No not a Wallace and Grommit blog  although it might have been a Wererabbit that has been chewing  our plant labels. The sun shone for most of the day and it got quite warm.  Just the weather to empty the water trough and clean it out, also seeing as it was sitting at quite an angle we also leveled it . The fence post we were given have been put to good use as supports for wires for our runner beans and climbing peas although its way to early to plant these yet We have however sown the first of the  dwarf peas  ( early onwards)  abd some sugarsnap Carouby de Maussane which is purpled flowered. The green house is warming up nicely and we will be planting a few early quick maturing salad crops in there in the next couple of days.

Carouby de Maussane

With Spring well on its way  the list of jobs that need doing outside is growing as quick as the newly planted seeds  The patio is in need of a fresh coat of paint, tubs need emptying and compost refreshing, water feature needs a good clean these are just a few  of the jobs that need tackling during my holiday next week. Thankfully the allotment is up together and a day spent there will see off the jobs that need doing.

The seeds planted earlier in the month are doing well in the mini grenhouse and will be added to  over the next couple of weeks. This time of the year is full of expectation of another growing season along with all the ups and down that our climate sends us

The weather has turned quite wintery here with  snow starting to fall. Days like this it best to keep off the allotment and find some jobs indoors or in the greenhouse. Jeannne and I will be starting off some veg for showing this year. Nothing serious  just our local allotment assoc show and for fun . You don’t need any special equipment to do this just a sunny window cill and a something to cover the pots to start the seeds off. We use a small heated propagator but  either a non heated one or a poly bag will do just aswell. The viarieties we have chosen are Robinsons Mamouth onion, or though a bit more expensive than other seeds  these do give excelllent results and are a good kitchen onion.  For the celery we have selected Giant Pascal which can be grown with or without blanching and has a great flavour too. We also are going to have a go at some leeks and decided on Zermatt as its a  early types.  although it,s a bit earlier than we normaly would start  these off the extra growing time will give them a good chance of reaching a large size.

First off a happy New Year to everyone and hope it is a successful growing season for all. Although it is not the weather to encrougage  most into thoughts of gardening  now is a good time to start off some of the veg that like a long growing season. In the next couple of weeks I will be sowing some onion and leek seed in pots  and placing them on a window cill. You don’t need much space  or any fancy equipment Just sow a few seeds in a 75mm (3inch ) pot water and cover with a poly bag.

On a recent visit to the Eden Project we bought some seeds of  Tacca Chantrierei ( Bat Plant) This is an unusual flower  and  should prove a little challenging , jeanne will be sowing these also in the next week or so and we will let you know how things go

Is it worth being totally organic on an allotment?. Some would jump in and say yes straight away but is it totally practicable. Although I do not like to use chemicals as an answer to any problem that arises on the allotment I do use them in a limited amount. I personally view is that used in a limited and responsible way that they have their place on the allotment. There are several reasons for this thinking. Firstly I believe that unless every plot is occupied and that all plot holders are totally organic there is always the problem with over spray and drifting of chemicals. Also there is

the problem of the pest population wandering from plot to plot in search of the best source of food available. I have noticed that when my nieghbour clears their plot of brassicas and runner beans that the aphid population on mine goes through the roof so the amount of organic control needed in such things as companion planting and defensive herb planting needed to cope with this invasion would drastically reduce the area left to grow productive crops. Although the appllication of soft soap and garlic mixes might reduce the level of some pests it is times like these when something stronger is needed and help from the chemical market is the only answer. A insectiside based on Pyrethrum would be the one of my choice here as it comes from a natural source.

As for the slug and snail problem I only use slug pellets as a last an under the nets of the brassica cage resort much prefer liquid treatment that does not harm birds A sprinkling of grit each side of a row of lettuce and the like work well as do beer traps and good housekeeping (removing dead and decaying foliage)

On the weed front although I swear by the regular use of the hoe for keeping weeds from establishing the smallest foothold on the plot there are instance when the most practicable answer is a weed killer. I would always advocate the use of one that leaves no residue in the soil. With a vacant plot bordering yours it quite possible that deep rooted and invasive plants and weeds will encroach into your plot and although hoeing weakens these it will not eradicate the problem In this is when I reach for a hand spray of weed killer and a 2 Lt. pop bottle with the bottom cut off. I place the pop bottle over the invading weed place the nozzle through the top and apply a quick spay . This method avoids drift from coming in contact with any other plant. I have found this works well with all types of plants including Mint raspberry bindweed and comfrey although some do need repeat applications

Been a little damp and dismall here for the last few days so been doing a few odd jobs that can be done inside. All canes have had the ends dipped ina bucket of dilute Armillatox to kill any pests that have crawled  up inside the ends.Also stakes have been dipped in wood preserver which hopefully will extend their life. All tools will be checked over and edges sharpened where needed.( seems that a lot of tools on sale now are not given a good sharp edge  for health and safety reasons) Over the next week or so all the seed trays and pots will be washed and sorted ready for seed sowing in the new year

November is the beginning of winter, the days are shortening and the wet weather is moving in but there is still plenty to do on the allotment. This month we hope to finish off altering the layout of our new plot, we did manage to get a good bit done today although it was wet. The small bonfire was a cheery sight and it got rid of the thicker waste that did not go in the compost bin. The waste wood from the sides of the old deep beds has been put to one side for a later bonfire. Hopefully with some reasonable weather we will have all the deep bed constructed within a couple of days.

Other jobs we have lined up for this month are to take out the runner bean trench which then can take all the green waste from the winter veg. In spring this will be back filled with the soil and help give a good source of moisture to the beans during the summer. We will also construct the framework for the Brassica cage which is an essential with the Wood Pigeons around the site. We also noticed that there is a pair of Jays around the site now

Not much to do on the plot at present it’s pretty much up together. We are harvesting pulling beetroot,carrots, turnips. brussel sprout and summer cabbage. We cleared the marrows and courgettes and picked the first of the Romansco cauliflowers.

We have started work on he new plot digging it  as the old tennant clears this year crops. As this plot was mannured last year there little to do to it accept to dig it over. Part of this plot will be used for flowers and soft fruit next year. Another  area will house  the  large plastic cold frame and  the grenhouse we purchased in end of season sales. Along with these the compost bins and shed will be moved to the same area.

The new plot

T

Frogs in the Pond

The weather tis weekend has been a bit of a mixed bag with rain and some warm sunshine. With autumn fast approaching it is time to tidy up a bit and plant some spring bulbs. We had already planted up the large flower bed alongside the seating area so we set about making a start around the pond. We want to give the early pollen feeders as much food as possible so we planted some crocus, king Alfred Daffs,Ranuculus and some English Bluebells, hopefuly these will supply the early bees ect wih a good food source. While planting this area we notice that the pond had aquired a few resident frogs and a good number of Water Boatmen since we created it earlier in the year.

The new half plot