I've loved having a shed full of vegetables this autumn. That has pleased me even more than all the fresh stuff that was available all summer. So to cheer myself up I've sat down with the seed catalogues and ordered the following:
Potatoes: Sarpo Mira as my main crop again, to resist blight, plus smaller amounts of a couple of other fun looking early varieties to try out.
Onions: Red and brown. My autumn planted onions are doing very well but I've heard they don't keep as long as proper spring planted sets.
Garlic: My autumn-planted garlic is looking very sorry for itself, the soil is so heavy I think some cloves have rotted off in the ground, so I've ordered some more for spring planting ,just in case. I saw a good technique on Gardener's World for planting them: Mix in plenty of sand to the soil for drainage, then plant the cloves on ridges in the soil, so they don't sit in water. Shame I didn't think of that sooner.
Now just got to sit back and wait for it all to arrive!
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Christmas Harvest
I've now been to the plot and harvested most of my Christmas dinner, something I've been looking forward to for ages!
First on the list was a big bag of parsnips. There were plenty of these in good condition, good news as I love parsnips! The cold should have sweetened them up nicely. If they didn't take so long to germinate, parsnips would be the perfect vegetable, as no pests eat them, not even the tops, and they can withstand frost and snow. They were absolutely covered in thick mud, though, as the plot was very damp. I will grow more of these next year.
Second, carrots, out of their sand storage boxes. Thankfully they were still in there, and had not been stolen by the person who forced the lock off my shed. Not quite as good as I'd hoped, but still OK. The ones I stored in compost from a grow-bag are in better condition than the ones in sand. That is good news as I can re-use the grow-bag compost for improving my soil. I now know you can leave carrots in the ground until quite late, too, so I'll try that next time.
Third stop at the plot was plenty of fresh rosemary for the lamb. All the herbs in the supermarket had sold out this week (although they had no shortage of sprouts), so I may put some herbs in pots next year and try to keep them through winter.
Finally, I've still got plenty of spuds in the shed for Christmas dinner, plus garlic and onions if I need them. The Sarpo Mira potatoes I grew avoided all blight and keep really well, but they don't make the best roast potatoes which is a shame. I reckon they'd be nicer if I used goose fat or beef dripping to roast them, but we've got a vegetarian coming for Christmas! Curses!
Unfortunately I've had to buy leeks, as my diminutive specimens have now started to receive the attention of the plot rabbits.. but there's always next year. I can't wait.
First on the list was a big bag of parsnips. There were plenty of these in good condition, good news as I love parsnips! The cold should have sweetened them up nicely. If they didn't take so long to germinate, parsnips would be the perfect vegetable, as no pests eat them, not even the tops, and they can withstand frost and snow. They were absolutely covered in thick mud, though, as the plot was very damp. I will grow more of these next year.
Second, carrots, out of their sand storage boxes. Thankfully they were still in there, and had not been stolen by the person who forced the lock off my shed. Not quite as good as I'd hoped, but still OK. The ones I stored in compost from a grow-bag are in better condition than the ones in sand. That is good news as I can re-use the grow-bag compost for improving my soil. I now know you can leave carrots in the ground until quite late, too, so I'll try that next time.
Third stop at the plot was plenty of fresh rosemary for the lamb. All the herbs in the supermarket had sold out this week (although they had no shortage of sprouts), so I may put some herbs in pots next year and try to keep them through winter.
Finally, I've still got plenty of spuds in the shed for Christmas dinner, plus garlic and onions if I need them. The Sarpo Mira potatoes I grew avoided all blight and keep really well, but they don't make the best roast potatoes which is a shame. I reckon they'd be nicer if I used goose fat or beef dripping to roast them, but we've got a vegetarian coming for Christmas! Curses!
Unfortunately I've had to buy leeks, as my diminutive specimens have now started to receive the attention of the plot rabbits.. but there's always next year. I can't wait.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Britain in Bloom
Here are the promised pictures of my garden, winner of Best Small Garden in Wolverton 2008. Having seen these again, I'm glad I uploaded them in the depths of winter. It's warming to have a reminder of what things are like at the opposite end of the year. Enjoy.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
The Joy of Soup
One of the things about having lots of vegetables laying about is trying to think of what to do with them so they're not wasted. For example, I've lost count of the number of different ways I've served courgettes - our poor friends and family have had them in any number of guises all summer. Mind you, the Chinese fried courgette sticks never stay on the plate long.
So, my new favourite thing to do with a big stack of vegetables is make soup. I've never done it before, and even if I say so myself, my first efforts have been a resounding success. I should explain, my earliest experience of making soup. It was late 1995, and involved a packet of powdered mushroom and garlic soup from my best man's kitchen cupboard. We decided it would be a great idea to make it at around 3am, but we both fell asleep waiting for it and boiled the pan dry, much to the chagrin of his ever-patient wife who was trying to sleep through the noise and disgusting smell of our drunken antics. Therefore, I thought making 'real' soup would be really hard, and involve large black pots bubbling away for several days, maybe carefully adding eye of newt and toe of frog every four hours, only for the whole thing to get spoiled if someone rings the doorbell and distracts me. But no, they're dead easy.
So far I have made leek and potato (which nicely hides the diminutive stature of my leeks) and carrot and coriander. Both delicious, filling, and 100% nicer than anything I've ever had out of a tin or packet.
So, my new favourite thing to do with a big stack of vegetables is make soup. I've never done it before, and even if I say so myself, my first efforts have been a resounding success. I should explain, my earliest experience of making soup. It was late 1995, and involved a packet of powdered mushroom and garlic soup from my best man's kitchen cupboard. We decided it would be a great idea to make it at around 3am, but we both fell asleep waiting for it and boiled the pan dry, much to the chagrin of his ever-patient wife who was trying to sleep through the noise and disgusting smell of our drunken antics. Therefore, I thought making 'real' soup would be really hard, and involve large black pots bubbling away for several days, maybe carefully adding eye of newt and toe of frog every four hours, only for the whole thing to get spoiled if someone rings the doorbell and distracts me. But no, they're dead easy.
So far I have made leek and potato (which nicely hides the diminutive stature of my leeks) and carrot and coriander. Both delicious, filling, and 100% nicer than anything I've ever had out of a tin or packet.
Autumn photo gallery
In my continued effort to keep up to date, here are a few photos from the last few months down on the plot.
First, my sunflowers eventually started producing blooms, and we had a fair few vases full of these in the house for a while. I happened to notice them on sale in the florists for an extortionate amount! Mine cost the price of a pack of seeds, about £2, and now, of course, I have an airing cupboard full of free seeds for next year! The hyperbole on the seed packet led me to believe I would need sunglasses to look at these, and people would be coming from far and wide to view my many-coloured blooms. Far from becoming something of a local celebrity, I was a bit disappointed that the ‘harlequin’ seeds produced mostly bog-standard yellow flowers.
I was quite excited at the beginning of autumn, planning what to plant for next year, but the excitement has worn off in the face of regular rain showers and the return to GMT which have both been keeping me off the plot.
Here, however, are pictures of my first winter veg. Parsnips have been slowly growing away all
year, thanks to early identification by John they didn’t get pulled up. They’re nice and sweet.
Pak Choi are now coming along well. These are to be used in the spring, or whenever they are big enough. I seem to have solved the flea beetle problem by applying simple cardboard collars (as seen on Gardener’s World) and covering them with a mini polytunnel, excellent value from B&Q only £9.99. Also in the polytunnel are spring onions and overwintering lettuce. I’ll see how the spring onions get on, but I may not bother with many more of those – they’re easy to grow but never seem to be ready when I want them, and don’t seem to store well – when they’re so ridiculously cheap in the shops all year round I might devote the space to something else.
Not pictured here are my leeks. I couldn’t get a picture because they’re too small for the human eye to detect. The biggest ones are only like the baby leeks you get from the supermarket. I suspect a combination of poor soil and late planting out.
Everyone else at Stacey Hill seems to have grown leeks as big as American fire hydrants, with their luxuriant, rust-free foliage waving and mocking me as I pass. Mine are more like pencils. And not even those big novelty pencils you get at the seaside. Mind you, they still taste good.
First, my sunflowers eventually started producing blooms, and we had a fair few vases full of these in the house for a while. I happened to notice them on sale in the florists for an extortionate amount! Mine cost the price of a pack of seeds, about £2, and now, of course, I have an airing cupboard full of free seeds for next year! The hyperbole on the seed packet led me to believe I would need sunglasses to look at these, and people would be coming from far and wide to view my many-coloured blooms. Far from becoming something of a local celebrity, I was a bit disappointed that the ‘harlequin’ seeds produced mostly bog-standard yellow flowers.
