I've had a few days on the allotment recently and managed to prepare a good proportion of it already for the new season.
The three varieties of potatoes are chitting in the conservatory and the plan is to plant them by the first week in April. Broad beans are growing in pots in the greenhouse, and I planted sweet peas and nasturtiums in pots today, with various vegetable seeds to be planted tomorrow - for the greenhouse and also the propagator (chillis and tomatoes first there).
Garlic is already growing in the plot, and I'll plant some Sturon onion sets tomorrow in pots and hope they survive better than last year's sowings. Maybe don't plant them out too soon into the ground. Need to research on the internet.
Wilko has some great value chicken manure (£4.50 for 7kg) so that should help general fertility and growth. I'll also be able to distribute some 'new' soil from the broken down sods dug up well over a year ago and covered to prevent weed growth.
Saturday, 14 March 2015
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
2015 here we come!
Although we're still in Winter, a few sunny and dry days make it easier to imagine that Spring is not so far off now.
On Saturday we visited our new caravan storage site near to Swindon after going to the Sandiacre Garden Centre and Farm Shop to get our seed potatoes.
This year we shall be growing Swift (first early), Arran Pilot (first early) and Charlotte (second early) which will be same as last year minus the Estima which were a little bit disappointing.
This morning (after reading Which? reviews of composts and growing bags) Mick and I went to B&G to stock up with recommended all-purpose compost (4 bags each), seed and posting compost (1 bag each).
I also got 2 growing bags, following the Gardeners World trials of growing bags versus pots versus outdoor grown, and varying amounts and frequency of watering. Time will tell, but the heaviest crops of tomatoes should come from growing bags only watered once a week. I'll also grow some tomatoes on the allotment. Chillis will all be grown in pots again.
I planted 20 Sutton broad beans in pots this afternoon and they will remain in the greenhouse until large enough to plant out in the allotment. They are very hardy so should be able to get off to an early start.
On Saturday we visited our new caravan storage site near to Swindon after going to the Sandiacre Garden Centre and Farm Shop to get our seed potatoes.
This year we shall be growing Swift (first early), Arran Pilot (first early) and Charlotte (second early) which will be same as last year minus the Estima which were a little bit disappointing.
This morning (after reading Which? reviews of composts and growing bags) Mick and I went to B&G to stock up with recommended all-purpose compost (4 bags each), seed and posting compost (1 bag each).
I also got 2 growing bags, following the Gardeners World trials of growing bags versus pots versus outdoor grown, and varying amounts and frequency of watering. Time will tell, but the heaviest crops of tomatoes should come from growing bags only watered once a week. I'll also grow some tomatoes on the allotment. Chillis will all be grown in pots again.
I planted 20 Sutton broad beans in pots this afternoon and they will remain in the greenhouse until large enough to plant out in the allotment. They are very hardy so should be able to get off to an early start.
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
One meal sums it up!
After a few days at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival, and very heavy rain this morning, it was good finally to get down to the allotment again in the afternoon.
A further half mini row of Charlotte potatoes produced a really good quantity of lovely potatoes, and the nearby outdoor grown Gardeners Delight had ten more ripe juicy tomatoes for picking.
The courgette continue growing well, and this time I managed to pick three or four on the small side - Gold Rush and Romanesco. All the varieties mentioned so far today will definitely be grown again next year, as will the sensational, sweet F1 Lark sweetcorn.
The meal which summed up the whole season - simple but so tasty and fresh - sausages with potatoes, sweet corn, courgette and tomatoes sautéed. Sensational.
I also brought back another 8 Victoria plums and tried my very first Lord Lambourne apple. It had been damaged by a bug on the tree but I cut off anything that wasn't sound. The flavour was lovely and I should say that the fruit was 90% ripe. The other 5 or so apples will benefit from ripening on the tree a little longer but I'll also make sure I pick them right away if there's any sign of them falling to the ground.
A further half mini row of Charlotte potatoes produced a really good quantity of lovely potatoes, and the nearby outdoor grown Gardeners Delight had ten more ripe juicy tomatoes for picking.
The courgette continue growing well, and this time I managed to pick three or four on the small side - Gold Rush and Romanesco. All the varieties mentioned so far today will definitely be grown again next year, as will the sensational, sweet F1 Lark sweetcorn.
The meal which summed up the whole season - simple but so tasty and fresh - sausages with potatoes, sweet corn, courgette and tomatoes sautéed. Sensational.
