I sowed the Mammoth onions into sectioned trays one seed per section. I doubt if they will all germinate but there are 60 sections and I doubt if I would need all those plants. I do like onions though and will grow as many of them as I possibly can do. I have left the seed tray in the cold greenhouse but will bring it inside the house because the weather is beginning to change and get much colder.
The Mammoth leeks were sown into a pan using the New Horizons peatless compost.
I will put both of them into plastic bags and leave them in the house. I did not plant any tomato seeds today. I will do that tomorrow.
Sieved some more of the potato bed soil while mixing in a lot of horse and pigeon muck. It was a little easier today because the ground had dried out a little from yesterdays rain.
The ground is still very dry two spits down. This little bit of rain will not dampen the subsoil unless we have a lot more downfalls.
I have taken out all the carrots now and will put these new ones in a clamp of their own. The parsnips will have to be taken out soon too.
I finished early today because the temperature was falling very rapidly because the sky was very blue and clear. I will get those seeds in now.
Forgot to take photographs of the allotment. I will do that first thing tomorrow.
Regardless of how uneventful the activity is, I will write about everything that I am doing in the allotment. It will give me a chronology of planting times and a time table for next year.
Showing posts with label parsnips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parsnips. Show all posts
Monday, 2 January 2012
Friday, 1 July 2011
Allotment competition
The allotment competition is next Tuesday so I thought that I would give it a go and see where my allotment is compared to other allotments in town. I have no idea what each of the categories mean because there is one for parsnips and my parsnips will not be anywhere near ready by next Tuesday.
Still I decided to tidy up the allotment starting with the top pea and bean bed. Although there was a five week gap between the first sowing and the last, my peas seem to have caught each other up and they are all producing peas now. I don't mind at all because I will freeze them anyway but for the competition you need to demonstrate succession. I picked the first of them today - 100grams.
The climbing French beans are recovering from the devastation that the slugs and snails wrought. They are cheerfully climbing up the supports or the netting that I put up for the sweet peas. Beneath the French beans are a row of courgettes or as the Americans insist on calling them Zucchini. (I only put this in because an American website said the opposite about the English. Courgette is a French word meaning little marrow - it's not even an English word) The courgettes are about 5 cm long now so we will be harvesting them soon.
I hoed up the Brussel sprouts again and removed yellow leaves to tidy them up. There was very little weed under their canopy so there was no need to hoe.
The winter cauliflowers are growing well and I removed any yellow leaves and hoed these up as well. The ones that I planted under the broad beans have not had the opportunity to thrive and look very bedraggled. Half of the broad beans were taken out and stripped of their pods. This will give the winter cauliflowers more light. I have to show succession of cauliflowers for the competition and these cauliflowers will demonstrate it very well.
The turnips are just getting to a reasonable size for using in salads. I tasted one yesterday but in my view it did not taste like a melon at all. The seed packet said that it would!
I still need to take the yellow leaves off the brocolli but there is little weed underneath them and they will not need to be hoed particularly.
The summer cauliflowers were recovered with 1cm netting to keep the cabbage white butterfly off them. I put some larger plastic water pipes bent into an arc into the ground to keep the netting off the plants. I cannot stand having cauliflowers with loads of green caterpillars entwined deep within the floret.
Bye the bye it was time for tea and I took the broad bean pods down to the shed. While the tea was on the boil, the broad beans were depodded and put into a blue plastic bag. They taste much better if you use a blue plastic bag.
I had a good cup of PG tips tea and two or three chocolate hobnob biscuits. Several pea pods were opened and the contents consumed as an aperitif - or should that be the tea?
I picked a few more pea pods to take home. The squashes are coming along well and have flower buds on them. I doubt that I will see any squashes until August though.
I will continue to tidy the allotment tomorrow. The brassicas just need their yellow leaves removing because they have all formed a canopy that excludes light to the weeds underneath. This means that there are few weeds if any.
Everyone that goes past seems to get a bunch of sweet peas but I am not too worried because the sweet peas are really flowering well. They will get a good sorting and watering tomorrow. I will also pick more of the raspberries or they will go over before I have a chance to eat or freeze them.
It is a horrible thought but I think that potato blight is back with us again.
