Muck!

In my last post (nearly 2 months ago! - doesn't time fly) I talked about manuring and digging. The manure was fresh horse manure, with wood chippings used as bedding. This is why I was keen to get it done early, in the autumn, so it had a chance to rot down a bit over winter. This manure is on the right of the photo - we get a small trailer load delivered every week by a local stables. However, in the last few days we have had 3 large trailer loads of well-rotted cow manure delivered, which is on the left of the photo. You can of course see the difference immediately - this is just the best. So today I've worked hard at barrowing quite a large amount to my allotment, where it has gone onto those plots that I manured in the autumn. I shall dig it in (and remove more flints at the same time, no doubt) which will improve the soil structure, help to raise the bed so the drainage will be better, and improve the soil fertility at the same time.
It's also time for the first jobs of the new season - chitting potatoes (allowing them to sprout before planting) and planting onion seeds. It's very cold at the moment, but when it warms up a bit I shall plant some seeds in my cold frame.

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.

.... and some fell on stony ground....

That's the trouble with our allotments - the soil. The clay is very fertile - this parsnip would feed 3 or 4 people - but the texture of clay and flint makes it very difficult to grow root crops. Hence, every winter, I have to dig in soil improvers. I have already started, with a dozen wheelbarrow loads of manure on one plot (there will be more when the plot is finally emptied) which is then raked flat, and a dozen big bags of compost are put on top. After raking this flat as well, it is dug and allowed to stand over the winter. By the way, this parsnip was grown in ground that had not been manured for 2 years, so that wasn't the reason for the multiplicity of roots. Each year I manure 2 of my 4 plots, and they grow legumes, sweetcorn and the like. On the third, I dig and add some lime for brassicas, and on the fourth I add some general purpose fertiliser, dig and grow onions, parsnips etc. By rotating the plots each year, over a 4 year period everything gets manured twice, and the soil structure is slowly improved. Well, that's the theory anyway!

The Autumn Show

We had our friendly local autumn show on Saturday. This was my rope of onions, which I am pleased to say won first prize. All of the onions were of a good size, and properly ripened with firm necks, which means that they should keep well. I also won the allotment category for 6 fruit or veg (mine were all veg) in a basket. The biggest joke however were my French beans. I have not picked any for a month - I'm letting them set seed for next year - but I managed to find 6 reasonable specimens, which won! I managed to find two red cabbages, each weighing over 6lb, but the slugs had been at them over the last few days, so they only took second prize in a class of one entry - mine! There are other sections of course, like the Domestic section, where there is always a 'men only' class. This year it was rock buns, where to my eternal shame I only managed 3rd place, behind my arch-rival who took 2nd.

I am of course still picking runner beans. Despite giving many away, making chutney with some, freezing some and eating them nearly every day, there is still a big bag in the fridge. We also have lots of courgettes, sweetcorn, beetroot, cabbages and butternut squash. My potatoes have however been very disappointing. Small crops, and many of them nibbled by slugs. Parsnips are fat but very short, a reflection of our hard ground. Never mind, they will be very good roasted, especially after a frost. Perhaps next year I will have more time (and decent weather) to prepare the ground .... but perhaps not!

Yet more beans

We have had continuous rain for the last couple of days - more than a month's worth in fact - and it has been very cold. Bank Holiday Monday was the coldest on record. Nevertheless, many things have continued to do well. These are a few of my beans, together with the seeds that I kept from last year. I have no idea what variety they are, but they have red and white flowers, and have been extremely prolific. I have been picking them whilst they are young and tender, but even so the longest was 34cm, well over 13".As you can see, none of the pods was at all 'beany' or stringy. There are plenty of flowers on them still, and (depending on the weather) we should have beans for at least the next month, which is excellent as we love beans. There have been so many that I made a double batch of bean and courgette chutney, which was delicious, and will be even better once it has matured. The recipe came from The Preserving Book, by Lynda Brown, and a single batch , which makes 3 jars, is as follows :-
600g (1 lb 5 oz) runner beans, finely sliced
4 courgettes, thinly sliced (if they are large, use fewer but cut them into 2 or 4)
350g (12 oz) cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
These weights are of the unprepared vegetables. I thought that they were weights of prepared vegetables, so my double batch made 12 jars - yummy!
2 medium onions, finely chopped
450g (1 lb) soft brown sugar
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
600ml (1 pt) cider vinegar

Put everything in a pan and stir. Heat with stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved, then cook at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 1 1/2 hours, uncovered, stirring from time to time. Stir continuously towards the end of cooking so the chutney does not stick to the bottom of the pan. It is done when only a small amount of liquid remains. The beans and courgette will retain most of their crunch, and will not go down into a pulp. Then ladle into warm sterilized jars, and cap with non-metallic or vinegar-proof lids.Allow the chutney to mature for a month (I didn't) and keep in the fridge after opening. Keeps for at least 9 months.

Apart from beans, lots of other things are coming on and/or being harvested. Our friendly show is on September 13, by when there will probably be no sweetcorn left (can't resist them!) or beetroot, but there should be some beans, of course. Plus perhaps a butternut squash, something I have never grown before, in the 'One specimen vegetable' class. The largest one is about 8" long. Which reminds me - I must go and put it on something to keep it off the earth - cheerio!

Earlibird

The eighth of August. That's when I picked my first sweetcorn of the year - and they were DEE-licious. It's usually well into September before they are ready, so next year I will plant some Earlibird and some of another variety, so that we have a succession.
It's wet today, and we had a significant amount of rain a few days ago, so no watering required - excellent.
My French beans have finished - just growing a few on for seeds for next year - but runner beans are coming thick and fast. We are giving away more than we are eating. Also beetroot, lettuce and potatoes of course, and courgettes, and I finished harvesting my white onions the other day, although the red onions are still growing. I have also planted some lettuce and Swiss chard seeds (some of the plants bolted in the hot dry conditions). The chard should stand the winter, and there are plenty of leeks, Brussels sprouts, winter cabbage, parsnips and swedes coming on. And I should be pulling my row of garlic soon. They have not got as large as I hoped, but they were planted in the spring, which is very late, as they should have gone in last autumn.

More to harvest

You can only have so many pictures of beans, so this is one of a few of my onions. I have pulled up those whose tops were dry and brown, and those where the tops were bending over, and they are now drying in the greenhouse. These were the onions from sets - the onions from seeds are still growing strongly. The size is good, and they all look healthy. It's a mark of how early the season is that, not only have I started harvesting onions, but the sweetcorn are nearly ready.
 The peas and broad beans have of course now finished, but I am picking lots of French beans and runner beans, as well as beetroot, potatoes and courgettes. (If I had room, I would make successional sowings of the peas and broad beans, but this is not possible.) The French beans are all being cut up, blanched and put in the freezer as they freeze so well, and are a delight during the dark days of winter. The runners do not freeze well though, so we are eating them fresh and giving loads away. The potatoes (Kestrel, second early) - a small harvest, because of the weather? - are super baked or roast, not so good boiled as the skins come off and the potato tends to break up. But they are at least slug resistant. My butternut squash have gone mad - one now has runners ten feet long - which is I suppose a reflection on the weather, which has been hot and sunny - and dry. I have to water every 2 or 3 days. We had some rain the week before last, but none since, and the days have consistently been in the mid 20s C, with nights in the high teens.