I also brought back another 8 Victoria plums and tried my very first Lord Lambourne apple. It had been damaged by a bug on the tree but I cut off anything that wasn't sound. The flavour was lovely and I should say that the fruit was 90% ripe. The other 5 or so apples will benefit from ripening on the tree a little longer but I'll also make sure I pick them right away if there's any sign of them falling to the ground.
Monday, 18 August 2014
Best season yet?
The excellent season continues, with crops going really well.
Most recently, we've been eating plums off the tree which we moved from the previous site. We shall also have apples in the near future.
The Worcester berries have been unbelievable and we have frozen lots as well.
Also very productive are:
The potatoes, courgettes, climbing French beans, climbing and conventional peas, cucumbers. This weekend we also had some cavalo nero and other cabbage for the first time. They were both delicious and it looks like we shall have plenty more to come.
With luck, the sprouts will survive an early attack by caterpillars which somehow, despite netting, seem to have got through.
The squash plants are starting to really get a move on and hopefully we'll have plenty of mature fruits to eat and to store.
The beetroot continue to be delicious and the leeks will be good when they've had a longer period to grown in.
All in all things are looking (and tasting) really good this year!
Most recently, we've been eating plums off the tree which we moved from the previous site. We shall also have apples in the near future.
The Worcester berries have been unbelievable and we have frozen lots as well.
Also very productive are:
The potatoes, courgettes, climbing French beans, climbing and conventional peas, cucumbers. This weekend we also had some cavalo nero and other cabbage for the first time. They were both delicious and it looks like we shall have plenty more to come.
With luck, the sprouts will survive an early attack by caterpillars which somehow, despite netting, seem to have got through.
The squash plants are starting to really get a move on and hopefully we'll have plenty of mature fruits to eat and to store.
The beetroot continue to be delicious and the leeks will be good when they've had a longer period to grown in.
All in all things are looking (and tasting) really good this year!
Friday, 27 June 2014
From ground to table ........
After some really heavy rain it finally cleared up this afternoon meaning I could dig up some more potatoes. We have now finished the mini row of Arran Pilot - which we'll definitely be planting more of next year - and started on another First Early called Swift. Hopefully it will taste and cook as well as we'll be trying them with a bbq later. Our appetiser consisted of still warm beetroot F1 Action. It tasted delicious and there will be plenty more to come in due course.
Tomorrow we'll be picking more broad beans and chard so it really feels like we're in to pick and eat mode.
Tomorrow we'll be picking more broad beans and chard so it really feels like we're in to pick and eat mode.
Monday, 23 June 2014
Big catch up!
Hard to know where to start in terms of recent plantings and plantings out, cropping, greenhouse activities!
Cropping: we've started eating Arran Pilot first early potatoes - large crop of good sized potatoes and such a good flavour. Definitely one to grow next year.
The red chard we picked last week was really good and we're expecting a steady crop through the summer and beyond. We had our first meal using broad beans today and are very pleased.
Strawberries have been lovely and look set to give more fruit for at least another week, overlapping with the raspberries which will soon come into their own. Along with blackcurrants, the fruit hedge, tayberries, Worcester berries and others which we need to check names of!
The rhubarb was first off the locks and we had several cuttings of stems and froze what we couldn't eat immediately.
The asparagus was somewhat disappointing except we have to realise that the roots were disturbed when we made the move from Windsor Avenue to Victoria Road. It looks like we'll have to wait a year until we can really crop the asparagus again, so we need to keep the raised beds weed free, manured and generally well-tended.
Up and coming: peas of several varieties have really grown well this year and we look forward to enjoying them - peas, sugar snaps, climbing French peas .....
The Cobra climbing French beans are finally growing quite vigorously so we expect good things from them sooner rather than later.
The beetroot are forming nicely so won't be too long now. The variety of Action F1 should be eaten small so we will - and try also to re-sow over the coming weeks and months.
The courgette plants - Romanesco and Gold Rush - are growing well so should provide eatable fruits within the next ten days. Similarly, the cucumber plants look very healthy so we'll keep an eye on those.
The squash plant needs to be accompanied by the two remaining plants in the greenhouse so that we can be sure of a big crop of Hunter F1 butter nut squash - which incidentally have really good keeping qualities.
The netting seems very effective over the cabbage, sprouts, kale and purple sprouting. Hopefully we can look forward to good crops of each of them.
The sweet corn plants are now very well established and showing definite promise. Combined with the mixture of heavy rain and hot sunshine that we've experienced over the past 4-6 weeks I would say that conditions are excellent for that, and virtually everything else.
