Third sowing

Earlier this month I sowed broad beans (Aquadulce Claudia) for the third year in succession.  Three years ago I had two one-metre-square beds, and the rest of the plot was grass and weeds.  Now it looks like this:

The cavolo nero, endive, rocket and oriental greens are - or were at the start of this week, anyway - still producing leaves.  I tucked up the oriental greens with some fleece and hopefully they'll live through the cold snap.  Most of the other plants currently growing survived last winter's snow.

Last weekend I took the secateurs to the elder tree, and created a huge pile of twigs and branches to burn when it's warm enough to spend a couple of hours up at the plot.  I've still got half of it to trim, and need to take a saw to some of the thicker branches.   Behind the tree, in the no-mans-land between my plot and next door, there is a small pond, clearly the source of the frogs I met a few weeks ago.  I also cleared an immense stack of panes of glass from under the tree: somebody's over-ambitious greenhouse project.  Almost all of it was broken and is now bagged up ready to go to the tip.  All this effort is to get ready for the arrival of the shed, probably in the New Year now. 

The asparagus bed badly needs weeding - hopefully the frost will kill some of the interlopers.  I'm currently waiting for a bare-root Victoria plum tree to arrive; a friend has one in her garden and it is very fruitful, which will make up for the tiny gooseberry bush, still only producing fruit in single figures.

Unexpected success

Clearing space for the garlic today, I discovered that I'd actually managed to grow some carrots to maturity.  Scarcely a harvest with about six carrots and not all of those terribly large, but compared to last year this is a bonanza.  I'd noticed the carrot tops but assumed that they'd have been pre-enjoyed when I came to lift them.

I've sown Garlic "Messidrome" this year, a French, softneck variety.  It has gone into Bed 1, the Bed of Doom - nothing much has flourished there this spring and summer apart from self-seeded dill.  I pulled out lots of weeds and added most of a bag of compost, so hopefully the garlic will be happy there.  Last year it did fairly well in an ill-prepared bed full of stones, so I'm not excessively worried.

The broccoli made it through the first ground frost last week, as did a couple of the winter purslane and rocket plants, but the nasturtiums - which were still covered in lovely flowers last weekend - looked like washed-up seaweed today, and had to come out.  I pruned the summer-fruiting raspberries and finished staking them, before having a general tidy-up and filling my new incinerator basket ready for a fire soon.  Next week I plan to prune the elder tree as part of the preparations for the shed, and start sowing the broad beans.

Unseasonal

As well as the apple blossom, I have flowers on the strawberry plants and quite a few raspberries are ripening.  The raspberries have been odd - the autumn-fruiting varieties manifested in July, and the Malling Jewel, which should be summer-fruiting, are having a last hurrah now.  Perhaps this is something that happens in the first year of planting.  I weeded the raspberry bed today and put in stakes and wires to help hold them up.  My plans to prune them went awry, as I'd forgotten the different requirements of autumn and summer fruiting varieties.  I'll take the book with me next time.

During the week I put in - perhaps optimistically - some more baby plants: rocket and winter purslane, so that winter salads will not consist entirely of endive.  They are looking rather sad at the moment, but there has been no rain for days.  The broccoli plants look much better, thankfully.  The white fly is diminishing but not vanquished, despite many applications of the garlic and chilli spray.  Everything got a good drink today to help it through the cold weather forecast for next week.

I've harvested my squash - I got one squash per plant, possibly not great value for money, although they are very pretty to look at.  The plants  have successfully kept the weeds off that bit of bed.  The last of the beetroot and various odd things must come up soon so I can plant garlic and broad beans.

The endive, radicchio and chard are all thriving, and the mizuna is also doing well.  The nasturtium plants are still sprawling everywhere and covered with flowers - today they were also covered with bees.  I'm starting to think I need to turn the compost - not a job to anticipate with relish - but it looks very little like the lovely friable compost they churn out on Gardener's World.

