Marina di Chioggia

Have compared my long storing pumpkin with my seed packets and decided that it was this one.
Marina di Chioggia. I got the seeds at Wisley but Franci seeds are available in lots of places.
Googling these found this info on the seed (My packet is in Italian so not much info on there)

"Very old, rustic pumpkin from near Venice. Thick, knobbly skin and sweet yellow/orange flesh. Rich in Vitamin A which helps keep eyes and skin healthy. Also contains mineral salts (Calcium & Phosphorous). @9. Sow Mar-end Jun and harvest till the end of November."
Another site has a picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/kthread/4103587009/
And another describes it here as very long storing http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/product/marina-de-chioggia-garden-squash-squash-vegetablesTheir picture shows a more warty pumpkin than mine was.

This is hard to believe....

 
These were the sum total of the squashes I harvested from the big compost pile on the bank, under the tree, where I sowed the pumpkin plant given me by a friend earlier in the year. He didn't know the name of the variety. They are 6 inches diameter....not large, but they were under the giant beech tree that borders my plot and cuts out light and water from half of it so I wasn't actually expecting much. Next year I'm moving the compost bays to this site....!
 
This, however, is what I am finding hard to believe...! This is one I grew last year in one of the deep beds on the plot, I had it on the windowsill in the sun room all year. This faces north so only gets sun morning and evening (suits me as I hate too much sun). The windowsill is a good place for plants, warm and bright but not too hot. I took this photo five minutes ago. I'm amazed at how well it has kept....a whole year on the windowsill with only an occasional dusting. I thought it was about time we ate it!
So, I cut it through expecting it to be like concrete....but not so. It cut very easily and inside was still beautiful! (See next picture). I will eat this over the next week or two. DH doesn't like pumpkin, which is why it just hasn't been used up to now.
 
I wish I could remember which variety it is. (It is 11 inches diameter). If I could I'd choose to grow it again forever as its keeping qualities are wonderful. And I am sure it will still taste good.

The ones on the windowsill from this year's poor harvest have soggy stems already so I know they won't keep. I will likely have to freeze the flesh withinn the next few days.

No action at the plot today as I have a bad head, and it is intermittently raining.

A truly beautiful morning

 
Too nice today to hang about indoors, especially as the weather is due to deteriorate tomorrow til who knows when. So I went early to the plot to start on the spud beds for next year. Whilst there I thought a lot about the layout of my plot and have decided that over this winter I will re-organise it somewhat.

Firstly I am going to site the shed at the N end of the plot. I get so little sun in winter on my plot that I must maximise what does come. The hedge and the shed being on the S edge of the plot makes it very gloomy for most of the winter in the part of the plot that should get the most sun.
So...I will move the shed to the top of the plot, and cut the hedge to 3ft high, and move the compost bays to the bank....under the tree where nothing will grow.

I will also take away the path down the middle of the plot. I will still have the long 3'6" wide beds running across the plot...but they will now be 18ft long instead of being in two halves. I shall re-instate the historical path down the RH side of the plot...between the long beds and the bank. This path was obliterated by the previous plotholders but I can soon tread in a new one.
 
I spent an hour or so weeding out the docks and other pernicious weeds that were in the path between the two beds that will be the spud beds and forked through the two beds on either side to find the bindweed roots that were beginning to take over the bed. When I took over the plot I deep dug the whole site and dug out a mountain of white roots. It has lasted well.
The soil was so soft it was a dream to dig today. The beds (where I never tread) were so soft that no foot pressure is needed now to dig. On the bit between the beds that was path for the last 3 years just required a bit of foot pressure on the fork to free the roots of the docks etc. Truly a "knife through butter" day on my plot.
This bed will have manure spread in the spring and spuds will go in in March.
 
I noticed that the Brussels at the top of the plot were ready so I picked half a carrier bag from 6 plants, and tidied up the lower yellow leaves to the compost heap. I also picked a cabbage.

My husband also came to the plot for half an hour and strimmed the paths. I raked up a lot of grass and strewed a lot of it over the spud beds to keep light away from any tubers near the top of the soil.
 
I'm glad I have a plan to get the sun back onto my plot. Now I have to find the energy to do it.

Experiment a success!

 
Back in July (19th) I tried some later planting of spuds to get a so-called Christmas dinner crop of new potatoes. They were Charlotte, from Mr Fothergills. There were 15 tubers and I put them in one of our deep beds in the Kitchen Garden here at home.
In September the tops were all brown so I cut them down; but left the spuds in the ground under a good layer of grass mowings to keep out light.
Today I dug up one plant's worth and was pleasantly surprised. The plate above shows what came up, and the weight of the product of that one plant was 1.1kilos.
I have no idea if that is good or bad, but I am pleased with it and feel that the experiment was worth trying.
I haven't tried potatoes in the deep beds before as I was worried about earthing up and getting the soil all over the paths. I didn't do much earthing up but did put lots of mowings on the bed to build it up.
They were so easy to dig up. I pulled up the rotten stalk stubs I'd left in to show where they were, then just felt around in the soft soil til I found the spuds. I finished off with the fork but most of them were found just by feeling for them

Have a look at this!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skippysbackyard/4049891087/sizes/l/

How would you like an allotment here.....
It is somehwre in N England and I pinched the link from Skippy's Vegetable Garden Blog

More jobs done today....

 
A well used morning in my kitchen garden. I decided to continue the Autumn tidy up here at home.
Firstly I cut off the yellowing asparagus tops (bed nearest the tunnel). Then I cleaned the bed.
I strimmed the grass between the beds.
I moved the pots back to alongside the tunnel.
I tidied up the incinerator area, and piled the next lot of garden rubbish into the barrow ready for a fire later today.
Don't the compost "Daleks" look pleased with themselves? They are all stuffed to the top with goodness waiting for a bit of worm action.
I have some work to do in the corner by the tunnel here under the plum tree. I am going to move the barrels to the other end of the tunnel so that I can get round this side to clear away the brambles. The area under the plum is full of pernicious weeds that need properly clearing away.
 
