Plot 205: March 2014

Sunday, 30 March 2014

Manure, Hops

The allotment committee kindly arranged free manure - up to two barrows per plot. Ours will be used on the potato bed.

The hops are growing again. Weeded around them and put some canes in the ground so that they can climb. A taller structure will be needed later on.

Sunday, 16 March 2014

More Digging. Broad Beans, Cabbages and Garlic

It has been dry all week and the fine Spring weather this weekend made for a busy and sociable weekend at the allotments.

Our plot is beginning to look in better shape after the neglect of last year. We carried on with digging where we had previously covered the soil and moved the mypex to cover other areas. The ground had dried out quite well so the digging is getting easier.

We planted out a few more cabbage plants under the netting, and broad bean seeds in the gaps between plants sown last Autumn.

Where we have prepared beds we planted garlic and shallots. We have always had a year's supply of garlic since we took on the plot. However we usually plant the cloves in later Autumn but like most tasks on the plot we didn't get around to this last year. We planted out a mixture of sprouted garlic (Wight) that was grown in modules at home over the past six weeks or so, and the bulbs that we bought at the allotment shop recently. It will be interesting to compare the progress of both. We accidentally left some garlic in the ground last year. This has sprouted and is growing well in clumps. We will leave it to grow and harvest the delicious green stems later on.

We bought various brassica seeds to plant at home for transplanting later on.

Sunday, 9 March 2014

Digging

It was a lovely sunny day today. The ground is dry enough to dig. We also put new netting over the early cabbages.

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Seed Potatoes, Onion and Shallot sets, Garlic. New Petrol Strimmer

It was nice to be back on the plot today.

For various reasons, our attention to the allotment was very sporadic last year so it was a pleasant surprise to see the broad beans doing well, and there is kale that wasn't expected.

There was some lovely Wight garlic in the allotment shop so we bought three bulbs. Usually we plant the garlic in October but we never got around to it last year. There is some growing in trays at home.

We also bought twenty rows of seed potatoes, shallots and onion sets.

We have a new petrol strimmer and got loads done with it very quickly today. We covered some of the strimmed areas with black plastic to kill off the weeds before we rotovate it. The plot looked well before we left. Very encouraging.

Scroll Down for Crop Rotation, Planting Diary & Harvesting Calendar

Our Crop Rotation

There are five beds in all.

One is a permanent bed for things like raspberries, currants, fruit trees, hops, strawberries, rhubarb and other perennials.

The other four beds have a simple rotation:

Year 1:

Potatoes. They are hungry plants so they like plenty of manure and compost. Later on, we plant out leeks in the space left after the early potatoes are harvested.

Year 2:

Peas, beans, onions and garlic. They like soil that has been previously manured. We plant a nitrogen fixing green manure such as Winter tares (vetch) once the onions and garlic are harvested.

Year 3:

Brassicas (including swedes) and sweetcorn. These like the nitrogen left in the ground by the previous crop. Lime is added in early Spring (or a sprinkling of crushed egg shells in the planting hole for cabbages). The brassicas need to be permanently netted because of the wood pigeons.

Year 4:

Roots such as carrots, parsnips and beetroot. These don't like rich soil.

Other things have to go in wherever we have space and we tend to grow things like tomatoes, herbs and salad at home.

Harvesting Calendar:

January The winter months are the time to enjoy root vegetables and stores of local fruit. Being harvested this month are leeks, green cabbages, parsnips, turnips, sprouts, celeriac, jerusalem artichokes, shallots, mushrooms and forced rhubarb. From store, apples and pears, beetroot and potatoes are available. Main crop carrots are either stored in the ground or kept in cold store to be available from September till the end of May. Onions are available most of the year.

February Winter root crops are still going strong. This is the month for early winter cauliflower, leeks, turnips, protected spinach, swede, celeriac, chard, forced rhubarb, and carrots. Potatoes, apples and pears are available from store. The sprout season comes to an end. Mushrooms are available most of the year.

March New crops of vegetables planted previous year come in to season, including purple sprouting broccoli, more cauliflower, spring greens, radishes, parsley, early rhubarb, and leeks. Carrots are available both from the ground and from store but beetroot from store is finishing. Potatoes, apples and pears are available from store.

April The stored crops start finishing in the middle of the month, but the new crops are not in full flow. Between mid-April and mid-June is the leanest time. But new season's lettuce and watercress come in, along with some overwintered spinach, radishes and purple sprouting broccoli. Rhubarb is in too. Carrots and potatoes are still available from store but apples and pears are finishing.

May This is the gap month, as winter crops finish and stores decline. But coming in are the first new potatoes and asparagus. Radishes available. Carrots and potatoes are still in store but winter cauliflower and spinach comes to an end. Rhubarb is available.

June By the middle of the month, there is a wealth of fruit and vegetables to choose from. New potatoes are more plentiful, asparagus continues. New carrots come in at the end of month as do soft fruits including blackcurrants, strawberries, gooseberries, cherries. Tomatoes are in, broccoli is beginning, cauliflower comes at the back end of the month. Lettuce gets into full flow as do fennel, peppers, broad beans, Chinese leaves, and green beans grown in tunnels. Herbs coming in.

July Another peak month, with strawberries, loganberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, tayberries, summer cabbage, spring cabbage, new potatoes, courgettes, broad beans, fennel, the first outdoor french beans, tomatoes, watercress, new cauliflower, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, broccoli.

August The vegetables and soft fruits continue. Tree fruits come in at the end of the month. Lettuce, peppers, new potatoes, courgettes, leeks, sweetcorn, peas, aubergines, strawberries, loganberries, gooseberries, herbs, chard, courgettes, fennel, main crop carrots, broccoli. Onions and garlic are being harvested and will be stored through the winter. The first apples, and Victoria plums are picked at end of month.

September A good month for fruit, and summer vegetables are joined by the earliest of winter ones. Blackberries, early apples, damsons, early pears, plums, spinach, figs, onions, all of the cabbages, curly kale, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, french beans, courgettes, red onions, peppers, aubergines, marrows, sweetcorn, leeks, red cabbage, beetroot and broccoli are in. Swedes come back and sprouts begin. Main crop potatoes are lifted in September and October and stored until the beginning of the summer months.

October This is the main season for apples and pears. The first bramleys are in season. Also available are sweetcorn, marrrow, mushrooms, beetroots, squash, watercress, onions, and leeks. The Jerusalem artichoke season begins, while cauliflowers are at their peak, as are main crop potatoes and carrots, sprouts, and broccoli. Lettuce is running out by the middle of the month, and courgettes finish towards the end.

November Tender vegetable crops are disappearing as the frosts come, but still going are cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, leeks, swede, parsnips, apples, pears, quinces, and sprouts.

December It's back to winter vegetables and stores, with sprouts, turnips, swede, and parsnips available and potatoes, carrots, red cabbage, beetroot, apples, pears coming from store.