27 September. Allotment update.

14 days of quarantine after returning from France luckily ended on 5 September which enabled a late-evening dash to the allotment to dig up various vegetables for entry in the Allotment Show the following morning. Having been in France for a fortnight in August, followed by quarantine, the allotment was in quite a state but I decided to try my luck with some Carolus maincrop potatoes, St Valery carrots and some Sturon onions.

The potatoes scrubbed up well and likewise the carrots, which were fortunately of a similar size despite not being thinned out, and the onions had ripened quite well in the sun but were not particularly large. Some raffia tied around the onion necks smartened them up a bit and so by Sunday morning they were all ready to put on display.

The competition was fierce and so imagine my surprise when the judge, Catherine Cox, awarded first prize to my potatoes and carrots, and second prize to the onions! The onions were well beaten, in true World War 1 style, by a lovely duo of red onions called The Red Baron.

The winners!

Alongside the competition

The Show was a great success and included a sale of cakes and jams, followed by a delicious barbecue organised by Trevor Barwood, the Allotment Association’s Chairman. All credit to Trevor and his fellow committe members for organising the Show.

The allotment has done well overall in its first 6 months, but inevitably there have been winners and losers. The broad beans were excellent and also the Swift early potatoes, despite going in very late. The maincrop Carolus potatoes have done well, with very little watering, but they have proved very difficult to cook – boiling them makes them disintegrate but they are good when roasted or baked. The carrots and beetroot have also done well. The real success has been the Purple Tepee French Beans which have cropped continuously since mid-June, with yet another huge picking made on 26 September. They taste good too, turning green whilst being boiled and completely stringless. On the other hand, the losers have been the early spinach which bolted very quickly, the Saladin lettuces were disappointing and the climbing French Beans, Hunter, decided not to climb a great deal.

A range of brassicas were grown from seed – purple sprouting broccoli, sprouts, Spring cauliflower and Greyhound cabbage and it remains to be seen how these fare – the first cabbages have been cut and are delicious but are the pigeons waiting to pounce?

Having entered 2 videos so far to Gardeners’ World, without success, will it be third time lucky? Somehow I doubt it given the very professional entries which have been shown so far but given a nice day on 22 September, the first day of Autumn this year, I thought I would give it another try. Here it is:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6H7S3tmTgg822srP6

The big news is that I have decided to take on the remaining half of the allotment. This was started by a couple in the village who decided not to continue and so it is in the process of being cleared, awaiting rotavating or even ploughing. It was in a terrible state and has hidden layers of material which was once meant to smother weeds but which now acts as an anchor for the prolific marjoram plants which cover the area. It will be interesting to see how the rotavator / plough copes with this. But what to put on the plot? That is the question – ideas on a postcard please. No need for more veg, except perhaps sweet corn next year, and so bulbs, flowers for cutting, a wild flower area and fruit bushes might go in. This is the shape, so feel free to make suggestions!

Looking forward to munching our way through Boris’s 6 months of effective shutdown with plenty of carrots, beetroot, cabbages, sprouts and leeks coming on stream. No shortage of vegetables at Christmas, that’s for sure, but will we have anyone to help us eat them?

Grandpa Martin

27 September 2020

4 July. 100 days since lockdown, 108 days since first dig.

100 days since lockdown seemed like a good time to review progress on the new allotment, create another amateurish video and submit it once again to Gardeners’ World. Here it is, for what its worth!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qCSAl-ppJHd9DKIyilu9AbXIug80gs6g

We have been enjoying plentiful helpings of the Bunyard Exhibition broad beans and also giving loads away. Running short of potatoes at home I decided to dig up some Swift early potato plants on 2 July and was surprised to find some reasonably sized tubers but only 3/4 decent sized ones per plant. However, given that they were only planted in the third week of April they have done quite well, particularly in the dry conditions throughout May. Swift by name and swift by nature it seems.

