Salad Days

A sunny Saturday visit to plant out 20 sweetcorn (now a pathetic 3-5" high) along with a test Butternut Squash. Interplanted with little gem lettuce to distract slugs (all in bed F). Scattered Bonemeal and watered in - as run out of dried blood... have used blood last couple of years and seems to give them an excellent fast nitro burst of growth.

Checked a potato plant in E2, but none forming yet - very late this year!

Cleared leeks and salsify out of A1 - save for a row of leeks that will be flowering - and planted peas in their place. French Bean seedlings decimated by a slug in mini polyhouse, only 3 left!

Planted last of leek seedlings into D1.

Although a bit of rain expected in next couple of days, looking like it will be dry after so gave everything a quick water.

Cropped mustards, little gem, radish (some upto golf ball size and not a lot of mouse damage) to make up an excellent salad for tea.

Here Comes the Summer

A wet week on the cards!

Had first of this year's salad crop yesterday - a small little gem lettuce, some mustard leaves and some very nice radish.

Planting...
Some sunflowers went in ground under a cloche on Thurs and more on Saturday. A 2nd row of radish went in on Thurs.

Potting on...
Tray (~18) of mystery brassicas (maybe cabbage, maybe kale - label wrongly says nasturtium!) potted on on Sat.

Wildlife...
Noticeably less bees around this year - aside from national decline, possibly due to cold winter, possibly due to more activity in allotments removing natural weeds? Relocated a toad from middle of allotment to near new pond -not sure how it will get on with the frogs!
Bad news in 'Newt' pond - saw at least four hiding earlier in year - has gone a little stagnant so refreshed water a bit and added a a scrap of vegetation to try and get it a bit livelier. Had a check on net, and still not entirely clear which they are - suspect from lack of spots they are possibly palmates which like upland moors, but could be common (smooth) newts as they don't have (heavily) webbed feet and from size/shape more likely. Definitely not crested though.

Dismantled woodpile as it was getting a bit untidy and should be relatively uninhabited at this time of year. Broke up rotted wood where possible and applied as a mulch around berry bushes. Put wood pile back together a little neater, with a bit more air space. Was very dry so took out carpet scraps and flat wood to try and encourage a bit more life into it.

May Update

With http://www.butterwickwells.co.uk/ taking up most of our waking hours, time spent at the allotment has been considerably less this May than the last couple of years.


A couple of ok days of weather over the bank holiday allowed a bit of catching up and an audit of where we were at. Cropped a load of rhubarb stalks, much of it exchanged for a couple of pints at the pub. There is something deeply satisfying about moneyless trade, especially when both sides win. We got two pints for something that would have gone to waste - they got over £15 (at overpriced supermarket rate) of rhubarb for a quarter of the price.


Did a bit of late sowing at home on 30th: tomatoes(v.v. late), coriander, butternut squash(v late), french beans, more peas, sunflowers, marigolds.


On 31st did another half tray each of little gem lettuce and radish at alottment to keep succession going.

More to follow...

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)