Still I decided to tidy up the allotment starting with the top pea and bean bed. Although there was a five week gap between the first sowing and the last, my peas seem to have caught each other up and they are all producing peas now. I don't mind at all because I will freeze them anyway but for the competition you need to demonstrate succession. I picked the first of them today - 100grams.
The climbing French beans are recovering from the devastation that the slugs and snails wrought. They are cheerfully climbing up the supports or the netting that I put up for the sweet peas. Beneath the French beans are a row of courgettes or as the Americans insist on calling them Zucchini. (I only put this in because an American website said the opposite about the English. Courgette is a French word meaning little marrow - it's not even an English word) The courgettes are about 5 cm long now so we will be harvesting them soon.
I hoed up the Brussel sprouts again and removed yellow leaves to tidy them up. There was very little weed under their canopy so there was no need to hoe.
The winter cauliflowers are growing well and I removed any yellow leaves and hoed these up as well. The ones that I planted under the broad beans have not had the opportunity to thrive and look very bedraggled. Half of the broad beans were taken out and stripped of their pods. This will give the winter cauliflowers more light. I have to show succession of cauliflowers for the competition and these cauliflowers will demonstrate it very well.
The turnips are just getting to a reasonable size for using in salads. I tasted one yesterday but in my view it did not taste like a melon at all. The seed packet said that it would!
I still need to take the yellow leaves off the brocolli but there is little weed underneath them and they will not need to be hoed particularly.
The summer cauliflowers were recovered with 1cm netting to keep the cabbage white butterfly off them. I put some larger plastic water pipes bent into an arc into the ground to keep the netting off the plants. I cannot stand having cauliflowers with loads of green caterpillars entwined deep within the floret.
Bye the bye it was time for tea and I took the broad bean pods down to the shed. While the tea was on the boil, the broad beans were depodded and put into a blue plastic bag. They taste much better if you use a blue plastic bag.
I had a good cup of PG tips tea and two or three chocolate hobnob biscuits. Several pea pods were opened and the contents consumed as an aperitif - or should that be the tea?
I picked a few more pea pods to take home. The squashes are coming along well and have flower buds on them. I doubt that I will see any squashes until August though.
I will continue to tidy the allotment tomorrow. The brassicas just need their yellow leaves removing because they have all formed a canopy that excludes light to the weeds underneath. This means that there are few weeds if any.
Everyone that goes past seems to get a bunch of sweet peas but I am not too worried because the sweet peas are really flowering well. They will get a good sorting and watering tomorrow. I will also pick more of the raspberries or they will go over before I have a chance to eat or freeze them.
It is a horrible thought but I think that potato blight is back with us again.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
An Allotment too far?
The soil temperature was 15oC today.
I'm not too sure whether this new allotment is an allotment too far. I took out another two trenches and filled them with weeds and compost. There is a great deal of mare's tail in the soil and I have found the roots three spits down in the subsoil. I am not going to try and get them all out. This is a long term project.
One of the old blokes came over and asked what I was going to use the new allotment for. That is a good question. Really I produce far too much on my other allotment so why I need this I don't know. It is a challenge and it will get me fit. Or do me a mischief...
I will also probably use it to put fruit on. I have a few blackcurrant cuttings that have rooted and they would do fine on this ground. I have cleared quite a bit by slicing off weed turfs and putting them in the trench. I have covered these with some compost and then some shredded branches.
The problem is that this is taking up a lot of my time and I wanted to get on on my clean allotment. After it got to about three o'clock, I decided enough was enough and went to plant the rest of the broad bean plants. I have got two rows out of them and they should fruit in a couple of months so that I can take them out and plant the brassicas.
Now that the soil has warmed up - 15oC today, I have put in three rows of parsnips in the bottom bed. Going on the surplus I had this year this will be plenty. I watered them in with some comfrey liquid. It was last years comfrey so I am not too sure how potent it is. It will not do them any harm in any case.
The strawberries got a good weeding and they also had some comfrey liquid too. I wanted to give the garlic and the winter cauliflowers some but I ran out of time. Being very tired after digging deep trenches, I decided that I would go home and have a good cup of tea.
