Raspberries

We received twelve bare-root raspberry canes from D.T. Browns yesterday. The variety is 'Tulameen', which fruits in late-Summer.

Nine of the canes were planted in the bed which had been prepared a few months back with a trench full of compost and each cane was planted 18" apart in a hole in which a few handfuls of Growmore had been added.

The remaining three canes were heeled-in alongside as back-up's should any of the others fail.

Sunny November

It was a beautiful day down at the patch. We arrived around 09:30 and worked through to 16:40... so we put in a full day-shift !

To start off, I made a bonfire of all the old wood stakes and, once it was red hot, added the cut down cosmos, the roots from the raspberries we cleared and all the dried weeds as we could gather.

I transferred barrow-loads of horse manure to the plot where we will be growing brassicas next year and spread a thick layer across it.  We will cover this with cardboard to keep the weeds down and encourage the worms to take it down into the soil below.

Heather had finished painting the outside of the cold frame and I then added some brackets which will keep the lids tied-down.

The last job of the day was to fit the gravel boards along one side of the central path, and this was accomplished successfully.  I will fit the boards on the opposite side over the weekend.

We were accompanied most of the afternoon by the young vixen. Apparently the fox sleeps with the pigs in their wooden huts, none of them bothered by the others presence.  She even made a few attempts to get into our shed until I shooed her away,  but she simply trotted off a few paces and stared back at me in defiance! During the rest of the afternoon she was watching us while we were working, often  just a few feet away.

Cold Frame

We bought a large quantity of 6' gravel boards from Scats and had them delivered to The Patch.

Most of these will be used to border the central path running between our two plots, some will be used to create a couple of raised beds and some have been used to construct our new cold frame.

The cold frame will have two internal compartments. The inside has been painted white, the ground will first be covered with black plastic, then with some insulation and will be finally topped with a layer of large gauge gravel, which should ensure maximum heat retention in the colder months.

The lids have been made of builder grade polythene stretched over a wooden frame and connected to the structure with hinges. The exterior will be give a couple of coats of green wood preservative and we will soon be adding some of our overwintering plants.

Getting ready for Spring

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning down at The Patch.

Mr.Fox has been investigating the garlic I planted last week and has pulled some of the bulbs up.  I planted another half-dozen bulbs between the rows to replace any that fail to germinate.  I also planted two rows of shallots Eschalot Grise from my stock of small bulbs harvested earlier in the year.

Heather planted a row of narcissi Saint Keverne for cutting in the Spring.

Hello foxy !

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday and we spent most of it down at the patch. Heather cleared away all of the remaining tomato plants, tidied-up the brassica beds and picked a nice trug full of vegetables.

I prepared the beds for garlic and onions and planted 4 rows each of Garlic Solent Wight, Onion Radar and Onion Electric. I also sowed a row of Peas Meteor with a cloche then placed over to protect from marauding pests.

As we were clearing up to go home, a young fox came strolling through the allotment as bold as brass !

Companion Planting

I am currently planning our plantings for 2011 and considering whether to plant courgettes on a bed covered with black plastic sheeting.

I was also thinking about putting some companion plants alongside, and have found this rather helpful chart produced by the Countesthorpe Gardens & Allotments Society... see here.

Update October 18th.  A more extensive list can be seen here.

Patty Pan

We were given some rather large patty pan squashes by Philip and Simon.

Heather cut off the top, removed some of the flesh, mixed it with couscous, tomatoes, cashews, spices and baked it in the oven.

Delicious !

One potato, two potato

We have harvested the spuds !

After a dry early-Summer, I was not expecting too much from our potatoes... especially after lifting such poor earlies. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this lot.

The variety is Golden Wonder (yes, the ones used to make the crisps !) and although the tubers are a bit misshapen, there doesn't seem to be any rot and very little scab.

Guildford in Bloom 2010

Awarded Silver-Gilt for second successive year.

Onions

We have just received our onion sets from Tuckers (100 x Radar and 100 x Electric) for planting in October.

The variety Radar produces nice, brown-skinned onions for harvesting from May next year and the variety Electric produces attractive red-fleshed bulbs.

Uchiki Kuri

Hoochie Coochie !
The sweetcorn in our 'Three Sisters' bed doesn't seem to be performing that well, however the beans and squash are thriving.
The first squash to be harvested is the early variety Uchiki Kuri, an onion squash that originates from Japan (see below).
I somehow expected the fruit to be on the small side, but ours are weighing in at around 4lb.

Farncombe Show

Heather swept the board at the Farncombe Show yesterday with her vase of flowers taking Best In Show and the combined points for each of her exhibits winning the Points Trophy.

Our vegetables did not fare so well, though.

We did not manage to find any potatoes worth showing as they were either badly misshapen or affected by scab.

