Apparently, someone is pitching strawberries from our site. That certainly explains why the many green ones growing nicely in my strawberry have not made an appearance. A couple of weeks ago, a fellow allotmenter commented that his had gone missing. This is a shame and I hope it stops happening. I'll look into some sort of security light and will report back to my friends on the site. Some TV programmes featured sections on the rising occurence of allotment theft. Previous to this, I had not suffered from it.
Some things have progressed since last week. The tomato plants are starting to flower and some parsnips have germinated. It turns out that all that pre-chitting stuff was not necessary. Keeping seeds moist seems to be the main thing.
I focused on a spot of weeding today. A quick bit of hoeing will mean that there will be space to plant some new stuff next to the parsnips and the chard and perpetual spinach The chard and spinach are a bit past their best so I plan to harvest their leaves and dig them up soon to completely free up that bed. That might be where I put the leeks.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Garlic harvest
Last weekend, I got chatting to one of the most experienced allotmenteers on the site and asked him about my garlic. The tops looked yellow/brown and dry so I wondered whether or not they were ready for harvesting. He said that it looked like they had rust, just like his did apparently (it turns out we got them from the same place). He advised that I dig them up and dry them out. This I did. They have been drying out on the kitchen table for a week and this morning I peeled of the outer covering. 4 or 5 were a bit mouldy inside - perhaps I should have peeled them just after harvesting. The piccies below show what I have got. Not a big harvest.
Shortly after taking on the allotment in Oct 2006, I was advised by many of the allotmenteers to get something in the ground asap so that I would have something to harvest asap. The first things I planted were onions and garlic I think. I did the same thing last year - planting garlic and onion sets (plus a few pot-grown onion seedlings) in the Autumn. I am not sure that planting so early is a good thing to do. I find it hard to maintain the bed for so many months. Looking around at other plots, garlic and onion grown much later catch up anyway. Next year, I will plant them later I think.
Off to the plot shortly. I need to weed round the peas and tidy up the sad looking brassica bed. I might buy some Brussel Sprout plants from somewhere which I'll cover with shop-bought netting tunnels to ensure a supply for Christmas.
Shortly after taking on the allotment in Oct 2006, I was advised by many of the allotmenteers to get something in the ground asap so that I would have something to harvest asap. The first things I planted were onions and garlic I think. I did the same thing last year - planting garlic and onion sets (plus a few pot-grown onion seedlings) in the Autumn. I am not sure that planting so early is a good thing to do. I find it hard to maintain the bed for so many months. Looking around at other plots, garlic and onion grown much later catch up anyway. Next year, I will plant them later I think.
Off to the plot shortly. I need to weed round the peas and tidy up the sad looking brassica bed. I might buy some Brussel Sprout plants from somewhere which I'll cover with shop-bought netting tunnels to ensure a supply for Christmas.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Brand new information...
A little bit of Internet research has thrown up a rabbit deterrent in the form of cayenne pepper. Apparently, sprinking it around the base of susceptible plants puts rabbits off. I might try this cos I am getting little disheartened about my cabbages disappearing all the time.
It rained here in the morning but was mainly dry in the afternoon if very grey. I didn't venture onto the allotment but tidied up the garden. I sowed some more salad leaves as the others had gone to seed in my absence. I divided up some primroses and pruned some plants including the bay shrub. The bay prunings are drying now ready for winter stews.
The lemon plant I had washed a couple of months ago, clearly too vigorously, had gone completely brown so I have disposed of it. I am focusing on learning how to keep the lime plant alive for not though I have put a lemon plant on my birthday list. Today, I put the lime plant on a high shelf in the lean-to for some fresh air after giving it a good water and feed. Fingers crossed...
One of the chilli plants has three large chillis on it and is busy starting off a couple of others. I am now just waiting for them to turn red. Can't wait.
The foliage of the Anya potatoes I planted in a couple of pots on the patio was growing strongly for a few weeks but recently it had flopped. This may have been because the pots were not quite deep enough. As I couldn't be bothered to go to the shops for tea, I ended up harvesting them. Many were very small but they roasted up nicely with some olive oil, tomatos and chorizo.
It is forecast to be drier tomorrow so I'll be over on the plot.
It rained here in the morning but was mainly dry in the afternoon if very grey. I didn't venture onto the allotment but tidied up the garden. I sowed some more salad leaves as the others had gone to seed in my absence. I divided up some primroses and pruned some plants including the bay shrub. The bay prunings are drying now ready for winter stews.
The lemon plant I had washed a couple of months ago, clearly too vigorously, had gone completely brown so I have disposed of it. I am focusing on learning how to keep the lime plant alive for not though I have put a lemon plant on my birthday list. Today, I put the lime plant on a high shelf in the lean-to for some fresh air after giving it a good water and feed. Fingers crossed...
One of the chilli plants has three large chillis on it and is busy starting off a couple of others. I am now just waiting for them to turn red. Can't wait.