Also this morning I sowed some winter salads in the spare row of Sq feet (under the fleece tunnel in the second photo). Spinach, lettuce, spring onions, rocket and mizuna.
 
This far bed needs a lot of attention over this winter. I want more fruit in it.
 

And this photo shows what needs doing in the area just by the tunnel. DH has started clearing the brambles from behind, and I need to clear the clutter away from in front of the tunnel to make a nice corner.

There is also lots to do inside the tunnel to re jug it with my new plastic deep beds. It is going to be rainy within the next week....perhaps I'll get a chance then...

Broad Beans

Just for my records....
Sowed the broad bean "Bunyard's Exhibition" that I got from Alan Romans (99p for 31 seeds) in the last empty bed in the back garden.
I have ordered some "Aquadulce Claudia" (a bigger pack, from Kings via the allotment society) for the bulk beds at the plot for feeding the freezer (!), but the little bed in the back garden will be handy for picking for meals.

I am hoping for a full day gardening today as I'm sure there can't be many more days of this Autumn mellowness left.

I love the smell of bonfires....

This afternoon DH cut the brambles away from behind the tunnel and I have started a fire with the "proceeds"! I love the smell of an Autumn garden rubbish bonfire, where the stuff to burn is all vegetation. Shirtsleeve weather again. Very pleasant!

I also weeded out the Sq Ft salad bed. There are a few empty squares which I will have to think about what to put in them, or even whether to just fertilise and leave 'til spring. There are a number of good salads still left in there, and some small brassicas which will do a meal each when they fill out. The beans are finished as are the red radish. The mooli look good.

This morning I went to the plot and had a good look at my projected rotation for next year. Where the spuds were this year will be the cabbages next; where the carrots and beets were this year will be manured for spuds next year; where the beans were this year is where the carrots and beets will be next year; and where the cabbages were this year will be where I will have the squashes etc. next year. That should work!

I also harvested the last of the carrots (a bucketload), and cleaned the bed. And the last of the beetroots....another bucketload for pickling, perhaps tomorrow; and cleaned the bed. And the pumpkins; and cleared the vine to the compost. All in all a VERY productive morning.
It is beginning to look much more cared for at the plot.....At Last!!!

Now to walk the dogs...

Compost....and a bonfire

A today was shirtsleeve weather here on the Isle of Wight I thought it the perfect opportunity to turn the compost. I have 4 "daleks". I slipped the first one up from its contents, stood it next to the pile and then refilled it using a fork.....well mixed. I repeated this with the others then went inside for a good sit!
The exercise has compacted the 4 overflowing "Daleks" into just over 3....freeing up space for the product of the autumn clear-up. I still have two front beds to sort out, and the Sq Ft salad bed.

After my coffee I went out and emptied the incinerator of about a foot of ash. Then refilled it with a goodly layer of paper, dried everlasting sweet pea stems, lots of twigs and finally the thick stems from cabbage etc. This burnt very merrily. It never ceases to amaze me that whatever way the wind is blowing, and wherever I station myself to tend the fire, the smoke always chases me round.

After lunch I started it off again with all the brambles I cut from behind the compost bins.

Then I strimmed the grass areas of the Kitchen garden.

After that I walked the dogs through the allotments, digging up some spuds and cutting a small cabbage for dinner. I am hoping to get to the plot tomorrow to continue with the autumn clear-up there. Lots of harvesting to do....hundreds of beetroot for pickling, carrots to dig up, pumpkins to bring home....

The versatile cucumber.....

The amazing cucumber

(This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of
their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.)


1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.


2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a
cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that
can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like
fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long.
The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminium to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few
minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works
great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before
going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free.
Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover
and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening nacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and
explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the
shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge?
Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals
and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress
in new mothers, and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for
30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets (taps), sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean,
not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the
kids have used to decorate the walls!!

This may be a waste of time but.....

When we got back from holiday I found that an order for little plug plants (that I had expected my dog sitters to take in and look after) had been held at the post office for 9 days as they had been unable to deliver it! I collected them thinking I'd just have to bin them when I got home.

They were wrapped in sets of 5 plants in greaseproof paper, all within a little cardboard box, and they all looked very dead! So I put the whole lot in water to see what would happen. This was two weeks ago. Since then I have noticed a distinct greening of the little leaves and today investigated further and found that 13 of the 20 plants had been resurrected! Today I put them out in a patch that isn't requiered 'til next spring....just to see.

There were 4 cabbage "Excell", two Caulis "Carol", 4 Sprouting Broccoli "Aquilles", and two Calabrese.

They are very tiny...poor little things.

I also sowed two rows of Peas "Meteor". These were packed for year ending 2006, for sowing bt 2007. I soaked them and they were showing signs of sprouting so I have sowed them rather thickly. We love pea sprouts in salads so I'm prepared to thin them if they come up too close together.

This may all be a waste of time.....but we shall see!!!!

How about that then.....?

The arches were ordered yesterday, and today they arrived.....8 of them. £8.99 each, free P&P...what a bargain! I've put one together to see what's what and it is a simple job to erect them. I've put one in place (there will be two straddling the path at the end of each bed) and pushed it about 6 inches into the soil. It will go in over a foot, and that is what I will do when I put them in for real as they are very high. I might not be able to reach my beans without a ladder!!!

