It’s hard to believe I have had the allotment for just over a year, it seems to much longer but at the same time it seems only yesterday that I stood looking at a rectangle of plow field.
I haven’t been to the plot since just after Christmas for a number of reasons out of my control and I have been getting anxious to get back into the swing of it. There is an element of guilt as I still have one large bed (the grassy looking area in the photo below) that hasn’t been completely dug over and is still virgin field (or weeds!!). I am going to plant the potatoes in this bed so I need to get a move on and clear it.
The top photo is from the central site path looking up my plot. I am a little disappointed with the Spring Cabbages in the first bed as they just aren’t hearting up and I have no idea why. I am trying to avoid netting/fleecing as I have already experienced one dead grass snake quite in netting and I hate the look of all the fleece but I suspect I may be giving in to enviro-mesh this year. I have been using garlic spray to try to deter the cabbage white butterflies and slugs from my cabbages. It seems to have worked quite well although you could tell when I hadn’t been spraying for a while as the number of caterpillars increased. The smell of garlic is also meant to deter rabbits which has been a problem on the site. In fact I discovered during my brief visit around Christmas that something, more than likely a rabbit, had enjoyed a real feast of one of my January King cabbages.
I was quite pleased today that the site wasn’t in too bad a shape. There is some weeding (apart from the dreaded bed) to do but nothing too major and some couch grass which needs removing. There are signs of the rhubarb re-sprouting which is good as last year we had to be very good and not harvest any while the plants established. I have moved all the fruit bushes round and they are now planted down one side of the plot as the start of a wind break. I will be adding some more as the other beds are cleared of crops. I now have a small raised bed adjacent to the compost bin and this will be used for salads this year.
Today I just pottered mainly as my back was aching from too much decorating the day before and because I had the prospect of more painting when I got home. I had to pull the remainder of my cauliflowers up as the heads had gone brown despite me tieing the leaves round them. I suspect I may have tied the leaves up too late. I planted some comfrey plants which I am relocating from the garden and I started to tidy up the strawberry plants which look so messy in the photo above.
I do find it very therapeutic being at the plot. As you can see the site is surrounded by open fields. There are sometimes some horses in the field on the other side of the site but generally apart from the odd dog walker it is very quiet. I generally go early Sunday and rarely see anyone else, though I did notice in the summer there were a few more people. As soon as the evenings get a little bit lighter I shall start visiting a couple of days a week on my way home from work. I find that I can do quite a bit in half an hour if I go with a set objective in mind.
Plans for 2012
So what do I have planned for 2012? Well the biggest lesson I have learnt is not to invest time, effort and money in growing crops unless I have already tried them and know I like them. I bought quite a few Jerusalem Artichoke plants last spring and to be honest I’m not that keen. I am going to give them one more go next weekend but unless the next recipe is a winner I shall be offering the roots to my fellow plot holders.
I was also very disappointed in the squash I grew. Now I have eaten squash before and enjoyed it roasted and I am hoping that it may be the variety I grew this year that was the problem. I just didn’t like them roasted or in soup. I am going to try again this year with a different variety and only one plant which I am thinking of growing in the top of the compost heap.
I am really pleased with the Carvelo Nero Kale and will definitely be growing more of that this year. I have planted more garlic than last year in the hope of making them last longer – I have just used the last of my crop harvested in August. I am also growing more onions and shallots. I am going to try some new crops, which I know I like, such as celery and celeriac but also, against my new rule, Globe Artichoke mainly as I have the seeds and think they look fab. I have some Cardoon seeds but I’m not sure whether to bother or not. I do think they look attractive and they are too dominant a plant to place in my garden but would I eat the blanched leaves – I’m not sure. You don’t see them in the shops and I know some people would argue that is exactly why I should grow them but I have a suspicion that the reason that some edibles aren’t that available is because we just don’t like them that much. After all tastes change and our tastes are very different to our predecessors.
I shan’t be growing sunflowers this year as the site is so windy and I got quite dis-spirited last year cutting off snapped flower stems every time I visited. I will be growing sweet peas again as they worked very well, much better than in my garden soil and I have some poached egg plants to plant out as edging and to bring in beneficial insects.
The other lesson I learnt fairly early on at my plot is to pick any crops I want early on in my visit. The walk back to the car park (at the tree line in the top of the photo below) is quite a way and when it is raining heavily you just have to run. We aren’t currently allowed sheds so there is no shelter apart from car.