There were not enough courgettes to get three the same and we thought that our carrots were not of sufficient standard.

Two exhibits of onions were entered, but they failed to win any prizes.

Fortunately, our beetroot saved the day with these nice three roots taking the top prize.

August

What a difference a drop of rain makes !

Crops that had been struggling in the dry conditions are now thriving again. Showing in the left foreground above is the 'Three Sisters' bed where the squash, beans and sweetcorn are coming along nicely.

Beyond this are the leeks, which have been attacked by some pest (either Onion Fly or Onion Moth) and were looking rather sorry for themselves. However, the recent damp weather seems to have helped them recover.

Top right are the potatoes, Golden Wonder, which have also been affected by the weather... frostbite in April and sunburn in June !

In front on the right are a row of cherry tomatoes that Heather had as plants but was reluctant to throw away and our late carrots, Autumn King.

Here are some of the veggies we have been harvesting :

A little bit of bother with the raspberries !

We have had a little bit of bother with our raspberries !

Some of the canes we brought to the allotment came from our garden and some had been given to us, so we have no idea how old they were. They gave a really good crop earlier in the Summer, but then showed signs of virus. We decided to 'bite the bullet' and cleared them all along with most of the soil around them.

I have been refilling the trench with compost, manure and soil taken from the other end of the patch and will replant with new canes of the variety Tulameen from D T Browns.

Onions

My specimen onions 'The Kelsae' are now drying-off before being trimmed and generally cleaned-up. I had been hoping for some larger bulbs, but am reasonably pleased with these, which have been grown from seed. This year, two rows of plants were grown with a row of beetroot between. Next year there will be no beetroot and all the resources focused on the onions themselves.

Gooseberry fools...

We have had a really good crop of gooseberries this season. The green, cooking berries 'Invicta' were picked in late-June and used to make gooseberry fools and other puddings. The small and smooth 'Hinomaki Red' and the larger, hairier variety 'Pax' (both shown below) are being eaten as a dessert fruit.

The nets have now been taken off of the soft fruit to allow the birds to get at any bugs that may have been lurking in the leaf litter.
We are going to remove two of the 'Invicta' gooseberry bushes and an old redcurrant bush in the Autumn and replace them with a yellow gooseberry 'Hinomaki Yellow', a later fruiting redcurrant 'Redstart' and another blueberry 'Gold Traube'.

Edit 12/10/10 : The blueberry 'Gold Traube' should actually be 'Ozarkblue'.

The planting plan will look like this :

Currant affairs...

We have now finished picking our currants and will soon be taking down the nets to allow the birds in to clean up any nasty bugs that may be remaining. We have had an excellent crop which has been used to produce Summer puddings, coulis and an amazing Cassis made by macerating blackcurrants in brandy.

These are the varieties we have grown :

Blackcurrant 'Ben Connan' (Ben Sarek crossed with Ben Lomond)

This variety carries high yields of exceptionally large fruits on a compact bush. Resistant to mildew and leaf curling midge. A good garden choice. Picking time mid July.

Whitecurrant 'White Versailles'

The first white currant in both popularity and picking time. The trusses are long and heavy, the fruits are pale yellow and pleasantly sweet. Very reliable giving good crops year after year. Picking time early July.

Redcurrant 'Laxton's No 1'

Later flowering than Jonkheer Van Tets. Strong growing with a good flavour and heavy yield. Picking time mid July.

Blueberry 'Northland'

An excellent variety for cold climates, it is one of the heaviest producing berries and easy to grow, producing great berries for jams and baking because of their high sugar content.

We also have a redcurrant bush that was originally growing in our garden and then transferred to the allotment. However, this has not performed very well and we will uproot this and replace it with another blueberry.

Withering July

We go in withering July

To ply the hard incessant hoe;

Panting beneath the brazen sky

We sweat and grumble, but we go.

We were certainly sweating and grumbling as we struggled to keep the patch watered and weeded during the hot weeks of early July, but we seem to have been rewarded for efforts.

We have had a terrific crop of Garlic Solent Wight, as shown in the picture below. In the cage on the left, our Cauliflowers Candid Charm are coming along nicely. On the right are my 'prize' Onions The Kelsae with Beetroot Moneta alongside.

In the picture below from left to right : Onions Sweet White Spanish, Leeks Bleau de Solaise and Oarsman, Shallots Banana, Parsnips Avonresistor and then some mixed plantings of Rocket, Coriander and other salad leaves. The shallots and onions were grown from seed and were looking good up until the dry spell, when a few have withered and died. The leeks seem to be thriving, though !

Our 'Three Sisters' bed is growing wildly. There are five stations with Pole Beans Cherokee Trail of Tears trailing around Sweetcorn Zuccherino. Around these are our Squash : Avalon, Festival, Sweet Dumpling and Uchiki Kuri.