The span is 4'7" which is just right, as it means they reach from 1ft. into the bed, across the path and 1ft. into the opposite bed leaving a perfect stretch of soil for planting within the arch.
It'll be a simple matter to run strings over the hoops each spring for the beans etc to twine around.

I was very surprised at the quality for the price....

Anyway...if anyone is interested I got them from here...they have a sale on at the moment.

www.ukgardensupplies.co.uk/acatalog/Arches.html

I won't do the rest until the spring....no need!

Also, you will notice the net curtain covering the vine. We are eating grapes every day. The grapes are not huge, the biggest about thumbnail sized, but they are sweet and juicy.

Onions in!

The state of play in my back garden veg plot. The eight beds are now weeded for the winter and I have also given the strawberries their Autumn haircut. (back lh bed) The front Sq ft bed (front left) is empty apart from some marigolds (I always leave them wherever they come up because they cheer me up!) and some of that salad I got in Cyprus....tasty!
The back netted bed has broccoli in it and some red cabbage still hearting up....nicely!
The front bed with the white labels now has shallots at 4"apart(25 "Grise") and Garlic at 4"apart(24 "Albigensian Wight") and "Radar" onions in.
The back beds here are (middle front) the spuds which I put in in late July. Tops now dead and cleared. I'll dig these when I need them. Behind that is the other onion bed...Red Onion "Electric", White Onion "Bianco" (these were so beautiful...healthy and so white) and the rest of the net of "Radar". I have put all of these at 2" spacing . There are only two of us and a 4" spacing produces huge onions that are too big for us.

The front and back rh beds are empty at the moment, except for a couple of volunteer leeks. I will be putting the broad beans in one and some Meteor peas in the other.

Next year I am going to do all the climbing stuff a different way. I have ordered some metal arches which I will install to provide an arch over the path between the front and back beds. I will grow the beans, sweet peas, climbing courgettes, tomatoes and cucumbers up these. This will eliminate that difficult to get at weedy spot within the bamboo wigwams that I find such a pain to weed....and always leave leave!. It will also ensure that all the produce presents itself well for picking....! And...it should look nice too. We shall see.

The sun was shining...

The sun was shining so I had to go out and do my back garden. I have cleared or weeded three more of the beds, and planted up my pots with bulbs. These are to put round the front door next spring.
I harvested two beautiful red cabbages which the creepy crawlies were just beginning to attack(three more left in the beds for later), and a whole bowlful of green tomatoes. The plants had died (I think there was an almost frost the other night) but the toms were still beautiful and shiny. I think I might do "fried green tomatoes" with them.
I cleared the bean wigwams and saved the seed from my "Cosse Violette" French climbing beans, and from the "Inchley's White" runner beans (Heritage Seed Library last year). I haven't done that before so I'm hoping they are successful.
When I'd finished the back garden was in shadow again...so pics tomorrow.

Life is good!

A productive afternoon....

No time to go "plotting" today but I did find a couple of hours to start sorting out the back garden deep beds. I have tidied up 3 of them and got them winter ready.
The Sq Ft bed nearest the gate was a bit untidy with spent pea and bean haulms. But there is also a sq ft of those Cyprus salad leaves that I posted about on here a while ago. They are wonderful and seem to be happy even though the weather is not as warm as Cyprus!!!
The bed is weeded and tidy now and ready for next spring.
The spud bed had very straggly tops. These are the late spuds....bought as suitable for harvesting in December. I have left them in the ground for now. I don't know what is going on underground, or how successful they have been. I suppose I should dig up one plant and see.
The bed with the sweet pea and runner bean wigwams, which also had a volunteer pumpkin vine in it has now been cleared. The 8 inch diameter pumpkin that it achieved is now on the staging in the polytunnel ripening.
This last bed was the most awful orangey coloured hard soil when I started it off three years ago. I have piled manure and compost into it every year since and it is now lovely dark brown loam, teaming with life. I might try carrots in it next year....so I won't put any more compost or manure on it this winter.

Have you seen this?

There is a new garden show, being held for the first time next March, at Stoneleigh (near Coventry). It is called The Edible Garden Show, and is just about gardening for the table. This sounds like just what I need........reasons....

• it's in the spring....before I have my garden set out for the year and in time for me to make changes,
• it is just about veg gardening
• presumably there will be seeds for sale

I have booked a hotel so that I can stay two days. The tickets are not available yet, but I will post when they are. I have put my name down and they will e-mail when to apply.

To read more about it look here

http://www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk/page.cfm/link=8

Anyone else fancy going? I'd love to say "Hello!" if we are there on the same day......

I usually go to Chelsea, but they don't do very much in the way of veg ideas, so this is going to be on my must do list each year, and I won't bother with Chelsea any more....

Progress.....

A beautiful sunny afternoon so I answered the plot's calling me and went for two hours.

First I dug some spuds! Desiree of course.
Then I uncovered the little cabbages from their net and weeded the bed thoroughly. I also sprayed the whitefly.....the blighters were all over the poor little plants. Then I re-arranged the hoops and netting so that it was higher, and secured it all round against pigeons and rabbits.
The leek bed was beginning to be invaded by that weed (I call it mares' tails, but am not sure of its real name) which has roots that go down as far as Australia (!). That is all pulled out, and the soil loosened and weeded out.
Then I turned to the other brassica bed. I noticed that there was plenty of broccoli (stupid me bought some this morning!!!) and a lot had flowered. I've cut off everything that was there and put the flowery bits in the compost and brought the rest home. I think I'll blanch it this evening and freeze it against a "rainy day"!

This bed is next on the list for a thorough weeding.....

After I had straightened up from all that I decided to call it a day. There is still a mountain to do but I am feeling much better about it all.

A little progress....

