Allotment photographs for June 2017

The allotment from the car park.

After quite a difficult beginning of the year, I have eventually filled the allotment and am getting some good crops.  The Victoria plum tree had canker in its trunk but under the canker it threw out a water shoot.  I decided to take the top of the tree down to the water shoot and allow this to become the main shoot of the tree.  The plum was quite large and over shadowed quite an area of ground which I have now recovered for vegetables.  It meant that I could plant the runner beans where they would not have thrived otherwise.  I have four good gooseberry bushes alongside the path but they do not have any fruit on them because the pigeons have stripped them completely.  The gooseberries that I have netted all have a really good crop.  The green netting around the runner beans was to protect them from the cold winds in May but I have left it on because it helps to direct the beans to the canes so that they can climb up, I put some seed in the ground but the germination was very poor because of the cold weather.  I put some seed in pots in the greenhouse and they all came well.  I have about six different varieties in this row.  The more diverse the varieties the more likely you are to get one that will crop really well for you.

Runner beans and tall peas

The tall peas have done very well this year; much better than the garden peas.  I will plant more of these next year.  The blue butt was given to me with three others by my next door neighbour allotmenteer who is get older and finding the allotment too much for him.  I got a lot of stuff given to me by people who were giving up their allotments.  To get stuff like this you just need to be around at the right time.

Opal plum tree and climbing french beans.

The pigeons were having a right go at the Opal plum tree until I threw a net over it.  The net stops them from flopping down on the branches.  Otherwise they will take off all the leaves and the fruit.
I made some cane pyramid supports for four different french beans.  I didn't want full rows of them although I do have full rows of another two varieties.  All these seeds I saved from last year's plants together with some that were given to me.  I have bought no bean seeds this year.  There is a small row of dwarf french beans under the fleece.  The fleece is primarily there to keep the pigeons off.

Fan trained red currant against the compost area pallets.

I have put nets over the red currants and have a really good crop this year.  I want to make cordial from them as well as jam.  They are a little tart for me to eat raw.  The willow is sending up some good pole making shoots.  I will let them grow on this year to get some poles for next year.
There is a good row of Onward peas in the background.  These are the only row of bought seed that have done well.  I sowed the seed in the ground this year but the germination was very poor.  I will go back to sowing them in sectioned trays in the greenhouse next year.  There is a clump of Alstromeria aurea on the corner of the compost pallet.  This is getting in the way a bit and I will transplant it into another spot in the autumn,  There is one of the bay trees that I grew from a cutting in the foreground.  I thought that it might get cut back by the frost but it does not seem to have been affected even slightly.

View along the main trackway

I have planted quite a few lupins along the trackway as perennial nitrogen fixers.  They are at the top of the slope so any root exudates will flow into the growing beds rather than into the path.  There are several laburnum trees planted here too for the same reason.  I have squeezed in three apple espaliers as well; a May Queen, a Claygate Pearmain  and a Kidd's Orange.  I nearly lost the May Queen but it has thrown up a good shoot from the graft.  There is a fan trained gooseberry against the compost area pallet which has been netted and has given me a good crop of fruit this year.

Compost bins in the compost area.

The bins are full of new stuff because I sieved out the previous batch and put it on the grow beds before I planted out the seedlings from the greenhouse.  I didn't think that I would have much waste this time of the year but they are all full and need to be turned.  I am trying to stick to the every other day but to be honest I have not been able to keep strictly to this schedule.  It has stretched to every three days some times.  Still with this new batch I have turned them twice already.  I did try the windrow method earlier in the year but I could not keep the pile damp enough even with a thick tarpaulin over it, so I have reverted to the bins again.  This time of the year I can get them fairly hot and the compost is made in about four weeks.

Broad beans and mange tout peas.

The broad beans have grown about four feet tall and have produced a lot of flowers.  These were from saved seeds from last year.  I will do the same this year and leave on the pods that I do not use in the kitchen and allow them to develop for next year's seed.  A very poor row of mange tout peas in the chicken netting.  They did not seem to want to grow.  The remaining plants are good enough so I will leave them to flower.

