Plot 205: May 2014

Saturday, 31 May 2014

Spring Gathering. More Broad Beans & Green Garlic

The Spring Social was this afternoon. It was a very pleasant gathering with a barbecue and plant / seed swap. Musical entertainment was provided by a plot holder who played some excellent accordion music. Plot 205 played a few tunes on the ukulele too.

There are plenty of young broad beans for picking and we also pulled some green garlic which sprouted from a couple of garlic bulbs we missed when harvesting last year. The whole plant can be eaten and will make a delicious omelette.

Sunday, 25 May 2014

Weeds & Broad Beans. Runner Bean Planting.

It has been wet and we have been busy so we haven't been to the plot for a couple of weeks.

The potatoes are growing well, and so are the weeds. We strimmed and mowed the paths today but there is lots to do.

We started harvesting small broad beans pods from the bottom of the plant. They can be eaten whole. We picked some broad bean tops too. You can't buy such delicacies in a supermarket. Delicious.

At home we planted a lot of runner beans saved from last year for transplanting later on.

Saturday, 10 May 2014

Precious time lost to a rainy weekend

A week is a long time on an allotment, especially at this time of year so it was disappointing to wake up this Saturday morning to see that it has been raining heavily. The ground will be too wet all weekend.

Monday, 5 May 2014

Last of the potatoes planted. Hop supports. Peas, leeks & weeds. Draw Hoe.

The weather was nice this Spring Bank Holiday weekend and the soil has dried out enough to work in.

We have planted the last of the main crop potatoes. The bed still had some space so we planted block-planted some peas and two rows of leeks.

The peas (Jaguar second early) were out of date seeds that we never got around to planting last year. Hopefully enough of them will germinate. They are planted quite closely together, approx 2" apart and in rows around 8" apart. The packet says they will self-support if you plant them that way. They are netted to keep the pigeons off until they have established themselves.

The leeks (Winter Giant) should really have been sown by the end of April. We planted a packet in a seed bed for transplanting later on.

The annual weeds are starting to grow quickly. We hoed around the garlic, onions and shallots using a draw hoe for the first time. It is great for getting close to the sets without causing damage. All are growing well.

The hops have wound themselves almost to the tops of their canes so we made a wigwam for them using coppiced hazel we got last year from the nature reserve adjoining the allotments. It's about twelve feet high.

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.