Two hours at the plot this morning brought some order to more of the beds. I finished weedingthe spud bed and the one after it, and came across to the other spud bed and tidied that up.
I pulled up all the pea beans and the bamboo pole framework, and weeded out that bed too. I pulled off the beans still hanging. They are too mature to use green but will make good soup as just the bens without the pods.

So....6 beds of the 18 are now sorted. I will have to green manure some of them for the winter.

Catching up on blog reading.....

...but cannot seem to access Allotment Lady from my favourites list. Has something changed? Lottie...if you read this perhaps you can set me right again.....thanks!

Lost the Plot!!!!

We got back from a long holiday on Friday, but I was only able to inspect the plot today. It was of course weedy, and there was plenty to do. Nothing had been picked for over a month so all the climbing beans and caulis had gone to seed. But there was stuff to harvest, so I dug two 4ft rows of carrots, and picked some string beans.
I also pulled out a heaped barrrow full of seeding tall weeds that were waving at me cheekily, then properly weeded bed 1. I decided to not worry too much about the state of it but just to plod around the beds weeding systematically....hoping that the plot inspector appreciates that I am working on it.
I was hoping to go back this afternoon to continue, but the rain is here and promises to stay for the rest of the day so I will spend a while in the tunnel (which is also a disgrace).
The postman brought my Van Haag seed catalogue this morning. This is the firm that gives allotment associations whacking discounts. I must compile my list for next year and give it to the fella that does the bulk order. I can do all that later with a cuppa after my polytunnel stint.

Lost the plot....photos!

There seem to be three small pumpkins....green skinned.
The raspberries are finished. The weeds are growing!

















The beds are all weedy too.



And the beans are over. Lots of carrots ready to harvest and the beetroot have grown big enough for pickling too.

Photos continued

Very untidy...lots to do!
A pity about the murkiness but I was able to get stuck in.....
The little cabbage plants are doing well, and the leeks. Malcolm said that the leek moth was active on some plots so I should inspect these soon to see if they are OK.
The caulis had gone to seed, but the brussels sprouts and the little fat solid cabbages in the long back bed are fine.
All these beds need weeding a.s.a.p. I did pull out all the tall weeds before I left and weeded out the first bed (just out of the middle photo ) and I will take some after pics tomorrow. Rain has stopped progress today....

I'm whacked!!

Spent the morning AND the afternoon at the plot as DH assures me we are in for a wet week. I will be glad of the rain....but why can't it come only at night? Anyway, all is weeded and hoed so the rain will soak in rather than running off.

I picked (and ate because there were only 8 !!!) the raspberries. These are Autumn Bliss and were a bit early. There is not much coming along so I hope that this was just a first flush with lots more to come later....

The first photo shows the spud bed with all the haulms cut off now, and the rows hoed, earthed up and weeded. Also the mulch that I put down the other day....more to come when we mow the lawns here. I'm hoping the mulch will stop the wind and rain eroding the tops of the rows and exposing the spuds to the light.
The beetroot bed in the second picture. I weeded this out today and went through pulling out anything over an inch diameter for pickling. Those that are left will grow more I hope. After weeding I earthed up the little ones left behind.

I weeded off the paths from the first 3/4 of the plot. These will not be allowed to get into such a state again!!!!

The beans were hoed and the stragglers were wound around the poles.

No sign of the buckwheat green manure yet, but it is early days.
These are the last paths waiting to be done...next week probably.

Over by the fence I have cleared the nettles and comfrey to the compost, and weeded and dug over the soil around the globe artichokes and the rhubarb and gooseberries.
The compost heap on the left was getting a bit high so I moved the bags of manure out of the other bay and have started in the empty one with the beetroot tops and the weeds from the paths.

Home now for a long sit, and feeling very satisfied with my efforts....

An experiment!

I have read a lot about setting potatoes in the ground at this time of year to get new potatoes around the new year, and I have been itching to have a go. So when I got my Mr Fothergill's Seeds catalogue about a month ago and saw that they were offering some specially prepared Charlotte tubers for planting now I couldn't resist. They arrived yesterday and as they don't need chitting (see instructions below.....clickable to enlarge the photo) I planted them out in my spare deep bed in the back garden. They said it would be 10 tubers but it was actually eleven and they nicely fitted in the bed at the correct spacing. I gave the bed a heavy dose of chicken manure pellets, and watered each spud in well. Later I will soak the bed when I do the tunnel.
When the time comes I will earth them up with compost from the Daleks, and the instructions recommend covering the bed with fleece after October.

I mentioned that Wet-n-grow wetting solution the other day which I had applied to these deep beds and I have to report that I am thrilled with the results. From resembling a concrete path the bed now cultivates beautifully, and the soil has taken in the recent rain perfectly and was a dream to work. That stuff is well worth the money. I have ordered another bottle as they recommend dosing about once a month. I still have half a bottle but don't want to run out.

I know that with my back problems this spring the writing is on the wall for the plot but I have a while to perfect using the back garden veg plot to the max. I tried the spuds in bags method this spring and wasn't impressed with the results, but am willing to persevere. If I can make a success of that I can get more bags, or dustbins even....we have three spare since we went for a wheelie bin to foil the wretched bin-raiding Whippet that lives here....and line them up along the path to the back gate against the west facing wall and probably end up with as many as I get from the two large beds at the plot.

The other thing I need to do to make the plot redundant is to try to incorporate as much fruit into the garden here as possible. I think I should be giving up some of the flower beds for fruit. We already have some very productive fruit trees, a Victoria Plum and a Conference Pear. We planted a cultivated blackberry this spring here at home, and with a bit of effort I'm sure I could get more raspberries and the gooseberry here somewhere.

Solved!