The grape

The grape got cut back very severely in April and lots of the shoots died back.  It has recovered to some extent but I doubt if I will get any fruit off it this year.  I am keeping the shoots to the top of the supports and not letting them grow any longer.

Three sisters 

I have planted the three sisters together again this year.  This is one of the grow beds where I put a lot of top soil sieved from the weeds someone gave me and compost.  We shall see if it has improved the yield.  I have planted maize, squash and climbing french beans together so that each will support the other.  I doubt if I will be able to see any bare ground in a couple of weeks.

Carrots under the enviromesh.

The carrots have been sown under the enviomesh to keep the carrot root fly away from the plants.  It is a bind when you need to weed them but the only way if you want a good crop of carrots.

Cardoon or globe artichoke?

I think that this is a cardoon and I am only growing it for the flowers which are spectacular and very attractive to bees.  I think that it is not liking the position that I have planted it in because the ground is very dry here.  I have been watering it but it is still shedding leaves.
 

Beetroot, chard, spinach, rocket, Florence fennel and good king Henry.

I have been cropping all of these leaves for salads.  The pigeons have had a right go at the rocket but they have left everything else alone.  I will be resowing the spinach, rocket, good king henry, radish and camomile in this bed next week.  The spinach and the good king henry has gone to seed but I think that I will leave them and collect the seed for next year.

Sorrel, parsnips and carrots under the scaffold netting frame.

Someone gave me the scaffold netting frames and I decided to grow some carrots under them.  They have a double layer of netting and this cuts out a lot of the light.  Also, the frame is rotting and falling apart so I don't think that I will be keeping it for next year.  It is doing a job now so it is safe for the moment.  I have been taking the small leaves off the sorrel and mixing them with the other leaves for salad.

Dad's little pear tree.

Dad's pear tree is growing well this year.  I thought that I had killed it when I transplanted it from the old allotment but it seems to be going from strength to strength.  It is starting to throw out stems that I can espalier and eventually it will make a good specimen.  The lavender that was here was taken out and composted because it had died back.  I used the opportunity to put in some big boards to retain the soil.  The boards have been given to me by another of my neighbouring allotmenteers.

Herbs along the path.

All the  herbs alongside the main allotment path are growing well.  I have allowed the sage to flower this year and the bees love it.  Every time I walk down the path, I get the strong scent of sage and then the scent of mint.

Behind the sage and he lupins is a Christmas Pearmain and Court of Wick grafted apple.

I have planted the lupins around the apple to give it some nutrient support.  Hopefully the lupin nitrogen rich exudates will be useful to the apple tree.

I have decided that this is a James Grieves apple.

Changing apple trees from bush to espalier doesn't really work.  This James Grieves was a standard tree but to fit it into the allotment I had to espalier it.  It produces lots of fruit but the shape is not very good because the stems are in the wrong place.  I am waiting for it to throw out stems in the right place so that I can make a better balanced espalier.  I should worry though; it produces a lot of apples.

Ribstone Pippin apple espalier.

This is the first graft that I did and it has always been trained as an espalier.  Although it has a lot of woody growth it is throwing out stems at more or less the right places.  I am going to let it get bigger and put up some more supports but at the moment the leader is shooting away much higher than I envisioned I would let it grow.  The theory is that it will throw out stems more or less at the right places if you let the leader grow on like this.  I am just worried that it will snap in the wind.  It was windy today and that is why it is leaning over.  I will make decisions about its height when I do the summer pruning and can see the stems that are in the most appropriate places to tie in.  Then I think I will stop the main leader.

Another of Dad's pear trees.  I don't really know the name of this one but I always call it a
Conference pear.  

Pears are so much more easy to espalier than apples.  This one has thrown up a lot of woody stems so these will be cut out when I summer prune.  I will allow this one to get a little bigger too and put up some supports to train it to.