I was quite excited at the beginning of autumn, planning what to plant for next year, but the excitement has worn off in the face of regular rain showers and the return to GMT which have both been keeping me off the plot.
Here, however, are pictures of my first winter veg. Parsnips have been slowly growing away all
year, thanks to early identification by John they didn’t get pulled up. They’re nice and sweet.Pak Choi are now coming along well. These are to be used in the spring, or whenever they are big enough. I seem to have solved the flea beetle problem by applying simple cardboard collars (as seen on Gardener’s World) and covering them with a mini polytunnel, excellent value from B&Q only £9.99. Also in the polytunnel are spring onions and overwintering lettuce. I’ll see how the spring onions get on, but I may not bother with many more of those – they’re easy to grow but never seem to be ready when I want them, and don’t seem to store well – when they’re so ridiculously cheap in the shops all year round I might devote the space to something else.
Not pictured here are my leeks. I couldn’t get a picture because they’re too small for the human eye to detect. The biggest ones are only like the baby leeks you get from the supermarket. I suspect a combination of poor soil and late planting out.
Everyone else at Stacey Hill seems to have grown leeks as big as American fire hydrants, with their luxuriant, rust-free foliage waving and mocking me as I pass. Mine are more like pencils. And not even those big novelty pencils you get at the seaside. Mind you, they still taste good.
Monday, 10 November 2008
Late summer on Plot 29
The Moog and I have been a bit busy to update the blog recently, or possibly a bit lazy, take your pick. I'm going to have a go at bringing things up-to-date over the next few days. Let's start with the end of August.
It occured to me in August that it's a full year since I've had my plot. You may have read that I invested my £7 winnings from second place in the 2007 "Britain in Bloom" competition; this year, ta-da, I have won first prize! a whopping twenty Great British Pounds, and a certificate to boot. I will post some pictures of my front garden for curious blog readers when I get round to it. This year, I invested my winnings in a delicious curry from Cafe Balti in Wolverton.
Also in late summer (Hmph! What summer?! I hear you cry) harvesting was in full flow. I was a bit worried about carrots splitting, so I pulled most of them up in late August and put them in storage. There were loads, as you can see from the picture. Some of them were forked, some of them were split, but overall they've been pretty good. No carrot fly attacks. To store them, I bought a grow-bag for about £1.25 from the nearest DIY shed, and filled two cardboard boxes with layers of carrots and compost. So far (November) they're as fresh and crunchy as they were when they went in. Mind you, the bottom did fall out of one of the boxes last week, covering my shed floor in carrots and compost, you can imagine how pleased I was.
Onions were also dug up, dried in the garden at home (between rain showers), and strung up in the shed. We've been gradually working our way through them, and they're storing really well.
From the greenhouse at home, we collected a big bowl of green tomatoes and ripened them on the window sill. I have to say I couldn't tell the difference between ours and shop-bought ones (that is, ours were not the delicious globes of sweet flavour that I'd been led to expect). And if one more person mentions green tomato chutney, I may have to set an angry Moog on them.
The final crop I started harvesting in late summer was potatoes. The Sarpo Mira variety have been really successful, lots of nice big potatoes, no blight, and they seem to store really well. They eventually all came out of the ground in mid-September, although I think they might have been happy to stay in the ground a bit longer, they were starting to receive attention from slugs, so they came up.
It occured to me in August that it's a full year since I've had my plot. You may have read that I invested my £7 winnings from second place in the 2007 "Britain in Bloom" competition; this year, ta-da, I have won first prize! a whopping twenty Great British Pounds, and a certificate to boot. I will post some pictures of my front garden for curious blog readers when I get round to it. This year, I invested my winnings in a delicious curry from Cafe Balti in Wolverton.
Also in late summer (Hmph! What summer?! I hear you cry) harvesting was in full flow. I was a bit worried about carrots splitting, so I pulled most of them up in late August and put them in storage. There were loads, as you can see from the picture. Some of them were forked, some of them were split, but overall they've been pretty good. No carrot fly attacks. To store them, I bought a grow-bag for about £1.25 from the nearest DIY shed, and filled two cardboard boxes with layers of carrots and compost. So far (November) they're as fresh and crunchy as they were when they went in. Mind you, the bottom did fall out of one of the boxes last week, covering my shed floor in carrots and compost, you can imagine how pleased I was.
Onions were also dug up, dried in the garden at home (between rain showers), and strung up in the shed. We've been gradually working our way through them, and they're storing really well.From the greenhouse at home, we collected a big bowl of green tomatoes and ripened them on the window sill. I have to say I couldn't tell the difference between ours and shop-bought ones (that is, ours were not the delicious globes of sweet flavour that I'd been led to expect). And if one more person mentions green tomato chutney, I may have to set an angry Moog on them.
The final crop I started harvesting in late summer was potatoes. The Sarpo Mira variety have been really successful, lots of nice big potatoes, no blight, and they seem to store really well. They eventually all came out of the ground in mid-September, although I think they might have been happy to stay in the ground a bit longer, they were starting to receive attention from slugs, so they came up.
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Failure Count
I have had lots of congratulations from various people on my successes this year, so Moog thought I should let reality have a look in and share some of my failures:
1. Cut and Come Again salad leaves. These all bolted to seed. In fairness, not really a failure, because the reason they bolted was that I chose not to pick them - they didn't taste very nice!
2. Wild Rocket. All germinated, and then all completely wiped out by flea beetle. Almost overnight there was nothing left, not even a stalk.
3. Radishes and Pak Choi have been riddled with holes by flea beetle. This is probably due to me eradicating their favoured food source, which is Oilseed Rape. I can't win.
4. Tomatoes. I don't know why I bother. One minute they're fine, the next minute, the stems and fruits are brown with blight. John pointed it out to me this week and I was forced to burn all my allotment tomatoes. Greenhouse crop is still going steady at home. For now.
5. Leek rust. This covered my garlic, but luckily didn't spoil the crop. It has now graduated on to my leeks. Hopefully the white parts under the soil will be saved from destruction (apparently you can still eat rusty leeks if it doesn't get too bad) but after seeing how fast it spread I have decided to resort to a chemical spray of dithane (fungicide) on this crop to try and save them.
6. Split carrots. I avoided carrot fly, but quite a few carrots got too big and split, so I've had to harvest them all to stop them growing any bigger. Hopefully I'll be able to store them for long enough, only time will tell.
I blame all these problems squarly on the weather - a bit more sunshine and warmth in August wouldn't go amiss! The only time we did get any sun, I went to the plot in shorts and got attacked by my next pest:
7. Red ants. These aggressive little blighters managed to get into my boot and bit me 4-5 times, making my whole foot swell up to about twice normal size! And it itched like mad!
So there you go; it's not all rosy down at the plot, even if I make it look that way sometimes.
1. Cut and Come Again salad leaves. These all bolted to seed. In fairness, not really a failure, because the reason they bolted was that I chose not to pick them - they didn't taste very nice!
2. Wild Rocket. All germinated, and then all completely wiped out by flea beetle. Almost overnight there was nothing left, not even a stalk.
3. Radishes and Pak Choi have been riddled with holes by flea beetle. This is probably due to me eradicating their favoured food source, which is Oilseed Rape. I can't win.
4. Tomatoes. I don't know why I bother. One minute they're fine, the next minute, the stems and fruits are brown with blight. John pointed it out to me this week and I was forced to burn all my allotment tomatoes. Greenhouse crop is still going steady at home. For now.
5. Leek rust. This covered my garlic, but luckily didn't spoil the crop. It has now graduated on to my leeks. Hopefully the white parts under the soil will be saved from destruction (apparently you can still eat rusty leeks if it doesn't get too bad) but after seeing how fast it spread I have decided to resort to a chemical spray of dithane (fungicide) on this crop to try and save them.
6. Split carrots. I avoided carrot fly, but quite a few carrots got too big and split, so I've had to harvest them all to stop them growing any bigger. Hopefully I'll be able to store them for long enough, only time will tell.
I blame all these problems squarly on the weather - a bit more sunshine and warmth in August wouldn't go amiss! The only time we did get any sun, I went to the plot in shorts and got attacked by my next pest:
7. Red ants. These aggressive little blighters managed to get into my boot and bit me 4-5 times, making my whole foot swell up to about twice normal size! And it itched like mad!
