What a bumper crop...of weeds

7 October 2007 overcast, mild 13c


Finally get down to plot after 4 weeks absence. Not quite as bad as had anticipated but mucho weeds.
Lifted remainder of the spuds, about 15lb of maincrop (KE) and 8lb of pink fir apple.

Brought home 5 ripe pumpkins, not huge, the big ones were eaten away. Bit of beetroot and few baby carrots also.
Did some digging, the root bed is half dug over and the spud bed is now clear, lovely and crumbly soil there. Will definitely plant lots of spuds, breaks the soil up a treat.

Spring cabbage and broccoli Ok, had a something nibbling but not too bad. Two rows of brassicas have come up along the runner beans, maybe broccoli or some type of cabbage, I'll leave them in and see what develops.

Sweetcorn rubbish, stunted cobs full of wood lice, try another variety next year and hope for more sun- though others on site had success.

Autumn plan- weeding and digging and put in some proper paths and bed boundaries.

Absence

16 September 2007

Over the last 6 weeks, I've only been to the plot a couple of times due to working away.
Lost half the onions during one spell, the rest now lifted and dried.
Pulled loads of tasty Pink Fir apple spuds to eat and more King Edward's for store.

The pumpkins look great and the the cabbage is destroyed.
Put in about 12 spring cabbage plants I grew at home from seed, quite large, but probably eaten by now.

The sweet-corn does not seem to be doing too well, cobs are the right size but the kernels are not swollen, maybe to due to the absence of sun this summer, not sure, maybe improved since I last checked (8 Sept) as it's been sunny since.

The padron peppers didn't do anything, one or two fruits, I don't think the soil was rich enough or I didn't feed them enough, will dig in organic matter for next year. Similarly the toms next door, only got about 6 fruits on 6 plants (and these had holes bored into them by do something), great sized fruits but not enough.

Due to the lengthy absence this summer I have decided and been forced to abandon plans for lots of over wintering veg (though may put in broad beans and japanese onions and garlic as well as the cabbage already in) to concentrate on getting the plot right. Paths need putting in, proper digging out of the perennial weeds and a shed. Then hopefully next year will go better as I will ready to plant & sow by March, which is when I first began taking the turf off this year.

Run O'Beans

28 July 2007 Breezy, sunny & cloudy 22c

Loads of runner beans, about 3lbs and a good handful of peas. Also big bunch of baby size beetroot, will make pea, beetroot and feta salad. Beet tops with runner beans for dinner.
Some baby turnips also for dinner, not many most got eaten by slugs.
Cabbages keep being eaten though a couple look as if they'll survive. Sweetcorn is really swelling now, though the broad beans have been rubbish, about 6 pods from 12 plants. The ones i planted last week are coming through so hopefully get a crop for autumn.
All my books say peas are quite hard and broad beans are easy, not here, it's the other way around.

The pumpkins have gone made they are taking over, one plant has branched of and gone up through the rosemary and lavender bush and there is fruit hanging in the midst of the bush. Keeps it off the ground though, I suppose. I didn't realise they were quite so vigorous, they' have their own bed next year.
Another 3lb plums. Realised not gages (not spherical enough and too early) but , some kind of plum, sweeter now, definitely improve with cooking I think. going to jam 5lb today.

That's shallot

22 July 2007 Sunny, warm 22c

I lifted the last of the shallots. These are now drying at home on a rack. The first lot are done and hanging in a net thing in the 'cloakroom'. Pretty pleased with them, about 100+ shallots from 99p worth of bulbs.
Brought home another 3lbs of Green gages, will make jam tomorrow and eat some of the nicest, they are very good, perfumed, sweet but with a hint of acidity.
The Sweet peas are flowering nicely will bring some back for the house soon.
Dug over a bed for the Spring cabbage to go into when it's ready. Bit warm for digging, but I've no choice I am several months behind where I'd like to be.
Runner beans will yield there first proper harvest in a few days, look forward to fresh sweet ones, rather than the rubbish in the supermarket.

Rain. Lots.