Potatoes have grown quite big.  The compost that I put on the soil seems to have made
an impact.  

The potatoes are Charlotte in the foreground and Kestrel in the background.  There is a hugelkultur trench this side of the bed where I buried the Victoria plum and the pear tree branches together with the logs from the shreddings man.   I also covered this grow bed with lots of sieved compost.  It seems to have benefited the potatoes because they are growing more than four feet high.  The Kestrel are not growing quite as high as the Charlotte.

Looking down the line of espaliers to the peach greenhouse.  

Looking back at the fan trained white currant.  

The white currant has been netted this year and has an enormous number of berries on it.  I will have to pick them soon.  They will probably be made into cordial or jam.

Peaches on the peach tree.

Kestrel potatoes on the grow bed on the other side of the path.

Poor old Mosses seedling not thriving.  

The loganberries' and blackberries' new canes are tied up to stop them getting too untidy.

Onions and leeks under the netting to prevent infection by leek miner fly.  

Onions, red onions and shallots under scaffold netting.

A good crop of blackcurrants.

The row of large blackcurrants.

Newton Wonder apple espalier.  

Loganberries.

Blackberries

Sweet Peas

More sweet peas.

The fan trained red currant trained to the side of the shed.  

Fan trained gooseberry on the shed.  

Lots of berries on the bush.

Strawberries.

More blackcurrants

Lettuces in the cold frame.

Calabrese 

Cauliflowers.  

Sempervivum aracnoides 

Garlic

Cucumber and melons on the slabs, cherry
tomatoes on the staging and celeriac underneath.

Tomatoes

That is the allotment at the moment.  Now just the harvesting.

Second week in May

I can't believe it is the middle  of May.  The cold east winds have kept me from sowing seed and planting out.  I am quite grateful for this because there have been some significant frosts.  The only things that has been cut back are the grapes.  I am not too sure whether I will have any fruit this year because everything was flowering.  The apples particularly.

The winter and early spring have been particularly dry  and this has lead to me loosing four of my apple grafts and they are the ones that I didn't really want to loose.  Two May Queens, a Queen Cox and a Orleans Reinette.  There is always next year and more anticipation to look forward to.

Got most of my seed sown.  The only seed that has not germinated are the carrots.  I think that they need a good dose of water to get them started.  So we have parsnips, beetroot, chard, spinach, dill, chamomile, tarragon,  Florence fennel and Good King Henry.  I am going to put some more carrots in just in case the others don't germinate.  The sweetcorn has begun to grow in the greenhouse but with  poorer germination than I wanted.  I have used last year's seeds so I should not expect too much.

Lots of squashes have germinated and have been transplanted into three inch pots.  Leeks are coming on well and will need to be transplanted soon.  I already have some planted in the onion bed.  Garlic and Elephant garlic are growing and not being eaten by the Phytomyza gymnostoma.  The onions are fairly securely protected by the scaffold nettling stretched over the blue water pipes.  I have buried the edges of the netting in the soil.  Thankfully, I had just hoed up the potatoes before the worst of the frosts and they have survived unscathed until now.

I have planted all the early sweet peas and am starting to plant the later ones.  They are being watered in with comfrey liquid but I am not giving them any other nutrients except what was in the soil from the green manure.  I planted them as late as I could to avoid the flea beetle and I seemed to have missed most of it.

The tall peas and the ordinary ones have germinated and I have put up the mesh for the Alderman and Onward to grow up.  I will wait until the others have got a little bigger before I put up the mesh for them.  I dug down at least three feet to get out some old curbing  that was concreted into the soil in the pea bed.  Who buried it here is anybodies guess and I could have ignored it, however it was annoying me and I could use it for edging the path.  So I dug down and hit it with the bull hammer.  Remarkably, it came away without a fuss and now lives on the edge of the main allotment path.  The bits of old scaffold boards that I had there originally had rotted away and were just good for slug homes.

