It seems from comments made on Soilman's blog (see links on the right) that several people planted out leeks at a sensible time and still had poor results. It isn't just me then. Baby leeks all round. What wonders the WWW brings to a typically low-tech hobbie, eh?
This is similar to the plum situation - a poor (=non) harvest in 2008. Plums can go in 2-year cycles apparently. I've not seen that mentioned in any book (I probably need to read more).
Does this bode well for 2009? There is talk of a good Summer this year with decent dry and warm weather at the right time. I don't know where these predictions stem from but a blight- and flood-free 2009 would be lovely.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Winter bounty
Today was forecast to be the only one suitable for gardening this weekend - it is supposed to be very wet and windy tomorrow. Today was chilly but sunny. I popped over for an hour or so to check on things. I did want to harvest some Jerusalem artichokes and parsnips.
When I arrived, there was ice on the glass over the raised beds (see below).
When he popped over to say hello and to say that stocks of potato had arrived at the Allotment Shop, I asked the gentleman in charge of the site about my leeks. They haven't really grown much and I suspected that they probably couldn't be expected to grow much now. He confirmed my suspicions so I will just be happy enough to harvest them as baby leeks. All but one of the leeks below (pictured along with a stray potato that was nestled in with them in the ground) were the runts of the batch sown last year so I planted these in groups of 3 or 4 with the purpose of using them as baby leeks if they did develop. Some of the other, sturdier ones have grown up a bit more (but still on the baby side compared to the usual) and have been left in the ground for future harvesting.
I then set about digging up some Jerusalem artichokes. I want to make some soup and give some tubers to some friends. I ended up harvesting two plants - just two plants left now in the ground. I would guess that I retrieved 2 kilos of them. I also dug up a few parsnips and cut some perpetual spinach which is starting to take off again under net cloches.
One job I have been thinking about recently, and was reminded of today by one of my next door plotters who commented on it, is bramble clearing. As the piccie below shows, bramble is rampant at the bottom of my plot. It was there way before I arrived on Plot 35. I do mean to clear it this Winter/Spring. I plan to use some holiday days to see to it.
The light began to disappear so I headed home to wash and store my harvest (see piccie below). Now, that's not a bad lot to bring back in the middle of Winter, is it?
When I arrived, there was ice on the glass over the raised beds (see below).
When he popped over to say hello and to say that stocks of potato had arrived at the Allotment Shop, I asked the gentleman in charge of the site about my leeks. They haven't really grown much and I suspected that they probably couldn't be expected to grow much now. He confirmed my suspicions so I will just be happy enough to harvest them as baby leeks. All but one of the leeks below (pictured along with a stray potato that was nestled in with them in the ground) were the runts of the batch sown last year so I planted these in groups of 3 or 4 with the purpose of using them as baby leeks if they did develop. Some of the other, sturdier ones have grown up a bit more (but still on the baby side compared to the usual) and have been left in the ground for future harvesting.
I then set about digging up some Jerusalem artichokes. I want to make some soup and give some tubers to some friends. I ended up harvesting two plants - just two plants left now in the ground. I would guess that I retrieved 2 kilos of them. I also dug up a few parsnips and cut some perpetual spinach which is starting to take off again under net cloches.
One job I have been thinking about recently, and was reminded of today by one of my next door plotters who commented on it, is bramble clearing. As the piccie below shows, bramble is rampant at the bottom of my plot. It was there way before I arrived on Plot 35. I do mean to clear it this Winter/Spring. I plan to use some holiday days to see to it.
The light began to disappear so I headed home to wash and store my harvest (see piccie below). Now, that's not a bad lot to bring back in the middle of Winter, is it?
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Exploding cat!
Both days this weekend have started off lovely and sunny. Yesterday went all windy and wet though. Not sure what the rest of today will bring but it is still sunny now.
Yesterday afternoon I sowed some onion seeds (with some "assistance" from a neighbour's cat - I suppose firming down the compost in trays with one's paws is a useful thing to do, making sure the seed really is in contact with the compost). The seeds are now sitting on windowsills.
I had some lovely friends staying over and we popped over to the plot for a brief inspection. Sadly, the clay cat that was guarding the plot and featured on the top of the blog page seems to have exploded with the frost. We found it in bits. A sad find for me. I might try to fix it next weekend if I can. Some heavy tarpaulin from next door's plot had been blown over to my plot which shows just how windy it was yesterday.
Far too wet for digging so I'll have to keep waiting and focusing on indoor gardening activities.
