Vampires beware...

...the garlic is coming for you!  I spent some time on the allotment this morning and it was a tad nippy.  Well, not that cold but I wasn't dressed for it.  I need to dig out my fleece from the loft.

I put in 8 cloves of Elephant Garlic (2 of these were 'rounds' from this year's attempt at growing them), 30 cloves of Solent Wight, 30 cloves of Early Purple and 15 cloves of Lautrec Wight.  Some of the Lautrec Wight cloves were a tad small and a couple were discarded because they were a bit soft.  The rest looked good.

So the Lautrec is a hardneck so will apparently develop a flowering stalk that should be harvested as soon as it appears and used in a stir fry.  I must remember that as it could result in the bulb doubling in size.

I measured the length of the plot with a bamboo cane which I think is a 180cm one.  Not including the end bit for storage and composting, it is 7 canes long (12.6m).  I measured 3 canes for the length of the top two quadrants and 3 for the bottom ones, leaving a 1 cane strip in the middle for fruit.  So I'll plant some fruit bushes and raspberry canes down that strip, leaving a gap down the centre for strolling, watering and inspecting.  

I cut down the sweetcorn and will dug over that small patch later in the week.  There appear to be a couple of baby squash growing but I can't see that they have time to mature before the frost sets in.

Almost being organised

After a bit of chickenpox this week with the little one, I did get 2 hours on the plot this weekend but took it slow.  I focused on brassicas.  I checked the sprouting broccoli for caterpillars (again) and found 3 of the critters.  Then I planted out the holey spring cabbage seedlings.  There were 16 in all so I set them out in a 4x4 block next to the compost bin which is situated in an awkward place in the top right quadrant (more about the quadrants I am planning in another post).  I looked over the Brussels sprouts and picked off a few snails, slugs and caterpillars.

I dug over a 1m square to finish off the patch for the garlic.  That's for tomorrow when I have a day off work.  I'll also transplant the rhubarb crown that is currently languishing in the shady bed in our front garden onto the plot.  And I'll try sowing some Meteor peas.  I wouldn't bother with early peas but these were free on a magazine so I'll give them a go.

My plan is to divide the plot into 4 quadrants with a strip halfway down (width ways) for fruit bushes and the rhubarb and a strip at the bottom for composting and storage.  I've not decided whether to have the raspberry canes with the fruit bushes or at one of the ends.  I'll rotate crops between years as is traditional.

The top left quadrant will be for legumes and cucurbits but these currently house the leeks, sweetcorn (now finished), squashes (which are flowering but too late to fruit) and courgettes.  There are all the bush beans and a Brussels sprout plant (which ironically is the healthiest looking of the lot despite not being covered).

The top right quadrant will be for brassicas.  That is where the potatoes were.

The bottom left will be for roots veg.  That is where the brassicas are currently settled.

The bottom right will be for the onion family.  Nothing is in here just yet.

Sounds terribly organised for me.  It won't last.

More Where's Wally

No digging at Friday lunchtime but I did get 2 hours at the plot yesterday.  Bliss.  

I dug over about 8 sq m at a guess.  The ground was quite dry in places but so much easier than how it was with the heavy clay on the original Plot 35.  

Then I went to check on the purple and white sprouting plants I'd planted recently.  They were holey.  Flipping caterpillars!  So, on my hands and knees, I inspected all 12 plants v carefully "disposing" of the little critters.  One plant looked very badly diminished but the heart is intact so fingers crossed it might recover.  I sprinkled a few chicken pellets around them, raked the bed and watered them before covering them back over.  

Lesson for next year - do check brassica plants before planting out.

Where's Wally?

I just had a bit of time before starting work to do some housework and finally got round to checking the spring cabbage seedings on the patio.  Something was making them holey.  Sure enough each one (on average) had 2-3 little green cabbage white caterpillars.  Very good camouflage especially on the stems so I may not have picked them all off but most of them are now on the patio for the birds.  Fingers crossed the little plants will recover nicely to be planted out in the next couple of weeks.  The caterpillars seemed to have stuck to the outer leaves although a couple of the bigger ones were clearly en route to the heart for a nibble.  

Hopefully, more digging at lunchtime today...