I went back to weed the brassicas this afternoon, and DH came by with the dogs and asked what I was going to put in the newly cleared bed now and I explained that I would probably put it under green manure because I had nothing to put in it. As if by magic a fairy godmother on a neighbouring plot came across with a bunch of leeks which she had over from her plot. So the bed now has leeks in it.

DH noticed the dire state of the paths and brought the strimmer down later....so the paths are now done too. The cut bits do fly everywhere but I'm not raking it off the beds....it'll soon wilt.
I tidied up the large square bed (top left in this picture) and sowed it with buckwheat as a green manure. The seed packet says it is good for places where you only have a couple of months before you need the bed again. These can be cleared before the end of September when I need to get the late cabbages in.

I also put buckwheat in the bed behind the beetroot.
I cut off the dead haulms from the Charlotte potatoes and dug up two of them. The yield looked very good (haven't weighed it yet). I raked up the grass from the paths and strewed it over the spud beds to try to keep the light away and to keep the spuds damp. I will leave them like that til I want them. Looks like we'll have plenty.

Now I have had enough so sit down jobs are calling me....

At last.....the last bed cleared.

Two peaceful hours spent at the plot this morning taking advantage of the shade from the large beech tree enabled this much progress. The bed was thick with weeds as it hadn't been touched since last autumn when I dug out the spuds. I took 3 barrowloads of weeds to the compost heap from here.......I'm glad it is done now. It looks small here but it is actually 10ft x 4ft.

It will lie low now until I need to plant the cabbages later....September probably. I am thinking of putting down a green manure crop until then, but if anyone has any suggestions for something that'll be up and gone in 8 weeks I might consider another crop.
This is the next project...the far corner of the plot. There is a stand of comfrey that needs cutting now for mulching and compost, and a whole lot of nettles that also need dealing with. Also....all the paths at this end of the plot need attention. I like to keep them as just earth paths so that a quick hoe round keeps them clear.....but this year hasn't been like that. When I have caught up I will make sure not to let them get away from me again.

We also need to get the strimmer here and do the main paths and the weedy bank.

I saw that the beetroot for pickling seem to be ready....so must get to them in the next few days. And the other end of the brassica bed still hasn't been weeded and the kohlrabi looks ready too.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a tasty kohlrabi recipe? I usually grate it for salad but am bored with that now....

The spuds also are ready for digging. The Charlotte are going yellow, and the Desire have finished flowering and are beginning to turn. I think for both of these I will just cut off the tops and leave them in the soil til we need them. They keep so well like that and I don't need the space as I have nothing waiting to go in.

There is some talk that the Allotments will be given over to the Parish Council to oversee in future. We all hope so because then we may get something done about the untouched plot by mine. I have spoken up for it suggesting that if it does become vacant I would like to move to it as it gets more sun than mine. It won't have the tree sucking out all the water, and it won't have the weedy bank to look after either.
If I get it I will transfer all my fruit from the bank, and push the shed across. The shed on the plot has seen better days and mine is only 2 1/2 years old.

Does anyone know what these are?

When we were in Cyprus on holiday last spring we were given this salad everyday. We loved it and I bought the seeds so that we can grow them ourselves.
I've just got round to sowing them and unfortunately the instructions are in Greek and I haven't a clue what they say. If I knew the English name for them I could look up cultivation instructions online.
Thanks....
NB Click on the picture for a larger view

It looks so much better now.

I spent a long afternoon and part of this evening tidying the shed, garage, tunnel and kitchen garden. There was such a mess here outside the tunnel....pots and cloches and nets and tools.....all needing putting away properly. All done now and I did a good strim of the grass which had grown up between the pots and stuff. As you can see there is still a lot to do, but it does look so much better now and I feel better about it all.
The bed in the foreground is the one I marked into Sq Ft tthis morning. I have only sown sugar peas and some wonderful beans (Climbing Bean "Italian Gold"....present from a dear friend....coated in some pink powder....I'm hoping that will deter the wretched mice), and some radish "Topsi". I had to use some wetting solution on this bed, and the tomato, cabbage, sweetcorn and bean beds as my moisture meter was registering "dry" on all these beds. Those that I did last week with the wetting solution read "wet" with the meter. All have had the same amount of rain....looks like the stuff works...
In the tunnel the plants look OK except for the tomatoes. These have now had wetting solution applied to the grow bags. Hope they pick up soon. They have been fed, but are not happy. And even though they have been regularly watered until it ran out of the top of the grow bag the soil also registered "dry". We'll see what effect that has. The tomatoes we have had so far have all had pale tops....I believe that is a sign that they were too dry.

Had enough now!!!

A dull photo..

I did say it'd be a dull photo!!!

This morning I sowed up a few more of the little sq ft areas. I trawled through my seed drawer and found some little packets a dear friend sent me a couple of months ago. I was so surprised to find that they are recommended for summer sowing. I really must tidy up my seed drawer....
So today I have sown....
Radish "Topsi"
Kale "Cavolo Nero" (Packet from last year)
Broccoli "Romanesco Navona"
Cabbage "April"
Cabbage "Durham Early"
Cabbage "Offenham 2 Flower of Spring"
And into another bed when I have finished my sit down with coffee Climbing Bean "Italian Gold". This last is intriguing. It says it can be sown as late as July so here goes! I'll bet it will be producing it's crop when we are in the US in September. Ah well! The dog sitters will enjoy them.....

The cabbages are a little experiment. Mel Bartholomew (Sq Ft Gardening author) suggests one cabbage plant per square. I think this is a bit close but we will see. I have done as he said and sown a tiny pinch of seeds in the middle of the square....direct rather than starting in pots.....and will see how they go on. I also sprinkled a few more seeds in each of the corners to get some early leaf pickings for salad.....these will be gone before the plant in the middle needs the space.