Mouches blanches à l'ail et au poivre

Whitefly are infesting my cavolo nero; a cloud of tiny white moth-like beasts rises up every time I pass by.  So today I spent some time ripping off all the affected leaves - white, mottled patches on the underside are the sign of infestation - and then spraying with an internet-derived mixture of chilli and garlic infused in water, with a drop of washing-up liquid.  It's probably the latter that gets rid of the beasties but since I often cook the cavolo nero with chilli and garlic it seemed appropriate to try the recipe.  What had been a bed of luscious green plants now looks very sorry for itself; stripped stems with a few tiny leaves at the top.  I took the opportunity to grub up the last of the spring-sown endive, and space out the plants a bit more, as I suspect proximity also helps the whitefly to thrive. 

The other brassicas got a dose of the spray as well, just in case, although the problem doesn't seem to be as severe.  I also dug up the remaining potatoes - we won't need to buy any for the rest of this winter, especially as my partner is following the Atkins diet - and weeded the asparagus bed.  The asparagus has been putting out feathery shoots all summer, which I take to be a good sign.  The raspberries have surprised me by producing some fruit; the apple tree, about which I have been quietly worrying, has some new flower buds.  So it is not dead, although it is definitely confused.  The Harlequin squashes are now about six inches long and looking very appetising.  Courgettes are nearly over now, although I'm still picking small ones; I need that bed for winter sowings of beetroot and turnip anyway, so will probably evict them next week.

The last of summer

After a week away, which saw some rain, we have been back to dry, sunny weather again.  This has suited the brassica seedlings that are now doing fairly well; endive, radicchio and spring cabbage are all growing well.  I thinned them out today but will need to do this again for the radicchio at least.  The white bits in the photo on the left are eggshells; I added wormery compost to the soil here for the radicchio, which it seems to like, but uncrushed eggshells were too much for the worms.

The maincrop potato plants were looking tired and a bit blotchy in places.  I wasn't really sure if they had blight, but cut off the stems anyway as advised by Joy Larkcom who is my new guru in these matters.  I'll be digging up the maincrop in a couple of weeks.  The courgette leaves, as happened last year, have succumbed to powdery mildew, so I've cut off all the affected ones - the heap of non-compostable grot is growing steadily.  The courgettes haven't been so prolific this year; I think this is partly due to choosing the round variety for three of my plants, as these only seem to ripen one fruit at a time, but the main problem has been lack of watering, I suspect.  Last year I watered every other day pretty much without fail, and every day in hot weather, but I just haven't been able to manage that this year, and twice-weekly watering has meant fewer courgettes.

All of the squash have produced small fruits, so I've propped these up to stop them rotting.  They are a very attractive variety - Harlequin - and currently striped in pale and darker green.  I suspect I'm going to need to be more diligent with the watering to get them to full size, but they look delicious as they are.  The beans are now truly over; I might try a stringless runner next year to get a longer cropping season, as despite regular picking, I only got two flowerings on the variety I tried this year.  The chard is doing very well, and I also harvested some beetroot today which have been a bit mixed in performance for some reason. 

There are three pink fir apple second early potato plants left to harvest - we've done well out of these, and I've given about five pounds away to friends.  I'm planning to mulch the area where the potatoes were over winter with a thick layer of stable manure, to enrich the soil the potatoes have broken up so nicely.  Today's big success, though, was the Bosch cordless electric strimmer, which made short work of trimming the verges, a job I can't stand.  I wish I'd got one of these last year.

Rain at last

Well, some rain, at any rate.  Last week came with a couple of heavy downpours, no doubt because I was off work.  The effects of this can be seen in newly sprouting asparagus fronds, the squash putting on growth, and several well-grown courgettes.  It was too late to stop the endive bolting, although it probably would have done so by now anyway; it has produced foot-long stems at a variety of angles, each topped with a scabious-like purple flower.  The leaves at the base seem to be edible still, so I'm not worried, and there are patches of endive seedlings in odd corners around the plot.

 Today I sowed spring cabbage in the space vacated by the shallots. I got a good quantity of shallots, even if they were small in size, probably due to lack of water.  The radicchio di Treviso is coming up, although most of the seedlings are looking tired and not putting on much growth.  I think I'll do some oriental vegetables in modules now to supplement the seedlings, just in case they don't make it.

The French beans and mange tout are still producing, although I stripped most of the crop today.  The Pink Fir Apple potatoes are properly ready now; the plant I lifted this morning had a good saucepanful of potatoes on it.  I also lifted the first of the beetroot and picked orach and chard.  The orach is most useful for its magenta colour in my view - the flavour is limited.  But it is a very pretty plant both in the ground and on the plate.