The foliage of the Anya potatoes I planted in a couple of pots on the patio was growing strongly for a few weeks but recently it had flopped. This may have been because the pots were not quite deep enough. As I couldn't be bothered to go to the shops for tea, I ended up harvesting them. Many were very small but they roasted up nicely with some olive oil, tomatos and chorizo.
It is forecast to be drier tomorrow so I'll be over on the plot.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Back to Blighty
Not to panic - it's not the potato kind.
Just a quick post today. I've just got back from a week's holiday so was keen to check things over. I was pleased to see some ripe strawberries nestling on top of the straw - my first proper strawberry harvest - I had two last year I think. I picked those for my dinner along with some broad beans and some chard which was going to seed (see the smug photo below).
Most of the sweetcorn I sowed a couple of weeks ago is still there but has been nibbled a bit. Before I went on holiday, I did plant some cucurbits and sow some climbing beans among some of sweetcorn to start off the three sisters bed. The cucurbits seemed mostly intact but no sign of the beans yet.
I saw that one of the first early potato plants had developed purple flowers. I believe that this is sign that they are ready to harvest. Potato salad this weekend then...
...alongside an awful lot of weeding.
Just a quick post today. I've just got back from a week's holiday so was keen to check things over. I was pleased to see some ripe strawberries nestling on top of the straw - my first proper strawberry harvest - I had two last year I think. I picked those for my dinner along with some broad beans and some chard which was going to seed (see the smug photo below).
Most of the sweetcorn I sowed a couple of weeks ago is still there but has been nibbled a bit. Before I went on holiday, I did plant some cucurbits and sow some climbing beans among some of sweetcorn to start off the three sisters bed. The cucurbits seemed mostly intact but no sign of the beans yet.
I saw that one of the first early potato plants had developed purple flowers. I believe that this is sign that they are ready to harvest. Potato salad this weekend then...
...alongside an awful lot of weeding.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Insect spotting
It turns out that the little bright red bugs that I have seen on plot and thought were young ladybirds (as featured on the April 27th posting) are actually red velvet mites. Apparently, they are play a very active part in the ecosystem so seeing them around is no bad thing. I do feel a little stupid that I thought they were baby ladybirds but they all seemed to appear in the same places at the same times.
And the bug I spotted yesterday on a patch of comfrey may be a red lily beetle, although piccies on the WWW suggest that these have black heads rather than red ones. Not sure.
And the bug I spotted yesterday on a patch of comfrey may be a red lily beetle, although piccies on the WWW suggest that these have black heads rather than red ones. Not sure.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
One possibility...
...is that the tomatoes have a touch of powdery mildew as seen on http://ag.arizona.edu/PLP/plpext/diseases/vegetables/tomato/pm.htm. Nothing too bad then. It was probably due to the humid conditions in the mini-greenhouse over that warm period earlier in Spring. Lesson learned - next time I should put the tomatoes outside during such weather.
I love car boot sales...
which feature plant stalls. I bought 10 cabbage (Primo), 12 cauliflower (All the Year Round) and 12 calabrese plants for £4.00 to replace those that were nibbled away by the pesky rabbits on the site. A nearby garden centre are selling similar plants for £1.99 for 6. Given the apparent thrifty culture of allotmenteers, this is something to be very smug about. I also bought some herbs (lemon thyme, chives and sage) - I have no self control when faced with bargain plants.
I planted out the brassicas and fixed some netting over the top - properly this time (see piccie below) - so hopefully they will still be there when I next visit the allotment in a week's time. The Primo plants are to the right of the strawberries which are beginning to fruit nicely.
I planted out 6 tomato plants next to the Jerusalem Artichokes and early potatoes. As the piccies below show, a couple of them have yellow blotches on some of the leaves. Hopefully this is just a symptom of fluctuating temperatures or a nutritional deficiency and not something contagious. I'll check this out some more.
Finally, I sowed some Tender and True parsnip seeds. One last shot at getting some to grow for Christmas.
Below is a photo that my other half took yesterday using his new fancy camera. I was in the middle of digging over the bed for the sweetcorn.
Below is a photo of some sort of bug but I have no idea what it is. Another bit of research is required...
I planted out the brassicas and fixed some netting over the top - properly this time (see piccie below) - so hopefully they will still be there when I next visit the allotment in a week's time. The Primo plants are to the right of the strawberries which are beginning to fruit nicely.
I planted out 6 tomato plants next to the Jerusalem Artichokes and early potatoes. As the piccies below show, a couple of them have yellow blotches on some of the leaves. Hopefully this is just a symptom of fluctuating temperatures or a nutritional deficiency and not something contagious. I'll check this out some more.
Finally, I sowed some Tender and True parsnip seeds. One last shot at getting some to grow for Christmas.
Below is a photo that my other half took yesterday using his new fancy camera. I was in the middle of digging over the bed for the sweetcorn.
Below is a photo of some sort of bug but I have no idea what it is. Another bit of research is required...
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