Chokes away

This weekend has been very warm - about 24 degrees. I didn't manage to get to the plot yesterday but had 2 hours there today.

I planted out 16 tomato plants (8 Tigerella and 8 Costoluto Genovese) in Bed 7. I didn't think I'd left any space for tomatoes on my planting plan but luckily, as Bed 7 hasn't had potatoes in it for a while and isn't scheduled to for a year or two, it provides the ideal place. I planted the tomatoes in the half of the bed nearest the path as I emptied some compost onto that half only a few weeks ago. This should provide some decent food for the hungry plants. I spaced them out in a 4x4 grid with bamboo canes for support (see below).



Fingers crossed that they ripen one day and are not attacked by the dreaded blight.

I also planted the last 15 or so pea plants as they were starting to flow over their seed tray. I planted these around the wigwams I erected last weekend to double up around some of the canes.

The biggest globe artichoke plant has got even bigger since I last saw it (see piccies below). It has even grown a couple of satellite chokes around the main one.





Though a couple of other plants are starting to grow chokes, they seem to be pointier and more open (see below).



They don't look right. I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

After giving everything a good watering, I have come home to make strawberry jam and oven-dried tomatoes.

Next in the queue

I got back after a couple of days away and on my return I found the pea seedlings in the lean-to about 4 times taller than they were before. It was time to plant them out. There were also 5 cucurbit plants waiting their turn. I spent 2 pleasant but busy hours over at the plot this evening.

First of all, I raked and weeded most of Bed 6. The soil is pretty good in that bed so the weeding was low effort. I then put in 3 bamboo wigwams and planted out the pea seedlings. I spent a little bit of time wondering what to use to protect them from the birds and rabbits. Suddenly it dawned on me that there was some bright orange plastic stuff what was left in the shed when I took the plot on. It is not pretty but it seemed to be just right with a bit of pegging down and tying up (see below).



I then planted the 5 cucurbits in Bed 9. Before coming home, I got the hose out and gave everything a good watering, including some beans on my neighbour's plot which another allotmenteer pointed out as looking a bit dry. It is lovely that he spotted that and was looking out for them. We have agreed to water each other's plots when we are each on our hols later in the year.

Beating the badger

A fantastic bank holiday weekend weatherwise. Saturday was quite warm and sunny. Sunday was really quite hot (22 degrees which I think it is hot). Today was humid but not quite so warm as Sunday. A bit of spitting too. It was forecast to start raining quite heavily from 1500 onwards but that hasn't materialised yet. A fellow allotmenteer reckoned that, with the humidity, if it started raining we might get some thunderstorms.

On Saturday, I took the piccie below to show the jungle that is Plot 35.



I started by consolidating my compost bins. I had two full ones, though some of the contents could do with a bit more time to rot down, and a wire-bound pile of Autumn leaves. I refilled one of the compost bins with the merged contents and placed it at the bottom of the plot, out of the way. I sat the other one next to it and restarted it with layers of freshly mown grass from home and the leaves. I have since added some kitchen waste and some comfrey (from the huge clump near the shed).

I planted the sweetcorn and Lady Godiva seedlings in Bed 9. I am intent on keeping my sweetcorn safe from The Badger so I put some wire netting around them. I put 3 Lady Godiva squash plants next to the sweetcorn (see piccie below).



Bramble Man came to say hello and we had a look at the globe artichokes. I was very pleased to see that 3 of the plants have little chokes growing in the centre (see piccie below).



Fingers crossed that these continue to develop into a nice big chokes to eat.

On Sunday, I didn't have too much time to spend on the plot but did get an hour in the early afternoon to trim some grass from the paths. I nipped round in the early evening with J and G. I'd bought some new hose attachments earlier in the day but after a little bit of fiddling with the old attachment, G got it working properly again. J helped me with the watering.

Today, I headed over to the plot at about 1330 for about 3 hours. First job was to continue the grass trimming on the paths. Then onto weeding and hoeing. I weeded carefully through the parsnip bed. Most of the stations had little seedlings in them. For those that didn't, I tried transplanting some spare ones from the more crowded stations. I don't think parsnips are known for loving transplantation but they seemed to do ok last year (see piccie below for freshly weeded parsnip bed).



I carried on weeding and hoeing round Beds 1, 2 and 4 before taking a photo of the plot.