I also gave in and watered the compost heaps with compost starter solution, as I'm not sure they are really breaking down.  I may have to think about getting a third container and turning them in the autumn - not an enticing job, although clearing the wormery at home was not as frightful as I expected; also I now have lovely worm compost to dig into the allotment.  Thanks to a Gardener's World reminder, I cleared the soil around the apple tree.  I wonder if it's OK to mulch it with weed-suppressant fabric and pebbles?  Otherwise I fear I'll be beating back the weeds forever.

Aridity

There has been no substantial rain for weeks, so most of my allotment visits lately have been to water everything.  The lack of rain is not helping the various seeds I sowed at midsummer; the seedlings are a bit pathetic.  However, the cavolo nero are doing better for being transplanted, especially since I picked off all the things that were eating them - tiny snails, well-camouflaged caterpillars - and I've now mulched them with coffee grounds to keep off the gastropods.

The courgettes have started to produce - the round ones are very pleasing indeed - as have the French beans, which are a lovely green and purple colour until cooked.  I dug up a Pink Fir Apple potato plant today and they are now getting big enough to be worth eating.  There are three rows of these, so we should be able to enjoy them into September.  The fridge is satisfyingly full of produce.

I've done lots of weeding lately and better order still obtains at the plot, although the nettles are getting big again.  The endive has bolted, but the seeds sown last month are still tiny seedlings, so I'm trying to keep this batch alive until I get some more.  I sowed even more today, to accompany some Radicchio di Treviso which I hope will give winter crops. 

The Dry Salvages

No rain for some time now, so there has been a lot of watering instead.  I really must get a hosepipe.

Some evidence, finally, of the beetroot germinating.  I think I've spotted one carrot seedling, as well, but still probably won't bother with them in the future if they are so fussy.  The potatoes are looking well although not flowering yet.  Still picking lots of broad beans - the sciabiola are now starting to produce tiny pods, so we'll have those to try in a few weeks. 

The salad leaves have got going, and the cavolo nero has really benefited from being thinned; the plants look much more healthy.  French beans are up and being menaced by slugs, so have all been mulched with coffee grounds today.  I think I've spotted a couple more pea seedlings as well.   The Autumn Bliss raspberries  have set some fruit, and I picked a punnet of strawberries this morning.

The apple tree is worrying me slightly - I've been giving it a whole canful of water on every visit, but the leaves are curling up at the edges. No signs of infestation - maybe it just needs a feed. 

Beans and borders

Despite benign neglect - they haven't been watered much, it hasn't rained much and I failed to pinch out the growing tips to prevent blackfly - the Aquadulce Claudia beans have yielded a crop.  They are very tasty indeed.  There seem to be no blackfly this year to speak of, unlike last year when they swarmed over the plants and the ants were farming them.  Some rocket and salad leaves have also come up, I've had a few radishes and thinnings from the cavolo nero plants.

Even though there has been very little rain, the weeds were approaching three feet in places, so a lot of this week has been spent mooching about with the shears.  My vague plan to provide more ground cover plants has failed - none of the common thyme seeds made it - and I think I'll have to buy some more lavender and similar to help crowd out the weeds.  A discussion with a neighbour about the exact boundary between our plots was, I think, a discussion about the frightful state of my allotment, and particularly the boundary edge.  I did put down more weed suppressing fabric and am about to splurge on chipped bark again for the paths, which will help.

Potatoes are all up and doing well, there are a lot of strawberries, and the French beans have germinated.  I got one pea seedling out of a row: the peas are on a newly cleared bit of plot, and I think it needs more compost to get things to grow.  I've ordered some squash plants that can sprawl all over it, but will put a bucket of compost in with each one.  Also had to order courgette plants, as my home-grown seedlings failed.  Birthday presents of marigolds and nasturtiums have all been planted; a lovely, comfrey-like weed, with blue star-shaped flowers, is currently gracing the plot and making the bees happy.