Sowed some swedes in the brassica bed.  I don't really think that I will sow any kohl rabi this year.  It is good to put into stews, vegetable curries and soups but I had far too much last year.  I don't have any seed left so I will have to buy some more if I do decide to sow some.  The other things I have not sown this year are American land cress, Hamburg parsley, salsify and Scorzonera.  Got a few herbs sown in the greenhouse to replace the ones that are getting a little moth eaten in the allotment.  The thyme and sage are already germinated.

Being so late with everything this year, I have decided to buy tomato plants.  I always did in the past and it is much more convenient unless you want to grow specific varieties.  I have Alicante and a couple of others making twelve plants in all.  They will easily fit into the two greenhouses.  I am only going to have two tomato plants in the peach house.  Mainly because I don't really need that many tomatoes but also because it shades the peach tree and that is the main plant in this greenhouse.  The peach has quite a few fruitlets.  This never usually converts into ripe peaches but you can always hope and that is what I do.

I need to transplant out all my brassicas into three inch pots - I told you that the I was behind - and plant out the beans.  After I plant out all of these, the allotment will be full.

Finishing off the hugelkultur in the potato bed.

Starting off a new Hugelkultur in the potato bed.

Bloke came down with a lorry load of shredded woody material and had some logs on the back as well.  He gave me the logs so I decided to make another trench Hugelkultur in the potato bed.  I wanted to raise the soil at the north end of the bed in order to create a surface water calming bank alongside the espaliered fruit trees.  The Hugelkultur trench will be a subsurface water calming structure until it decomposes. 
I dug down one spit today and left the soil on the side of the trench.

I always use garden lines because I can't keep a straight line without them.  There are lots of reasons for not digging but there is no other way of introducing large quantities of organic matter and deepening the top soil.  I will take another spit out of the bottom of the trench and then fork over the bottom which will give me three spits of turned over soil.  Loads of waste material from around the allotment will be used to put into the trench. 

The old vegetables from last season.  A few celery and celeriac together with carrots and beetroot. 

Old bits of wood that I have collected from under the hedge and in the woody chippings piles.  I will probably get some more before I fill in the trench.  I will certainly clean the bottom of the hedge a little more. 

The logs off the lorry.  These will go at the bottom of the trench.  I think they are mostly cherry laurel. 

I will move the frames off the hot bed, which has not been that hot during the winter.  The woody chippings have rotted down now and will go at the bottom of the trench.  I will put the frames on top soil now and just rely on the glass to heat the soil.

If that is not enough shreddings, I will resort to the woody chippings pile to add more woody material.

Mostly X Cupressocyparis laylandii and holly but it is all grist to the mill.  I will also be putting the cuttings from my daughter's garden in the trench too.  It will all be two spits down and can moulder there for a year under the potatoes and whichever green manure I plant after them. 

The top soil is deepening and now is more than a spit deep.  The subsoil is darkening with organic matter too.  Deeper topsoil means more organic matter, more nutrients, more microbes, more water and more air for vegetable roots to delve into. 

Now I am going to try and explain why I think that it is a good idea to introduce organic matter into the subsoil as deep as I can.  In normal conditions plants can get water and dissolved nutrients easily from the top soil.  There is usually decomposition going on and nutrients being released.  As drought conditions start to appear the roots start to forage for water lower and lower in the soil profile.  The dry top soil means that they cannot obtain nutrients from here because there is no water to dissolve them in.  Nutrients can only enter the root as dissolved ions.   As the roots pass out of the dry topsoil they pass into the moist but infertile subsoil where nutrients are much more scarce.  Little is dissolved in this water and although the plants have adequate water they begin to get nutrient shortages.  Bottom old leaves start to yellow as nitrogen is transported away to the growing tips, although the plant is not wilting.  If we can deepen the soil, adding lots of organic matter, it will make plants more able to withstand drought conditions and the shortage of nutrients that it might bring.

So that's what I have been doing today - that and turning one of the compost bins.  I will use the compost to mix in with the top soil as I rake it back into the trench.