Before.

Big allotment (May 2009), before weeding

After.

Big allotment (May 2009), nice and tidy

At the back we have a decorative flower/shrub border by the fence. In front the allotment is divided into four plots which are rotated yearly to keep disease to a minimum and to preserve the viability of the soil.

From the back;
Plot 1 – Onions, Garlic and assorted vegetables
Plot 2 – Potatoes
Plot 3 – Broad beans and Sweetcorn
Plot 4 – Empty as it is being prepared for Brassicas.

Meanwhile, the small allotment at the bottom of our garden is also filling up. I’ve just planted out 3 Courgettes (zucchini) and 1 Squash in the middle bed.  I need to put up cane supports for French and Runner beans in the left bed.

Small allotment

Then we have the greenhouse which is full of Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Chilli Peppers and Aubergines waiting to be organised. I need to remove the staging on the left so that there is more room. Some pots will be moved out into plastic “mini greenhouses” during the next couple of weeks. I hope we  have a hot summer so that the fruits will ripen quickly.

Pots in the Greenhouse

Finally – a tiny garden! My salad hanging basket by the kitchen door. It has done really well and I’m very pleased.

Mesclun salad leaves

Everything is looking good so far. No doubt there are pests and diseases over the horizon but I’m looking on the bright side for now!

So you have to imagine these…….

Wild flower seeds (Short Mix)

growing here. Pictures on seed packets can lead to disappointment but I am staying optimistic.

Small allotment bank

Back in the garden my greenhouse is filling up with various seedlings which are crowding out the tender plants. Most are vegetables but there are some herbs and flowers too. I am running out of room. Many seedlings need potting up – and then there will be even less room. Soon I will have to move some pots outside. I wish my greenhouse could expand on demand like a suitcase – or Dr Who’s Tardis.

Greenhouse full of seedlings

I am going to have to gamble on the weather staying frost free. Fingers crossed!

Small allotment before tidy up

I need tools before I start work and find my first splash of colour. We photographers are so innovative.  I also have some packets of seeds to sow.  Yes the hoe is a funny shape but it is very easy to use and prevents back strain. My camera is to hand should anything exciting happen – or not!

Garden tools, including camera

I need to weed and prune in the perennial herb bed. Note the gap in the fence and the flattened earth – Mr Badger is visiting again.  Back left is Sage (Salvia officinalis) which needs a heavy prune to keep it neat and to stop the plant getting too woody. Back right are the pale green leaves of Garlic chives (Allium tuberosum). Front right is the buried pot which stops the Mint escaping and creating havoc and next to it are the ordinary Chives (Allium schoenoprasum). Front left is Winter Savory (Satureja montana) which also needs a trim. I think I have lost my French Tarragon (Artemesia dracunculus) and Oregano (Origanum vulgare ‘Compactum’) both of which lie under the Badger’s path.

Herb bed with Badger trail

I am not good at overwintering salad leaves and get very mixed results. The seeds for these were sown in August and the plants put under the cloche shown in the first picture. The Lettuce did really well.

Lettuce 'Bronze Arrowhead'

But the Chicory – they made no effort at all. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Chicory 'Grumolo Bionda'

I dug up the some of the remaining Beetroot  ‘Chioggia’  from last year. They did surprisingly well over the winter considering they had no protection and temperatures fell to -11C (12F).

Beetroot 'Chioggia'

I spread the compost around and sowed some seeds:

• Climbing Pea ‘Stenu’ which will climb up a cane and netting support.
• Dwarf Snap Pea ‘Zuccola’ with some small branches and twigs pushed into the soil for support.
• Beetroot ‘Chioggia’
• Radishes  ‘French Breakfat 3′ and a trial yellow radish from Marshalls Seeds (free with an order)
• Parsley ‘Lisette’
• Leaf Beet ‘Bright Lights’

I felt quite pleased with myself when I had finished.

Small allotment after seed sowing (1)

Small allotment after seed sowing (2)

The cold winter seems to have improved the Rhubarb which is growing very strongly. I think the winter hibernation has done it some good.

Rhubarb

In an effort to make the post a tad more interesting I thought I’d feature a faithful pet amongst the vegetables.  That didn’t go so well. She ran back into the garden and up the Eucalyptus tree. Now I have a colour combination infinitely more boring than brown and green.

Cozzie

Seed potatoes for 2009

The varieties are;

First Early – ‘Mimi’. A small red “cherry ” potato for cooking whole.

Second Early - ‘Royal Kidney’. A revived old variety with a pale skin and waxy flesh.

Maincrop – ‘Highland Red Burgundy’ a conservation (heritage) potato. It has a bright red skin when freshly dug, turning darker when it dries. When cut the flesh  has a burgundy red centre surrounded by a ring of pale yellow.

The potatoes came from Alan Romans who is based at Fife in Scotland.

They came with a free hessian storage sack. We have not used one of those for ages.  Now all we need is for the weather to improve so the Digger can live up to his name.

Our allotment - in the distance look for the white hoops (Click for a closer look)

I’m doing slightly better with the garden but that’s because I go out twice a day to feed the birds. This keeps me in touch with what’s happening – plus I have to water the greenhouse occasionally. I’ve never been keen on winter unless it’s made all sparkly by frost or transformed by snow. I think many of us must suffer this effect to a certain degree, some far more than others. Several people are deeply affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I notice this has been mentioned by a few bloggers recently. Luckily, I’m not one of the serious sufferers but I am interested in how my own behaviour has changed as the days have got shorter. No wonder some ancient societies worshipped the Sun and the coming of Spring!