I just found some horrid holes in my (last week) healthy red cabbage plants. There was also a lot of insect "dust" in the middle of the plant. The others are all still healthy.....so I have sprayed the lot with an organic bug spray and will keep an eye on them from now on.

I am hoping this Square foot method will work better this time. Mel Bartholomew says if the beds are not marked out with something then it isn't Sq Ft Gardening. He is right.....! Marking out all those little squares encouraged me to try lots of small sowings of lots of different veg. If I find this a success then I will revert to just growing the bulk crops on the allotment (spuds, carrots, beetroot, broad beans for the freezer, and fruit) and keep the kitchen garden for our day to day meal stuff.

As an early Anniversary present (In September it'll be 38 years), DH has funded the purchase of some Link-a-bord deep beds for my tunnel. I now plan to take out everything this autumn, level off the floor, cover it with membrane, then install the beds. These have been specially made....2ft deep by the length of the tunnel (4 metres-ish!) and will go along the long walls. In the middle I will have the staging, with the lemon tree in its pot one end, and the dustbin of compost the other. There will be room for paths both sides of the staging. If I mark the beds into Sq Feet just like the garden I should be able to grow as much as I have now in the tunnel, and have good access to it all. At the moment I am struggling to get to it all.
I will have over 50 Sq Ft areas to sow in there. At 4 lettuces per square, or one plant such as tomato, cucumber, melon, pepper, etc it should be very productive. It will be a lot of work installing it, and I'll have to invest in some compost and vermiculite and peat substitute for it, but it will solve the problem of the soil getting stale in there......always a worry. I will also build a permanent climbing net behind the beds.....for tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, and courgettes. I have got some seeds of a climbing one I am anxious to try next year. It isn't self fertile so I'll have to get a brush to help it along, but it will be easier to manage than the huge monsters I have in there at the moment.

So....back to my gardening!

More seed sowing

Too late to take a decent photo, but a seed patch with nothing up is rather a boring subject anyway.

After lots of false starts I finally was able to get round to sowing the bed which had the onions in. I decided to really go for the Square Foot Garden method on this bed so have marked it with string into 1 ft squares and sown them.
So...here is the list...
Carrots "Early French Frame"
French Beans, "Duel", "Senesta" and "Safari"
Fennel "Romanesco"
Coriander
American Land Cress
Spring Onions "White Lisbon"
Perpetual Spinach
Mixed Lettuce Leaves
Ditto....Oriental Mix
Basil "Sweet Genovese"
Pak Choi
Beetroot "Bikores"
Radish "Mooli"
Parcel
Parsley "Rosette"
Radish "French Breakfast"
"Ruby" Chard
This bed will mainly serve as a salad bed as I shall pick the chard and spinach as young leaves rather than leave them to grow into winter veg.

I am relieved to have done it.....at last!

Alas for the Mole!

Poor little thing. DH thinks perhaps he couldn't find anything to drink....it was very dry on my plot.

While I was weeding the beans I had a blackbird for company....then he followed me to the cabbage bed and kept nipping in and out under the netting. I didn't find any worms though....too dry!
I attended to my carrot bed first. As shown here I sowed them before checking the length of my environmesh. The two rows not under the mesh are tiny as yet, whereas the stuff under the mesh is huge...despite being dryer. They do say that water passes through the mesh, but when I soak with the hose some rolls off....so I bet the rain does too.


The beans that I sowed so late. All weeded now.

I decided to install pots in the ground to help get the water down to the roots as they seemed to be rather dry. As I arrived at the plots today there was a huge bag of plastic pots on the surplus seat. So I took some of them and here is where they ended up.

I had to encourage some of the beans to find the poles. It is very windy on my plot...so I have tied some of them closer to the poles to give them a hint.
The brassica bed. This is 20ft long, and I only managed half of it today.

The cabbage collars continually end up in one corner of the netting as they are easily blown off by the wind. I shan't buy this make again. They are the ones with copper in them to deter slugs. They are so soft and malleable that they are easy to put on....and easy for the wind to whip off. If I hadn't netted the bed I wouldn't have one left now.

As I replaced them I weighted them down with stones....hope it works!

Had enough for the day now. There is still plenty more to do at the plot, as there also is at home, and I hope to have caught up soon.........some hope! One day I might manage to get all the paths weeded too.....

Sweet Peas

Today's picking. These were just a cheap "fragrant mix". They smell divine, and have super long (12") stems. I am picking a bunch like this every other day.

At the plot this morning I decided to get to grips with the weeds around the raspberry canes, as it is time to start picking them. I did the far side of them a few weeks ago so that wasn't too bad, but the path between the raspberries and the gooseberry bush and the rhubarb was really overgrown and impassable with 4 ft high nettles. I pulled all these up....not difficult as it is so dry and they very easily gave in. Then to my great surprise I saw that not only was there a small picking of the raspberries to be had (Autumn Bliss) , but the gooseberry bush was laden with fruit. Last year it had not a single berry, but it was laden this year. Is that the power of the manure heap I stacked around its roots last autumn, or due to the nettles that were keeping the birds away? Who knows? But I was glad to pick them. They will brighten up our weekend!

After pulling up all the nettles and having a good go at the bindweed I hoed the paths, then gave the comfrey which grows along the back fence another haircut and mulched the base of the raspberries with the chopped leaves and stems. It makes a wonderful soil conditioner and feed.

I will be going back later as there is still so much to do there......everything needs weeding. I'm hoping to do the carrots and the cabbages. My back is a bit stiff from this morning's efforts but I will keep at it as long as I can. It needs it.

I was sorry to see a mole lying dead by my courgette. I have no idea why he died......very sad.

The Queen has an allotment....like us!!!!

