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Wellington Fields Allotments - Hixon. |
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More Plough Field Allotments at Amerton
Gardening
Tips
Unusual
& Old
Unusual Environmental Issues And Going Green.
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Most
people have sown seeds of things like Parsnips, Carrots, Beetroot, etc
directly into the ground and on a little walk around the allotments it
is easy to see neat rows of seedlings coming up in most of the plots. On
the other hand some people have bought young bean plants to transplant
and some have sown them directly in situ. Last year I started all of
mine off in trays and when they were transplanted they were set back so
much that those sown later, in the soil, on other plots, did better than
mine! This time I am not going to put full packets of everything in like
last season, because I had far too much of each vegetable and in the end
a lot went to waste. Now that people are getting to know each other a
little better they are starting to pass part seed packets and spare
plants to each other a little more. What better excuse to have a break
from all that digging and go and have a chat with someone else and give
them a few seeds or plants at the same time. To
make a little more space on my plots I have started giving away young
Current and Gooseberry bushes as I had far too many that were grown from
rooted cuttings. Gooseberries are very easy to root and will often root
themselves. All you need to do is peg down some long, trailing stems and
they will root in no time. Current bushes aren’t much harder, although
they are best done through the winter when they are dormant. I
tried leaving a lot of the surplus Turnips, Carrots, Kale and Kohl Rabi
in the ground over the winter. Not a lot of it rotted, except a few
Carrots, but as soon as things started to warm up it all started to go
to seed and the Turnips especially, went very woody. Because the Kohl
Rabi survived the cold I decided to plant some young seedlings out very
early to get an early start. In a few weeks I will sow another small
batch to follow on and that way I should get an almost continuous crop
all through the season. There are quite a few other quick growing
vegetables that are best done like this, apart from the obvious salad
crops like Lettuce. The
Garden Centres are full of all sorts of vegetables and have started
reducing prices on plants, but with this crazy weather we are having it
is still advisable to be careful what you plant out, even though we are
into May. If in doubt put some fleece or cloches over the young plants. All the garden outlets are full of cloches of all sizes and shapes including large “Cold Frame,” sized ones right up to mini greenhouses. At last my Sweet Potatoes have come so, being a bit delicate, I am going to try them in one of these giant cloches to give them an extra boost. As plot holders have started to dig their plots this season, a lot of them are finding grubs in the soil. These may well be “Chafer,” grubs that over winter underground and munch on the roots of plants in the Spring. If found they should be squashed, because being an organic site there really isn’t any other way of dealing with them as no chemicals can be used. Underneath
all the taps on the site are large plastic tubs to catch the spillages
and prevent the sloping paths from being washed away. However, I think
as things warm up we may well get a problem with midges around the tubs.
Again we can’t really use insecticides as such, but a tiny little bit
of soap of almost any kind will break the surface tension and prevent
the midges from hanging from the surface so they can’t breathe and the
soap won’t harm any plants either. This is a good idea for water tubs
at home as well. |
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