The harvest of early potatoes (Nadine and Maris Piper) has been poor because of the dry conditions, but our maincrop (Golden Wonder) are looking very good and we should get good yields once a bit of rain falls and helps swell the tubers.

Heather's flower bed is now predominantly Cosmos and Calendula, but there are some Dahlias growing in there that we hope will develop to provide a show in late-Summer.

Where are our peas going ?

We are now getting a good harvest from the peas and broad beans we sowed last Autumn... and no sign of Pea Moth yet !

A lot of our Summer sown pea and broad bean and french bean seeds have been dug up from their beds by unknown critters and we have had to re-sow and protect the beds to prevent any further theft from these pesky varmints.

As a general precaution for our Autumn sown peas and beans, we will sow double quantities of seeds and ensure that they fully protected over the Winter months.

Long Days, Short Nights

We have been working hard down on the patch these last few weeks as the lack of rain means we have to water our crops by hand.

We are harvesting the early Broad Beans, Peas, Autumn planted Onions (Senshyu Yellow & Radar) and Beetroot. There are also plenty of Strawberries for us to pick.

We are eating much of this immediately, but Heather has been freezing the Peas & Beans and pickling the Beetroot.

Autumn planted Onions are not good keepers, so we are using the Radar for general cooking and I have used the Senshyu Yellow to make 7 jars of Golden Sweet Pickled Onion Rings.

The brassicas (Red & Savoy Cabbage, Calabrese, Kale, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower and Purple Sprouting Broccoli) have all been transplanted and are caged to protect them from both Pigeons and Butterflies.

The leeks have also been transplanted into the prepared bed to provide one row of Bleau de Solaise and one row of Oarsman.

May Days

May drifts into June and we are being kept busy down at the patch.

The picture below shows some of what we are growing at the lower end of our allotment :

In the foreground are our potatoes Golden Wonder and hidden behind the low willow hurdle we are growing turnip Purple Top Milan and kohl rabi Purple Delicacy. Lower down on the left are our onions Senshyu Yellow, garlic Solent Wight, shallots Griselle and autumn-sown peas Early Onward.

Looking across to the right-hand beds the same picture shows where we have replanted seedling shallots Banana and onions Sweet White Spanish. Then we have spring-sown peas Kelvedon Wonder and the bed where we are growing squash, sweetcorn and climbing beans. Following down we are growing two rows of onions The Kelsae with a row of beetroot Moneta in between, more garlic and our nursery beds where the leeks and brassicas are under frames to protect them from the pigeons.

The next picture shows our broad beans Aquadulce, onions Radar (which we are already harvesting) bunching onions Ishikura and spinach Fiorana.

The final picture shows the top of the patch opposite our 'ut.

From left to right we have raspberries, gooseberries, currants and strawberries. Next we have the asparagus bed with a young rhubarb at the front end and a dwarf cherry at the other. The bed is bordered with our step-cordon apples and a row of beetroot growing in front.

I'll be seeing you in apple blossom time

The blossom on our apple cordons has been fantastic this year... apparently it may have something to do with the hard winter we have experienced.

If you look closely at the picture you can see the new season asparagus emerging in the bed behind. More of this later !

It's May and it's wet !

We went down to the allotment this morning in the hope that we could get some work done while it was drizzling. Alas, the drizzle turned to rain and the rain got heavier as Heather was picking asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli. We called it a day and came home.

Heather has been using the broccoli and blue cheese to make some fantastic quiches. See below.

I have found a recipe for crab and asparagus quiche and that will be next on Heather's list.

Scorzonera

We are going to try some different root crops this year : Some to eat as Summer vegetables and some that will be able to stand in the ground over the Winter months.

For the Winter it will be Swede Brora and Scorzonera Maxima.

Scorzonera is an interesting vegetable that is a member of the Daisy family. It is easy to grow, untroubled by pests and will stand in the ground over the Winter to be pulled for the table as and when required.

Brassicas

Heather sowed our brassica seeds in the nursery bed this morning.

We are growing : Brussels Spouts Trafalgar F1, Red Cabbage Kalibos, Kale Tosco di Nero, Savoy Cabbage Tarvoy and Cauliflower Candid Charm.

Going tits up !

A beautiful afternoon down at the patch.

Heather tidied-up the garlic and onions and I dug the trench that will be filled with manure and compost .This will be where we plant our leeks in June.

Best of all, was the sight of a Blue Tit closely examining the bird box we have put up. It then flew off with its mate... so we wait to see if they will return to nest.

'Taters

Good Friday is the traditional day for planting potatoes, but we took advantage of the good weather to get down to the patch today and plant them one day earlier.