So there you go; it's not all rosy down at the plot, even if I make it look that way sometimes.
Friday, 8 August 2008
Beginning of the end?
I had a bit of a shock when I spoke to John last, as I mentioned planting some more radishes, he said, "well, yes, there is just time if we get the right weather." It hadn't occured to me that the growing season is beginning to draw to a close.
Turns out he's right. I'd been so busy with the joys of weeding that I hadn't noticed some of my plants beginning to wane. Half my pea plants have turned yellow, and there's a distinct lack of flowers - I'll only get one more crop off those. The French beans, which have produced a magnificent bumper crop and filled my freezer, are also starting to slow down - again, hardly any flowers and the plants have stopped racing up the canes. My autumn raspberries are starting to fruit, too, it was only last week they were covered in bees.
But of course it's not over yet. I've still got plenty to go - maincrop potatoes are still 4-5 weeks off maturity, lettuces are doing fine as are spring onions and carrots (splitting problems aside). My leeks and parsnips are looking good for the winter too.
So, it's not bad news, just time for a change. That's one of the pleasures of gardening, it's never finished, and there's always something happening or something to do. Soon it will be time to start planting autumn crops again (more garlic - it doesn't seem long ago I planted my first ever cloves!), to learn from this year's mistakes and try something new.
Turns out he's right. I'd been so busy with the joys of weeding that I hadn't noticed some of my plants beginning to wane. Half my pea plants have turned yellow, and there's a distinct lack of flowers - I'll only get one more crop off those. The French beans, which have produced a magnificent bumper crop and filled my freezer, are also starting to slow down - again, hardly any flowers and the plants have stopped racing up the canes. My autumn raspberries are starting to fruit, too, it was only last week they were covered in bees.
But of course it's not over yet. I've still got plenty to go - maincrop potatoes are still 4-5 weeks off maturity, lettuces are doing fine as are spring onions and carrots (splitting problems aside). My leeks and parsnips are looking good for the winter too.
So, it's not bad news, just time for a change. That's one of the pleasures of gardening, it's never finished, and there's always something happening or something to do. Soon it will be time to start planting autumn crops again (more garlic - it doesn't seem long ago I planted my first ever cloves!), to learn from this year's mistakes and try something new.
Beautiful British Weather
Yesterday Moog and me popped down to the allotment for a bit of harvesting. Of course it rained, but I got down to picking French beans by the handful, giant courgettes, peas, a few carrots and a lettuce for the fridge while Moog sat patiently on the bench.
While harvesting I discovered some of my carrots are split. This is a shame as they won't store very well now. The cause? Our Beautiful British Summer. Apparently carrots split when they start growing suddenly due to heavy rain after a dry spell, which is exactly what we've had. Moog thinks I should have watered them more when it was hot and dry, but then I can only find these things out with experience, and Moog was noticeably lacking in advice at the right time - hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I can only hope the weather hasn't also done for my onions, as I was hoping to store them well into next year.
While harvesting I discovered some of my carrots are split. This is a shame as they won't store very well now. The cause? Our Beautiful British Summer. Apparently carrots split when they start growing suddenly due to heavy rain after a dry spell, which is exactly what we've had. Moog thinks I should have watered them more when it was hot and dry, but then I can only find these things out with experience, and Moog was noticeably lacking in advice at the right time - hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I can only hope the weather hasn't also done for my onions, as I was hoping to store them well into next year.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Summer update
We have reached the very satisfying time of year when I can easily raise a plateful of fresh food at dinner time. So far we have harvested: Radish, lettuce, spring onion, carrots, garlic, potatoes, peas, courgettes, French beans, raspberries and blackberries (those last berries being a benefit of having a wild bramble at the end of my plot). Currently waiting in the wings are: Onions, sweetcorn, leeks and parsnips.
I'm pleased to report my peas were delicious - one of the things I have been really looking forward to was my own fresh peas, as I can remember beign invited to eat them straight out of the pod by my dad when I was a boy. Here's a picture of one of my pods.
'Old Mike's' wise advice on plot location was proved right again last week, when I received a tip from two of my experienced neighbours about onions. Since we've had a hot dry spell, now's the time to lift my onions before they start growing again. Apparently if that happens once they've started to dry out, then they'll split and not store so well. I didn't have time to lift them all or anywhere to dry them (it's been raining since they told me) so I've bent all the tops over as instructed. They should be ready to pull up very soon and with any luck, will store until next year.
I'm pleased to report my peas were delicious - one of the things I have been really looking forward to was my own fresh peas, as I can remember beign invited to eat them straight out of the pod by my dad when I was a boy. Here's a picture of one of my pods.
'Old Mike's' wise advice on plot location was proved right again last week, when I received a tip from two of my experienced neighbours about onions. Since we've had a hot dry spell, now's the time to lift my onions before they start growing again. Apparently if that happens once they've started to dry out, then they'll split and not store so well. I didn't have time to lift them all or anywhere to dry them (it's been raining since they told me) so I've bent all the tops over as instructed. They should be ready to pull up very soon and with any luck, will store until next year.
Friday, 18 July 2008
Beast of Wolverton
An enormous scary wild beast has been spotted prowling around the allotments. I managed to take a photo and I present it here for analysis.
Moog thinks it might be a perfectly normal domestic cat, but what does Moog know about anything anyway?
Thursday, 26 June 2008
The Ute is Here
The latest weapon in my allotment arsenal has arrived, in the shape of my new Kona Ute. Ute being short for Utility bike, this is the pick-up truck of bikes. Comfy to ride, not too slow and ready-made to carry me, produce and equipment wherever I need to go. The Ute is now my regular work commuting bike and it's doing a grand job.
For all those doubters who couldn't visualise what a bike like this was for, I have enlisted the help of some tomato plants, my compost caddy, watering can, and, err, The Moog, to demonstrate:
The author would like to assure readers that no Moog was hurt in the making of this blog. Actually The Moog was pretty happy in there and nearly went to sleep before I could get him out again.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Plan update
Moog thought I'd better update the plan, as most of it went out of the window as soon as I'd drawn it up.
Here's what's currently on my plot:
Here's what's currently on my plot:
Garlic Update
Most of the garlic is starting to turn brown now, and there's a lot of leek rust on the leaves, so Moog thinks we should pull it all up this week. I'm well pleased as they were the first thing I planted when I took over the plot. Most of it will be dried and stored for use in cooking, but we're going to try eating some of it as 'wet' garlic, using recipes from Hugh Hairy-Wittingstall's TV programme River Cottage Spring that was on last week. If they're nice I'll report back, and plant more next year!
This picture doesn't really give you an idea of the size of these plants, they're much bigger than the bulbs you can buy in the shops.
Friday, 13 June 2008
Harvest Time
Moog thought our first harvest would be a big event, but it's nearly slipped under the radar.
The other day we pulled up some garlic because there was quite a lot of rust on the leaves - but it was still too early, the bulb was only just formed and still growing, so we left the rest in the ground. We also pulled up some potatoes, but only got 4 (they were delicious) so the haulm was replanted quickly and it's still growing. But, without further ado, here's a picture of my first proper crop, some salad leaves and cylinder radishes. Ta-da!
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Where has John been... and beans
I noticed my neigbour John's plot starting to look overgrown, most unusual, and slightly worrying. The last time I saw John was about a month ago, when he arrived with a heavy heart to bury his recently deceased tortoise (same age as me, incidentally). Moog thinks that'll make a nice surprise for the next tenant of that plot, one day. John told me he now wishes he hadn't planted quite so much lettuce.
Happily I saw John again this week and it turns out he's been away on holiday, followed by a bad knee, so all is well. He thought we were suffering a bunny invasion, but it turned out he mistook Moog's burrowings for rabbit holes, and luckily I was able to put him straight as to their origin.
I reported in an earlier post that my first batch of French beans had rotted before germination. I have since found out that the same happened to a fellow allotment holder and work colleague Martyn, and, to my great surprise, my super-allotment neighbour John. So, it's obviously not something I did wrong, which is nice.
Happily I saw John again this week and it turns out he's been away on holiday, followed by a bad knee, so all is well. He thought we were suffering a bunny invasion, but it turned out he mistook Moog's burrowings for rabbit holes, and luckily I was able to put him straight as to their origin.
I reported in an earlier post that my first batch of French beans had rotted before germination. I have since found out that the same happened to a fellow allotment holder and work colleague Martyn, and, to my great surprise, my super-allotment neighbour John. So, it's obviously not something I did wrong, which is nice.