I remembered this year to pick elderflowers for cordial.  Unfortunately all the recipes call for citric acid which is unobtainable in chemists round here - one pharmacist muttered darkly that it is "abused" - so the elderflowers have been sitting on the kitchen table, scenting the house beautifully.  I'll have to order the citric acid online and try again next week.   The elder tree has lots of flowers this year, which hopefully means a good crop of elderberries for jam.

Weeds

I haven't been up at the plot much lately, and the weeds have crept up on me.  The grass verges are a foot high; the (very pretty) purple poppies that covered next-door-plot last year are popping, or perhaps poppying, up everywhere; the nettles are fighting back.  Today I earthed up the potatoes, all showing signs of life, and the asparagus; the crowns have all started to put out a shoot,.  Having cleared out the last of the PSB, I sowed dwarf French beans (Lingue di Fuoco, which have pretty red pods), mange tout, orach (or German spinach, which can be used in salad or cooked), and more rows of beetroot, carrots and radishes.  Most of the seeds sown in April are up, but tiny, presumably because of lack of water; this week is expected to be hot, so I'll need to get back into the post-work watering routine.  The early broad beans are in flower, and there are four gooseberries on the bush, so I can look forward to a very small crumble next month.

Seeds and slow worms

I uncovered another bit of ground today, and found a slow worm that I thought must be dead; but after a few minutes in the light it began to move, so I helped it under another piece of carpet.  I must find out how to give it an appropriate home once all the carpet is gone.

Last week the seed potatoes - maincrop and Pink Fir Apple new potatoes - went in as a pioneer crop on a patch that has grown only nettles in the recent past.  I also sowed salad leaves and radishes, weeded the strawberry bed, and kept on with the project of clearing the last third of the plot.

This week I cleared a space that will house annual flowers for cutting, and sowed mizuna, garden cress, the endive (Bianca Riccia da Taglio) that was such a success last year, and kailaan or Chinese stem broccoli, which promises a quick crop.  It has not rained significantly since before Easter, although there were showers overnight, so seeds have been slow to germinate, but seedlings are now showing for rocket, lollo rosso, radishes and cavolo nero.  The Sciabola Verde broad beans have also popped up.

At home, I've sown bushy sunflowers, cosmos, dianthus and globe thistle to go in the cutting flowers patch (too titchy to merit the title cutting garden) and courgettes, squash and sweetcorn for planting out later.  The marigolds have been pricked out and put into paper pots.  The tomato seedlings are doing OK, and a tray of mixed salad is gracing the garden table for emergency greens supplies.  If it all grows, the plot will be full to bursting come June.

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

At least for a while.  Shameful lack of posts, mainly because I have barely been near the allotment for months.  First there was the cold weather, which I was fairly certain would kill the broad bean seedlings and the garlic and shallots.   The leeks and PSB were the only things showing above the snow for a good while.  Thankfully I thought to shake the snow off the PSB tops, which probably stopped them snapping off altogether.

When the snow melted, however, the broad beans and alliums had made it, and some of the turnips and winter radish were still edible, although it killed off the last of the chard and appears to have done for the Timperley Early rhubarb as well; the rhubarb crown is now doing an uncanny impression of a lump of wood.  The other crown has some tiny leaves, though, so is hopefully doing OK.  I managed to get some fleece over the cavolo nero and purple mustard before the cold snap, and have just picked the last of these before digging the bed over for carrots and beetroot.  The texel greens didn't make it, but frankly they were no loss and I won't bother with them again, however high they are in Vitamin C.

After the snow melted a sprained ankle and revolting cold conspired to keep me away from the plot, but now I'm back and hopefully making up for lost time.

Over the last couple of weeks I've cleared a few beds, dug in compost, sown more broad beans (the marvellously-named Sciabola Verde), spring onions, chantenay carrots, beetroot and cavolo nero.  Today I got to work with my spade on a patch that has been under carpet and black plastic for about 18 months, and was pleased to find that the nettle roots were spongy and soft.  Hopefully that means they are dying off.  I also found four long rusty iron poles and am wondering what sort of Alys Fowler-type sculptural effect I can achieve with those.  The newly-cleared patch is for potatoes, which will hopefully continue to help break up the soil and resist weeds.  I've also dug in the green manure in the proposed asparagus bed; the asparagus crowns are on their way and may find themselves in another bed, as I imagine the green manure will need a little time to rot down.