Next time, remember to take a flask of tea with you.
I took a cursory look in the greenhouse when I got home. Most of the brassicas I sowed have come through which means that I will have to prick them out and that means that I will have to plant out all the sweet pea seedlings because otherwise I will not have room in the greenhouse.
I'm not too sure whether this new allotment is an allotment too far. I took out another two trenches and filled them with weeds and compost. There is a great deal of mare's tail in the soil and I have found the roots three spits down in the subsoil. I am not going to try and get them all out. This is a long term project.
One of the old blokes came over and asked what I was going to use the new allotment for. That is a good question. Really I produce far too much on my other allotment so why I need this I don't know. It is a challenge and it will get me fit. Or do me a mischief...
I will also probably use it to put fruit on. I have a few blackcurrant cuttings that have rooted and they would do fine on this ground. I have cleared quite a bit by slicing off weed turfs and putting them in the trench. I have covered these with some compost and then some shredded branches.
The problem is that this is taking up a lot of my time and I wanted to get on on my clean allotment. After it got to about three o'clock, I decided enough was enough and went to plant the rest of the broad bean plants. I have got two rows out of them and they should fruit in a couple of months so that I can take them out and plant the brassicas.
Now that the soil has warmed up - 15oC today, I have put in three rows of parsnips in the bottom bed. Going on the surplus I had this year this will be plenty. I watered them in with some comfrey liquid. It was last years comfrey so I am not too sure how potent it is. It will not do them any harm in any case.
The strawberries got a good weeding and they also had some comfrey liquid too. I wanted to give the garlic and the winter cauliflowers some but I ran out of time. Being very tired after digging deep trenches, I decided that I would go home and have a good cup of tea.
Next time, remember to take a flask of tea with you.
I took a cursory look in the greenhouse when I got home. Most of the brassicas I sowed have come through which means that I will have to prick them out and that means that I will have to plant out all the sweet pea seedlings because otherwise I will not have room in the greenhouse.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Why don't more people grow vegetables?
I think that our disconnection from the Earth is a worldwide problem. There are few that know where their food comes from and there are few that understand how they rely on soil, air and water cycles. They would rather believe that the city supports their life.
I think that a mystique has been built up around growing that clouds gardening in a cloak of old wives tails and misunderstandings. Plants do not go out of their way to die. On the contrary, they will struggle through drought, extreme temperatures, and pests, while growing in the poorest soils.
We just have to tease out what helps plants to live and grow and this is not difficult. Many of the best growers I know are self taught or learnt from watching their parents and grandparents. Why are so many people afraid of failing to produce good crops? Nobody bothers except the gardener. It would be more of a problem if this was the only food that you were relying on. But, if it goes wrong, you can always nip down to the nearest supermarket and buy vegetables.
And this might be the crux of the problem. People don't grow their own fruit and vegetables because they don't have to. They can buy sterile, over packaged, tasteless, chemically grown vegetables that are easy to prepare so they do not bother growing their own. Why even cook when you can get over processed, out of season, chemically enhanced fast food.
They are denying themselves the immense pleasure of cooking and tasting vegetables that have been cropped minutes before. The enjoyment is increased when you know where the food you are eating has come from and the effort it has taken to produce it.
I am off to make parsnip and apple soup. Parsnips were dug out of the allotment garden earlier today. Apples are from the store shed. Lovely jubbly...
Monday, 10 January 2011
Warmer temperatures today.
With the warmer temperatures, I have eventually been able to move the black currants to their new home. They have all had inoculated carcoal and mychorrhizal fungi put at the bottom of the planting hole in my attempt to produce Terra preta
soil. Black currents are very hungry plants and need a lot of nutrients. I hope that this will give them a good start. I had moved some of the primula yesterday because they were going to be in the way of the black currant row. I am going to move the others tomorrow.
The retaining slabs alongside the blackberry bushes needed sorting out. They had begun to lean over and were never right after the land drain was put in by the contractor. I use upended slabs to keep my raised beds from overflowing onto the trackway. I took out four of the 2' by 2' slabs and dug out a trench so that I could make sure that they were upright. I know that I should have used a bubble but I decided I could do it by eye. I am not so sure now and when I do the others I will use the spirit level.