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Precautions pay off
When Moog thinks we should do something on the allotment, I'm often left unsure whether it's worth it, or whether my effort would have been better spent elsewhere.
After the wet summer of 2007 I've always been mindful of the disaster of getting crops washed away or drowned - probably harder to deal with than drought because I can water when it's sunny, but I can't stop the rain!
Moog thought we should dig drainage channels down the edge of each bed, and I'm glad we did, as this picture shows, after a few hours of relatively light rain:
Not pictured are some of Moog's own holes, also filled with water!
After the wet summer of 2007 I've always been mindful of the disaster of getting crops washed away or drowned - probably harder to deal with than drought because I can water when it's sunny, but I can't stop the rain!
Moog thought we should dig drainage channels down the edge of each bed, and I'm glad we did, as this picture shows, after a few hours of relatively light rain:
Not pictured are some of Moog's own holes, also filled with water!
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Murphy's Law for beginners
Everything is growing away strongly on the plot now, I'm just waiting impatiently to start harvesting stuff. I was so nervous earlier in the year that my carefully chitted potatoes weren't going to come up that I actually dug one up to see if anything had happened (of course it had). Now I'm a little more laid back - patience is a virtue. Not that I should have worried of course. I carefully prepared the soil, diligently chitted the specially-sourced seed potatoes in my spare room, acclimatised them to the outdoors, painstakingly planted them at the recommended spacing and depth, added fertiliser to the soil and weeded and earthed up...
Meanwhile, amongst the kitchen scraps, left alone, forgotten, discarded and with no attention whatsoever, I now have 3 healthy potato plants and a spire of brocolli sprouting luxuriantly from my compost heap!
Meanwhile, amongst the kitchen scraps, left alone, forgotten, discarded and with no attention whatsoever, I now have 3 healthy potato plants and a spire of brocolli sprouting luxuriantly from my compost heap!
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Public Enemy Number 1 - GM Crops?
Since the start of spring, a particular weed has sprung up more than any other on my plot, so I decided to look up what it was. I think I have found the culprit, and it is oilseed rape.
I found it on this useful weed identification site, which I think is primarily intended for farmers, but there are pictures of the seedlings and the fully grown plants.
I also found some interesting stuff about rapeseed/oilseed rape on Wikipedia. First, that it might have come from seed being blown in (there are numerous fields of this stuff on commercial land nearby). Second, there is a genetically modified, "Roundup Ready" (weedkiller resistant) version commercially available. I don't know if British farmers are using it, but that might explain why I've got so much of the damn stuff, and not much else - my application of weedkiller last season was Roundup (Glyphosate). Purely speculation, but interesting, Moog thinks.
Moog thinks this might be the first GM crop on my allotment!
I found it on this useful weed identification site, which I think is primarily intended for farmers, but there are pictures of the seedlings and the fully grown plants.
I also found some interesting stuff about rapeseed/oilseed rape on Wikipedia. First, that it might have come from seed being blown in (there are numerous fields of this stuff on commercial land nearby). Second, there is a genetically modified, "Roundup Ready" (weedkiller resistant) version commercially available. I don't know if British farmers are using it, but that might explain why I've got so much of the damn stuff, and not much else - my application of weedkiller last season was Roundup (Glyphosate). Purely speculation, but interesting, Moog thinks.
Moog thinks this might be the first GM crop on my allotment!
Monday, 19 May 2008
Nodules
Green Manure Final update. I thought I would share this picture of the super duper nitrogen nodules that have grown on the roots of my green manure. Nice to see something with my own eyes which I'd only previously read about in books.
Since chopping back these winter field beans I have discovered you have to cut the roots pretty short or they start to re-grow.
Since chopping back these winter field beans I have discovered you have to cut the roots pretty short or they start to re-grow.
Monday, 12 May 2008
The trouble with seeds
Moog thinks the most annoying thing about this allotment business so far is the seeds. How anything grows in the wild apart from weeds is anyone's guess.
The most disappointing seeds so far have been French Marigolds, which I planted to add a bit of colour and fragrance to my plot (they're supposed to keep insects off too). Out of an entire packet of seeds I've got about 10 little plants. That's still good value but not the big border full of colour I was hoping for. The most successful seeds so far are lettuce and courgette seeds. The lettuces are quick and almost all of them come up and start turning into viable plants. The courgettes also produce big healthy looking seedlings, none of the spindly stems that frequently collapse as soon as you water them. Moog thinks they're in proportion to the size of the plant so maybe I just need to grow big things.
I have had the following disasters so far, which have all tested my patience to varying degrees:
1. French bean seeds rotted because they were too cold and wet (despite being on a warm window sill in a propagator). All rotted except one single solitary magic bean which now a foot tall. Replacements coming on fine.
2. Chillis and peppers took ages to germinate. Consequently I managed to separate the seeds from their labels. I was just about to give up on seeds and buy some plants from the garden centre when they all started sprouting. The trouble is, peppers and chillis are identical as seedlings so I now have no idea which plants are which. Luckily, the tomatoes I had put in different shaped pots so I can identify those.
3. Leeks came up well but it has taken me the best part of a weekend to pot them all on into bigger containers, and I have no idea if they will all survive; time will tell. I would like to know how my next door neighbour John has got leeks like sticks of rock while mine are still like blades of grass.
4. When things did come through I was slow potting them on, as I expected them to get a bit bigger first. Moog now tells me I need to pot things on as soon as the first couple of proper leaves come through, otherwise little seed trays/pots get full of roots and the plant stops growing.
5. Some plants germinate but then just fall over dead. I don't know why, I am attributing it to "damping off" according to all the books which say it is due to fungal infection. Seedlings are so fragile, I don't know how wild plants make it on their own.
6. Leggy seedlings have been a feature, as I haven't really got a suitably light-but-not-direct-sunlight place to put them. The kitchen and spare room window sills are too dark, the greenhouse is too hot. Where is the Goldilocks zone for seedlings? Any advice welcome...
The most disappointing seeds so far have been French Marigolds, which I planted to add a bit of colour and fragrance to my plot (they're supposed to keep insects off too). Out of an entire packet of seeds I've got about 10 little plants. That's still good value but not the big border full of colour I was hoping for. The most successful seeds so far are lettuce and courgette seeds. The lettuces are quick and almost all of them come up and start turning into viable plants. The courgettes also produce big healthy looking seedlings, none of the spindly stems that frequently collapse as soon as you water them. Moog thinks they're in proportion to the size of the plant so maybe I just need to grow big things.
I have had the following disasters so far, which have all tested my patience to varying degrees:
1. French bean seeds rotted because they were too cold and wet (despite being on a warm window sill in a propagator). All rotted except one single solitary magic bean which now a foot tall. Replacements coming on fine.
2. Chillis and peppers took ages to germinate. Consequently I managed to separate the seeds from their labels. I was just about to give up on seeds and buy some plants from the garden centre when they all started sprouting. The trouble is, peppers and chillis are identical as seedlings so I now have no idea which plants are which. Luckily, the tomatoes I had put in different shaped pots so I can identify those.
3. Leeks came up well but it has taken me the best part of a weekend to pot them all on into bigger containers, and I have no idea if they will all survive; time will tell. I would like to know how my next door neighbour John has got leeks like sticks of rock while mine are still like blades of grass.
4. When things did come through I was slow potting them on, as I expected them to get a bit bigger first. Moog now tells me I need to pot things on as soon as the first couple of proper leaves come through, otherwise little seed trays/pots get full of roots and the plant stops growing.
5. Some plants germinate but then just fall over dead. I don't know why, I am attributing it to "damping off" according to all the books which say it is due to fungal infection. Seedlings are so fragile, I don't know how wild plants make it on their own.
6. Leggy seedlings have been a feature, as I haven't really got a suitably light-but-not-direct-sunlight place to put them. The kitchen and spare room window sills are too dark, the greenhouse is too hot. Where is the Goldilocks zone for seedlings? Any advice welcome...
So much to do...
Time marches on and the allotment has really taken off. It's hard to keep up with the blog.
The old man opposite complimented me again and said the allotment was a credit to me; this is great, I'm glad old-timers have looked on and approved, it's a great feeling for a novice like me to keep getting compliments. Also I met Irene, who like me is in her first season on her allotment. She commented that my plot looked lovely and tidy from her side of the riding, although I was forced to point out that those lovely green paths between my beds are in fact mainly weeds rather than grass...