I think it looks much better, though there is still room for significant improvement...

Have wellies...will travel...

Nipped over to the plot in my wellies for an hour this evening. Showers all day gave way to reasonable sunshine at about 1700 so after a couple of hours watching the clouds with some suspicion, I headed over.

I hand-weeded round the garlic and onions in Bed 5 before moving onto the beetroot. Lots of what I think is chickweed around, crowding the beetroot. I sprinkled some organic pellets near the marigolds and beetroot. Finally, I took a moment to enjoy the site of bees nipping in and out of the comfrey and broad bean flowers.

The nettle tea that has been brewing down the end of the plot now pongs to high heaven which, I guess, is the idea. I'll bottle some of that up at the weekend.

I went home with some radishes which I really need to use up and there are plenty more where that came from. Any ideas for using them up would be gratefully received...pickled radish anyone?

Off-plot weeding

This weekend was one for cooking and lunching with lovely friends as well as wardrobe weeding (decluttering to fill up some charity bags), which was just as well given the weather. Yesterday alternated between sunshine and heavy rain with occasional hail. It rained pretty much all day today so I didn't go over to the plot until 1700.

I raked around the broad beans and staked one of the plants up as it was bent right over. There are now three nice marigolds flowering among them.

I did some hand-weeding around the 5-6 of Spring Onions in Bed 2 that have managed to come up (not sure whether the others that were sown went). Some of the parsnip seedlings have formed true leaves so things are looking good there.

After about an hour, the wind picked up and the sky went grey so I came home. I put the sweetcorn seedlings in the coldframe to harden off before planting next weekend. There are signs of germination upstairs on the windowsill where the cucurbits are. No signs of anything happening with the mushrooms but it is probably a bit too soon.

Next weekend, I must restart the compost heap with grass cuttings, brown leaves, comfrey cuttings and soaked nettles. And plant out the sweetcorn and some of the cucurbits.

Revisit

It has felt like a hectic week but I did get an hour at the plot on Tuesday evening which felt very self-indulgent. I nipped over to sow some seeds as the last quarter of the moon this coming week suggests that sowing and planting will not a good idea. In the raised beds, I sowed:

- carrot (Paris Market)
- lettuce (All The Year Round, Salad Bowl Red and Green Mixed)
- spinach (Matador)
- celtuce
- sorrel
- chicory

Even after watering and raking, the soil in the beds was not of great tilth. Hard, dry clay. Thinking about it since, I wish I had added some compost or soil improver before sowing seeds. Nevermind. Crops grew happily in there last season so it might all work out ok.

I was aware that last year's and, come to think of it, the previous year's florence fennel didn't fully mature. I think I sowed them too late (not until July or August) and they didn't have the time to mature before temperatures started to drop in the Autumn. So, while at the plot, I sowed some of them (Sirio) in the now roomy Bed 7. Fingers crossed for a fennel harvest this year.

This weekend looks like it will be wet so might not get to spend much quality time on the plot. Not that I am complaining too much though - it buys me some time to get a new attachment for my hose.

Bed 9...clear...ish

A brilliant day today. Definitely BBQ weather. Quite a lot of cloud but much less windy than yesterday.

Before leaving for the plot, J and G popped in for a bit, so I focused on sowing some replacement cucurbits (see yesterday) over coffee with them. I will try not to water the pots too much (to prevent rotting). We all then headed over to the plot. J and G wanted to see it and they left after 20 mins or so with a few comfrey and horseradish roots and a handful of radishes. I then set to work on Bed 9 - digging out the couch grass along the side to match up with Beds 3, 5 and 7. After a good couple of hours, I'd pretty much cleared the grass but felt like I was overheating so I headed home for a break.

After a brief break at home, I went back into the garden to sow some salad and some mushrooms. I bought some wine boxes a few weeks ago and I wanted to put a couple of them to use today. I sowed some cut and come again Oriental leaves in one of the smaller boxes and some mushrooms in one of the larger ones. Before sowing, I did drill a few drainage holes in the bottom of the boxes.

The mushrooms came in the form of grain spawn. I bought a packet a while ago and it is now out of date. I have since bought a new packet but as the old batch might still be viable (I have no idea how long grain spawn remains viable), I started with that. I can always start again with fresh spawn in a couple of weeks if there is now sign of progress with the old stuff. When I opened the old packet the grain looked to have a white bloom which I thought meant that it was off. However, when I opened the newer packet to compare, it looked pretty similar. Neither smelt off, not that I'd know what off mushroom spawn should smell like.

