Autumn 2014

 So far, so good this autumn. I have dug three of my four plots as the weather has been much as expected for this time of year, ie not nearly as wet as last year! The lower picture shows that I am still harvesting - in this case swedes and parsnips, although the neighbouring bed has leeks, cabbages and Brussels sprouts, which will stand over winter. That is the one that I have not been able to dig so far - it will be done in the spring.

Plot 4

Plot 1

For those that have not read this blog before, I have four small plots, each about 4.5 x 4m, ie 18 square metres each, which are surrounded individually by a green mesh fence/windbreak, plus a long strip down one side in which I have apples and rhubarb, and in which I plant courgettes each year.I follow a crop rotation based on that recommended by Alan Titchmarsh. Thus, plot 1 had 16 barrowloads of manure and 16 bags of compost spread on it before digging. It will also be fertilised next spring. This will be for potatoes, squash and French beans.
Plot 2 has not been manured for two years. When the brassicas come out, it will be dug and fertilised, and used for onions, carrots, beetroot and leeks - it already has some garlic in, which I planted in October and is now about 20cm tall.
Plot 3 has had 8 bags of compost added, but no manure, and has been dug. The compost is to lighten the soil, which was of course originally heavy clay, with plenty of flints, which are removed each year during digging - but there still seem to be as many as ever! In the spring it will be limed, ready for cabbages, swedes and Brussels sprouts.
Plot 4 has had 16 barrowloads of manure and 16 bags of compost spread on it before digging, for the second year in succession. In the spring it will be lightly fertilised. It will be used for lettuces, runner beans, sweetcorn, peas, broad beans and perhaps a courgette in between the sweetcorn.
Next year, everything moves round by one. Plot 1 will be manured/composted/fertilised and used for lettuces etc. Plot 2 will be manured/composted/fertilised and used for potatoes etc. Plot 3 will be fertilised and used for onions etc. Plot 4 will be composted/limed and used for brassicas. So over the course of 4 years, everything gets manured twice, limed once and used for all kinds of crops.
The narrow strip will be manured/composted and dug, then fertilised in spring.

Hopefully, with this rotation, soil pests and diseases will not build up to unmanageable proportions, so I will be able to garden organically, and each crop will have the soil conditions that suit it. I shall also be covering plot 3 (brassicas) with a fine mesh to keep off the butterflies (don't they just love cabbages!) and plot 4 with a coarse mesh to keep off the birds.