Here's a quick list of what's been going on:
The old man opposite complimented me again and said the allotment was a credit to me; this is great, I'm glad old-timers have looked on and approved, it's a great feeling for a novice like me to keep getting compliments. Also I met Irene, who like me is in her first season on her allotment. She commented that my plot looked lovely and tidy from her side of the riding, although I was forced to point out that those lovely green paths between my beds are in fact mainly weeds rather than grass...
Here's a quick list of what's been going on:
- Onions are greening up well, stalks are about 6 inches high already. None have been uprooted by birds, as I planted the sets so that the tops were just covered, rather than leaving them visible on the surface.
- First early potato plants are getting big too, I have scooped some earth up around the stems as instructed by just about everyone.
- First row of maincrop potatoes are just starting to surface.
- Garlic is plumping up and should be ready to harvest soon. Have planted some carrot seeds in between the rows to use up the space and to confuse carrot flies.
- I have created a big fruit cage for my raspberries. Two posts with wire in between, covered in netting to keep birds off.
- Planted in short rows in the same bed, surrounded by fleece for protection: Carrots, spring onions, Cos lettuce, cut-and-come-again salad leaves.
- Germinated and growing on in the greenhouse: French climbing beans, courgettes, more salad leaves, red lettuces, tomatoes, chillis, peppers, chard, sweetcorn, leeks. They should all be in the ground in the allotment in a few weeks time
- Still to go: Parsnip seeds and peas need to go in this week if I get time.
Garden gift review slot number 2
My family and friends generosity continues unabated. Here are some other items to add to my list of gifts:
1. Plant labels and labelling pen. I didn't use these initially, in favour of remembering where I'd put stuff or making my own from strips of card. But I started to forget where I'd put stuff, and the bits of cardboard promptly floated away the first time I watered my seedlings, making it hard to work out what was in each pot until the plants got bigger, and I'm still not sure. So this is a great gift, and I used up two packs of labels before I realised the pen has both a wide and narrow nib. Everything is now neatly labelled, especially things that haven't come up yet.
2. Money... I received a cheque from my aunt in Germany, which has been very useful. My strawberries are now safely hidden under netting, my seedlings are now merrily growing on in bigger pots and my carrots and salad leaves are hidden behind a fleece barrier. Aunt Anne has admitted to having not just one, but two allotments when she was in the UK so I may yet be able to glean some useful tips as time goes on.
3. A big open-necked thermos flask for keeping hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold. It's great, I've got two cups of tea and a choc-ice in mine. Boom, boom.
4. Lots of timber. Hot on the heels of the BBC's Joe Swift, I've had a donation of timber planks from my brother-in-law Mike. They were sitting around in his garden, but are now sitting around in my allotment waiting to be used as edging.
1. Plant labels and labelling pen. I didn't use these initially, in favour of remembering where I'd put stuff or making my own from strips of card. But I started to forget where I'd put stuff, and the bits of cardboard promptly floated away the first time I watered my seedlings, making it hard to work out what was in each pot until the plants got bigger, and I'm still not sure. So this is a great gift, and I used up two packs of labels before I realised the pen has both a wide and narrow nib. Everything is now neatly labelled, especially things that haven't come up yet.
2. Money... I received a cheque from my aunt in Germany, which has been very useful. My strawberries are now safely hidden under netting, my seedlings are now merrily growing on in bigger pots and my carrots and salad leaves are hidden behind a fleece barrier. Aunt Anne has admitted to having not just one, but two allotments when she was in the UK so I may yet be able to glean some useful tips as time goes on.
3. A big open-necked thermos flask for keeping hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold. It's great, I've got two cups of tea and a choc-ice in mine. Boom, boom.
4. Lots of timber. Hot on the heels of the BBC's Joe Swift, I've had a donation of timber planks from my brother-in-law Mike. They were sitting around in his garden, but are now sitting around in my allotment waiting to be used as edging.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Am I Organic?
When I say organic, I'm not talking about the smells that come from The Moog here. I mean my approach to allotment gardening. I thought I'd probably be using mostly organic methods, but it's much harder than you might imagine. How organic is organic? How far do I need to go?These are some of the things that have come up lately:
How do I know if my beanpoles are from an ethical source? It doesn't say on the pack, but I can't grow beans without them. I expect my mesh and netting are produced in a plastics factory somewhere too, which uses oil and pollutes the atmosphere. But if I don't use them, the birds will eat my crops.
How do I fertilise my crops if I can't use chemicals? The instructions that came with my garlic bulbs say "spread sulphate of potash around the plants". Well, I've got some sulphate of potash, but it doesn't say "organic" on the label, and I'm pretty sure it looks like the sort of stuff that was produced in some vast chemical plant somewhere. I don't know how it was made, or where, or what from, or what the consequences for the environment were. All I know is that it was £1.59, when the organic fertiliser (which, I hasten to add, made no mention of "potash" at all) was £4.99. I realised in the shop that I don't know enough about fertilisers to choose the right alternative.
How do I keep slugs off if I don't use pellets? HA! I'm winning here. That one I've answered by using nematodes, I hope. I've watered in the special powder and I hope that it'll at least keep the numbers down, even if it doesn't completely remove them. I have used the same stuff at home to good effect. That means I don't have to use the little blue pellets as much, which must be a good thing.
Can I cut out peat completely? I try to buy peat-free compost, but the quality is really variable, it's more expensive and harder to find in the garden centre. If you let it get too dry it's almost impossible to make it soak up water again. Also, I like to use the little peat pots for my seedlings, because they don't need pricking out, you just plant the pot. Surely that's got to be better than using a disposable plastic tray? Which is best, saving the peat bogs, or using less oil to make plastic?
There's a lot of talk about organic gardening, and lots of the old fashioned chemicals have been banned now anyway. So I've decided to do what feels best to me - not what anyone else says. For example; I'll use sulphate of potash until I find out what the right organic alternative is. I'll make my own compost, but I'll burn stuff too. And I'll use peat pots - not because I don't care about peat bogs, but because I've had to spend hours and hours digging bits of old plastic out of my plot; and it really made me think about the amount of plastic that goes to landfill or gets dumped in the environment. If the government ban something I've been using, I'll move to something else; but for now, I'll just use my best judgement.
It's not that easy being green.
How do I know if my beanpoles are from an ethical source? It doesn't say on the pack, but I can't grow beans without them. I expect my mesh and netting are produced in a plastics factory somewhere too, which uses oil and pollutes the atmosphere. But if I don't use them, the birds will eat my crops.
How do I fertilise my crops if I can't use chemicals? The instructions that came with my garlic bulbs say "spread sulphate of potash around the plants". Well, I've got some sulphate of potash, but it doesn't say "organic" on the label, and I'm pretty sure it looks like the sort of stuff that was produced in some vast chemical plant somewhere. I don't know how it was made, or where, or what from, or what the consequences for the environment were. All I know is that it was £1.59, when the organic fertiliser (which, I hasten to add, made no mention of "potash" at all) was £4.99. I realised in the shop that I don't know enough about fertilisers to choose the right alternative.
How do I keep slugs off if I don't use pellets? HA! I'm winning here. That one I've answered by using nematodes, I hope. I've watered in the special powder and I hope that it'll at least keep the numbers down, even if it doesn't completely remove them. I have used the same stuff at home to good effect. That means I don't have to use the little blue pellets as much, which must be a good thing.
Can I cut out peat completely? I try to buy peat-free compost, but the quality is really variable, it's more expensive and harder to find in the garden centre. If you let it get too dry it's almost impossible to make it soak up water again. Also, I like to use the little peat pots for my seedlings, because they don't need pricking out, you just plant the pot. Surely that's got to be better than using a disposable plastic tray? Which is best, saving the peat bogs, or using less oil to make plastic?
There's a lot of talk about organic gardening, and lots of the old fashioned chemicals have been banned now anyway. So I've decided to do what feels best to me - not what anyone else says. For example; I'll use sulphate of potash until I find out what the right organic alternative is. I'll make my own compost, but I'll burn stuff too. And I'll use peat pots - not because I don't care about peat bogs, but because I've had to spend hours and hours digging bits of old plastic out of my plot; and it really made me think about the amount of plastic that goes to landfill or gets dumped in the environment. If the government ban something I've been using, I'll move to something else; but for now, I'll just use my best judgement.
It's not that easy being green.
Shed
The shed is up. What more can I say.
