Spade Work : From Plot to Plate

2008 Planting

Being something of a lister recording what I've planted each season, when and how it crops, comes naturally. So far this is what's in the ground and growing away or nearly hardened off and ready for transplanting.

Potatoes

Charlotte, Cara, Sarpo Axona, Home Guard and Shetland Black (in pots). Planted end of March and showing through early May when they were earthed up for the first time.

Peas

Norli, Taiwan Sugar (sown in gutters in November, transplanted March). Norli and Taiwan direct sown end of March as with Ne Plus Ultra. Supports put up end of April.

Kale

Nero di Toscana and mixed winter kale seeds sown May 5 along with Brussles sprout Noisette.

Chicory

Palla Rossa and Grumolo Verde sown May 5.

Leef Beet

Perpetual Spinach, May 5

Salad leaves

Wild rocket (early April sowing failed), Franchi mixed lettuces (early April sowings now about 3inches high). Flat leaf parsely, coriander. More lines planted May 5.

Beetroot

Boltardy and Tonda di Chioggia, May 5

Beans

Aquadulce Claudia broad bean (sown November), climbing beans Corona D'Oro, Marvel of Venice and Kew Blue.

Parsnip

Tender & True (Carrot, Long Red Surrey to follow in same bed in June

Chilli

Apache and Ring O' Fire

Tomatoes

San Marzano, Golden Sweet, Mortgage Lifter, Copia & Black Prince but the last three lost their labels so I'll have to wait until the fruits set to know which is which.

Leek

St Victor

Sweetcorn

Swift germinated May 5, transplanting end of the month.

Onion

Sturon, Red Baron and Longor (shallot).

Garlic

A bit of overload here but fun to grow and compare. Cloves obtained from Patrick at Bifurcated Carrots   as part of a seed swap - Susan Delafield, Inchelium Red, Kransnodar Red, Korean Red, Silver Rose, Prim, Uzbek Turban, Creole Red, Vekak Czech, Gutemalan Ikeda, Colorado Black, Gypsy Red.

Now You See It; Now You Don't

The asparagus bed has been in four years now and this summer I harvested freely until June, stopping then to let the spears grow on to this frondy mass, building up reserves for next season.

The two rows are not the same length - the one to the right is shorter where two crowns failed to grow on in the first year. I've never bothered to replace them and instead I use up the space planting any suitable oddments left over from elsewhere. This year is was a couple of sweet pea (they liked it here and hopefully didn't take too much away from the crowns - we'll see next summer) and some garlic left over from the main planting.

Previously I've grown dwarf beans and they seem to have liked it as well because of the generous amount of compost I spread on the bed each winter. It's also where there is a seam of heavier, moister soil and maybe this is why the missing crowns rotted off.

Now that they were beginning to yellow off it was time to cut them down and dress the bed and let them overwinter with the prospect of another good crop next summer - a real bonus of growing  your own.

Here they've been cut to ground level and dressed with compost.  The stakes mark the end of the row and in the remaining space I'll probably sow a catch crop of lettuce or put in some beans again - just three or so plants, maybe some raddish or I'll try and raise a few brassica seedlings.

In the field next to the allotments the cattle did what they do best - eat.

From the Ashes

In May my allotment shed burnt down (see the devastation here) and with it the Pilgrim Rose (from David Austin Roses) which I was training up the side.

But rather than dig out the burnt stems I let it be to see if anything came back. From the charred remains a couple of green shoots emerged (maybe the root stock - I'll have to see as it grows). You can see the bare blackened stems and the new growth coming through.

I could make some allegorical tale of this - the Pilgrim Rose coming through the travail of  allotment life rising phoenix like (to add myth) from the ashes........

But I won't except to say that all plants want to do is grow if given a chance. Encouraged by this I've seeded the bare patch with grass seed and next weekend hope to find time to build a climbing frame  for the rose. 

Rain Stops Play

Here's the view from the allotment early last Saturday morning. Misty, sodden, drippy, just the day for a good book, plenty of tea and cake.