Here comes the sun!

I’m now starting to look forward to installing Christmas lights to add some colourful twinkling. You should see my Snowman when he glows in the dark (lol). In the meantime I’m cheering myself up with reading seed catalogues and placing flowering house plants where I can see them. The brighter, the better.

Cyclamen indoors

This red Hibiscus was originally a cutting from the Greek island of Ikaria.

Red Hibiscus

I picked some Perpetual spinach leaves and three Beetroot ‘Chioggia’ from the small allotment. Perpetual spinach is not  a real spinach but a relation of beetroot which doesn’t happen to produce roots. Also known as Spinach beet it’s a very reliable cropper. It’s very hardy, grows in dry ground and is also a “cut and come again” vegetable so stands for a long time.

Perpetual spinach and Beetroot

Here’s the Perpetual spinach on the allotment. A short row provides ample leaves as you can see.

Perpetual spinach in the small allotment

I’ve got three cloches in place sheltering Rocket, Chicory, Lettuce, Winter radish and Tatsoi (a Chinese brassica). I find any growth is very, very slow at this time of year so the little plants are very vulnerable. I’m wondering how many will survive attacks by slugs and snails so winter  cold is actually the least of my worries. A pity a hedgehog couldn’t take up residence in each of them. Perhaps I’ll put up a “To Let” board outside each one.

Cloches sheltering crops over the winter

I asked the Digger to take a picture of his efforts. He did so but grumbled that it was a picture of “Nothing”. I replied firmly that this was a picture of onions, even if you can’t see them.

Japanese onions planted in the Big allotment

Given that the weather is getting much colder we decided to harvest the Pumpkins and Winter squash.

Pumpkins and Winter squash

Mmmmm. These are somewhat bigger than I was expecting. We are going to eat them not turn them into Halloween novelties so I’ll have to start searching out recipes. I’ve only grown small varieties before. The green Winter squash definitely doesn’t look like ‘Marina Di Chioggia’, the skin isn’t knobbly enough. I wonder if they are rogue seeds of some ‘Turks Turban’ variety. The deep orange ones are ‘Rouge Vif D’Etampes’. I’ve put them in front of the garage window in the hope that any sun will encourage their skins to harden off.

Orange Pumpkin 'Rouge Vif D'Etampes' and green Winter Squash

I’m sure it’s this rotten weather that’s made me less energetic in the garden and allotment. I don’t mind looking but I have to force myself to do anything. Mindful of this slothfulness I made some attempt to do some allotment jobs yesterday. First I eased myself in gently by shelling the dried ‘Martock’ Broad beans so that I could save some seed. They gave a surprisingly good crop for a variety with small pods (5 seeds each).

Saved seed of Broad beans 'Martock'

The Digger and I then went down to the big allotment to dig up the onions. Our garlic was decimated by white onion rot but the onions fared better. I would say that about a tenth of the crop was affected but some appear only slightly damaged so we must use them up quickly. The good ones have been laid out to dry off in the garage. The early Japanese onions we planted last October were lifted in late July and have already been used.

Onions 'Hercules' and 'Red Baron'

The winter squash and pumpkins have grown well amongst the sweetcorn. Thank heavens we are only getting 1-2 fruit per plant because they are rather larger than I was expecting – and still growing. They have been lifted up and rested on flat stones or tiles to keep them from getting damaged. Pumpkin ‘Rouge Vif D’Etampes’ should turn from yellow to reddish orange eventually. ‘Marina Di Chioggia’ is supposed to turn a bluey green and have a bumpy skin. Both of them look like ringers at the moment so we will see if they do a super hero transformation later on!

Pumpkin 'Rouge Vif D'Etampes' and Winter squash 'Marina Di Chioggia' amongst the Sweetcorn

Polish Purple Stringless cropped first on July 12th and is very prolific. They were  followed by Ryder’s Top O’ The Pole which unfortunately has suffered from blackfly which seems to have reduced the crop somewhat. The third french bean Canadian is a huge pyramid of rampant foliage, leaning dangerously to one side. I’m going to have to knock up some additional support before it gets windy. Canadian has just started showing tiny pods so there will be roughly four weeks between first and last croppers. Useful to know.

My fourth bean is Dwarf french bean Negritos pictured above and like the others it is an HSL variety. The catalogue says the pods are short and green but mine have pale purple speckles as well. As these are dwarf beans I planted them in a large pot so they wouldn’t be attacked by slugs.  I stood the pot next to a camellia. Now, three of the six bean plants are over 4 feet tall and are climbing up the camellia. Hmmmm! The camellia must be annoyed as it’s got self set Morning Glory plants climbing up it as well. I’m assuming I’ve got the correct beans as the seeds were small and black which I’m assuming accounts for the name. Is anyone else growing these beans? What do yours look like?

Tomatoes are now ripening, mostly Sungold but also I’ve had the first Auriga and  Juliet. Please can we have more sun to hurry things along before the dreaded blight appears.

I’ve dug up my first two turnips which are Bianca Lodigiani. Amazing how an Italian name can make even a turnip seem sophisticated.

Finally, another success in the root department – Kohl Rabi Delicacy Purple. I must give credit to The Digger for this fine effort. Pretty isn’t it. Obviously the rain we keep having is good for swelling root crops even if it does make me depressed.