Plotting our progress...from storms to sweetcorn

Well... here we are another week has passed. This week has been a bit of a mixed bag weatherwise. We've had some lovely warm days and yet we've also had severe showers and thunder storms!- summer must be here! Just a few photos today to chart the progress of the plots:-

This is the new plot we took on this year. I've kept the middle section covered as it has a lot of couch grass. I shall probably leave it covered for 12 months to try and kill it off.

As you can see the top half looks great! I've only planted the spares we had this year- shallots, a few onions, a row of beetroot and some spuds.

This morning I went down and planted some spare sweetcorn plants we had. These are 'Incredible' (variety) from Wilkos- strong young plants nevertheless.

Inside the bottom tunnel back on the old plots... These toms are from Japan and are truly purple! First year growing these so will have to wait to see if theyre worthwhile.

I'm not happy with these leeks this year. I didn't intend to show these this year. They were kindly given to me by a friend. They will however, despite having some evidence of leek moth, be used to their full potential in the kitchen.

The xanth beds are looking promising. There are some strong breaks now on the plants. I tied them all up yesterday before the storm came. These beds next year shall be used for some show stuff and will be covered with an environmesh tunnel...

Had a scratch around in the top tunnel and the garlic is looking good. By the end of the month I shall probably have harvested these and planted some later tomato plants in their place.

The parsnips are exceeding all expectations this year- they are easily 12-15" high already as you can see from the photo above. In front of them is a later sowing for smaller roots in the winter.

Tried rooster spuds this year and i'm pleased with how they are growing. The tops are the strongest tops I've ever had on spuds. They did have comfrey leaves lined along their planting trench and I do wonder whether this has given them a kick...

For all interested I am giving a talk in August entitled 'Duck Pools- A garden divided'. It takes a light-hearted and sometimes humorous look at my garden at home and the allotments. I describe it as an eclectic mix of flowers fruit and veg. Its held in Stourbridge and visitors are more than welcome... Contact me for details.

At the end of a busy day there is nothing better than our first harvest of charlotte spuds from the new plot. It just goes to show the ground isn't too bad considering it hadn't been cultivated for a while. These were delicious cooked with some sprigs of mint...

See you next week!

"Casting a clout cus May's nearly out!"

 

I've been thinking about how i'm going to do this blogging business and have come up with an idea. Im going to try and do a weekly update rather than try to post as and when I can. With this little  bit of discipline I'm hoping to keep everybody up to date with what's going on here.

It was a plot morning today and this started with putting all the polycarbonate sheets back into the roof of the greenhouse and to start planting the cucumbers in there. I take the roof panels off in the winter to allow the rain to soak the soil in the borders. The black buckets are to prevent the plant stems from getting too wet and rotting and the pipes are for directing the water to the roots where it's needed.

 

In the big tunnel we have leek moth! Never had much of a problem with it before but its come in from somewhere! I have sprayed and i'm hoping its stopped the little sh*t in it's tracks...

Planted the squashes out today aswell. They are all 3ft apart each way. They are a mixture of butternut, marino di Chioggia, autumn crown, little gem and justynka.

They have alittle Vitax Q4 mixed in the planting hole and a good soak and that's it.

 

Garlics coming on well in the to tunnel now. The bulbs are just starting to swell so now is the time to keep them well watered and not let them dry out.

Strained my first batch of comfrey feed today. This is for the tomatoes, peppers and aubergines; I will be feeding this alongside a purchased tomato food throughout the summer 4 cups to a watering can so its the colour of weak tea.

Sweetcorn 'Rising Sun' has been planted also. About 15" apart; I have managed to get 20 in this bed next to the self blanching celery. Like the squashes, these have had a dressing of vitax q4.

Last day in May and I've picked my first lot of onions! These are obviously Japanese onions planted back in September in the big tunnel. They've grown steadily over the winter and have come out clean and pest free. - definitely worth growing under cover...

A view across the tunnel beds. There are three beds, all of them new in this year. Each bed is backed by espalier apple trees in the making.

This bed is the self blanching celery. There are two varieties here, golden and green. You can just see where one ends and the other starts. The key here is plenty of water and, this year, plenty of slug pellets!

