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Field Allotments at Amerton
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By Mrs FM
Hartley.
Unusual
& Old
Fashioned Fruit
Trees.
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By
Alan J Hartley
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The End & The Beginning.
The leaves were late falling
this year on most trees with some things especially late and I was still
clearing up leaves well into December. Most people simply Bin the leaves
they have from their gardens, but on the Allotment especially, there is
a much better use for them as they make excellent Leaf Mould if
Composted properly. It is always recommended to Compost Leaves
separately, because they take much longer to break down than normal
garden waste, but this year, I mixed mine in with all of the other
rubbish in my Compost heap. I have a number of fruit trees on my
Allotment so I get quite a lot of leaves, consequently, there might be
enough to compost them separately, but they do produce very little Leaf
Mould from a lot of leaves. I could simply put them into an old Compost
Bag for a year, or so though, as that is quite effective as well.
The Leaves were very late falling from my last Cooking Apple tree, so as
the Apples were on the small side, I had delayed picking them as long as
I could. However, as Frosts and several snowy days were forecast at the
end of November and beginning of December, I was worried about them
being spoilt, so I finally picked them. The Tree is always very prolific
and always has loads of Apples on it even though it is trained in the
Espalier style. It has been planted for a number of years though and is
well established. I actually picked 7 Crates of Apples and as I say they
were still a bit small as I hadn’t thinned them properly at the embryo
fruit stage. (See Picture) However, they should keep well, because there
were very few grubs in them because I put Grease Bands around the Trunks
at the end of the Autumn, last year. I am pleased to say that I
remembered to do all my Fruit Trees again this year before the end of
November. It was a bit late, but as the leaves were late dropping they
should be alright, hopefully. You can still put Grease Bands on your
Trees with some effect if you do them before March and Spring as well,
if you didn’t do them before the Winter.
The leaves on both the Hazel, or should I say Cob Nut, as that is what
the cultivated Hazels really are, in my garden and the one on my
Allotment, both kept their Leaves on until the start of December and
then they suddenly fell in one night. I did pick a few Handfuls of Nuts
from the small Tree in my Garden even though I have a visiting Squirrel
that comes regularly and can be seen running around my Fences. This year
I definitely beat him to the nuts. One year though, when I was still at
my Mothers House, I thought I would be clever and pick all of the nuts,
before the Squirrel there, got them. I gleefully, picked masses of Nuts,
but when I got inside the house and started to shell them, I found that
all the shell cases were empty. The nuts had not developed inside.
Indeed there was not even a trace of Nuts. No tiny, embryo Nuts,
nothing, just empty Shells! If I hadn’t been so greedy and tried to stop
the Squirrel from getting any, I might have had a good harvest, even if
he had had a few!
Apart Leaf clearing, I cleared the last of my Rubbish and finally cut
down the Asparagus Tops chopping them up before adding them to my leafy
Compost Heap along with the masses of foliage from my Sea Kale.
The leaves on my Figs were among the first to drop, as were the Kiwi
Vines, which I also gave a bit of a trim cutting off some of the wilder
growing shoots. I think they should really be pruned hard back, like a
Grape Vine, along with Figs and Autumn Raspberries, at the end of
February though.
My maturing Compost Heap has now had a couple of months cooking away
nicely, so recently I turned it from the left hand side into the right
hand side giving it a good mix in the process before covering it back up
with some small, scrap pieces, of Landscaping Membrane. I will leave
this heap a bit longer before I dig it all out and use it in my Bean
Bed. Gardeners always recommend digging trenches that should be filled
with partly composted vegetation before the various, different types, of
Bean Plants, are planted in them, in late Spring. Apparently, Beans
really appreciate the high water retaining ability of such material. The
growing heap of fresh Rubbish was dug out onto the surrounding slabs
while turning the mature heap, before being put back into the now empty
left hand bin. This will be added to, and turned occasionally, as time
goes by, but will need to be left until the end of next Summer to give
all the Leaves in it a bit of a chance to break down.
As crops have been cleared it has left open patches on most of my Beds
with nothing in them. There are some Onions. Leeks and a few other bits,
but large sections are completely devoid of anything. I could grow Green
Manure to be dug in, in the Spring, or I could cover my Beds with
Tarpaulins, but as I don’t do either I take the opportunity to liberally
manure my Plots. Many Plot Holders do their Plots in the Spring as the
weather is improving and they start going up to their plots again, but
some, like myself, do them earlier. With this in mind, some of the
Committee decided to fill up the Manure Compartment in our Storage area.
We do get fairly regular deliveries of Manure in Bags, but with many of
us wanting it all at once, we arranged to fetch a large quantity by
getting a few Trailer Loads of “Pony Poo,” from a local Stables. Most
Stables are only too pleased to get rid of it as they generate so much
of it. It should have been stored for a while before use though and
should not be used fresh, but other than that there are no problems in
getting it from just about anywhere. (In the picture you can see some of
the bags that we have delivered from another local Stables.) The Stables
that bring Manure in Bags have to regularly replace some of the Plastic
Bags that they use as they get torn and start to break up, so recently a
couple of Plot Holders and myself, sorted through our Stashes of old
Compost Bags and presented the “Horse Manure Man,” with a few dozen of
our better Bags. Some of the Bags that I added to the collection came
from the many bags of Stone Chippings that I had for my Front Garden. I
am a firm believer in trying to recycle as much Plastic as I can, so I
am keeping most of the more damaged Compost bags that I had, and instead
of just discarding them, I intend to recycle them as well, by using them
for bagging up Rubbish to go into my Wheely Bin. That will save using
new, bought, Bin Bags. If they are not too damaged though, I use the old
Compost Bags to take rubbish backwards and forwards to my Allotment so
that I can Shred and Compost it. Just occasionally, I use them to take
rubbish to the council waste centre, again instead of using Bin Bags.
My Mother always told me that it was traditional for keen Gardeners to
sow their Onion and Shallot Seeds just after Christmas, so, towards the
end of December I will sow some in a seed tray in my greenhouse where
they should come up quite quickly, hopefully. Then, going into the new
Year, perhaps at the end January, or maybe in February, as they grow a
little, I will be able to prick them out into Modular Trays and give
them a little more space. They should be OK then until it warms up a bit
and they can go out into my Allotment where they will be spaced out
properly, a good few inches apart, to grow on to maturity in the Summer.
They may be a little later than the “Sets,” that I put in a few weeks
ago, but hopefully they will not be far behind the “Sets,” that I will
be planting in early Spring.
As we go into January, I will go through the old Biscuit Tins, that are
stored in the bottom of my Fridge, where I keep my Seeds. I can never
remember what seeds are to be sown when, but these days, nearly all seed
packets have the Sowing times clearly printed on the back of each packet
which makes life much easier.
I am fairly sure though, that at the end of January, going into
February, I should be sowing Parsley and Cape Gooseberries to name but
two. Then other Seeds will follow as we start the new Season and life
returns to our Allotments.
 
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