Digging up a row of Swift potatoes has created space for some Greyhound cabbages to be transplanted from the seed bed at the top of the allotment, together with a row of Snow March cauliflower (not Snow King as erroneously stated on the video!).

Thanks to Trevor Barwood, the Ickleton Allotment Association’s chairman, and my neighbour Gerry I’m now the proud owner of a water butt and a large container for filling it from the tap. This saves having to cart water cans to and fro, particularly if others are using the water supply, when the pressure is low.

Next steps – pick French beans in a week or two, pull up broad beans and transplant leeks, sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli. No sign of pigeons yet but wire netting is used all the same, on the brassicas in particular.

 

 

21 June. Warm wet days.

A succession of warm wet days since early June worked wonders on the allotment – no more filling of watering cans and significant pleasure in seeing one’s efforts produce results, even if it is taking longer than expected due to the dry spring to start tasting them! The logistics of watering, given the water pressure available and the distance from the tap, has resulted in allotment holders storing water in large containers and often transferring it to water butts on site. My neighbour Gerry very kindly gave me a spare container which reduced the number of journeys to the tap quite considerably, and his technique for keeping rabbits at bay with used beer and Coke cans dangling from the surrounding fence seems to work brilliantly too. Thanks Gerry!

A swap of plants day on 31 May organised by the Association’s committee coupled with the sale of excellent cakes and sausage rolls enabled the acquisition of some nice tomato and cucumber plants in exchange for some surplus lettuce plants (Saladin) from seeds sown at the end of March. In addition, a bike chum presented me with a large pot of beetroot plants a week ago and all the new plants have transferred well to either the allotment or the small veggie patch at home.

It won’t be long now before the taste buds get tasting!

The main crop potatoes, Carolus, are in flower and the so-called earlies, Swift,  planted after the Carolus look as if they might be another 3 weeks away before being harvested. The carrots and onions seem to be doing well and likewise the Shiraz purple podded mangetout peas. In between are the transplanted beetroot mixed with a few sown in situ from seed, where the germination was disappointing. The broad beans (Bunyard Exhibition) should be ready for first picking in a few days time and evidence of blackfly is currently low – lots of ants seem to be getting fat on them.

Monty’s bean pole structure is giving support at last to climbing French beans (Hunter) whilst the Purple Tepee dwarf French beans at the bottom of the allotment seem to be doing well too. A row of The Prince dwarf French beans has just started to come through next to the broad beans and the plants from seeds sown at the end of March of Fillbasket Brussels sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, Snow March spring cauliflower and Greyhound cabbage have all benefited from the recent rain, likewise the Prizetaker leeks. Will there be room to transplant them all when the time comes I ask? Luckily, the gaps left between the Carolus potatoes look wide enough to take some of the brassicas.

It’s been good to see what my neighbours have been up to in recent weeks. Andy has produced a palace of a shed from recycled materials, complete with covered porch, whilst my immediate neighbour Zoe has also painted her fine shed, had a large deck constructed and is now filling some smart looking raised beds with plants. It looks as if we all have lots of summer treats in store, but a heatwave this coming week might well result in more carting of water……………

19 May. Monty, you have nothing to fear.

Monty Don invited viewers to submit videos of their gardens for possible inclusion on Gardeners’ World. This is one of over 3,500 entries, but did not get a mention!

17 May. First produce!

After 8 weeks of hard graft the first produce was picked – a solitary radish! Here it is prior to being sliced carefully and eaten slowly to savour the flavour:

The packet claimed 18 days from sowing to harvesting which proved to be somewhat optimistic as it was actually 49! What went wrong? I’m blaming the dry weather.

The Bunyard Exhibition broad beans continue to do well and so the time arrived to surround them with poles and string to prevent them being blown over in another gale. Some old metal poles found on the allotment rubbish tip cut to length and drilled, then strung with telephone cable which had been lying around at home for over 40 years did the trick.

The next job is to thin the spinach again and do more watering – no rain due for another 5 days it seems and 27C expected on Wednesday 20th May.

