using water from the drainage ditch at the southern end of my plots, about an hour ago, with thanks to the crystal ball.

Fruit Cage Under Construction N1 Plot 4/July/14

  A busy week yet again down the plots, with the construction of a fruit cage on N1 Plot being the main center of attention. My intention is to protect the currant bushes growing in one of the beds, mainly from birds taking the fruit. The strawberry plants from the adjacent bed will be lifted and re-planting into the southern (lower) end of the same bed, inside the cage alongside the currant bushes. As I already had a few re-cycled fencing posts I decided to purchase half a dozen more, 4 corner posts are now in place with 1 post positioned midway between each corner post. The posts have been sunk into the ground and held in position by packing them in with stones and clay to avoid the use of concrete or meta post supports. 2" X 2" wooden battens are connected to each post at a height of 7 feet (just over 2 meters) above ground level. The total area being covered in will be about 288 square feet or approximately 30 square meters, that's as far as my maths goes. Chicken wire is being attached to form the "walls" of the cage with the usual nylon type netting being used to form the roof.

Poly Tunnel Left From Door 4 July 14

Poly Tunnel Right From Door 4 July 14

Fruit picking has been one of the priorities this weekend with enough red and white currants and gooseberries picked and already in the freezer. The black currants require a few more days to ripen fully before they are picked. The remaining currants and gooseberries will be picked within the next few days and prepped for selling. I lifted a few carrots today which were of good quality, size and flavour. With 9 fifteen feet (5 meters) rows of garden peas growing on N2 Plot, several picks of peas have taken place during the past week. I thinned out my turnips (Purple top milan) today, cooking a few of the baby turnips (thinnings) along with the carrots for my tea. More sowing has been done with dwarf french beans and a second sowing of runner beans completed on N1 Plot. 63 leek plants have been planted out during the past 2 days on N2 Plot where the 4 small beds (now 1 large bed still being cultivated) is situated. After 5 earlier sowings of spring onions failed to germinate, 2 further sowings are now growing well, one row in my poly tunnel and one alongside my asparagus on N1 Plot. The sweetcorn plants on N2 Plot are enjoying the recent spell of hot weather, with many of them bearing up to 5 good sized cobs already. I sow the same variety (lark F1) each year and generally speaking each plant usually produces 2 cobs at most.
 

Frog Weighing In At Under A Pound 4 July 14

Another Pollinator 4 July 14

Collecting Last Years Leek Seeds

Leek Soup A.K.A. Nitrogen Feed 4 July 14

A Nice Show of Lettuce 4 July 14

Marrows Looking Good 4 July 14

A Single Poppy 4 July 14

First Few Carrots This Year 6 July 14

It's A Mess Behind My Sheds 4 July 14

Leeks Planted Out 6 July 14

 If you want a larger image click on the picture.


 There's Always Tomorrow!!