DECEMBER 2007
Hi, welcome to December’s blog. I want to have a think about what went well and what didn’t on my allotment for my first ever season. So, in an attempt to remember what I grew or, attempted to grow, I think it’s a good time to have an allotment review of the year.
But first, I’ve been picking delicious sprouts, large winter Savoy cabbages and the first of my leeks. I’ve still loads of onions and garlic in store and my pickled beetroot is a winner. Not to mention all the wine maturing in bottles. So far, I’ve picked something from my allotment every week since the first fruits and vegetables ripened in the late spring and early summer. Not bad for my first allotment season.
But first, I’ve been picking delicious sprouts, large winter Savoy cabbages and the first of my leeks. I’ve still loads of onions and garlic in store and my pickled beetroot is a winner. Not to mention all the wine maturing in bottles. So far, I’ve picked something from my allotment every week since the first fruits and vegetables ripened in the late spring and early summer. Not bad for my first allotment season.
Well, it’s December so it’s a time to review this first year on my ‘patch’. The potatoes went in at Easter and, because of the very wet weather, blight was a major issue across the country. I lifted by ‘earlies’ Pentland Javelin at the end of June and the beginning of July and had a nice crop. I decided to lift the main crop early because of blight which appeared on the foliage so, up they came in August. I was pleased with the crop of Desiree despite the problems so I will plant them again next season.
My salad onions were slow to develop (White Lisbon) as I probably sowed too early – they did finally develop later in the year. The onions from sets (Sturon) were very good and I will try those again. My garlic (ordinary shop-bought cloves) grew well despite my neighbour accidentally strimming the tops off a few - I’ll buy proper planting garlic next season. The salad crops were successful with three types of lettuce (All Year Round, Webb’s Wonderful and Tom Thumb) providing good crops at differing stages of the season. I was amazed at the outdoor cucumbers (Burpless Tasty Green) – they grew very well though I planted too many – less next season. The best Radish was French Breakfast, though I planted Sparkler and Prinz Rotin as well.
I planted five courgette plants (Black Beauty) and they went mental! We had courgette with everything for months – it became a joke in the end. Next year only three plants and I will probably still have to give courgettes away!. The outdoor tomatoes (Red Alert) were hit by the bad weather and I lost a significant amount of fruit to blight. However, they did produce well, especially when the rain stopped at the end of the summer so I will plant this variety again but will also make sure they get some wet weather protection if required.
My sweet corn grew better than I thought (can’t remember the variety). I did a small experiment as sweet corn apparently doesn’t like root disturbance so I raised half in modules and planted them out while the other half I sowed in toilet rolls and planted them, soaked roll and all. The corn planted out in rolls suffered minimal root disturbance and grew much taller than the corn removed from the modules. So, toilet rolls or peat pots for all the corn next season. Fresh sweet corn straight from the plot with natural sugars – tastes fantastic!
I planted peppers (California Wonder I believe) – the plants grew well but only a few green peppers were produced. Despite what it said on the packet I think it was too cold outside. I won’t try peppers without a greenhouse again. I was also disappointed by the pumpkins (Atlantic Giant), I put out four plants and they all developed pumpkins but unfortunately they all rotted on the vine – perhaps the damp weather again? Next year I’m going to try Atlantic Giant again to use up the seed and another variety too. My cauliflower (All Year Round) was predictably poor given the fact that it is so difficult to grow. Maybe I’ll try a few more next season with seed I have left over.
I put in way too many runner beans (Scarlet Emperor), two rows of 10 canes. I ended up throwing stacks onto the compost heap, they were prolific. Next season I think I will do a smaller wigwam of eight or so canes. Summer cabbage (Primo II) was very good, nice tight heads – will certainly give these allotment space again. Winter cabbage (Ormskirk Savoy) was good too though a small number didn’t develop as well as I would have liked – possibly because they weren’t anchored well enough. Again, I will certainly grow these next season. The spring cabbage (Durham Early) is currently growing well and I’m hopeful for a few decent plants though I’ve lost one or two to slugs. My sprouts grew well and the plants were surprisingly tall (Evesham Special) though some did ‘blow’. These were an older variety but very cheap to buy, next season I will try and get an F1 variety, perhaps smaller in size and less prone to ‘blowing’ too. The leeks (Musselburgh) have come on well despite me not thinning them out and leaving them in crowded modules in late spring. I’m going to try an early leek next season as well as the Musselburgh.
My carrots (Early Nantes 5) were rubbish. I did have some but not really worth a mention. I think they were bad because the soil ‘panned’ due to the heavy rain and they need a finer tilth. My wife is taking charge of the carrots next season she said – I’ll be curious to see how she does. The beetroot (Boltardy) was good, two short rows gave me two double size jars and two ordinary size jars of pickled beets – plenty.