The sweet pea seedlings are looking decidedly dejected. Not sure what to do with them but I will leave them alone until the warmer weather. If they do not seem to be recovering from the very cold weather, then I will sow some more but not until March time.
Only harvested carrots today. I was going to dig up some parsnips as well but we have two at home now anyway. Think when you are planting parsnips Tone, you will never eat more than one row. Make sure that you thin the carrots and use them before the very cold weather (Or store them where the very cold frosts cannot get at them.)
I am going to select some of the vegetable seeds for this year and record them here so that I know what I was sown this year (2011)
Although a lot of my potatoes have rotted because of the very cold weather, I think that I will continue with Kestrel. It is a good second early potato and is very resistant to many potato pests and diseases. My first early will be Epicure.
American land cress
Apple mint (already planted)
Bay (already planted)
Beetroot 'Boltardy'
Brussels Sprout 'Trafalgar'
Broad Bean (already planted)
Broccoli 'Red Arrow'
Blackberry 'Adrienne'
Blackcurrant (various already planted)
Blueberry (already planted) Fashion accessory but I was given it so I will try it.
Cabbage 'Stonehead' or 'Golden Acre'
Calabrese 'Green Sprouting'
Cauliflower (winter)
Carrot Flyaway
Chamomile
Chicory 'Variegata Di Castelfranco'
Comfrey (already planted)
Courgette Parador
Cucumber Burpless Tasty Green.
Fennel Florence
French climbing bean 'Cobra'
Garlic (already planted)
Gooseberry 'Xania'
Grape (already planted)
Jerusalem artichoke (already planted)
Leek 'Musselburgh Improved'
Lemon Balm (already planted)
Lettuce 'Webb's Wonderful'
Mizuna
Okra 'Pure Luck'
Onion 'Ailisa Craig' (planted in seed tray 4/01/11)
Pea Early Onward
Parsnip 'White Gem'
Plum 'Victoria' (already planted)
Pumpkin 'Big Max'
Radish 'Cherry Belle'
Rocket
Runner Bean 'Aintree'
Runner Bean 'Red Rum'
Rhubarb 'Champagne' (already planted)
Rhubarb Chard
Salsify
Scorzonera
Spinach 'Medania'
Squash
Strawberries 'Cambridge' mainly (already planted )
Swede 'Marian'
Sweet Cicerly (already planted)
Sweetcorn 'Two's Sweeter'
Tomato (not sure which variety yet)
Thyme (already planted)
I would like to try some Oca
but 'The Real Seed Catalogue' has sold out. Might try a Yacon though.
Now for some more thoughts...
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Organic%20superiority.pdf
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Compost%20tea.pdf
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/magazine%20pdfs/CompostTea.pdf
soil. Black currents are very hungry plants and need a lot of nutrients. I hope that this will give them a good start. I had moved some of the primula yesterday because they were going to be in the way of the black currant row. I am going to move the others tomorrow.The retaining slabs alongside the blackberry bushes needed sorting out. They had begun to lean over and were never right after the land drain was put in by the contractor. I use upended slabs to keep my raised beds from overflowing onto the trackway. I took out four of the 2' by 2' slabs and dug out a trench so that I could make sure that they were upright. I know that I should have used a bubble but I decided I could do it by eye. I am not so sure now and when I do the others I will use the spirit level.
The sweet pea seedlings are looking decidedly dejected. Not sure what to do with them but I will leave them alone until the warmer weather. If they do not seem to be recovering from the very cold weather, then I will sow some more but not until March time.
Only harvested carrots today. I was going to dig up some parsnips as well but we have two at home now anyway. Think when you are planting parsnips Tone, you will never eat more than one row. Make sure that you thin the carrots and use them before the very cold weather (Or store them where the very cold frosts cannot get at them.)
I am going to select some of the vegetable seeds for this year and record them here so that I know what I was sown this year (2011)
Although a lot of my potatoes have rotted because of the very cold weather, I think that I will continue with Kestrel. It is a good second early potato and is very resistant to many potato pests and diseases. My first early will be Epicure.