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/news/news_topic.php?id=514&dm_i=4UO,18R6,JK0GT,44P8,1
Click the small picture of the gardener girl to see the video

At the plot today

After lunch I went to the plot. The weather seemed to be cool enough for me to work in the sun as there was plenty of intermittent cloud cover. However it was fearfully windy, which was creating dust storms as I worked as the soil is so dry ....so I stayed for an hour and then came home. (I checked with the IOW weather records and we were getting 25mph winds.) I was getting earache from the constant wind in the ears, my skirt kept flying over my head, and I was worried about the big tree. It is a beech and seems sturdy enough, but a branch came off a beech at my sister's house this week and a car was crushed flat! I decided to come again tomorrow instead!

I did do some tidying but there is still a mountain to do here.
I cleared the broad bean bed, and tidied the poor little courgette bed (late sown and only one came up. I think he will catch up as he seems healthy!)
I pulled out the cheeky tall weeds in the spud bed.

I harvested the volunteer spuds in last years spud bed. Enough for two weeks eating I think. The bed will be wanted for winter cabbage so I have a while yet before needing to tidy it completely.







A view of the Brussels sprout and other brassicas bed....netted against the dreaded butterflies. I really should weed that soon.
The bed in front is the last one at the plot still waiting to be cleared for this year. That too will be for winter cabbage....so no hurry.

In the tunnel

Onions , garlic and shallots drying in the tunnel .











The big LH bed in the tunnel. Lemon tree at the back.....a few small fruits on it. Next to that a little melon plant, and a cucumber. The big plant up the tunnel frame is a cucumber which is doing very well....a cue every two days at the moment.....just enough for us!
Also in this bed are the early courgettes.....I'm picking two a day from these. They are a self-fertile variety and are doing much better than the ones I tried in here last year.
There are also peppers and aubergines in this bed but they are a bit smothered by the courgettes....
As are the strawberries which edge the path. I think I won't bother with these next year....they haven't done very well this year. They are jut babies it is true as they were just runners last year, but I am re-doing the tunnel this autumn , details later, and I don't think they will fit in as edging plants.

The RH side of the tunnel has the tomatoes , some strawberries along the path, marigolds (french to deter the white fly...it works!), a physallis, 2 tomatilloes, some very sorry for themselves luffas (shan't bother with them again) and some chillies.
The tomatoes were late going in and have a lot of fruit on them, but are slow to ripen. We have had a few, but there are lots to come.
All in all I don't seem to be as far behind as I had feared. I have worked out here for many hours this last few days and am beginning to catch up at last.

Today in my kitchen garden

Photos to show the state of play in my back garden vegetable plot.
Here are the bed I cleared this morning that had the peas, beetroot and carrots in sq ft sized areas. I have weeded it and taken out the seeded spinach and radishes. I am ready to re-sow with other stuff now.
The RH front bed is a bean and sweet pea bed. There are also some marigolds that have volunteered their efforts, as well as what I assume to be a self sown pumpkin or squash. I always leave volunteers and am curious to see what this one is. The sweet peas are just a fragrant mix, and they have super long stems. We are getting a huge bunch every two days. I love this time of year....!
The back RH bed is also beans and some sweet peas. There are also onions in there as companions.
The back LH bed is the outdoor tomatoes that my good friend in Kent gave me.....type unknown. They are growing well in spite of having been watered with tap water for some weeks now (we haven't had nearly enough rain!)
The other 4 of the 8'x3'6" beds are shown here. Front LH bed is just cabbages at the moment as the Broad beans and peas which were in there have finished. I have laid today's harvest of onions (gone to seed so for early consumption) and Eschalotte Grise shallots. These latter look very good and I am sure they will taste spectacular!

The front LH bed has the sweetcorn in it.....doing well, and some Hestia runner beans that just grow low (I don't hold with sowing sweetcorn and runner beans together no matter what Carol Klein says....the beans wrap their tendrils round and round the cobs so you can't harvest them without sacrificing the bean stems....the low growing ones are my compromise idea.)
Right at the front of the bed is a huge cabbage (see next photo) which still hasn't hearted up so I am leaving the lovely thing to fill out.
The back LH bed is planted with red cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli, fennel and leeks. All liking each other's company and looking very healthy.
Here is the aforementioned cabbage. The only one of a set I planted out last Autumn. The others just sat there reproaching me and refuse to stop sulking and grow....so out they went to make way for the sweetcorn. Can someone tell me why some plants sulk and others just want to please?
The asparagus bed is being left now til next year to re-coup its reserves. And the empty bed is the one where the bulk of my onion, garlic and shallots which I harvested this week were growing. The bed is now ready for re-sowing....Square foot method ....with salads etc I think. But I am letting it have a week or two to settle and perhaps show some weeds (bindweed was in evidence....I weeded it out but may have missed a bit) and then I'll re-weed it and sow seeds. The weather is a bit hot for salad sowing at the moment...I don't want them to bolt.

Long Time No Post!!!

Here I am! The last month has been sooooo busy that I have failed to record my progress here. I have been generally watering everything because of the hot weather, and harvesting what is ready to eat, and enjoying what I have done.....but there was no time for photos and posting.

This morning I thought I ought to have a look at the Square Foot bed I sowed a couple of months ago. The beetroot are ready to pull, and will be eaten in the next couple of days. The sugar snap peas....."Super Sweet" from Kings Seeds...were all of a tangle because I had forgotten to stake them. They were absolutely loaded. I had to pull them up to get at the peas.....which was a shame as I think I could have left them and had a few more. Next year I'll make a wigwam for them....

Some of the other seeds I planted in that bed either never showed or were only sparse.....I should have gone back and re-sown....but life wasn't like that last month. I caught some kind of summer flu that wiped me out for a fortnight, and then we had visitors.....! (DH believes it was Swine Flu, and I am inclined to think he was right. Two days before it came out I was in Coventry.....which is right next door to one of the the hotbeds, Birmingham.)

