Final cropping of the year?

After what seems like weeks and weeks of rain, today was finally a dry day. I was nervous again about what I would find at the allotment after a four week gap since my last visit.

I needn't have worried too much as things looked pretty tidy. The poly tunnel had been cleared out on my last visit, and I had done a bit of digging and clearing of the main plot too.

The squash plants had withered away but had left some fine fruits, as can be seen in the photo.

Back at the greenhouse I was able to pick the remaining chillis, (bought from the South Devon Chilli Farm) a mixture of red and green Ring of Fire, which certainly live up to their name. A single chilli gave plenty of heat in a recent chilli con carne, and will certainly add some heat to a chicken curry I'm making later today. The quantity of chillis produced this year is definitely similar to the very first time we grew them, and far better than the last couple of years. Whether it's due to a better variety, or more suitable growing conditions, it's hard to know, but I'll certainly try the exact same ones next year.

Once the weather steadies down a bit, and the soil can really start to dry out a bit, I'll go back to the allotment and try to finalise the clearing up and pre-winter digging.  With luck also, I'll get some manure spread over the plot, and cover with sheeting to suppress weeds until things start over again in the early Spring.

Harvest time!

After 2 weeks away with the caravan in Vendee we were a little nervous about the state that the allotment would be in, especially as we understood that there had been a real heatwave in our absence. We had had a couple of kind offers to water our plot (Paul and our 'next door neighbours'), but had not expected so much to have been done. Virtually everything had thrived, unlike last year when our former plot had more or less come to a standstill.

The polytunnel had lots of cabbages ready to pick, the courgette plants are growing well, along with the cucumbers, tomatoes, beetroot (exceptional this year) and leeks. First impressions, comparing the polytunnel with the rest of the plot, suggest more leafy growth but with flowering and setting of fruits somewhat behind. This may give us different options for the future in terms of crop succession and so on.

On the main plot we picked our first potatoes - Swift First Earlies  which produced 1.23 kg of very nice potatoes from only 4 seed potatoes. We tried them the very same day of digging them up and look forward to eating more. I also picked one plant of the next crop - Arran Pilot - which seems to crop more heavily with 462g and we look forward to trying them tomorrow.

As for the remaining plants, we should be able to pick them as we please from now on and enjoy fresh new potatoes for some weeks to come. They are also leaving the soil in a far pleasanter condition which short term will be good for quick crops such as radish and salad leaf, and longer term for more general crops, especially when we've been able to add some soil conditioner and manure in the Autumn.

Also on the main plot we picked lots of French beans - 700g, with many more to come - and broad beans - 2.2kg, with more to come too.

We also picked some onions, both red and white - 542g with more to come - and they found their way into a ratatouille tout de suite.

The fruit situation is very interesting also. There were already a lot of fruit bushes on the plot, top which we added some of our own raspberries and a black currant bush. Today Linda picked 492g of raspberries, 757g of small black currants from existing bushes, and 213g from the bush we moved from our former plot. The latter were also larger fruits  and demonstrate, we think, that new stock can definitely add to productivity as well as flavour.  

With more uncertain weather ahead for the next few days at least we'll need to still make sure we continue to harvest little and often to fully enjoy the fruits of our labour. It's very exciting and definitely makes clear just how difficult a task we had with our former plot.

June update

There's been more acvtivity on the allotment than on the blog - fortunately! So where to start?

In no particular order - the polytunnel is now a coupe version, open to the sun and rain but surrounded by a fantastic protective plastic windbreak that creates a real micro climate but will reduce the need for daily watering.

The soil is very dry and quite poor in the ploytunnel so bit by bit it will be necessary to add manure and other soil conditioners to condition it. Definitely it will benefit from a good amount of manure in the Autumn but for now we'll make the best of what we have or can buy pre-packaged.

Currently the polytunnel contains

8 tomato plants, 2 vines, 2 cucumber plants, around a dozen onions grown from sets and a dozen cabbage plants.  We have already had an immense crop of radish which were all beautiful and tasted perfect. I just need to persist with the aim og sowing for succession. Did I say the same thing last year? Hmmm. As space permits we'll keep adding to what we have in the polytunnel but know that next year will offer a bigger potential. Part of the problem is that a good quarter of the surface area of the polytunnel is covered in burnt wood (for potash?) and sundry other rubbish that needs clearing out.

The potatoes in the plot are all growing well with though they will need watering if they are to achieve any great size of potato.

Also growing well are the broad beans (ours and some given to us by Paul), onions and shallots, with disappointing progress being made by the garlic.

The climbing French beans just need to start climbing, but otherwise look healthy enough, but I need to sow more Chard if we are to get enough of what we really love both to eat and for its appearance.

Next time I'll post some photos but at this stage we're feeling quite pleased with progress so far, despite everything being around 3, maybe 4, weeks behind what you would expect for the time of year. 