And if it had been a bit colder I'd have laid a log fire as well.

What a difference from last year when we were parched.

Bad News Day

The day before I was to leave on holiday my allotment neighbour, Carol, called and left a message asking if I knew my shed had burnt down.

And this is what greeted me when I drove down next morning.

Immediately I could think of all sorts of gross and  heinous punishments for those that did it. First beat them to an inch of their lives, then a public disemboweling with blunt secateurs, maybe some boarding in comfrey tea to make them see the error of their ways followed by a light spot of weeding clearing the entire allotment site of stinging neetles using their teeth by way of redemptive community service.

No doubt I was reacting in the usual way of all victims - a sense of violation, followed by anger and the desire for revenge.

Anyway I reported it to the police (I didn't expect much but was very impressed with their response and an officer came to visit the site later that day) and a fire service investigator came also, both interested in logging the incident to see if there is any pattern in the area.

What I did learn is it's very unlikely, almost impossible, that the lawn mower stored in the shed would have self combusted. Even filled with petrol there wouldn't have been enough oxygen in the tank and the heat would have had to have been intense and 'just right' to set it off.

Ignition by persons unknown is what's going down in the official report and I'm now the proud owner of a 'C' number on which my insurance company will pay up - er, that's if I had any insurance.

The Pilgrim Rose climbing up the shed side is charred but I'll see if it grows back - perhaps the roots weren't fried. The lawn mower is a burnt out shell and all the tools are gone, including my father's, which though I seldom used were always a reminder.

The good thing is that the growing area, protected by netting and a wooden cage escaped unharmed. So we've had a set back and the allotment for the time being doesn't seem the bucolic place it was, but we are still growing.

Bastards.

Still, keep the right attitude. Cup of tea anyone?

Do You Chit?

I got out to the veg plot for some real hands on gardening today - hoeing off weeds that have come up in the mild winter and pulled several potato plants that had begun to show through - left overs in the ground missed in last years harvest.

Now these weren't chitted so I'm wondering if it's necessary at all?

If I don't have to do it then it'll free up some window-sill space. But then again it's real gardening at a quite time in the gardening calander.  What do you think?

Down To Earth

The allotment escaped damage after the recent  spell of stormy weather.

Sadly this old oak fell in the next field.

But looking forward to Spring, these daffodils, which I planted near the fruit trees, are beginning to poke through the grass. Hopefully they won't be checked by the cold weather forecast for this week. They've bulked up and colonised in the two years they've been here, but it'll be interesting to see how they do this year as lots of rabbits have been burrowing nearby.

New For 2007

With all the seed catalogues coming in there is plenty in the way of temptation.

I'm keen to expand the varieties of winter veg I can grow or store. A diet of leeks, parnips and kale gets a bit tiresome. So this season I'm thinking of getting Butternut squash, Swede, Turnip seed. I'll add Jerusalem Artichoke tubers to the order (I've come to love their taste  roasted, though not their effects) and Celeriac (great in a curried soup).

Any tips or warnings on my choice of newbie veg for 2007?

Is there one winter veg you'd not be without?

Prickly Carpet

Just when I thought my broad beans were off to a good start with excellent germination rates and no really hard frost to knock them back  - the mice struck. At least I think it was mice, maybe voles.

They topped about a quarter of the plants, taking the bean in most cases and discarding the stem, leaving a neat hole  in the bed next to where the plant had stood.

And then I had a plan. Instead of tossing the Christmas tree on the bonfire - I don't have a shredder - I'd spread the prickly leaves around the broad beans to see if it would stop the critters.

A week on and nothing has been touched. Now I'm just waiting to see if the beans I've resown to replace the losses come through this prickly carpet.

Winter View

I expect the recent frosts will have sweetened the parsnips and brussel sprouts and I'll find out next weekend when I get down to the allotment and harvest some more.

Meanwhile here these are the early morning winter views looking east.