Moving onto the next bed we have celeriac. Again this is one for plenty of moisture which, inevitably encourages all the neighbouring slugs and snails. So liberal amounts of pellets are put down and the rows are regularly hoed. This not only prevents weed growth but also creates a dust mulch which slugs do not like to slide over (slide? crawl? slither? - or whatever slugs do!)

A view from the tunnel beds looking up one of the plots towards the top tunnel. In the middle of the picture are the cordon sweet peas, bordered by French marigolds.

Behind the sweet peas is the new fruit cage- destined to be covered with netting...

This is inside the fruit cage. There is a row of cordon redcurrants (first year cuttings) and in front of them is a row of 'Elsanta' strawberries- looking good for Wimbledon!

I'll end on this beautiful pear tree. I'm sure you'll all agree its a fantastic colour on these immature fruits. The ripe pears are green with an equally charming warm rosy blush...Its making my mouth water now so enjoy and check back next weekend for the next instalment! Thanks guys Adam.

Sweet...potatoes.

So so busy with work that I haven't been able to post as regularly as I like. A (pushy) friend of mine always puts me back in line when I haven't posted so thanks to him (again) here is another fresh post...
This year i'm growing some sweet potatoes in the big tunnel. I refuse to pay the price that some companies are charging for rooted slips so I have grown them myself instead. First of all I purchased a bag of sweet spuds from Aldi and planted them into pots of John Innes and placed on the heated bench in the greenhouse. Within two or three weeks there were throwing a wealth of shoot which I detached and rooted in 3 1/2" pots. They are now planted through black membrane in one of the beds in the tunnel. I shall be regularly watering and feeding them as they are a hugry/thirsty crop.

 

This time of the year you realise your greenhouses and coldframes aren't big enough. Its always a constant juggling game here when there are trays and trays of things that need to be hardened off.

The big tunnel down the allotments is handy to have and acts as a huge coldframe and certainly helps ease the green congestion at home!

Ive been busy in the garden at home as im giving a talk/presentation for our gardening club in August all about our garden. So ive been doing work on the Japanese rockery, woodland stumpery and the new 'Monty's garden'.

Tommorrow if its not too wet im going down the plots so ill try and remember to take the camera and get some snaps to post on here. Things are growing well now. I think the allium leaf miner has got into a couple of rows of setton onions as they look terrible and are dropping like flies! Celery and celeriac is planted out and enjoying the rain. Leeks in the tunnel have got signs of the moth! The early spuds are just showing signs of flowering which, luckily, has coincided with this rain which will help swell the forming tubers- mother nature can be compliant sometimes!

Spring is in the air...

Had some pot leeks given me this week. They have only just been potted up into John Innes 2 mix so they still look a little floppy and worse for wear.

The new 'Kibby' pot leek from John Soulsby. Should be interesting to see how it performs.

Pendle have been potted on again and are just starting to touch the lights- will have to move them up next week.

Onions also looking good in the JI 2 mix. I think the added Antagon is doing its job.

A few sprouts 'Bosworth' for an early picking. Got some crispus to sow soon to follow on.

Dutchman cabbage destined for the plot....

A few xanth cuttings- struggling to got enough this year but had some stock from a couple of friends so thanks go out to them!

The weather's been superb today just like spring should be! These guys know how to time their arrival alright!

Planted the first lot of spuds today. First early 'Lady Christl'. All I do is nestle them in the soil and then throw a covering of compost/leafmould over them. As they grow they will get whatever I can lay my hands on: grass cuttings, straw, compost etc.

Planting some Hative di niort outside in the beds this morning. I planted 40 in this bed for now.

All they've had is fish blood and bone then myccorhizal fungi applied to the planting hole. A good watering then mulched with straw- done!

Next week's a busy week so i might not get as many posts on as i'd like but will certainly try!
STAY TUNED...

 

Leeks- collar 'em!

Making a new bed on the new plot yesterday. As i'm gardening no-dig as much as I can I haven't dug this narrow bed at all. The bed ground is full of couch grass and all I have done is placed a thick layer of cardboard or newspaper directly on top of the couch grass and then covered this with a 3-4" layer of garden compost. Into this bed i'm going to plant a row of sunflowers not only for the bees but the seedheads will go towards feeding the poultry in the autumn and into winter.