Update on 22nd April

There's been a lot of activity on the new plot, as well as on the former one. On Sunday we moved the lavender plants, rhubarb and vines, along with some wood (for future deep beds), garden canes and other bits and pieces. There's still a little left there to move in due course but the main things are already at the new plot.

Most of the garlic, onion and shallot sets are now in the ground, as is the rhubarb to be followed soon by the broad beans which are looking very strong and healthy and the vines (in the poly tunnel).

I planted the early potatoes this afternoon in mini rows from the poly tunnel to the fruit cane direction, as follows:

4 x Swift
5 x Arran Pilot
5 x Nadine
3 x Nadine

To try to deter badgers I followed Paul's advice and covered the rows with horticultural sheeting so hopefully that will allow the potatoes to establish themselves undisturbed.

More removal work .....

This morning we did a lot more in terms of moving things from the old allotment to the new one.

This included moving and replanting: an apple tree and a plum tree (both carried by Linda!), and a blackcurrant bush. We also moved all the blue tubing (for fleece protection of plant rows in early Spring, the weed suppressing membrane (to help warm up the soil before planting certain crops), and all the remaining tools and bits and pieces. The garden canes and a few pieces of planking for raised beds can be moved in due course.

There are still a few plants to move, in particular around 30 small lavender plants, and we'll have a good final look to see if there is anything else we can take with us when the moment finally comes to give the old plot up.

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Preparing the new allotment continues .......

Although it's been a very cold Easter, with overnight frosts, it's been completely dry. This has made it far easier to start to dig the rougher sections of the plot, as well as to remove some of old fruit bushes to make room for new ones and more general purpose vegetable beds.

With the help of the wheel barrow I have managed to get both of the deep bed frames in place at the new allotment. They need fixing in place and then filling with a good mixture of soil, grit and manure before the Gijnlim asparagus plants arrive.

In the green house the broad beans and yellow onions and shallots are all rooting well now and green shoots appearing. I think the next best place for them is in the polytunnel at the allotment, and this in turn will make more space in the greenhouse for things that require a closer eye on them.

Today I planted up the potato growing bag with the 5 Charlotte seed potatoes which had chitted quite well.  It's an experiment really but I'm sure if I follow the simple instructions closely everything will be fine and we'll get some nice early salad potatoes.

 As for the rest, this time last year I was definitely planting most of them into the ground.  What with the further digging which is required, and the need to wait a little longer until the heaviest night frosts seem to have passed, I can't see much potato planting until the middle of the month.

New Allotment - day 1

The snow won't go so we had to come to the allotment while snow is still on the ground.

Mad or just keen?

                                          Area dug  by John today - ready for potatoes

                                          Area dug by Linda today - site of new asparagus bed

March update

The allotment is now looking more or less prepared for Spring planting.  The seed potatoes are all sprouting, and 5 of the Charlotte will be planted in our free (courtesy of Gardeners World magazine) potato planter in the greenhouse later this month.

The broad beans in pots in the greenhouse are starting to root now and hopefully we'll see shoots above the compost soon.

Some of the shallots are showing signs of shoots, some of the red onion sets are showing signs of rot!  I need to keep an eye on that, though I've held some of the sets back for planting later, in the greenhouse or else directly into the ground.

The chilli seeds are starting to germinate (on the front room window sill!) so maybe we'll have Ring of Fire and Prairie Fire later on in the year - or maybe one of the 2 Italian varieties.

Now is the time to sort out which seeds need sowing in pots or trays for early starts (vegetables and also flowers) and which will follow in April onwards.  I'd hate to 'miss the boat' with any - it's a long time until next year!!

Spring just around the corner

As we reach the end of February there are definite signs that Spring is not so far away.

I have visited the allotment three times recently and started clearing up and digging in preparation for the new year.

The asparagus beds just need a layer of composted manure and some growmore and (fingers crossed) we can expect another lovely crop of asparagus in April.

Stuart helped me construct a more solid, and taller, cage to protect certain vulnerable crops. As soon as the soil preparations are completed, we'll get the cage put together - complete with a door that avoids us having to crawl on hands and knees into the cage.

Already sown in the greenhouse are shallots, red and yellow onion sets and 2 varieties of broad beans, so hopefully everything will get off to an early start for planting out later.

Our potatoes are chitting in the conservatory - First and Second Earlies are Nadine, Swift and Arran Pilot (small quantities of each), and for an early main/salad crop equivalent we'll be concentrating on Charlotte. We hope to get early crops of these lovely potatoes and be able to keep plenty for later in the year, and avoid the possible risk of blight later in the Summer.

I have sown Gardeners Delight and Marmande tomato seeds already, as well as 3 types of chilli seeds - the names of which will follow!  They were bought from the South Devon Chilli Farm website. It sells a big range of seeds, plants and associated equipment and composts. It's a shame it's so far away as I'd love to visit and see the full range of what goes on there.