We harvested one of the bags of potatoes two weeks ago....very sparse results. We decided they needed a bit longer and a lot more water. I harvested another bag yesterday and that was a bit better....still nothing like the results they show in the adverts.......but I reckon there were 10 spuds from each seed potato.....which I suppose isn't bad. This bag was damper than the first so I think we are getting the watering right at last. Next year I will stand each of the bags in an old washing up bowl so that the water doesn't run away before it has a chance to soak in.

The onion bed has been harvested. These (onions, garlic and shallots) were planted last Autumn and have made a middling crop. The shallots are terrific, the onions are so-so....some large (huge actually....5" diameter), some small, and some were trying to flower so we must eat them soon as they won't keep! The garlic was also so-so....some beautiful....some rotted away under the soil.
The bed was very dry and rock solid (the soil at home here is not spectacular...unlike my wonderful allotment. But I had to do the onion crops at home this year as my whole crop got white rot last year and most had to be thrown away. The crop at home was fine.....so that seems to be the way to go. I have started to give the deep beds at home a wetting solution dose once a month so that the water actually goes into the soil and spreads rather than the soil setting like concrete.

Later today I am off to the plot....the weather is dull and damp today so I can cope. There was just too much sun there last week for me to be comfortable....
Pictures later.

Lovely Rain!

My...... did it rain last night? I woke at 1.57am precisely to hear it thundering down, monsoon-like, on the roof (we are a chalet bungalow so there is a lot of roof in direct contact with the ceiling!) and I was still kept awake by the noise 25 minutes later. I wasn't sorry because my plot sorely needs it.
I took this photo on Friday after sowing some bean (actually "pea bean") seeds and installing the poles and watering the bed copiously.

I had also wanted to sow some peas in the next bed away fom the camera. I cleared and tilled that bed also on Friday, so it was ready (if a bit lumpy), but the peas looked so shrivelled in the packet, and they were in the last month of their "sow before" date, so I brought them home and soaked them til today. I actually sowed them at twice the density recommended on the packet. If they all come up, which I doubt, I will take every other one to have in salad as pea shoots.....yummy!!!The soil was so soft this afternoon that it was a doddle to put them in (anointed with petrol to foil the mice...!)

Early in the week I must go and net them because so many plotters have lost all their newly emerging pea and bean shoots to the rabbbits. Some said it was mice....! I can net against rabbits but if it is mice then I haven't a hope.

I think I forgot to note on here that I sowed some French beans for the freezer in the next bed behind the broad beans.

I am nearly ready to sigh with relief at having caught up. There is one more bed to clear, and then a load of weeding to do around the raspberries, gooseberry, and globe artichokes. I also want to clear all the weedy between-bed paths and restore them to bare earth. They are so much easier to cope with when I can just hoe them once a week, when I hoe the beds.

Everything at the plot looks happy to have had a soaking last night.

A beautiful morning

Perfect weather for me this morning. Not too hot, a slight NE wind, and the lovely shade afforded by the giant beech tree alongside my plot. I worked from 9.30 til Noon and as you can see by the pictures I took just before leaving, the plot was still in deep shade.

I decided to tackle the double width bed where I had spuds last year. As you can see there are lots of volunteers there. I always miss a few when digging up the crop. I haven't the heart to pull them out so I've left them. I pulled out most of the 18" tall weeds and then tilled it with my Wolf tiller, then raked all the weed debris around the plants in lieu of earthing up. In a day or two I will hoe again then put in some courgettes.
These are the last areas to tackle....then I'll feel like I've caught up. I've pulled out the tallest weeds, and am now loosening with a fork and pulling out the others. We are due some rain in the next day or so which will facilitate this!!!
These beds are destined for peas for the freezer.

In the backgroubd you can see Malcolm's new shed. It is a very sturdy biggish one (his B&Q one was a bit small and flimsy). He has stained it black and it has a beautiful red door now.
Another view of the same beds. Still lots to do....

My next stint at the plot looks like it'll be Sunday afternoon or Monday morning..

Evening work

I don't cope very well with the heat, so this morning I fiddled about in the back garden for a while til it got hot, then spent the afternoon in our north facing back guestroom quilting. It is the coolest room in the house in summer but looks out across my back garden.
Then this evening I went to the plot when it became bearable. I have dripped and melted but done some useful work.

Here you can see the brassica bed which I planted up one day last week. After the fierce winds have had to keep replacing the cabbage collars everytime I have been near the plot. Today there were two missing.

This evening they looked as though they are all happy and growing away.

The bed next to it is still awaiting attention this year.
I did these beds this evening. After yesterday evening's thunderstorm and torrential rain (felt like a monsoon......very heavy and not at all cold) the soil was a dream to work. The bed in the background which is freshly cleared looks tiny but is in fact 9' x 3'6" . i have a new pack of French beans to put in there when I have a minute.








I also hoed the beds seen here....the beetroot are looking good, and the courgette bed (back right) isn't showing any sign of life yet, but it is early days. The carrots under the environmesh are doing well.

Evening work continued

All the comfrey which I cut and put round the little pumpkin has wilted and gone brown, and the little pumpkin has grown since I put him in. I gave him a load of water.
The spuds look good.

I picked a huge bag of broad beans....yummy!
The back of the garden. The comfrey was all along here. I have put it here because I heard that it is good as a weed root barrier around a plot. Actually it is probably holding them my side at the moment...!!!
The raspberries are flourishing but could do with a good weeding soon.

So....I am still behind but am getting there. At home the kitchen garden looks better every day, and the front garden is next on the list. The dandelions in the front border are embarrassing!!!!

Time to water the tunnel...