A few boards need replacing and it will get a lick of paint, but now I have somewhere to go when it rains unexpectedly.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
The magic of television
BBC presenter Joe Swift has taken on an allotment this year and they’re showing his progress on Gardener’s World. I have to say I’m glad he didn’t choose the plot next to me – I can imagine how his new neighbours must have felt, as a BBC Gardener’s World presenter pitched up next door with a camera crew! Mind you, if he’d have had the plot next door to me, then Foxy’s hole would technically have been on his plot not mine.
I’m sorry Joe, but I have a major problem with what you call “luck.” DIY stores and garden centres don’t just “give away” metres and metres of timber perfect for edging beds to any passing allotment holder; the “it’s not because we’re with the BBC” line just doesn’t wash with me! However, I’m happy to say my shed was in much better condition than your sorry affair – Joe, for £25 you were ripped off! I’m surprised it held together at all. At least it’s a fair portrayal of setting up an allotment – some highs, some lows.
Having watched the show I’m happy with my decision to do everything by hand – it seems that virtually everyone else who takes over a new plot gets it cleared immediately by the council. I think I’ve got to know my plot a lot better doing it myself – even though I’ve got to know Luther, too!
I’m sorry Joe, but I have a major problem with what you call “luck.” DIY stores and garden centres don’t just “give away” metres and metres of timber perfect for edging beds to any passing allotment holder; the “it’s not because we’re with the BBC” line just doesn’t wash with me! However, I’m happy to say my shed was in much better condition than your sorry affair – Joe, for £25 you were ripped off! I’m surprised it held together at all. At least it’s a fair portrayal of setting up an allotment – some highs, some lows.
Having watched the show I’m happy with my decision to do everything by hand – it seems that virtually everyone else who takes over a new plot gets it cleared immediately by the council. I think I’ve got to know my plot a lot better doing it myself – even though I’ve got to know Luther, too!
Monday, 14 April 2008
In Praise of Luther
I reported a week or two ago that my back had gone on strike. I was playing touch rugby when I bent down to place the ball on the ground and my spine just locked solid. I managed to straighten up and get home but after the weekend I could still barely move. Digging was slow and laborious and Mrs Moog Keeper had to do the lion’s share of any allotment work. Then a friend at work said he’d been suffering with a stiff neck and recommended a good clinic, so I got the number and made an appointment as soon as I could.
Enter Luther the Chiropractor. Managing effortlessly to look smart and casual at the same time, he didn’t look old enough at first glance to have completed the training. Nevertheless he has three sets of letters after his name and I’m left in no doubt that he knows what he’s doing. After an initial consultation he proceeded to fold me into various positions of the sort you might find on an ancient Egyptian frieze, before performing what seemed like a cross between emergency heart massage and sitting on your holiday suitcase to get it shut. My spine made a noise like a Rubik’s Cube going through a mangle.
And now, what joy! After one visit to Luther I could move and sleep again, and after a few follow up visits I’m happy to say I’m totally mobile, and what a difference it has made to my work rate. I dug over three of my abandoned beds last week, all 3m x 1.8m, without having to keep stopping every other spade-full. “Ooh, you’ve done loads,” said Mrs Moog Keeper. Long may it continue. Thanks Luther.
Enter Luther the Chiropractor. Managing effortlessly to look smart and casual at the same time, he didn’t look old enough at first glance to have completed the training. Nevertheless he has three sets of letters after his name and I’m left in no doubt that he knows what he’s doing. After an initial consultation he proceeded to fold me into various positions of the sort you might find on an ancient Egyptian frieze, before performing what seemed like a cross between emergency heart massage and sitting on your holiday suitcase to get it shut. My spine made a noise like a Rubik’s Cube going through a mangle.
And now, what joy! After one visit to Luther I could move and sleep again, and after a few follow up visits I’m happy to say I’m totally mobile, and what a difference it has made to my work rate. I dug over three of my abandoned beds last week, all 3m x 1.8m, without having to keep stopping every other spade-full. “Ooh, you’ve done loads,” said Mrs Moog Keeper. Long may it continue. Thanks Luther.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Gardening Gift Review Slot
I've received some allotmenty presents recently. This is what Moog thinks of them:
1. The Allotment Keeper's Handbook by Jane Perrone. Moog thinks this is a bit more realistic than most gardening books, in that it's written by a journalist that likes growing things rather than a professional gardener. Jane also has a good blog which is worth a read. Full of interesting, real life anecdotes that I can identify with, for example, trying to use a storage box as shelter from the rain (see Moog's Very Blustery Day). Jane doesn't assume that you know or care what all the long words mean. A much appreciated gift, which is actually next to my keyboard as I type. In fact I couldn't put it down for ages, and Moog points out it's a nice handy pocket size to read in vet's waiting rooms etc. For some inexplicable reason my copy has half the pages printed upside down.
2. The Vegetable and Herb Expert by D.G. Hessayon. Sorry, DOCTOR D.G. Hessayon. Sounds a bit pompous to me, I work in a university and none of the academics feel the need to keep reminding everyone how well qualified they are. This rather self-importantly claims to be the best selling grow-your-own book in the world, well, Moog would like to see the sales figures to back that up, and he thinks that high sales doesn't necessarily mean high quality. There is so much information in this book about pests, diseases, and problems to send any budding allotmentalist running back to the supermarket. I will probably use this for reference but didn't like the style at all.
3. Bionic Gloves! Yes really. I was a bit sceptical at first, and Moog thought someone had bought me a pair of driving gloves as an ageist joke, but actually I used them this week and they're really good! In fact, they're so comfortable I forgot to take them off and drove halfway home from the allotment in them, thus making me look like I was wearing driving gloves ( Moog thinks, thank goodness you weren't wearing your flat cap). Very good I shall be using them again. Can someone get me a bionic spine next, please.
4. The Allotment Book by Andi Clevely. Moog thinks this is a really good book. He knows it is a good book because whenever he sees me lately I'm reading it, or making notes. The writing style is really encouraging, it's laid out well, there are good pictures (for example, of ripe beans, so you know what they look like when they're ripe - which might sound simple, but if you've never grown them...). This book has given me a few new ideas, even simple things like having a bulldog clip on a nail in the shed to keep your gloves on. As soon as I put my shed up, I'm going to do that!
5. "Vintage" stainless steel digging fork. from Wyvale. I'm quite impressed with my local Wyvale store. I've had this since Christmas and I asked for it because Moog thought that stainless steel would make working our clay soil easier. He was right. It feels really nice to use and beats my old plastic-handled cheapo fork hands down. The only criticism I would have is that the handle seems to be working loose a bit, but the last time I used it this had miraculously fixed itself so maybe I'm being a bit premature. In any case, it is covered by a 10 year guarantee so I am fairly confident. A very nice tool to have around, and really looks the part. I have the trowel and secateurs from this range too and they're both good; the trowel is very tough and after a bit of thread lock on the secateurs to stop them working loose, they have a very smooth action. Moog thinks the wooden handles are very smart, and if he had thumbs, he'd use them, too.
6. Sony wind-up radio. This smart little orange thing lets me and Moog listen to the radio at the plot, and the best thing is it never needs any batteries. Moog thinks it actually sounds really good for such a small radio, and it has two different sorts of light on it too - a flashlight, for looking for things you've just dropped when it's getting dark, and an ambient light for reading books, err, attracting moths, etc... very handy and will come home with me rather than being left down at the plot.
1. The Allotment Keeper's Handbook by Jane Perrone. Moog thinks this is a bit more realistic than most gardening books, in that it's written by a journalist that likes growing things rather than a professional gardener. Jane also has a good blog which is worth a read. Full of interesting, real life anecdotes that I can identify with, for example, trying to use a storage box as shelter from the rain (see Moog's Very Blustery Day). Jane doesn't assume that you know or care what all the long words mean. A much appreciated gift, which is actually next to my keyboard as I type. In fact I couldn't put it down for ages, and Moog points out it's a nice handy pocket size to read in vet's waiting rooms etc. For some inexplicable reason my copy has half the pages printed upside down.
2. The Vegetable and Herb Expert by D.G. Hessayon. Sorry, DOCTOR D.G. Hessayon. Sounds a bit pompous to me, I work in a university and none of the academics feel the need to keep reminding everyone how well qualified they are. This rather self-importantly claims to be the best selling grow-your-own book in the world, well, Moog would like to see the sales figures to back that up, and he thinks that high sales doesn't necessarily mean high quality. There is so much information in this book about pests, diseases, and problems to send any budding allotmentalist running back to the supermarket. I will probably use this for reference but didn't like the style at all.