Yesterday afternoon I sowed some onion seeds (with some "assistance" from a neighbour's cat - I suppose firming down the compost in trays with one's paws is a useful thing to do, making sure the seed really is in contact with the compost). The seeds are now sitting on windowsills.
I had some lovely friends staying over and we popped over to the plot for a brief inspection. Sadly, the clay cat that was guarding the plot and featured on the top of the blog page seems to have exploded with the frost. We found it in bits. A sad find for me. I might try to fix it next weekend if I can. Some heavy tarpaulin from next door's plot had been blown over to my plot which shows just how windy it was yesterday.
Far too wet for digging so I'll have to keep waiting and focusing on indoor gardening activities.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Bag lady
The weather for the rest of the day was much better than forecast a day or two ago. It was supposed to be very wet. Instead, it was cloudy, a bit windy and very mild compared to last weekend. A barmy 8.5 degrees this afternoon. Good weather for being outside. Digging was out of the question though as the ground was very wet and compacted.
My fantastic neighbour, Wendy, came round to say that she had lots of hedge cuttings bagged up for me (see below).
Most of the bags contained trimmings cut up small but 3 contained larger, woodier trimmings. I'll cut the contents of those 3 up smaller later. As for the others, I spent a brief time watering the contents of the bags, tying them up and pricking them with a garden fork, before putting them behind the shed. Behind the shed already was a couple of bags of autumn leaves I collected and bagged up last year. They have only half broken down so I took them round to the plot and have put them in a quickly assembled wire bin next to the Jerusalem artichokes (see below).
Wendy has already given me a few bags of trimmings that have been in bags for a few months so they might be ready to add to one of the beds in the Spring. While at the plot, I also put some veg peelings on the compost along with some slimy leaves I cut off the globe artichokes. Presumably they had been killed off by the recent frost. See below for some before and after photos of the globe artichoke bed.
Below is a piccie of Bed 3 which I cleared a couple of weeks ago. Compared to the photos from before New Year, it looks much better.
Before I left the plot, I spotted the labels for the sea kale but saw no sign of the actual plant nearby. I had a root around to see if there was any root there. The little bit of root I found, I took home.
In the lean-to, before the sun disappeared altogether, I potted up the sea kale root. I am hoping it will show some regrowth soon. Research suggests that sea kale roots should be planted in March and kept in sand until then. I know that if I was to put it in sand tucked away somewhere, I will forget about it.
In the bags of larger hedge trimmings from Wendy, there were some rosemary clippings. Some of these had some new growth so I have taken some small cuttings and potted those up to. Fingers crossed one or two of them take.
Finally, I did sow 8 sweet pea seeds and have put them on a windowsill upstairs. My first sowings of 2009.
My fantastic neighbour, Wendy, came round to say that she had lots of hedge cuttings bagged up for me (see below).
Most of the bags contained trimmings cut up small but 3 contained larger, woodier trimmings. I'll cut the contents of those 3 up smaller later. As for the others, I spent a brief time watering the contents of the bags, tying them up and pricking them with a garden fork, before putting them behind the shed. Behind the shed already was a couple of bags of autumn leaves I collected and bagged up last year. They have only half broken down so I took them round to the plot and have put them in a quickly assembled wire bin next to the Jerusalem artichokes (see below).
Wendy has already given me a few bags of trimmings that have been in bags for a few months so they might be ready to add to one of the beds in the Spring. While at the plot, I also put some veg peelings on the compost along with some slimy leaves I cut off the globe artichokes. Presumably they had been killed off by the recent frost. See below for some before and after photos of the globe artichoke bed.
Below is a piccie of Bed 3 which I cleared a couple of weeks ago. Compared to the photos from before New Year, it looks much better.
Before I left the plot, I spotted the labels for the sea kale but saw no sign of the actual plant nearby. I had a root around to see if there was any root there. The little bit of root I found, I took home.
In the lean-to, before the sun disappeared altogether, I potted up the sea kale root. I am hoping it will show some regrowth soon. Research suggests that sea kale roots should be planted in March and kept in sand until then. I know that if I was to put it in sand tucked away somewhere, I will forget about it.
In the bags of larger hedge trimmings from Wendy, there were some rosemary clippings. Some of these had some new growth so I have taken some small cuttings and potted those up to. Fingers crossed one or two of them take.
Finally, I did sow 8 sweet pea seeds and have put them on a windowsill upstairs. My first sowings of 2009.
To live by the moon or not...