20 July 2007 Cooler (18C), overcast and very heavy rain

Yet more rain. It's now Gastropod world on the site, the compost bins are like Waterloo station at rush-hour. Killed loads of slugs, some huge (8-10 cm!).
Harvested peas, broad beans and runner beans.
Some of the plums/green gages (think they are the latter, they are the right colour and grow in clusters). Lovely and prefumed, loads to come so jamming we'll be.
Rain started to gain biblical proportions so went home.
I've sown spring cabbage, two kinds one is very early for greens the other standard pointed type.
Also bought some Swiss Chard seed for overwintering. need to re-dig the spare bed for this.

Winter crops!!!

Just remembered that I haven't remembered (again) to get anything ready for this. I'll have nowt for winter / early spring if I don't hurry. Must get some spring cabbage in and other stuff (what?).

Back-ache Part IV

16 July 2007 23 c Sunny and humid

Major catchup today on the wedding. Spent hours as I have neglected this recently. The whole plot is a lot tidier now. I netted the broccoli and re-netted the cabbages as they are getting big now.
Put in a willow wigwam and sowed more dwarf peas next to the other. In a couple of days there should be peas, broad beans and runners for picking, at last. Sowed about 10 broad beans in a space in the spud plot for some autumn beans.
The beetroot tops had for dinner, with the roots, yesterday were excellent, should be more ready in a few days and look forward to these.
Sowed a 15' row of beetroot, baby carrot, swede also and tried the land cress again but never seems to germinate, maybe my pack was duff.
Bit annoyed none of my parsnip sowing, either in peat pots, propagator or direct germinated. I think I'll throw away the pack I have, and try a fresh pack next year (and different variety, shorter maybe).

Pruned the gooseberry bushes, hope to get lots next year, as they've been allowed to spend to much energy on wood for last few years, I think(?)
Lift more shallots and they are drying on a wooden rack , get the rest next week.
I accidentally broke off an immature pumpkin, it's still green and about large grapefruit size. apparently they can be eaten like marrow or pickled (Middle Eastern speciality, will look for a recipe).
The potatoes I lifted on Friday for Sunday dinner were exceptionally good roasted in lard (out of dripping); they were a mixture of Main crop and Int'l kidney.
I want a shed!

Allotment giveth and allotment taketh away

14 July 2007 Warm 22c sunny spells

Been a bit lazy last few weeks, things on mind etc.
Shallots almost ready, some have wilted so lifted those and brought home to dry.

Lifted some Pink Fir Apple spuds and a few main-crop spuds ( cooked the smaller ones but half just dissolved into mush, others stayed as they should). The Pink Fir were delicious though the yield is poor, will make some chips out of these, I read they are sublime.
Beetroot doing well, a favourite so it pleases me. Will try the tops as a side dish today in the chard style.

The runner have small pods which hopefully will swell quickly, dying for dome home grown beans. The broad beans are very disappointing only half of the 20 or so plants have pods on. Peas are in flower and will pod soon I hope.
I think they were severely weakened by black-fly, will definitely try an autumn sowing to beat this for next year and back up with early spring sowing under cloches.
Cabbages have been eaten by slugs though the hearts continue to swell and broccoli seems well.
Sweetcorn is huge and seems to be forming the cob/kernel thing.
Toms are flowering but the padron peppers look sickly, try and feed them tomorrow though I think the soil is too heavy for either, need some organic matter in it for next year.
Need to sow more turnip and swede as they keep being eaten by slugs.
Though will have bumper plum crop soon, they are already starting to turn yellow.

I think I am learning that although initially everything seemed to be doing really well, this wet period has been good in terms of not having to water but heaven for the gastropods, if it rains any more will end up with whelks on the plot. I also think I am suffering from the late start. Getting the plot in mid march when other plot holders ground is bare, dug over, has had manure and compost dug in, and many plants already in, meant I had to spend the first month and a half digging from scratch, so the planting has been behind hence black-fly problems etc. I also probably rushed the digging, this autumn the areas which won't have winter/spring crops in will be dug properly (ha!, come October we shall see).
Oh well, it's all learning, and unlike other things when you've made mistakes here you keep digging. (Eh?)

After the rain....