I started by lining the box with an old compost bag, just to protect the wood a bit and to keep the moisture in. Then, following the instructions on the packet, I filled the box with well-rotted manure, sprinkled over a sachet of grain spawn (see piccie below) and covered it with 5-8cm of manure.



I then covered the manure with damp newspaper (using the two sections I care least about - see piccie below) and put it behind the shed where there is some shade.



Watch this space for updates.

While in the garden, I also sowed some peas (not a lot of success on the plot - perhaps the mice have been sneaky), coriander, basil and catnip.

I then meant to head over to the plot for an hour's light hoeing but ended up staying for 3. I hoed and raked over Bed 9, and trimmed the grass on the path to its side. Bramble Man popped over and we then did a spot of hand-weeding by the main crop potatoes. He commented that his climbing beans were a least twice the size of mine and that he had protected his with fleece. A couple of my new bean plants did appear to have been nibbled by something so I took his advice and put up some fleece around them. I then watered some of the beds (I need a new thing for my hose because I can't fix it onto the tap properly). Finally, I earthed up the main crop potatoes before cutting some chives, sprinkling some chicken manure pellets over Beds 7 and 9, and heading home. A bit of mild backache is worth it for such progress. See piccies below for Bed 9 and the flowering chives.









I still need to neaten up and edge Beds 7 and 9 but that can wait until next weekend. Now that they have been cleared though, the plot looks so much bigger.

Bed 7...clear...

Finally made it to the plot to be greeted by a small spot of orange Flower Power in the broad bean patch...



Before getting to the plot, I didn't know what to tackle but as soon as I arrived, Bed 7 called to me. Check out the state of it in the piccie below, bearing in mind that the green compost bin should be almost in the middle of the bed if the bed is to extend the side of the plot.



After lots of digging and pulling as well as a bit of trimming and hoeing, this is how it looked.



I uncovered two metal tubes/bins which were full of rubbish (e.g. shreds of plastic bag). although the larger one did contain some composted material which I spread of the uncovered end of the bed. I am quite pleased with the result. The piccie below shows the full length of Bed 7.



The compost bin will be moved in a week or so. I can't actually remember what Bed 7 is supposed to planted up with so I will look back at my previous blog posts to find out.

The patch of rampant comfrey near the shed is flowering like mad and entertaining the bees.



When I got back home, while my hands were dirty, it seemed a good time to check out the pumpkin seed that has failed to germinate on a windowsill upstairs. I poked around to find a seed in one of the pots. I found it and it seemed intact. However, I gave it a squeeze and this putrid smelling white stuff came out. I guess that means it is rotten. It was horrible - not what I expected I'll start some fresh seed off in clean pots.

Aubergines under attack!

Still not made it to the plot...

Last night, in the middle of watching Gardeners World (rock and roll), I had a sudden panic. I'd forgotten to water the chilli and aubergine seedlings on the windowsill in one of the rooms upstairs this week. I ran upstairs (I don't know why - the plants weren't going anywhere) and found them a little on the dry side but not too bad. Obviously, I then watered them.

This morning, I went to check on the seedlings to make sure the watering had perked them up. They looked better but a closer peak at them revealed some horrible little greenfly on one of the aubergine seedlings. Yuk! The 1 Early Jalapeno seedling I have also had 1 or 2 of the fly on the undersides of its leaves.

So, I have just taken them out to the patio and sprayed all the aubergines and chillies all over with a solution of Bug Clear (a plant oil-based spray) and have left them to dry for a bit in a cool room. On the 2 seedlings most affected, there seem to be no live bugs now though I expect to have to respray again soon. Hopefully I have nipped it in the bud as it were and the plants can go on to grow stronger. I have also stuck up one of those bug stickers in the room upstairs to catch them in the future (they have done brilliantly in the other rooms).

Now to the plot...

Mixed results

Looks like it'll be an ok weekend weatherwise with some cloud and some sunshine. Lots of things to do. I am just waiting for my camera to charge up before heading over to the plot.