3. Bionic Gloves! Yes really. I was a bit sceptical at first, and Moog thought someone had bought me a pair of driving gloves as an ageist joke, but actually I used them this week and they're really good! In fact, they're so comfortable I forgot to take them off and drove halfway home from the allotment in them, thus making me look like I was wearing driving gloves ( Moog thinks, thank goodness you weren't wearing your flat cap). Very good I shall be using them again. Can someone get me a bionic spine next, please.
4. The Allotment Book by Andi Clevely. Moog thinks this is a really good book. He knows it is a good book because whenever he sees me lately I'm reading it, or making notes. The writing style is really encouraging, it's laid out well, there are good pictures (for example, of ripe beans, so you know what they look like when they're ripe - which might sound simple, but if you've never grown them...). This book has given me a few new ideas, even simple things like having a bulldog clip on a nail in the shed to keep your gloves on. As soon as I put my shed up, I'm going to do that!
5. "Vintage" stainless steel digging fork. from Wyvale. I'm quite impressed with my local Wyvale store. I've had this since Christmas and I asked for it because Moog thought that stainless steel would make working our clay soil easier. He was right. It feels really nice to use and beats my old plastic-handled cheapo fork hands down. The only criticism I would have is that the handle seems to be working loose a bit, but the last time I used it this had miraculously fixed itself so maybe I'm being a bit premature. In any case, it is covered by a 10 year guarantee so I am fairly confident. A very nice tool to have around, and really looks the part. I have the trowel and secateurs from this range too and they're both good; the trowel is very tough and after a bit of thread lock on the secateurs to stop them working loose, they have a very smooth action. Moog thinks the wooden handles are very smart, and if he had thumbs, he'd use them, too.
6. Sony wind-up radio. This smart little orange thing lets me and Moog listen to the radio at the plot, and the best thing is it never needs any batteries. Moog thinks it actually sounds really good for such a small radio, and it has two different sorts of light on it too - a flashlight, for looking for things you've just dropped when it's getting dark, and an ambient light for reading books, err, attracting moths, etc... very handy and will come home with me rather than being left down at the plot.
Monday, 7 April 2008
First early spuds are in
My first row of early potatoes went into the ground at the beginning of April, during the couple of days warm weather we had. They're called Orla and are supposed to take 10 weeks to produce potatoes. I hope that the following weekend of snow and frosts have not had too much effect, since the shoots are not showing above ground level yet and I don't expect they will just yet. I've also managed to put them in the wrong bed according to my plan, that'll teach me for trying to be clever.
Also new to the plot this week:
- A garden bench - John next door said it was no use bringing seats down there until we'd finished all the work...
- Four rosemary bushes, partly to use for cooking and partly as a neat end to the plot.
I see young plants are available in the garden centres at this time of year, and as the cold weather has stopped me getting many seeds going I might be forced to cheat soon. Mind you, I will be filling up my greenhouse with seed trays in the next week or so. Already on the go are some marigolds to keep the flies away, and look pretty of course.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
Plan number 1
Now I know where my beds are I've measured them out and done a rough plan of where things are going to go. Surprising how quickly the space gets used up. I may halve some of the beds, Otherwise I'll be over-run with one crop and won't have room for anything else; we'll see how much time I've got! I'm also going to think about successional planting, so that everything doesn't come to maturity on the same day.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Colditz
My neigbour's plot has been referred to by some as Colditz due to the amount of wire fences around it, but I've always thought that looks like a good idea - why grow a row of carrots to feed the wild rabbits?
After the appearance of some little anonymous visitors to my garlic patch, I realised that protecting each individual bed would take a lot of time and money, so I've decided that a better long term approach will be to fence round the edge of my plot.
My own fortifications have begun, the cheapest supports I can find are half-round fence posts, 2.5m for £2.50 from Wickes. I was going to order wire online, as during the winter that was the cheapest source; but Spring is a different matter, because as the seasons change I notice that places like my regular supermarket have started stocking gardening supplies, so I will continue to shop around. (Asda, 10m x 0.5m chicken wire for £7.97).
Green Manure Update
Only about half of my winter field beans have germinated, although some have germinated some distance away from where I actually scattered them! I suspect that birds (or as my neighbour John pointed out, mice) have stolen some of the beans. Either that or I was not very careful when I planted them; both are a possibility. They may also have just decided not to germinate due to conditions not being quite right.
I expected them to have grown a bit bigger by now and to have blocked out the weeds, but the weeds are much more numerous than the green manure. I think I planted them rather too late in the season to be truly effective. They were planted at the end of a very wet summer/autumn, and really only just before winter set in, so I might try again earlier in future, and I might protect them with some mesh whilst they germinate. I know that birds like to pull up seedlings, but that was a risk I was prepared to take this year as they weren't an important crop to me, just an experiment.
I expected them to have grown a bit bigger by now and to have blocked out the weeds, but the weeds are much more numerous than the green manure. I think I planted them rather too late in the season to be truly effective. They were planted at the end of a very wet summer/autumn, and really only just before winter set in, so I might try again earlier in future, and I might protect them with some mesh whilst they germinate. I know that birds like to pull up seedlings, but that was a risk I was prepared to take this year as they weren't an important crop to me, just an experiment.
And So To Bed
As it is fast approaching planting time for most of this year’s crops I urgently need to get my beds sorted out and decide where things are going to go. With this in mind I took Mrs Moog-Keeper and a notepad down to the plot at the weekend. My intention was to make some sort of plan or maybe start marking out.
We decided we needed a clearer view, so with considerable effort from my other half, and manly supervision on my part (I have a bad back this week and can’t bend in the middle that well) we got the carpet removed and exposed the plot to the light of day for the first time since last September. What this has revealed, now the tall grass has nearly rotted away, are the outlines of beds that haven’t been used for years. I knew the ground under the grass was lumpy, because I kept turning my ankle, but seeing it for the first time without weeds was a very pleasant surprise.
We decided we needed a clearer view, so with considerable effort from my other half, and manly supervision on my part (I have a bad back this week and can’t bend in the middle that well) we got the carpet removed and exposed the plot to the light of day for the first time since last September. What this has revealed, now the tall grass has nearly rotted away, are the outlines of beds that haven’t been used for years. I knew the ground under the grass was lumpy, because I kept turning my ankle, but seeing it for the first time without weeds was a very pleasant surprise.
The joint decision was that the most economical way of using the space would be to follow the line of the existing beds with paths in between. As the plot hasn’t been worked for years and years, hopefully soil-borne diseases and pests will not be a problem. Also digging should be marginally easier if the soil has been dug before.
We got to work marking out the beds with string until the string got hopelessly tangled after one bed. Then we started using wire until the wire got hopelessly tangled after one more bed. We could have tried the Alexander the Great trick of cutting the knot but that would have left us with lots of tiny useless pieces of wire/string, so we just started digging the first bed instead. I was reminded of Monty Python’s String Sketch - what to do with 122,000 miles of string in 3 inch pieces. "Simpson's Individual Stringettes!"A MILLION HOUSEHOLD USES!" but I digress. One bed down, many to go!
All in all a successful weekend of activity.
Monday, 25 February 2008
Tttthhhppppp!
This weekend I received my raspberry canes by mail order. They were bare root plants so I needed to put them in straight away, and managed to do so on Saturday before the rugby kicked off. I started by digging over about 18' x 3' of soil down one side of the allotment, with some help from the Moog, until I had to tie him to the fence to stop him getting carried away. After that I mixed in some manure; I could only get pellets unfortunately, I'd have rather had some well-rotted stuff to bulk up the soil but mine's not ready yet. I soaked the canes in a bucket of water and then planted them about 2ft apart. There are 9 in total, which seems a lot, but there are 3 of each variety - early, mid-season and autumn. Hopefully they'll settle in and last for years. Next job with those will be to protect them from the birds.
The only observation I can make about raspberry canes is the roots look a lot like the weeds I have just pulled out. Having said that, I'm happy to say there weren't as many roots in the eastern edge of the plot, so digging wasn't as hard as it has been in the past but there was still a good sprinkling of glass, plastic, wire, string and old batteries to remove.
The only observation I can make about raspberry canes is the roots look a lot like the weeds I have just pulled out. Having said that, I'm happy to say there weren't as many roots in the eastern edge of the plot, so digging wasn't as hard as it has been in the past but there was still a good sprinkling of glass, plastic, wire, string and old batteries to remove.