5 July 2007 Cloudy, showers 17c

Haven't been down to the plot for almost a week. it's been raining quite a lot recently so expected a lot of slug&snail damage and got it. They've mullered the lettuces, only two left and they've had a crack at the cabbages. Killed loads of slugs, loads seem to hang out under the sage bush.
Slugs have also destroyed the swede and turnips plants. will have sow more.
Baby carrots are showing (3cm) but I'm sure these will be gone soon also!
Broad beans have finally got pods on them, very small though and have to say the plants as a whole look pretty ropey, think they went in too late, and the black fly wasn't killed quickly enough, next year.......
Runner beans look good though, flowers are lovely, though bound to have too many at once.
Lift more jersey spud, about 5lbs from 3 plants. I lifted a pink fir apple also , nearly usual size but disappointing yield wise only about 5 on one plant? Is this normal, dunno? Will definitely grow more Internazionale Kidney next year.
The shallots look almost there, both they and the onions have swollen a lot after the rains recently. Why do the weeds grow in rows with the onions? far more around each bulb than between the rows, very annoying. Just need a dry spell to lift and dry them, though long range weather forecast looks awful. I am obsessed about the weather now and check it about 10 times daily. Rain=slugs, sun=drought!
After hearing about the need for summer pruning on fruit trees (and checking in my Bob Flowerdew book) gave the plum trees a pruning. The plot adjacent has much more fruit on his tree, as he's kept it bushy, mine have been allowed to straggle too much.
Really, really need a shed or shelter of sorts, no cash though.

Spud -I-like

23 June 2007 Warm, 22c, sunny but heavy showers later

Spuds, hurrah. Lift spuds from 2 plants of the excellently named 'International Kidney'. About 2.5 / 3 pounds from the two plants, which looked like there were ready as they were wilting. Photo of this allotment gold above.
Also more raspberries- straight in the freezer, must have about 2.5 pints now.

Cabbage plants are growing quickly except 2 which have taken an eating from something.

One of the pumpkin plants had rotted at the stem, my book tells me this is 'basal stem rot'. Took it out, t'others look ok, for now

Sowed more lettuce and radish and weeded around the sickled the grass edges.
Also killed about 20 slugs and snails. A first hardly saw any but then it was dry for weeks on end, now it's been raining quite a lot they are appearing everywhere, we need some hedgehogs and thrushes on site, but no sign of either. I think thrush have dropped out of the top 10 spotted UK birds recently. I have never seen one in 10 years in London, though I always see loads up in Essex and remember they used to sing outside my classroom at Primary school. A small pond may help if frogs take to it?

Pimientos de Padron

20 June 2007 Warm sunny 22c. Heavy rain last few nights

Slugs have been out due to the heavy rain,eaten most of the turnip seedlings and also had a good go at red lettuce. Some were hiding under leaves in strawberry patch, now they are dead.
Planted out 4 Padron pepper plants by the toms, the plants were gift from el tio de mi esposa. Muy bien!
Sowed a row of swedes by the turnips and 2 rows each of little gem and red lettuce and radish.
I have also covered two beds with black weed prevention sheets and then covered this with sods from other beds and soil and a few bricks. This will hopefully make autumn digging easier.

Blackfly seems to have gone from the broad beans which are starting to flower.
Only two of the fennel plants I put in few days ago remain, they were feeble and with the heavy rain the slugs probably had them.
Netted the peas and fed the toms, still look sickly though, bit yellow. No idea why? Bad soil, bad plants? Bad gardener?
More raspberries for the freezer today, there should be loads more in a few days, must remember to pick them as some have spoiled through not picking.
Loads of sparrows around today landing very close, there is usually hardly any birds on site, other than pigeons, maybe the cats are away?

Fennel and pea

16 June 2007 Weather is cooler, 18c, with some very heavy showers

Planted 10 pea plants around a wigwam - I forgot to take the net so pigeons will most likely eat them up.
I also planted out the Florence fennel, looks a bit leggy so not sure what it'll do.
The toms looked a bit yellowy so gave them a seaweed feed again (I'm probably killing them?)
Collected about half pint of raspberries, froze them, as it appears they will ripen over several weeks- some are deep in the bramble, which will hopefully ripen a few early again this year so I can put them with the strawberries and make a summer pudding.Pulled rest of radish, keep forgetting to take the seed down to sow more. The red lettuce are doing well, the green less so, 4 eaten.
Carrots starting to show through and turnips will need thinning shortly, only a few parsnip through. I must sow swede soon.

Read on a chat-room somewhere about strong tea and a drop o' soap for killing black-fly. I have tried this, though there didn't seem to be many on the broad beans today. We, or rather I, shall see.