A brief update on previous sowings that are one of the windowsills upstairs. I can report the following, very mixed, rates of germination for the sweetcorn and cucurbits:

- 15/18 sweetcorn (F1 hybrid 'Northern Xtra Sweet')
- 1/4 courgette: ('Striato D'Italia')
- 3/4 courgette: (F1 'One Ball')
- 1/4 courgette: ('Calabacin Di Nizza')
- 4/4 squash: ('Lady Godiva')
- 1/4 squash: ('Tromboncino D'Alberga')
- 0/4 pumpkin ('Llena de Napoles')
- 2/3 cucumber: ('Miniature White')
- 2/3 cucumber: ('Marketer')

A 3x5 grid of sweetcorn sounds good but I may have to consider resowing some more of the courgette. There are enough of them for my use on the plot but not really enough to have spare for friends. I will have a closer look at the pumpkins to see if the seeds are still there. Perhaps there are just a bit slower than I was expecting. I cannot believe the room was too cool for them.

I forgot to say last weekend that the 2 rows of parsnips in Bed 2 do seem to have germinated after 3 weeks. I will check them again later today and consider thinning them to 1 or 2 in each station. Also considering sowing another row.

Fingers crossed the marigolds are still there and have not been eaten by anything...

A cool weekend

Two trips over to the plot on Monday. I was about to leave early when there was a shower but it didn't last too long. It was cloudy for the rest of the day with another couple of brief showers. It got a bit chilly when standing around but was fine when I was busy working.

I started by hoeing around the broad beans and globe artichokes and a couple of the other beds. Bramble Man then came over for a chat which was nice. I planted out the 16 or so marigolds I had been growing in the lean-to and sprinkled some organic slug pellets around them. Most of them are amongst the broad beans with the aim of keeping the blackfly away (though pinching out the tops of the plants worked last year too).

The raised beds for the salad leaves were full of things going to seed. I emptied them out and forked over the hard ground. Beneath the layer of compost I put down last Summer, it was solid clay. I give the beds a good watering before popping home for some lunch (which included lettuce, potatoes and radishes harvested from the plot).

The second session started with hoeing and earthing up three rows of the potatoes. I then I was then going to cut some more grass around the beds but decided it was too wet. The rain came in so I finished up with a spot of hand weeding.

I didn't get round to sowing the mushrooms but I might get to that during the week.

The jungle that is Plot 35

Yesterday morning, I noticed that the strawberries on the patio were looking like they needed a bit of a weeding. Closer inspection showed some weeds belonging to the potato family (see piccie below) as well as a fair amount of grass.



I'll need to look back at last year's blog posts but I suspect that the compost used for the strawberries was recycled from the potato tubs I used to grow salad potatoes. In any case, I removed the grass and potatoes from the strawberry pots.

I noticed that the pots of leek seedlings I thinned out a few weeks ago looked quite crowded again (see below).



It seems that the remaining seedlings have started to thrive and put on lots of new growth.

I had 2 hours on the plot yesterday. It got pretty warm there - definitely t-shirt weather. The plot is looking very overgrown grown (see below) and there is a lot to do.



I started with a spot of grass trimming around Bed 5. Then I did a spot of trimming at the bottom of the allotment focusing on the nettles, which I collected up to make some fertiliser. I have put them aside soaking in water in a big tub, which was uncovered earlier in the year by Bramble Man. I'll leave them for a couple of weeks before removing them and saving the liquid.

I tried to clear a patch at the bottom of the plot so that I can have a bonfire tomorrow with the help of Bramble Man. I have trouble keeping a fire going so I need some tuition.

While I was on my knees cutting nettles, a fellow allotmenteer came over to ask if I had room for some bean plants. Very kind. I took them gratefully and planted them in Bed 3 in the corner not housing broad beans or peas (see below).



They look like nice strong plants and I am assured that the rabbits are not going to be interested in them given their size. Apparently, rabbits seem only to be interested in newly emerged seeds.

Before leaving, I was very happy and surprised to see the blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes starting to fruit. There was a bee busily making its way around the clumps of blackcurrant blooms.





I hurriedly put some net up over the two bushes in an effort to ensure that I actually get to eat some of the fruit.

And the Jerusalem artichokes plants are emerging through the soil.



Clearly I left some tubers in the ground because some of the tops are not in the (relatively) evenly spaced line I set them out in.