A PLEASANT MID JUNE DAY AT THE ALLOTMENT

The council kindly left a big pile of mulch by the entrance to the allotment so I thought now would be a good time to spread some over the paths that have been looking a little overgrown of late.

Every allotment should have a friendly robin to keep you company. Mine is very used to the activity at the allotment and always pops up after I´ve been doing a bit of digging or tidying up, and seems rather keen on the compost bin (see pic).

I also tidied up the roofing felt on the shed and sourced a new door lock as there were no keys for the old one.

Happy days, even if things are growing much more slowly than at the Belleville School veg garden (see previous post)!

SCHOOL VEG GARDEN OUTPACES ALLOTMENT

For the last six or seven years I´ve been running the Belleville School veg garden. When I took over my Garratt Parl allotment I bought some trays of veg seedlings from Homebase as I hadn´t had the time to grow seedlings myself. I planted them out at Belleville School and the allotment at the roughly same time, and a month or so later the differences between the two sites is incredible. Whereas the Belleville crops have grown enormously (I´ve just harvested twenty lettuces of various varieties) the crops at the allotment have really struggled to get going.
Compare the carrots and parsnips below:

Allotment

Belleville

Allotment

Belleville

The tomato plants are stuggling a little at both sites thanks to the unseasonally low temperatures, but once again, the Belleville plants are way ahead:

Allotment

Belleville

The allotment tomato is a Radiator Charlie grown from seed and the Belleville plant is a Gardener´s Delight shop bought by a parent. The Radiator Charlie was quite a lot larger than the Gadener´s Delight when planted out.

Perhaps the most dramatic example are the red cabbages:

Belleville

Allotment

So what´s behind these variations?
Temperature 
Well the first thing that springs to mind is the fact that the school veg plot is sited near buildings and was built in a sheltered corner of the playground on top of tarmac. These factors probably combine to create a bit of a suntrap.
The allotment is on quite an open windy site near the Wandle River and I imagine the there´s a bit of a difference between the average temperatures at the two sites.
Soil
At Belleville the raised beds are over a metre high and filled with a slightly clay like soil delivered from a site near Heathrow airport. To be honest it wasn´t of the highest quality, but since then we´ve added quite a few bags of compost to top it up and enrich the soil.
The allotment soil is quite a sandy loam that has been well worked over the years. It´s possible that many of the nutrients have been removed from the soil over time.
Noise
At Belleville the children make a racket in the playground.
The allotment is nice and quiet.
Maybe Prince Charles was right all along?

The Belleville Veg Garden

If anyone has any other thoughts or suggestions please leave a comment in the box below.
Thanks!

HAVE FUN WITH PATHS

One thing we've discovered recently is that the most fertile area of the whole plot is clearly the paths, so we thought it might be a good idea to put some weed suppressing matting down. We covered this (well Lucy did) with bark chip, and the whole plot now looks quite smart as a result.

Latest crop news
The runner beans shoots are starting to break through the soil, the lettuces are ready for harvesting (as is the Swiss chard if you like the smaller leaves) and the tomato plants are looking OK after a few days of sunshine and warmer temperatures. Oh, and the Jerusalem artichokes are looking healthy. In addition, I sowed a row of spring onions seeds about a week ago and they've sprouted already!

First produce! A lettuce picked and ready to eat. It's perfect, except for a few holes. And as I always say, "You can't eat the 'oles!"

16th MAY PROGRESS REPORT

I suspect that normally by 16th May there would be much more to see in a Southern England allotment, and it will be interesting to see if next year proves that to be the case. Or has climate change really started altering the UK weathern for the long term? Here's hoping not!
So far everything (except the tomatoes which I planted out optimistically a little early), seems to be growing really well.

The mini apple trees are covered with blossom at the moment which looks very pretty. Here's hoping the apples taste as good as the blossom looks.
I believe there's a two metre height restriction on fruit trees at the allotment.

The fig tree also looks pretty healthy. I was never a fan of figs as I'd only ever tried preserved ones, but my wife (Lucy) made me eat a fresh one recently, wrapped in parma ham (the fig, not Lucy), and it was delicious.