American land cress
Apple mint (already planted)
Bay (already planted)
Beetroot 'Boltardy'
Brussels Sprout 'Trafalgar'
Broad Bean (already planted)
Broccoli 'Red Arrow'
Blackberry 'Adrienne'
Blackcurrant (various already planted)
Blueberry (already planted) Fashion accessory but I was given it so I will try it.
Cabbage 'Stonehead' or 'Golden Acre'
Calabrese 'Green Sprouting'
Cauliflower (winter)
Carrot Flyaway
Chamomile
Chicory 'Variegata Di Castelfranco'
Comfrey (already planted)
Courgette Parador
Cucumber Burpless Tasty Green.
Fennel Florence
French climbing bean 'Cobra'
Garlic (already planted)
Gooseberry 'Xania'
Grape (already planted)
Jerusalem artichoke (already planted)
Leek 'Musselburgh Improved'
Lemon Balm (already planted)
Lettuce 'Webb's Wonderful'
Mizuna
Okra 'Pure Luck'
Onion 'Ailisa Craig' (planted in seed tray 4/01/11)
Pea Early Onward
Parsnip 'White Gem'
Plum 'Victoria' (already planted)
Pumpkin 'Big Max'
Radish 'Cherry Belle'
Rocket
Runner Bean 'Aintree'
Runner Bean 'Red Rum'
Rhubarb 'Champagne' (already planted)
Rhubarb Chard
Salsify
Scorzonera
Spinach 'Medania'
Squash
Strawberries 'Cambridge' mainly (already planted )
Swede 'Marian'
Sweet Cicerly (already planted)
Sweetcorn 'Two's Sweeter'
Tomato (not sure which variety yet)
Thyme (already planted)
I would like to try some Oca
but 'The Real Seed Catalogue' has sold out. Might try a Yacon though.Now for some more thoughts...
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Organic%20superiority.pdf
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Compost%20tea.pdf
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/magazine%20pdfs/CompostTea.pdf
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Chilly December
I have just returned from holiday in Malta and Greece to a very cold England. The ground has been frozen for about two or three weeks now and little can be done in the allotment.
I went to the allotment yesterday with the intention of moving some of the black current bushes. Althought the top couple of centimetres were not frozen, below this was a thick layer of frost. Not the kind of ground to start planting into. The black currents will probably have to be moved in the spring if this weather continues.
Remarkably, I was able to get out some of the parsnips. They were excellent and shows you why thinning out is very important if you want big roots. I also got some carrots. I think that the ground was not so frozen here because of the horse muck I had put close to them.
Beetroot are very small but I harvested them in any case.
I took off some of the Brussel sprouts and I will prepare them today by peeling off the outer leaves. There are some plants that are producing large buds and some that are only producing small ones. I cannot remember the varieties that I planted so I will not be able to ensure I have large buds next year.
They did not burn down my shed on bonfire night which I am very greatful for. The committee put the bonfire closer to Tony's allotment and quite far away from my shed.
Someone however put a load of fireworks on my allotment right where I had planted broad beans. I am not happy. These are the fireworks you stick into the ground. Needless to say I will be asking the committee why they pick on my allotment to do these things without any consultation with me.
I went to the allotment yesterday with the intention of moving some of the black current bushes. Althought the top couple of centimetres were not frozen, below this was a thick layer of frost. Not the kind of ground to start planting into. The black currents will probably have to be moved in the spring if this weather continues.
Remarkably, I was able to get out some of the parsnips. They were excellent and shows you why thinning out is very important if you want big roots. I also got some carrots. I think that the ground was not so frozen here because of the horse muck I had put close to them.
Beetroot are very small but I harvested them in any case.
I took off some of the Brussel sprouts and I will prepare them today by peeling off the outer leaves. There are some plants that are producing large buds and some that are only producing small ones. I cannot remember the varieties that I planted so I will not be able to ensure I have large buds next year.
They did not burn down my shed on bonfire night which I am very greatful for. The committee put the bonfire closer to Tony's allotment and quite far away from my shed.
Someone however put a load of fireworks on my allotment right where I had planted broad beans. I am not happy. These are the fireworks you stick into the ground. Needless to say I will be asking the committee why they pick on my allotment to do these things without any consultation with me.
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