End of Year...

Not a lot of action going on past couple of months, bit of tidying up, plenty of cropping brassicas and garlic has sprouted.
Seedlings not checked for a while but were still alive and hopefully dormant not dead!

Garlic

Finally, managed to get some garlic bulbs and get them planted before Xmas! (17th Oct) Just have to hope they grow ok now, this years did ok - but small - from a late sowing so looking forward to a bumper crop next summer.

Tried to prevent them from rotting overwinter by using a bulb planter to make some 4-5" holes, filled with mix of compost and sharp sand. Garlic cloves are about 1-2" below soil.


Also last week, managed a sunny day tidying up and planting some mixed oriental mustards and two varieties of Spring Cabbage (a little late). One tray of cabbage and mustards already germinated by the weekend.

Pulled a few wind sown salsify seeding and moved out of leek bed - although not too much difference between them.

Slowly cropping away still... sweetcorn, beetroot, swedes, red cabbage, white cabbage, few early brussels, last of the broad beans. And a couple of blackberries.

September Sunshine

We always seem to get a week or two of settled weather in September, so took advantage and cropped rest of onions last weekend, which should see us through to spring.

Allotment is a rainbow of colour with gladioli, nasturtiums, sunflowers (highest now over 7 foot!) leading the way, backed by a blaze of orange things I can never remember the name of.

The sweetcorn is progressing well - if a little late as it was last year - and rivaling the sunflowers for height.

It can't rain all the time

A day of wildlife...

Cropped about a quarter of the charlotte potatoes, not too much damage but a couple had gone yellow and few more starting, so will have to get rest out soon.

Also cabbage, cauliflowers, a couple of huge courgettes, beetroot, peas and broad beans.

Shop 'til you drop

As it's raining AGAIN, I have been tootling round the internet to try and earn some pennies (or am I being optimistic!). More an experiment to see how these things work than actually get any income from them.

Hence, today sees the launch of my new shop... http://astore.amazon.co.uk/todalot-21 - basically a link into allotment and gardening specific bits of Amazon, costs the same whether you click through here or go direct to amazon, but if it's through the link on here I get a commission of what you buy. Wooh!

Plus a few google ads sneaked in that hopefully do not overpower my blog. It's so tempting to click on them myself... but I'm not allowed!

Also there's a little google search box too.

Here comes the rain again

Not much going on with all the wet weather, but Saturday's respite allowed the late redcurrants, gooseberries and the remaining jersey potatoes to be cropped before slugs, wireworms, etc cause too much damage. Couple of the Charlotte's had gone yellow and wilted, but didn't have time to dig up so hopefully nothing that will spread too quick.

Carrots have been decimated - carrot root fly the most likely culprit, as we didn't put nets up around them this year.

Early peas deliciously ready with 2nd batch not far off. Yesterday's haul also included lettuce, cabbage and caulis.

Blueberries just starting to ripen, so will have to get nets over next visit before the birds spot them.


Last week, in between heavy showers, managed to get all the blackcurrants picked, exactly 5 pounds (after a pound or so were bartered away in the pub!) - washed and frozen pending next jam making session.

Speaking of the weather, I was highly sceptical in Spring - (primarily because the general conditions were the same as the previous couple of years suggesting a similar North Atlantic Oscillation situation, but also because of the exceptional sunspot shortage) - when the Met Office predicted a much hotter drier summer this year and sadly it has turned out much worse than last year, and almost as bad as the year before.

Today, I am mainly eating Red

Quick visit to crop the early and middle redcurrants - with late bush fruits just starting to turn redish now. Net had blown off so birds got a bonus feed and estimate they had at least half from first two bushes.
Also got the first courgette of the year, a handful of strawberries and raspberries and another cauliflower.

One of the sprouts has a lot of grey fluffy bugs and is a bit eaten, doubt it will recover?
Nipped a couple of green catapillars off a cabbage along with a few sporadic eggs, so may have to start checking all brassica leaves again.

Feeling Fruity

Carrying on the 'where it's at' theme - the fruit zone...