I was planning to do my first sowings of 2009 today. Sweet peas and onions. However, it is full moon right now and the Gardeners Calendar suggests that this is a bad time to sow onions. Next Saturday would be better. Flowering plants are ok apparently, so ok for the sweet peas. There are also suggestions that gardening on a full moon is generally a bad idea was things are more likely to go wrong. I don't know much about biodynamics but an article in Gardener's World by Toby Buckland was interesting and his, admittedly small, experiment suggested that it might be beneficial for things like peas and carrots. I had considered experimenting with it sometime but hadn't made my mind up really. To me, it would reduce the need for me to choose what to sow when.
I think the onions can wait until next weekend particularly given the cold snap we are having. I think I will get the sweet peas going so there might be some sign of new growth next weekend.
I think the onions can wait until next weekend particularly given the cold snap we are having. I think I will get the sweet peas going so there might be some sign of new growth next weekend.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Brrrrrr!
Warmer than Antarctica (those of you who were listening to Radio 4 just before 1800 will know what I am talking about)?
It was about -5.5 when I left for work at 0700 this morning. The snow from the early hours of yesterday morning remained. Even colder than the weekend. I quickly checked the seed potatoes in the lean-to an hour ago expecting them to be frozen solid. They seemed fine. Even the parsley plants I placed next to them from the mini-greenhouse had thawed out. Not bad. It was sunny today which probably helped.
I did a spot of seed swapping with a colleague at work today. We got some strange looks in the tea room. I have come away with some white borage (very pretty purple/pink seeds), pak choi and gerbera. Nice one.
It was about -5.5 when I left for work at 0700 this morning. The snow from the early hours of yesterday morning remained. Even colder than the weekend. I quickly checked the seed potatoes in the lean-to an hour ago expecting them to be frozen solid. They seemed fine. Even the parsley plants I placed next to them from the mini-greenhouse had thawed out. Not bad. It was sunny today which probably helped.
I did a spot of seed swapping with a colleague at work today. We got some strange looks in the tea room. I have come away with some white borage (very pretty purple/pink seeds), pak choi and gerbera. Nice one.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Welcome to 2009!
A cold start to the year - it is freezing outside. Literally. It was -1 Celsius at 1400 today. Average temperatures this time of year are more like 6 degrees apparently. The light, sandy soil in our back garden is frozen solid, as is a couple of the pots in the coldframe next to the house. It is that cold. No chance of any Winter digging on the heavy, clay plot this weekend, unfortunately. No sowing yet either. That's for next weekend. There are onions, shallots and leeks to sow. And sweet peas.
I did start off the potato chitting today (see below). Hopefully these won't freeze in the lean-to and I have put them the right way up. I'll check on their progress in a couple of weeks.
In the last day or two, my friend and neighbour chopped down 7 conifer hedges in her front garden and she was planning on shredding the branches and taking them down to the tip. Of course, I have asked her if I could take the shreddings instead for mulching on the plot (after letting them compost down a bit first in black bags). I helped out this morning trying to start the shredding. I wasn't much use as my toes froze after just an hour. My main contribution was reading the instructions for her shredder to work out why it kept stopping. A lot of the hedge clippings could be chopped with secateurs but it'll take a long while to get through it. A few sessions in the warm in front of the TV with a nice glass of wine should do it if my neighbour doesn't master the shredder. It could make all the difference to the heavy clay soil on some of the beds.
Looking back to Christmas 2008, the real hits from the plot were the parsnips (mammoth as some of them were) and horseradish. I used the horseradish to make some smoked mackeral pate and it went down very well over New Year.
I did start off the potato chitting today (see below). Hopefully these won't freeze in the lean-to and I have put them the right way up. I'll check on their progress in a couple of weeks.
In the last day or two, my friend and neighbour chopped down 7 conifer hedges in her front garden and she was planning on shredding the branches and taking them down to the tip. Of course, I have asked her if I could take the shreddings instead for mulching on the plot (after letting them compost down a bit first in black bags). I helped out this morning trying to start the shredding. I wasn't much use as my toes froze after just an hour. My main contribution was reading the instructions for her shredder to work out why it kept stopping. A lot of the hedge clippings could be chopped with secateurs but it'll take a long while to get through it. A few sessions in the warm in front of the TV with a nice glass of wine should do it if my neighbour doesn't master the shredder. It could make all the difference to the heavy clay soil on some of the beds.
Looking back to Christmas 2008, the real hits from the plot were the parsnips (mammoth as some of them were) and horseradish. I used the horseradish to make some smoked mackeral pate and it went down very well over New Year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
