There's not been a lot to blog about recently.
It's been cold and frosty, then wet and windy and it looks like we are going back to cold and frosty for the weekend.
The onions on the plot have pretty much stopped growing now, the garlic is putting out loads of roots but no shoots from the other end (I only found this out becasue the pigeons have pulled up a couple of cloves - they must have mistaken them for worms).
The winter cabbages are beginning to heart up nicely and the first should be ready for harvest by Christmas.
No sprouts as yet, but the purple kale is looking wonderful.
The tallest of the perpetual spinach is suffering with the frost - I may have to cut it back hard as it is flopping all over the chard, which is doing remarkably well despite the hard frosts we have had.
The remaining two Pak Choi have survibed the frosts well and are looking good.
The rhubarb has finally admitted defeat and is dying back - this should be fine where it is until January when I will transplant it into the rhubarb bed near to the pond.
At home I have a couple of Romanesco Caulis forming nice curds, but a couple of the others look like they will be going to seed instead - not a problem as I will try to harvest the seed for next year.
My Cavolo Nero have recovered from being ravaged by caterpillars in the Autum and are producing lots of nice-looking leaves and are almost ready to start picking from.
All four apples on my trees were still on as of last weekend, and I was debating as to whether I should leave them or pick them - high winds have made that decision a bit unneccessary for the green apples as both were blown off, but the reds are still hanging on.
Until I can get the drainage problems at the plot sorted out I cannot build any fruit beds so the bare rooted strawberries that I bought have had to be sat in water for far longer than I was anticipating - I hope that they survive.
I had them in the kitchen to start with but I had to move them off the worksurface so they ended up on the boxroom windowsill where I thought they would do well with whatever little daylight they could get, but I have noticed tonight that the fresh green leaves that appeared whilsat they were in the kitchen have started to fade and go brittle - maybe the cold from the glass has been too much?
I have now moved them away from the window in the hope that they will hang on until I can get them into a prepared raised bed at the allotment.
Early December on the Allotment - Video Update
Another video update of my allotmant from this morning.
You will also see some of my neighbours' plots as I take a quick stroll around Cartmell Crescent allotments.
You will also see some of my neighbours' plots as I take a quick stroll around Cartmell Crescent allotments.
Ice, Ice Baby!
I have just got back in after a very cold morning on the plot.
Where my plot is situated I get no direct sun on 90% of my land at all during the winter as the sun is so low in the sky, so any frost that appears does not melt but gets built up over any subsequent frosty days.
Today has been the third or fourth consecutive frosty day with the result that everything is covered with a thick layer of frost. It all looks quite beautiful really, but I wanted to harvest a few spring green leaves and in the end I didn't as I wasn't sure how the plants would fare with an open wound in these temperatures.
I realise that some vegetables need a really cold snap to jolt them into production, and that plenty of the brassicas I already have in the ground can cope with these temperatures, but I can't help looking forwards to Spring and the new growing season when everything becomes alive and vibrant again.
Despite the cold I took the opportunity to finish digging bed 7 today. We had originally started it last weekend, but ran out of good weather before we had got much more than half way through.
This morning it was pretty hard going to start, with the frost penetrating to about 3 inches below ground, but once I had taken out the first spades-width and moved back from the edge this reduced to just over an inch so I was able to make some good progress.
The manure pile had also frozen solid, despite there being some heat generated from the rotting process below the surface.
It looks like the heavy rain that we had last Thursday had pooled on every surface and then frozen quickly to create an icy coating which subsequent frosts have thickened.
The piles of earth that we dug out last week were literally frozen solid - I tried to break them up with the mattock, but just succeeded in spraying myself with loads of ice chips mixed with frozen soil - not nice.
I will have to wait for some nicer weather to arrive before this bed is finished, but on the positive side I have now moved enough manure from the pile to leave space for bed 9 to be created there, but that too is a job for another, warmer day.
Where my plot is situated I get no direct sun on 90% of my land at all during the winter as the sun is so low in the sky, so any frost that appears does not melt but gets built up over any subsequent frosty days.
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| Frosty Savoy Cabbages |
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| Perpetual spinach just about survuving the cold |
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| Brussels with a halo of frost |
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| Drainage ditch completely iced up |
This morning it was pretty hard going to start, with the frost penetrating to about 3 inches below ground, but once I had taken out the first spades-width and moved back from the edge this reduced to just over an inch so I was able to make some good progress.
The manure pile had also frozen solid, despite there being some heat generated from the rotting process below the surface.
It looks like the heavy rain that we had last Thursday had pooled on every surface and then frozen quickly to create an icy coating which subsequent frosts have thickened.
The piles of earth that we dug out last week were literally frozen solid - I tried to break them up with the mattock, but just succeeded in spraying myself with loads of ice chips mixed with frozen soil - not nice.
I will have to wait for some nicer weather to arrive before this bed is finished, but on the positive side I have now moved enough manure from the pile to leave space for bed 9 to be created there, but that too is a job for another, warmer day.
Autumn Blues and Water Problems
As we move through Autumn there is less and less to do on the allotment.
The summer plants have all finished and been removed to the compost pile, the over wintering brassicas are all in and looking healthy.
The overwintering onions and garlic have been in for about six weeks. The onions are showing strongly, with about three to four inches of growth on the white onions and one to two on the red.
No sign of any life from the garlic as yet, neither the purpose bought stuff or the jumbo ones from the supermarket. That seems to be the same with everyone else on the allotment though, so I am not too worried at the moment.
The perpetual spinach is still performing strongly, as is the chard. I am hoping to be able to keep harvesting from these until Christmas.