16 May. Jack’s aftermath.

Further visits by Jack Frost during the week resulted in some neighbours’ potatoes being severely nipped whilst others seemed to escape scot-free, even with no protection. There’s just no justice it seems, but having large mounds of earth might help to keep the frost away from the leaf tips. That seems to be the technique that farmers use.

For my part, I was reasonably lucky through having covered the spuds up each night with straw dung but several plants still ended up with blackened leaves. Hopefully they’ll recover in time and the risk of further frosts seems to have gone away for now.

Neighbouring potatoes above – note top middle being unscathed, and probably those under fleece too…

…. and these are some of mine that got hit, but overall not too bad.

Moral of the story – don’t plant potatoes on Good Friday in Ickleton. These ‘earlies’ were planted 2 weeks later, thanks to supplies being limited.

The good news is that the Shiraz purple podded mangetout peas have already germinated and likewise the replacement rows of Prince dwarf French beans. No sign of the Hunter climbing French beans yet.

 

 

12 May. Jack Frost about.

A frost warning last weekend resulted in a couple of barrow loads of the new straw-based horse dung being hastily collected to pile upon the newly emerging maincrop potatoes on Sunday afternoon. Nothing seemed to happen that night and so the plants were uncovered on Monday morning so that they could soak up the day’s sunshine. But last night, Monday 11 May, was a different story with a forecast of possibly minus 3C and so they were covered up again late evening and offerings made to the Gods in the hope that they would survive. 

It was with some trepidation that they were examined again this morning, 12 May. Some neighbours’ plants had clearly been given a nip by Jack Frost but removing the straw from my 6 rows luckily revealed little damage – a few blackened outer leaves but hopefully nothing significant. Time will tell, but potatoes are brave souls and have a habit of recovering quite well. Why do those unprotected in open fields around Ickleton not seem to suffer so much? Is it the height of the mounds that keeps the frost off?

The uncovered Carolus maincrop potatoes on 12 May

By comparison, the so-called early potatoes, Swift, which arrived for planting 2 weeks after the Carolus, had only just started to poke their heads through and so instead of covering them with straw dung I decided to hoe them up to keep the frost off. Time will also tell if this policy worked.

No sign of the ‘early’ Swift potatoes yet, but possibly good news with Jack Frost about

Cloud cover tonight will hopefully keep temperatures higher and Jack away but a watchful eye on Julie on BBC East will be called for over the next few days before we can relax. But can we relax when it’s so dry? Come on rain!

1 May

A week of rain on and off during the last week of April was much needed after a gloriously sunny month after taking over the allotment. Despite some gentle watering, germination was quite slow for some seeds planted, with one of two rows of radishes sown the same day hardly germinating at all – clearly down to faulty sowing than faulty seed. Must improve the ‘gardener’s shuffle’ technique. Likewise, half of the row of leeks (Winner) germinated but not the other so another variety (Porbella) has been sown. Next to the Porbella I’ve sown some Greyhound cabbage. The spinach (Matador) is doing well and also 2 rows of Bunyard Exhibition broad beans. 2 rows of Saladin lettuce have germinated well and also it’s encouraging to see seeds of Fillbasket brussels sprout, purple sprouting broccoli and Snow March F1 cauliflower taking root – should be plenty to transplant in a few weeks time (if there’s space available to plant them). Next down the patch are 6 rows of main crop potatoes ( Carolus) which went in on Good Friday – always the best day to plant them according to Ickleton gardening lore no matter when it falls! Far too many but good for clearing the ground of weeds that have built up whilst the allotment was not being used, and plenty to give away. These are just showing signs of life but might need covering up with straw / dung next week if there’s a frost as forecast. Then come 2 rows of carrots (St Valery) which are taking their time to germinate but beginning to poke through.