I picked loads of rhubarb and then split the plant up when moving it to a better site in the Autumn. I had a few current bushes which produced very little though I have pruned and moved them this year. I’ve planted three varieties of strawberries and I have a few small Gooseberry bushes that need to be moved to the allotment from the garden. I was given a few raspberry canes and I have a few more to go in too. I should have moved them last month – I’ll try get them in before spring.
Overall, I think I did OK for my first attempt. I made loads of mistakes, mainly growing too much of one thing or planting the odd unsuitable crop. The pumpkins were disappointing as these were probably the only vegetable I had ever previously grown! I did work hard to get the site up and running all in one season and, because of the bed system, the digging promises to be a lot easier from now on.
That’s it – have a good Christmas time. With the nights drawing out from the 21st we can now look forward to longer days (OK it will take a month or so but something to look forward to!). I'll leave you with a view of the valley where I live.
I planted five courgette plants (Black Beauty) and they went mental! We had courgette with everything for months – it became a joke in the end. Next year only three plants and I will probably still have to give courgettes away!. The outdoor tomatoes (Red Alert) were hit by the bad weather and I lost a significant amount of fruit to blight. However, they did produce well, especially when the rain stopped at the end of the summer so I will plant this variety again but will also make sure they get some wet weather protection if required.
My sweet corn grew better than I thought (can’t remember the variety). I did a small experiment as sweet corn apparently doesn’t like root disturbance so I raised half in modules and planted them out while the other half I sowed in toilet rolls and planted them, soaked roll and all. The corn planted out in rolls suffered minimal root disturbance and grew much taller than the corn removed from the modules. So, toilet rolls or peat pots for all the corn next season. Fresh sweet corn straight from the plot with natural sugars – tastes fantastic!
I planted peppers (California Wonder I believe) – the plants grew well but only a few green peppers were produced. Despite what it said on the packet I think it was too cold outside. I won’t try peppers without a greenhouse again. I was also disappointed by the pumpkins (Atlantic Giant), I put out four plants and they all developed pumpkins but unfortunately they all rotted on the vine – perhaps the damp weather again? Next year I’m going to try Atlantic Giant again to use up the seed and another variety too. My cauliflower (All Year Round) was predictably poor given the fact that it is so difficult to grow. Maybe I’ll try a few more next season with seed I have left over.
I put in way too many runner beans (Scarlet Emperor), two rows of 10 canes. I ended up throwing stacks onto the compost heap, they were prolific. Next season I think I will do a smaller wigwam of eight or so canes. Summer cabbage (Primo II) was very good, nice tight heads – will certainly give these allotment space again. Winter cabbage (Ormskirk Savoy) was good too though a small number didn’t develop as well as I would have liked – possibly because they weren’t anchored well enough. Again, I will certainly grow these next season. The spring cabbage (Durham Early) is currently growing well and I’m hopeful for a few decent plants though I’ve lost one or two to slugs. My sprouts grew well and the plants were surprisingly tall (Evesham Special) though some did ‘blow’. These were an older variety but very cheap to buy, next season I will try and get an F1 variety, perhaps smaller in size and less prone to ‘blowing’ too. The leeks (Musselburgh) have come on well despite me not thinning them out and leaving them in crowded modules in late spring. I’m going to try an early leek next season as well as the Musselburgh.
My carrots (Early Nantes 5) were rubbish. I did have some but not really worth a mention. I think they were bad because the soil ‘panned’ due to the heavy rain and they need a finer tilth. My wife is taking charge of the carrots next season she said – I’ll be curious to see how she does. The beetroot (Boltardy) was good, two short rows gave me two double size jars and two ordinary size jars of pickled beets – plenty.
I picked loads of rhubarb and then split the plant up when moving it to a better site in the Autumn. I had a few current bushes which produced very little though I have pruned and moved them this year. I’ve planted three varieties of strawberries and I have a few small Gooseberry bushes that need to be moved to the allotment from the garden. I was given a few raspberry canes and I have a few more to go in too. I should have moved them last month – I’ll try get them in before spring.
Overall, I think I did OK for my first attempt. I made loads of mistakes, mainly growing too much of one thing or planting the odd unsuitable crop. The pumpkins were disappointing as these were probably the only vegetable I had ever previously grown! I did work hard to get the site up and running all in one season and, because of the bed system, the digging promises to be a lot easier from now on.
That’s it – have a good Christmas time. With the nights drawing out from the 21st we can now look forward to longer days (OK it will take a month or so but something to look forward to!). I'll leave you with a view of the valley where I live.
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