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.
Sunday 19 April 2009
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.
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.
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.
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.
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