- gooseberries (green and red) are nearly ready to pick
- blackcurrants are turning blacker but still sour!
- rhubarb now finished picking and leaves starting to die back
- redcurrants: early bush very sweet and ready and middle bush ready to pick, late bush still green. Two cuttings (from Mum's last year?) growing ok.
- blueberries are still greenish but looks a bumper crop on 3 out of 4 main bushes. 3 small cuttings still alive but growing slowly.
- 2 cherry trees (one tree had 3 cherries, but I knocked them off - oops)
- 4 pear trees
- strawberry patch fruiting well

The polly house... suffered badly in the strong winds of May and after just one month the zip split down one side of the door. At least with a crack in the door it's keeping the temp down, but even so have twice hit a max of 55'C (131'F) at the top shelf level (4feet). There seems to be a rather basic design fault in having no vent at the top. (Dragons' Den here I come!)

- 1 cucumber - growing poorly and the other died, no sign of flowers or fruit
- Courgettes - after weeks of male only flowers the females finally joined the party but even with a bit of help they are just not pollinating as well as last year. Some fruit swelling at least.
- Chili peppers - originally grown last year at home but never flowered so still alive!

Catching Up

June was a warm month and everything has been growing well so now seems an appropriate time to review where everything is at.

Bed A1 (Alliums)
- 2 salsify (2008) grown on for seed - has beautiful seed heads (hundreds collected already)
- Parsley (2008) also grown on - still edible if a little tougher
- 6 clumps of red spring onions
- Leeks, still very small so it may be baby leeks for Christmas dinner.
Bed A2
- Around 60 Stutgarter white onions
- 2 surviving garlic (2008)
- patch of sunflowers (giant russian)
- side row of Little Gem Lettuce

Bed B1 (Legumes)
- Broad Beans (had first early crop for tea last night)
- patch of sunflowers (giant russian)
- row of leeks (2008) - bit tough to eat but fine for flavouring stocks and hopefully will flower for seed
Bed B2
- Peas
- Dwarf French Beans
- Sweet peas for a splash of late colour and food for bees

Bed C1 (Brassicas)
- Khol Rabi - now swelling fast, still no idea what they taste like or what to do with them! Originally intercropped with oriental mustards for salads but now all eaten.
- Swedes (originally intercropped with radish, now eaten)
- Turnips (originally intercropped with radish, now eaten)
- Summer/Autumn Cabbage (with 1 last spring cabbage remaining)
Bed C2
- Brussel Sprouts (intercropped with summer cabbage)
- Red Cabbage (intercropped as above, and 1 savoy)
- Cauliflowers (eaten half so far, and intercropped with radish)
Bed F1
- radish
- oriental mustards
- little gem lettuce
these will all be eaten over the summer to leave just:
- broccoli
- kale nero

Bed D1 (Roots)
- Carrots
- Beetroot
Bed D2
- Charlotte 2nd early potatoes (first taste laste week!)
Bed E1
- Jersey Royal 1st early (about half plants eaten so far and absolutely delicious)

Bed E2

Sweetcorn (growing strongly, but not quite so good as last year as July has been so much cooler)
- a border of dwarf sunflowers on 3 sides
- side row of Little Gem lettuce (under a cloche to keep tender)

A whole lotta sowing going on

Taking full advantage of the new Polly House... which is packed out and has miraculously not blown away despite first strong westerlies, and then a week of stronger easterlies since we put it up.

Thur 7th May:
12 Savoy Cabbages seedlings potted on;
100 * Rhondo Peas 10* Sweetcorn (to finish packet off) 40* Dwarf French Beans 30* Russian Giant Sunflowers and a tray of Nasturtiums sown.

Sun 10th May:
6 Broccolli seedlings potted on;
Trays of seeds sown: Chantennay Carrots Penstemom Calendula
Seedlings planted out into the ground: Radish Mixed Salad Little Gem (Bed E) and Mixed Oriental Mustards (Bed C1) - to replace those eaten (by slugs/snails not us!).

Mon 11th May:
More sowings: 12 Physalis from an old packet Spinach Spinach Beet Sweet Peas

Weds 13th May:
And even more sowings: Mixed Salad Little Gem Mixed Oriental Mustards Beetroot (Choggia)

Gravity always wins

Today I put up my birthday present - a plastic greenhouse about 6' x 4'ish. It's screwed onto a homemade wooden pallet base, topped off with wood laminate flooring!

Just managed to get plastic cover over frame as a heavy shower arrived.

Main problem is going to be keeping it from flying off, as even with today's breeze it was getting lively so it is currently tied to the shed with a washing line. Will have to get some tall vegetation growing at western end to deal with prevailing winds.