In the greenhouse: the 5 Gardeners' Delight tomato plants are thriving (as are the 4 plants in the allotment) but the 3 free plug plants we got through Gardeners World magazine are extremely leggy, after arriving in a very straggly and distressed state. They may not last the course.
However, the 3 chilli plants we got in the same deal are now thriving and good companions to the Prairie Fire and Ring o' Fire plants which were grown from seed. I'm hoping for good things on the chilli front this year - and a couple of new ristras too!
The sweet potato plugs really need to be planted on into a potato bag in the green house - an urgent job for this week/weekend.
The salad trays continue to grow well and provide cut and come again salad leaf. The successional sowing has improved greatly.
Cropping: we've started eating Arran Pilot first early potatoes - large crop of good sized potatoes and such a good flavour. Definitely one to grow next year.
The red chard we picked last week was really good and we're expecting a steady crop through the summer and beyond. We had our first meal using broad beans today and are very pleased.
Strawberries have been lovely and look set to give more fruit for at least another week, overlapping with the raspberries which will soon come into their own. Along with blackcurrants, the fruit hedge, tayberries, Worcester berries and others which we need to check names of!
The rhubarb was first off the locks and we had several cuttings of stems and froze what we couldn't eat immediately.
The asparagus was somewhat disappointing except we have to realise that the roots were disturbed when we made the move from Windsor Avenue to Victoria Road. It looks like we'll have to wait a year until we can really crop the asparagus again, so we need to keep the raised beds weed free, manured and generally well-tended.
Up and coming: peas of several varieties have really grown well this year and we look forward to enjoying them - peas, sugar snaps, climbing French peas .....
The Cobra climbing French beans are finally growing quite vigorously so we expect good things from them sooner rather than later.
The beetroot are forming nicely so won't be too long now. The variety of Action F1 should be eaten small so we will - and try also to re-sow over the coming weeks and months.
The courgette plants - Romanesco and Gold Rush - are growing well so should provide eatable fruits within the next ten days. Similarly, the cucumber plants look very healthy so we'll keep an eye on those.
The squash plant needs to be accompanied by the two remaining plants in the greenhouse so that we can be sure of a big crop of Hunter F1 butter nut squash - which incidentally have really good keeping qualities.
The netting seems very effective over the cabbage, sprouts, kale and purple sprouting. Hopefully we can look forward to good crops of each of them.
The sweet corn plants are now very well established and showing definite promise. Combined with the mixture of heavy rain and hot sunshine that we've experienced over the past 4-6 weeks I would say that conditions are excellent for that, and virtually everything else.
In the greenhouse: the 5 Gardeners' Delight tomato plants are thriving (as are the 4 plants in the allotment) but the 3 free plug plants we got through Gardeners World magazine are extremely leggy, after arriving in a very straggly and distressed state. They may not last the course.
However, the 3 chilli plants we got in the same deal are now thriving and good companions to the Prairie Fire and Ring o' Fire plants which were grown from seed. I'm hoping for good things on the chilli front this year - and a couple of new ristras too!
The sweet potato plugs really need to be planted on into a potato bag in the green house - an urgent job for this week/weekend.
The salad trays continue to grow well and provide cut and come again salad leaf. The successional sowing has improved greatly.
Saturday, 12 April 2014
More planting in pots and trays - maybe soon in the plot
Although I planted some more potatoes yetsreday - Estima - and all the yellow onions that had been started off in pots in the greenhouse - with the soil still likely to be rather too cold for much direct planting, today I planted the French Marigolds, some mixed salad leaf, coriander and parsley in trays.
I also sorted out what might be possible to plant direct into the allotment plot tomorrow - including chard, two varieties of peas and beetroot. It's probably not worth over-sowing in case germination is poor but in general it's warmed up a lot recently and looks set to be fair for a few more days to come too.
Following an article in the Gardeners World magazine I have put some parsnip seed on wet kitchen paper with the hope that what they call 'viable' seed will produce a small shoot within a week and then it will be possible to plant them direct into the soil right away. They are notorious for being hard to get to germinate so it's definitely worth a try.
I also sorted out what might be possible to plant direct into the allotment plot tomorrow - including chard, two varieties of peas and beetroot. It's probably not worth over-sowing in case germination is poor but in general it's warmed up a lot recently and looks set to be fair for a few more days to come too.
Following an article in the Gardeners World magazine I have put some parsnip seed on wet kitchen paper with the hope that what they call 'viable' seed will produce a small shoot within a week and then it will be possible to plant them direct into the soil right away. They are notorious for being hard to get to germinate so it's definitely worth a try.
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