Blackfly!!!

12 June 2007 Warm and sunny 26c.

About half the broad beans are covered in blackfly. I have pinched out the tips(read this somewhere) and will spray with soft soap tomorrow, hopefully they will be OK. I think black ants are farming the aphids, as there were a few knocking about the stems. Must find the nest and pour some boiling water down it. This means I'll have to take the Trangia stove down to boil water- hurrah, tea!!

After digging the bed over again, planted put 8 cabbages plants I grew from seed at home. Put homemade collars around them to try and stop cabbage root fly. I've also netted them with a bit of a Heath-Robinson net tunnel using stuff I had - hopefully this will keep pigeons off, as others have had there cabbages knackered by them in times of yore.
It's not rained for ages so spent about 45 mins watering, it will of course rain tomorrow.
The turnips are coming through, no sign of parsnips or baby carrots though?

Planted tomato plants out. Attached to canes. Gave them some liquid organic seaweed feed, will this help???
They are at the rear of plot (that's at my feet in picture above, look and you can see some canes. This gets the most sun during the day. Behind this I will build the base- a shelter come storage centre, (but not a shed)

Nnnnnn

7 June 2007 Warm and sunny again

Finished the new compost bins and transferred the material across, pretty back breaking work, but hopefully these won’t collapse .
The space is where they bins were, looking for a new spine on ebay tonight.

The brassica plot is now dug over, though it needs another going over to make sure I didn’t miss any weeds. The cabbages sown from seed look ready for going in, I think I’ll net the whole bed as there was a couple of pigeons messing around in another plot, and they love eating young greens.

The left side of the plot seems to have lots of trenches in it, no idea why?
The plot has come on a lot in the last week, probably because I’m down nearly every day, the joys of retirement eh?

Gifts!

5 June 2007 Warm (22c) sunnyish

Few hours in the evening. Began clearing the space where the new compost bins will go , as it it’s very overgrown.
Ladies on plot next-but-one, very kindly gave me 6 broccoli plants and 9 lettuces. I’ve put the lettuce next to the radish, the broccoli caused more of a problem as my brassica bed was still in my head. Quickly cleared 1m2 area to put them in on the as yet untouched side of the plot.
Gave everything a watering as it’s ages since it rained, and there is none forecast.

6 June 2007 Warm (23c), sunny

Though I’d do the compost bins, built a new one behind the fruit trees and began shifting the stuff from the existing ones. Emptied the smaller one and hope to fit most of the second in the new one.
Then used the brush cutter to level the grass on the virgin side of the plot. I’ve probably spread grass seed over the whole site, but the plot looks loads better, much more open and less daunting for digging.

No idea where I’m going to put the toms?

Update

3 June 2007
V Warm (25c) and sunny
Yesterday I planted out the 10 broad bean plants sown at home, in the gaps where the directly seeds have not germinated and extending the row.
Runners have taken a bit of a beating from something, holes in leaves but new growth is coming on so I hope they will be fine.
Dug about 1.5 m wide row in the last bed on the cultivated half of the plot. This took an age as the ground was dry and it was full of mares tails, dandelions and some docks that had roots as thick as lager bottle. Very tiring in my state.
After endless raking to get the soil nice and fine sowed a row of Carrots (Ideal-baby variety), Turnips (Purple Top Milan) and Parsnip (Tender and True) -though it's probably too late for parsnips.
Over these rows, I have put a fleece tunnel made from two pieces of the fleeces from 99p shop and a frame made of green canes and string and wire. Hopefully it will speed up germination and give seedlings some protection from birds and beasts.
Also sowed a small bed of Land Cress by the beetroot.

Spuds starting to flower, pinched of the flower heads and also ff a few onions.

The compost bins need rebuilding, as they have begun to collapse and they are now full. I will move these to rear of fruit trees.

Harvested some radish, small but not stringy or tough as they can be and pleasantly hot.

Potted on cabbage plants at home.
I also now have 9 tomato plants (variety?) from the church at the end of the our road, about 10-15cm high, thick stems and deep green colour, look OK. Cost £1.50.

Advice welcome...

Experienced gardeners and allotment holders may groan at some of the mistakes, your advice will be gratefully received (if anyone reads this).