Rhubarb Rhubarb

The last couple of weeks in April mainly spent weeding and tidying up but on the crop side Charlotte Potatoes went in (a bit later than planned) on 20th April.
First real multi-harvest of the year of forced rhubarb, radish, cabbage and leeks on 25th but have been eating rhubarb for past couple of weeks and had the odd cabbage all winter. Am now leaving cover (upside down bin) off the rhubarb so it doesn't weaken too much and stopping cropping that one.

Today

Warm-ish sunny day, mainly a little tidying up but also sowed some seeds of kale nero, salsify and leeks.
Possibly getting a little late for starting leeks but first batch of seedlings were nibbled by slugs/snails after planting out into the ground, and only 6 remain.

Todalot - The Story So Far (pt3 early 2009)

2009 sees several crops from last year overwintering: garlic, leeks, salsify, winter cabbages, spring cabbages, parsley and some red spring onions from last year that got nibbled by slugs and never really got going until autumn. We also have a patch of spinach that I chopped to the ground in Feb as it was a bit tough and didn't taste so nice.Early sowings made of Chinese mixed salads, mixed salads, little gem lettuce, radish, carrots, dill, beetroot, spinach and spinach beet in trays and into either plastic mini-greenhouse (or plastic boxes with lids) on 14th March.More sowings on 5th April of radish, kale nero, savoy cabbage, beetroot, peas, celeriac, carrots.Seedlings bought and potted on: 12 cauliflowers and 6 red cabbage.As at 19th April, new crops in the ground include 6 leeks (from seed but most eaten), 6 bunches of red onions, one bagful of white onion (Stutgarter) sets, 10 broad beans (from seedlings) intially planted under plastic bottles to give a boost, 6 kohl rhabi, 6 turnips, 6 swedes (all from bought seedlings) and a patch of Jersey potatoes that are just starting to peek out so covered with more earth as frosts forecast. We also have a salad bed (that we plan will later give way to sunflowers) with radish, Chinese mixed salads, mixed salads, little gem lettuce, spinach and spinach beet.

Todalot - The Story So Far (pt2 2008)

2008 was the best year yet with an even wider crop selection, boosted by my extra time spent 'supervising' growth from a deckchair, following redundancy. broad beans (10 years supply still in freezer), red cabbage, radish, swedes and sweetcorn all vied for the crop of the year, with good results with Little Gem lettuce too, once growth outstripped slug consumption rates.

In addition, we grew lots of other things, including several new ones such as celeriac, salsify, garlic, spinach, spinach beet, broccoli and turnips. In the mini plastic greenhouse we also tried courgettes and cucumbers which both produced modest but sufficient crops.

On the fruit side, blueberries did very well, 3 new redcurrant bushes cropped well and my first attempt at forced rhubarb produced delightfully tender stalks that ended up as jam with the previous year's frozen blackcurrants.

Todalot - The Story So Far (pt1 2005-2007)

We (myself and girlfriend) acquired our allotment after deciding to learn Spanish... our tutor had one and that led to us joining Calderdale Council's long waiting list (although it seems quite short now) and after a couple of years or so we were finally offered a choice of three in late May 2005.

We selected one about 10m by 16m, primarily because of the marvelous beaten up shed and the nice row of overgrown blackcurrants it contained. It ideally slopes gently to the south and, not so ideally, has a heavy clay soil.

As with most allotments it was unbelievably overgrown and most of the first summer was spent weeding. Fortunately a sizeable area had been covered in plastic so we were able to grow a few things in the clear space underneath and had several successful crops especially beetroots, peas and blackcurrants. Discovered by accident that by covering other areas with said sheet for a few weeks, that the annual weeds went brown and died and the perennials turned bright yellow making them very easy to spot and dig up.

2006 saw a rough plan formulated with a four bed rotation system, and we introduced raised beds on the lower half, as that tended to get a bit waterlogged. Potatoes suffered badly this year, with about 30% lost, and the main culprits turned out to be slugs and wireworms. Of the other crops what did do well were devasted by sheep whilst away on holiday in September, along with anything else lower than 4 feet, making for some interesting half runner beans!

In 2007 we recovered well from a long cold spring with white onions being the star performers and feeding us from August to July the following year, just as next crop came ready. Delicious early Jersey potatoes did very well but maincrop Maris Piper suffered a bit from another wet summer with heavy losses later on. Beetroots very dissappointing as were carrots, spring onions and red onions.

Welcome

Welcome to Todalot.

Tales of adventure and battle (with slugs) from a Todmorden Allotment, which is located in the heart of the bleak and beautiful South Pennine Moors of Northern England.