We planted 4 x 15' rows of Golden Wonder and 2 x 20' rows of Cara.

Two additional rows of onion sets Red Baron were also planted.

Tidying up

We had a few hours down at the patch this morning.

Heather tidied up the peas and beans. The gaps in the Autumn sown peas have been filled by taking plants from another bed and the Autumn sown broad beans have been consolidated into two beds.

The garlic is looking really healthy after having been hoed and given a dressing of bonemeal.

A lovely day to be caught in the rain !

Not a very pleasant day yesterday, but we put our rainwear on and got stuck in.

Heather put in a lot of effort weeding and applying a mulch to the fruit bushes.

As can be seen from the picture below, the bushes are looking really healthy and are already producing new buds. In the coming weeks we will be building a cage to protect the fruit from birds .

I managed to plant three rows of early potatoes : Two rows of Nadine and one row of Maris Piper... which are not really early, but produce the best-tasting 'new' potatoes when lifted whilst still small.

Sowing the seeds

We had a very productive morning down at The Patch today.

After lifting the black polythene sheeting, the nursery bed was raked-over and we sowed Leeks (Bleu de Solaise & Oarsman F1) and some Purple Sprouting Broccoli.

In the remaining area, we sowed Shallots (Banana) and Onion (White Spanish Sweet).

We allocated a space to plant Onion (Kelsae) seedlings once they are large enough to transplant.

We lifted the Onion plants (Sehshyu Yellow) that were sown in the Autumn and transplanted them in a new bed with good spacing to allow them to attain a good size for the kitchen.

In the space vacated, we sowed a row of Spinach (Perpetual & Fiorana F1) and a row of Japanese Bunching Onions (Ishikura).

To complete the morning, a row of Beetroot (Moneta) and a part row of Radish (Candela di Fuoco) were sown either side of the Apples.

Three potato, four...

Our seed potatoes were delivered during the week and are now ready for chitting on the shed window shelf.

For those interested, the seed potatoes are Thompson & Morgan stock, but supplied by Capital Gardens at 25% discount.

See here for details.

One potato, two potato...

We have ordered our seed potatoes from Capital Gardens and this is our choice for 2010 :

Cara

A high yielding, trouble free, all rounder maincrop.

Golden Wonder

The ones that are made into crisps also make excellent roasters !

Nadine

A second early variety we are trying for the first time.

Maris Piper

A maincrop variety that we will be lifting as small salad potatoes.

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Big Onions

Our first sowing of the year :

I am going to try to produce some big onions that can be exhibited... but can also be used in the kitchen !

The seeds have been supplied by Johnsons and are being kept in the warm until the seedlings are big enough to transplant.

Winter Update

The patch is looking a bit sad following the recent Arctic weather.

Leeks, swede, celeriac and black radish have all survived and we continue to harvest these for the table... the cheese & leek quiche being a notable success !

Our Autumn planted/sown onions, garlic, shallots, peas and beans appear to have been unaffected and should produce some good early growth when the weather warms up.

There has been some damage to our purple-sprouting broccoli. First we had attack by pigeons and we decided to protect them with netting and then the netting became weighed down with snow, causing the plants to bend and some of the tops to break off. We remain hopeful for a good crop come Springtime.

We have been busy studying seed catalogues during the dark nights and have started to order our seed stock for the coming season. Although the idea of growing 'heirloom' vegetables is appealing, there are often good reasons why many of these varieties have become ignored... they have poor yields and can be prone to diseases.

Therefore, we will mainly be growing F1 hybrid varieties to ensure that all of our efforts are rewarded with plentiful crops of good tasting vegetables. We will grow some 'heirloom' varieties that we know from past experience will give good results.

Here's what we will be growing :

• Beans Borlotti
• Beans Cherokee Trail of Tears (Heirloom)
• Beetroot Solo F1 & Moneta F1 ('monogerm' varieties)
• Brussel Sprouts Trafalgar F1
• Cabbage (Red) Rodima F1
• Cabbage (Savoy) Tarvoy F1
• Calabrese Aquilese F1 & Marathon F1
• Carrot Flyaway F1
• Carrot Autumn King (as a 'sacrifice' crop)
• Cauliflower All Year Round
• Cauliflower Candid Charm
• Celeriac Prinz
• Cucumber Wautoma (Heirloom)
• Kale Tosca di Nero
• Leek Oarsman F1
• Leek Blue de Solaise (Heirloom)
• Onion White Sweet Spanish
• Onion Kelsae
• Parsnip Avon Resistor
• Shallot Banana
• Spinach Galaxy F1
• Spinach Fiorana
• Squash Avalon F1
• Squash Marina de Chioggia (Heirloom)
• Squash Ushiki Kuri

In addition, Heather will be growing a variety of salad leaves and lettuces as catch crops.