As others will have discovered I’m sure, it’s been difficult to obtain seeds online during the corona virus, partly due to reduced staff, reduced stock and also a massive increase in gardening activity due to the lockdown – 45% of all Brits doing something in their gardens apparently. We’re lucky as a nation to have so many gardens available – 80% – 90% according to a report in The Economist compared to just 27% in Spain, where they have only just been allowed to venture outside after 7 weeks of lockdown. We are indeed very fortunate.

The difficulty in obtaining seeds so soon after taking on the allotment on 18 March resulted in the early potatoes (Swift) arriving 2 weeks after the mains! No time for chitting so 2 rows went straight in and it will be interesting to see which get dug up first. Likewise, getting hold of onion sets (Sturon) was tricky and when they arrived only 10 days ago some were already sprouting. So they went in rapidly and thanks to the rain are already showing signs of life. A bit of space remains (hopefully for a row of Greyhound cabbage) and then there’s half a row of beetroot (Detroit Globe) with a successional half in 2/3 weeks time. Delicious barbecued! Next comes a row of purple mangetout peas (Shiraz) followed by 2 rows of climbing French beans (Hunter) which will hopefully be climbing up the Monty Don-inspired Hazel pole structure in a few weeks time. Facebook John (as I’ll call him) asked politely if I’d got planning permission for it! Finally, sowing two rows of a French French bean (i.e. purchased in France about 10 years ago) proved to be a complete waste of time as expected. So those were replaced with Purple Tepee from Kings (who have supplied most of my seeds) and hopefully they will do better. Here are some pics of progress over the past 3 weeks:

Broad beans and spinach, 19 April

Two weeks later, 1 May

A spud poking through

Zoe’s smart new deck, all ready for a G&T, with a new shed going up behind

Inspired by Monty Don to withstand a gale, and tied in places with some tough baler twine that Gerry on the allotment behind kindly gave me. Luckily, a Hazel tree in our garden provided the material. In the foreground are the re-sown French beans.

Other activity over the past few weeks has been an attempt, ongoing, to mulch some the weeds surrounding the allotment with wood chippings (from a recently felled chestnut tree in our garden) and, more importantly, mending the surrounding fence. Posts were broken and I found 8 holes down the side of 18 a (Cristina and Daniel’s allotment) which were mended with small gauge wire netting. Hopefully Peter Rabbit can no longer get at our lettuces, nor Roland Rat. Here are some pics of the fence repairs in progress:

  Finally, here’s a pic of my new spade for next season’s digging. I had one years ago which I used on my allotment opposite The New Inn in Brookhampton Street (the last allotments in Ickleton for many years until the new site was developed). It used to be called a Wolf Terrex but production stopped and I traced this one to a guy in Yorkshire who acquired the rights and now makes them under the Backsaver Auto-spade brand. Yes, they save backs but the real benefit for me is its incredible speed of digging – at least twice as fast as a normal spade, once you get the knack. But they cannot be used on hard, unbroken ground.

If you want to give it a try sometime let me know.

Onwards and hopefully the plants grow upwards!

End.  

 

Welcome to my allotment blog. 8 April 2020.

First sowings, 28 March

This is the site of Ickleton Allotment Association. I decided to take half an allotment on 18 March 2020 to dig for victory during the Corona Virus epidemic and this is what it looked like then:

After clearing the site and adding 24 barrow loads of horse dung, digging commenced but a man with a rotavator was brought in to help loosen the surface. Digging continued and on 28 March the first sowings of radishes, broad beans and spinach were made.

3 weeks later, 8 April

First signs of life with germination of spinach. Broad beans yet to emerge and will the sowings of radishes, leeks, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, lettuces and carrots be successful? We shall wait and see. Six rows of maincrop potatoes also planted in North South rows, likewise the carrots. The rest is East West so far to give the spinach some shade.

I have a neighbour on 18a, Christina who used to work in the village shop and her boyfriend Daniel. They also have much work to do to tame their plot, but helped by having had it rotavated by the same chap that did mine. Zoe is my other neighbour and I’ve also met Fran, Peter and Mark plus waved to others. A very sociable group all keeping their distance during the current COVID-19 crisis.