Now That's What I Call a Shed
(Storage Saga Part 3)
I had thought that I would build my own shed, but have discovered it's hard to get the materials cheaply enough. Pallets are about the cheapest way to get hold of timber but they're hard to cut up. I couldn't work out how to knock together even a small shed for less than the price of a new one. And buying a new one would have meant working out how to get it onto the site.
So, after advertising for donations again at work, I have duly accepted the offer of a large shed for the bargain price of £30, including delivery to site. The seller knew someone with a trailer who skillfully positioned it right next to the allotment. It is now piled flat in the corner of the plot waiting to be put back together. There are a couple of holes that will need patching up but otherwise it's in pretty good shape.
I had thought that I would build my own shed, but have discovered it's hard to get the materials cheaply enough. Pallets are about the cheapest way to get hold of timber but they're hard to cut up. I couldn't work out how to knock together even a small shed for less than the price of a new one. And buying a new one would have meant working out how to get it onto the site.
So, after advertising for donations again at work, I have duly accepted the offer of a large shed for the bargain price of £30, including delivery to site. The seller knew someone with a trailer who skillfully positioned it right next to the allotment. It is now piled flat in the corner of the plot waiting to be put back together. There are a couple of holes that will need patching up but otherwise it's in pretty good shape.
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Spud delivery
My expensive scottish seed potatoes are here. (see Wise Mike's Tip No.1 August 2007). Ordered in November and not actually that expensive. Moog thinks: "They aren't food."
I have two varieties, Orla (First Earlies to get me going) and Sarpo Mira (Maincrop). Both are advertised as being resistant to blight, particularly the Sarpo. I got these because I lost all my patio-grown tomatoes to blight last summer. Also there are signs up all round the allotment site warning us allotmentalists to look out for blight as it has been a problem, so hopefully these two varieties will stand up to the job. The supplier sent me a note to apologise for how small the tubers were, this being due to high demand for blight resistant varieties. If they're that popular then Moog thinks I'm on the right track.
For now, they're quietly "chitting" in my spare bedroom. You're supposed to put them the right way up, how you're supposed to tell at this stage I don't know, so I will wait and see what happens. Moog thinks once they start to sprout, then we'll know which way up they're supposed to be.
Moog found a useful guide on how to grow potatoes on the Thompson and Morgan website, which is also where I placed my order.
I have two varieties, Orla (First Earlies to get me going) and Sarpo Mira (Maincrop). Both are advertised as being resistant to blight, particularly the Sarpo. I got these because I lost all my patio-grown tomatoes to blight last summer. Also there are signs up all round the allotment site warning us allotmentalists to look out for blight as it has been a problem, so hopefully these two varieties will stand up to the job. The supplier sent me a note to apologise for how small the tubers were, this being due to high demand for blight resistant varieties. If they're that popular then Moog thinks I'm on the right track.
For now, they're quietly "chitting" in my spare bedroom. You're supposed to put them the right way up, how you're supposed to tell at this stage I don't know, so I will wait and see what happens. Moog thinks once they start to sprout, then we'll know which way up they're supposed to be.
Moog found a useful guide on how to grow potatoes on the Thompson and Morgan website, which is also where I placed my order.
Friday, 25 January 2008
Success! (for now at least)
Previous impatient trips to check on progress of the garlic bulbs have been met with bare soil, so I was somewhat dubious that anything would happen.
On one such visit over Christmas, I found pawprints, and a hole dug in the middle of my garlic patch. So I duly fixed up some posts and chicken wire, to keep out whatever it was that had visited ("got a rabbit problem, sir?" the shop assistant quizzed. "Cheaper to shoot the rabbits, sir," he said, when he saw the price of the wire I was buying). I do feel special, that out of the whole enormous allotment site of over 120 plots, this little creature chose to visit mine. I may well fence off my whole plot soon, as my experienced neighbour has done, rather than mess about fencing off each little bit. It may be more work at first but should be worth it in the long run. Still, fence up; no garlic.
But this week was different. I popped down to the site laden with bags of fresh horse manure, free from a local paddock. The sun was, unusually, out from behind the clouds, and as I walked down the slippery track I thought I caught a glimpse of a fresh green stalk through the wire- could it be true? I daren't look directly at it! I scurried past and dumped down the bag of shi- I mean, manure, with my back to the garlic bed. Then I snapped round quickly to catch it unawares, and - nothing. No- wait- a trick of the light! Hurrah! virtually every bulb has started to grow!
I can't help being excited, even though I haven't harvested a single thing yet.
Moog thinks: "We're going to stink, if we eat all that garlic."
On one such visit over Christmas, I found pawprints, and a hole dug in the middle of my garlic patch. So I duly fixed up some posts and chicken wire, to keep out whatever it was that had visited ("got a rabbit problem, sir?" the shop assistant quizzed. "Cheaper to shoot the rabbits, sir," he said, when he saw the price of the wire I was buying). I do feel special, that out of the whole enormous allotment site of over 120 plots, this little creature chose to visit mine. I may well fence off my whole plot soon, as my experienced neighbour has done, rather than mess about fencing off each little bit. It may be more work at first but should be worth it in the long run. Still, fence up; no garlic.
But this week was different. I popped down to the site laden with bags of fresh horse manure, free from a local paddock. The sun was, unusually, out from behind the clouds, and as I walked down the slippery track I thought I caught a glimpse of a fresh green stalk through the wire- could it be true? I daren't look directly at it! I scurried past and dumped down the bag of shi- I mean, manure, with my back to the garlic bed. Then I snapped round quickly to catch it unawares, and - nothing. No- wait- a trick of the light! Hurrah! virtually every bulb has started to grow!
I can't help being excited, even though I haven't harvested a single thing yet.
Moog thinks: "We're going to stink, if we eat all that garlic."
The Moog's very blustery day
Storage Saga No.2
After a little plot maintenance, I had just put my tools away when I decided to go back to the storage box for one last item. I crouched down, the wind blew, and there I was, crouched in front of nothing but a pile of tools! The box, obviously tired of life on Plot 29 had bidden the cruel world goodbye and made a leap for it across the next allotment!
At that moment, the heavens opened, and the luckless Moog Keeper spent the next 20 minutes getting soaked in a howling gale, trying to manhandle sheets of plastic back into their rightful places as box walls and lid. Thankfully, power tools and big screws were close at hand to effect the necessary repairs.
Next project: A shed big enough to go inside when monsoon weather threatens. Hopefully strong enough not to blow away, Wizard of Oz style, with Moog as the bewildered Toto and the Moog Keeper inside!
Moog thinks, If you want to wear a blue gingham dress and red ruby slippers on the allotment, that's your lookout, just don't expect me to follow you around!
Erm, thanks Moog, that's not quite what I meant.
After a little plot maintenance, I had just put my tools away when I decided to go back to the storage box for one last item. I crouched down, the wind blew, and there I was, crouched in front of nothing but a pile of tools! The box, obviously tired of life on Plot 29 had bidden the cruel world goodbye and made a leap for it across the next allotment!
At that moment, the heavens opened, and the luckless Moog Keeper spent the next 20 minutes getting soaked in a howling gale, trying to manhandle sheets of plastic back into their rightful places as box walls and lid. Thankfully, power tools and big screws were close at hand to effect the necessary repairs.
Next project: A shed big enough to go inside when monsoon weather threatens. Hopefully strong enough not to blow away, Wizard of Oz style, with Moog as the bewildered Toto and the Moog Keeper inside!
Moog thinks, If you want to wear a blue gingham dress and red ruby slippers on the allotment, that's your lookout, just don't expect me to follow you around!
Erm, thanks Moog, that's not quite what I meant.
Friends of the Moog - Storage Saga No.1
Great friends of the Moog, Maria and Cameron, have kindly donated a big storage box to Plot 29. This is great news as now I don't have to drive every time I visit the allotment, laden with tools to ferry backwards and forwards. The big green box sits, rather smug looking for a box, next to the compost bins, and the smelly sacks have taken up residence. A big disc of concrete left over from a job at home (extracted, at some considerable physical effort, from the bottom of the tub I mixed it in) holds the whole thing down to the ground.
Moog thinks: Nice one, Maria and Cam. Now, do you have any Bonios?
Maria and Cameron are amongst the Moog's second family, ie, whenever they are around, he treachorously ignores the Moog Keeper and his wife in favour of the visitors. The grass is always greener, Moog...
Moog thinks: Nice one, Maria and Cam. Now, do you have any Bonios?
Maria and Cameron are amongst the Moog's second family, ie, whenever they are around, he treachorously ignores the Moog Keeper and his wife in favour of the visitors. The grass is always greener, Moog...
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