 

[Left] French dwarf beans in two small trenches (they'll need earthing up) and behing them, four red cabbage seedlings covered by netting to keep off the pesky pigeons.
[Right] Garlic should really be planted in October, but thought I'd give it a go anyway. They've sprouted very quickly.

 

[Left] More brassica protection. I've built a cage for the brussels sprouts, as they'll probably not be ready until the winter when the pigeons will be hungry.

[Right] The carrots are growing well under fleece (to keep off the carrot fly).

Round the side of the shed is a 'hotbed' which is useful for bringing on seedlings etc. Lucy has planted a salvaged rose and I've planted a 'Sweet Million' tomato behind glass. 

 

[Left] Parnips seedling struggling a little, but I think they'll be fine.
[Right] The potatoes have come through. I planted the potato before they'd chitted, but that didn't stop them growing well. Maybe had them chitted before planting they would have come up a week earlier?

These bird scarers will have the pigeons quaking in their boots!

 

[Left] I've mixed lettuces up with brassicas (brussel sprouts) under cover. They seem to be doing well.
[Right] This is a bit of a mystery plant. Could anyone recognising what it is leave a comment please?

 

[Left] The rhubarb seems happy!
[Right] The swiss chard shoot soon be shooting up nicely, given some sunshine!

 

 [Left] The tomato plants haven't done well. The leaves look a little scorched in places, despite there not having been a frost since they were planted. Blight is a problem at the allotment so we'll have to see how they get on. I have plenty more healthy plants at home and may replace the ones at the allotment if they don't perk up. It might just be that it's been too chilly for them.
[Right] The onions, the first thing I planted on the allotment, are doing ok.

EARLY MAY PLANTING

I gave up trying to predict what the weather was going to do, so, being optimistic by nature, decided to plant out three Radiator Charlie tomato plants.
I'm a massive fan of this variety partly because of the size, but also because of the taste. I grew a 1.6Kgs whopper a few years back at Belleville School, and much to my surprise it tasted delicious eaten on it's own with a little olive oil and seasoning.
It was a warm summer that year, so fingers crossed for a decent one this year!

 I was fairly sure it's a little too early to plant out beans, but had time to build bean trenches. These should provide some fuel for when the plants are growing strongly.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Well at last the weather has picked up, and not before time. We returned from a couple of weeks away on 13th April and have been busy at the allotment since then. 

We began by planting lettuce ('Cos' and 'Lollo Rosso'), brussel sprouts, swiss chard ('Bright Light') and carrot seedlings, and protected some of these with a cloche.

There are various mini fruit trees at the allotment, and these are coming into bud: 3 pear, 3 apple, 2 cherry, and one fig. Can't be bad!

I planted two rows of Pentland Javelin potatoes. They've been chitting in the shed and I suppose it's the gloomy weather that's meant that the little shoots are only tiny. I'm don't think that'll stop them growing, but we'll see.

 

Asparagus was next and, as this was a first time for me, I was very careful to follow the instructions on the packet. The key is that the roots are rather delicate so you have to build a little ridge in the trench and drape the roots over the sides. You then need to cover them gently so the lumps of soil don't damage them (see below).

I also planted a row of Jerusalem artichokes (to the left of the incinerator, see below) 

 

A good dig and rake around the mini-apple trees and I was ready for a break.

 

So quite an improvement from the overgrown plot I inherited back in October. Lucy (my wife) has planted a climbing rose alongside the shed and is going to keep me on my toes because she's training at the KLC to be a garden designer, so I'd better watch out...

The other news is that the onions and shallots are finally sprouting out (in a nice straight line Lucy).

Plans: To the right of the path we'll grown French climbing beans. Rhubarb behind the mini pear trees. And we have parsnip seedlings (and more carrots, lettuce and brassicas) to plant next time we have the opportunity. Then we'll take stock and plan how we use the rest of the available space. I'm keen to grow leeks although there's been an outbreak of leek moth.

I am determined to grow tomatoes, although I'm told blight is a major problem at Garrett Park allotments. I'll dig a big hole and fil lit with compost before planting each tomato plant that I've grown indoors at home - Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter and Sweet Million (cherry toms).