As you can see on the photo below the bed looks nice and tidy now and the thick layer of mulch on top will eventually weaken the couch grass and kill it off- without having to even pick up the spade!

 

Today I decided to put the first collars on the pendle leeks im growing for Malvern. As you can see the leeks are looking nice and healthy and growing away strongly. They are currently getting 12 hours artificial light supplemented by whatever daylight we are getting. These leeks are in John innes No2 with added vermiculite and Antagon.

 

 

The first collar. About 6" long threaded onto a split cane with a support ring of wire near the top to support the flags (leaves).

The collar is slipped over the leek and the cane is pushed into the compost to stop the collar from moving. We want a straight leek so it is vital that this collar doesn't get knocked so it's leaning!

Looks like we'll be repotting again next week!

All collars now on and the leeks are returned to the heated bench under the lights. On the right you can see the onions (nothing special just Bedfordshire Champion'.

Pricked out 36 'Tasco' onions yesterday. These are a nice 8oz onion which i'm hoping also to stage at Malvern this year.

Here's a natty little idea I read in the garden news I think! Cracking don't you think!

I'm organising our annual allotment open day again this year. This year the charity is going to be diabetes uk. A charity close to my heart as I've suffered with type 1 since the age of 7 and now do 5 injections a day.

The open day is 19th July 11am-3pm. Opening by Margot James MP. Grand raffle with prizes from Dudley zoo, black country museum, Geoff Hill electricals and much more. Tombola. Refreshment stall. Homemade preserve stall etc.
Charles Rd Allotments Stourbridge
(Behind Alderman Tye scout hut)

A bit of this and a bit of that....

First of all here is the photo of the trial im doing this year that I promised id post on here. For anyone who didn't read about it this is what its all about: Last year I mulched a lot of things with straw to good effect and I wondered if shredded paper would have the same effect. (I have an endless supply from a friend). So this year in the top tunnel where I have planted all my garlic I am mulching one half with straw and the other half with shredded paper to see if there is any difference.

You can just about see the garlic coming through. On the right (paper) side is 'Cristo' and on the left is 'Carcasonne Wight' with some elephant garlic at the back.

On the new plot I managed to get half of the car park covered with wood chip. What I've done is to put a layer of either cardboard or four sheets of newspaper straight on the couch grass below and then piled the chippings on top. Hopefully this will eventually kill off the couch grass and any that pops up around the edges can either be pulled or sprayed.

On the photo below you can see the back of the new compost bins which I have covered with heavy duty plastic which I luckily found in a skip the other day. This will not only protect the wood but also help insulate the compost inside.

Back on plot 1 the rhubarb is going for gold. I reckon it wont be long before we are picking...

Spent yesterday afternoon mulching the squash and dahlia bed with partially rotted leaves. They are mostly oak leaves and are what the council drop off outside the allotment gates. This bed did accommodate just dahlias last year but I have applied some old lime and it will host a mixture of squashes and any dahlia tubers which have survived the winter unprotected.

The girls are looking fine and healthy even though they have stopped laying! We have one duck laying at the moment with the other two on strike. The geese have started this year yet but i'm hoping anytime soon they will...

Yesterday was a lovely day here despite it trying to rain late afternoon. We almost had a sharp shower but it left this brilliant rainbow:

Back over to the new plot and the first compost bin is completely finished and has had its removable boards inserted at the front. All the wood has come from old pallets which our friend John the Baptist dropped off for us. We have already started adding to this first bin so it shouldn't be long before its full.

Dug a couple of comfrey roots up from plot 1 and planted them on the new plot, adding to the existing row I planted last week. The one clump had been heavily mulched with woodchip and you can see how much further forward it is compared to the others due to the extra protection and heat of the chippings. This row of comfrey will be for cutting to add to the compost bins and also to make a liquid feed for tomatoes.

Last but not least we had a presentation night to go to last night at Stourport. Here I am collecting the trophy for the winning collection of 6 kinds of veg. I also won a silver salver for the best two vases of flowers in the show.

That's all for now folks- i'm tired and my shoulders are aching like nothing on earth. So have a good day and keep looking forward to the next post...