I have had a first harvest of leaves from the purple kale which I planted out in early August, the plants are growing strongly and should have no problems in surviving the cold.
The Brussels planted at the same time are still causing me some worry - there are plenty of leaves and the plants themselves look strong, but there is no sign of any sprouts forming on most of the plants as yet. I hope that I can get something off them for Christmas day - that would be really nice.
The rhubarb is finally starting to die back - recent frosts overnight seem to have done the job - so once the rhubarb bed near to the pond is completed they can be transplanted once they have gone completely dormant.
I am still having major problems with the lack of drainage on the top half of my plot - most of it is very sodden with standing water and lots of mud on the surface.
It looks like the drainage channels that I dug have been partly successful as the neighbouring plots and communal areas that used to be waterlogged are now pretty dry, so the water from them has apparently drained into my plot. The solution appears to be just carry on with more of the same, and make the channels already dug deeper and a bit wider.
Another plot holder has arranged for a mini digger for the afternoon to help him to turn over his plot as it is completely full of tree roots, making hand digging almost impossible.
Once his plot has been done the digger is going to deepen the drain through the orchard area away from my plot, and will then dig channels through my plot to meet them.
The orchard drain will simply have a length of perforated drainage pipe laid at the bottom and then be back filled.
My drain will have a 3" layer of 3/4 stone under a drainage pipe, with the rest of the trench being filled with 3/4 stone. As the majority of the drains will be under flagged paths I am hoping that this won't cause me too many problems with my planting next year and that it sorts out my water logging problem.
If it doesn't, I really don't know what else to try.
On a more positive note, we spend most of yesterday afternoon digging over bed 7 which had been getting a bit swamped with grass, and mixing the soil well with manure from the larger of the two piles.
Once finished this will be where I plant my bare-rooted strawberries for them to over-winter as I couldn't put them where I intend them to live permanently as it is currently too wet.
I have eighteen plants - six each of Malwina, Mae and Elegance. They are supposed to crop at different times through the season, so I am hoping to have a succession of strawberries all summer long next year.
I have also got started on moving the first manure pile as I want to put a couple more raised beds where it is now - my son Will did a grand job in shifting loads of it for me, and with very little complaining about the smell (then again, it is now quite well rotted and lovely stuff) and there is now nearly enough space to drop frames for raised beds 10 and 11 down.
When I stop to look at what we have achieved so far, I am quite proud of my little plot. Once the water problem is sorted out there will be no stopping us!
The summer plants have all finished and been removed to the compost pile, the over wintering brassicas are all in and looking healthy.
The overwintering onions and garlic have been in for about six weeks. The onions are showing strongly, with about three to four inches of growth on the white onions and one to two on the red.
No sign of any life from the garlic as yet, neither the purpose bought stuff or the jumbo ones from the supermarket. That seems to be the same with everyone else on the allotment though, so I am not too worried at the moment.
The perpetual spinach is still performing strongly, as is the chard. I am hoping to be able to keep harvesting from these until Christmas.
I have had a first harvest of leaves from the purple kale which I planted out in early August, the plants are growing strongly and should have no problems in surviving the cold.
The Brussels planted at the same time are still causing me some worry - there are plenty of leaves and the plants themselves look strong, but there is no sign of any sprouts forming on most of the plants as yet. I hope that I can get something off them for Christmas day - that would be really nice.
The rhubarb is finally starting to die back - recent frosts overnight seem to have done the job - so once the rhubarb bed near to the pond is completed they can be transplanted once they have gone completely dormant.
I am still having major problems with the lack of drainage on the top half of my plot - most of it is very sodden with standing water and lots of mud on the surface.
It looks like the drainage channels that I dug have been partly successful as the neighbouring plots and communal areas that used to be waterlogged are now pretty dry, so the water from them has apparently drained into my plot. The solution appears to be just carry on with more of the same, and make the channels already dug deeper and a bit wider.
Another plot holder has arranged for a mini digger for the afternoon to help him to turn over his plot as it is completely full of tree roots, making hand digging almost impossible.
Once his plot has been done the digger is going to deepen the drain through the orchard area away from my plot, and will then dig channels through my plot to meet them.
The orchard drain will simply have a length of perforated drainage pipe laid at the bottom and then be back filled.
My drain will have a 3" layer of 3/4 stone under a drainage pipe, with the rest of the trench being filled with 3/4 stone. As the majority of the drains will be under flagged paths I am hoping that this won't cause me too many problems with my planting next year and that it sorts out my water logging problem.
If it doesn't, I really don't know what else to try.
On a more positive note, we spend most of yesterday afternoon digging over bed 7 which had been getting a bit swamped with grass, and mixing the soil well with manure from the larger of the two piles.
Once finished this will be where I plant my bare-rooted strawberries for them to over-winter as I couldn't put them where I intend them to live permanently as it is currently too wet.
I have eighteen plants - six each of Malwina, Mae and Elegance. They are supposed to crop at different times through the season, so I am hoping to have a succession of strawberries all summer long next year.
I have also got started on moving the first manure pile as I want to put a couple more raised beds where it is now - my son Will did a grand job in shifting loads of it for me, and with very little complaining about the smell (then again, it is now quite well rotted and lovely stuff) and there is now nearly enough space to drop frames for raised beds 10 and 11 down.
When I stop to look at what we have achieved so far, I am quite proud of my little plot. Once the water problem is sorted out there will be no stopping us!
Early November On the Allotment - Video Update
Not much happening down at the plot recently, so I took the opportunity to make a short video update last Sunday.
Hope you enjoy watching.
Hope you enjoy watching.
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