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Wellington
Field Allotments Hixon
Gardening
Tips
By Mrs FM
Hartley.
Unusual
& Old
Fashioned Fruit
Trees.
Unusual
Vegetables,
Herbs & Other
Edible Plants.
Environmental
Issues And Going Green.
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By
Alan J Hartley
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February.
Around Christmas I bought a few 8 foot Posts to replace some of those
that had rotted and broken on my Plot. As with many things they had gone
up a lot in price, so, after removing the old and damaged Posts, I
inspected them carefully. It seemed that there was still plenty of
strength in most of the posts that had been above ground, so I cut the
rotten ends off each of them and decided to re-use them elsewhere. When
I checked some of the smaller posts on my Plot that were holding up
things like my Tay Berries, I discovered that the cut down 8 foot Posts
were still long enough to replace some of the shorter ones that had
broken. This saved me from buying a number of 6 foot posts, saved me a
lot of money and followed the Allotment ethic of recycling. It is the
same with broken 8 foot Bean Canes. I always save them and usually find
a use for them until they get broken up into really small pieces. For
instance, 4-5 foot lengths are used to support my Chrysanthemums and
even shorter pieces, perhaps only a foot or so, are used to mark rows of
Seeds, or Potatoes, etc.
I haven’t planted much on my Allotment over Winter this year, but
talking of Bamboo Canes, one thing that I have put in is Bamboo. I
should really say two things as I planted both a Dwarf variety and a
tall one. No, I don’t have a Panda to feed, but I am hoping that I will
be able to cut some Bamboo Canes from the taller one as it grows and
bunches up. I will of course also be able to divide both plants, in
years to come, so that I have some plants for future Fundraiser plant
sales.
Towards the end of February I will have to give my Vines some attention.
In particular my Grape and Kiwi Vines should be trimmed then. The Kiwi
vines did get a lot of growth hacked off them to enable me to replace
their Posts, but I will get some “Die Back,” from doing it at the wrong
time so will have to tidy them up. I had flowers and Fruit on them for
the first time last season, so am going to give them a bit more care and
attention this season. The Grape vines did have fruit on as well, more
than most Seasons, but the Autumn weather spoilt a lot of it with the
wet causing mould to grow on the bunches of grapes. This year I may
eventually get round to replacing a couple of the poorer vines with
varieties that are more suitable for growing outdoors in the UK.
Apart from trimming my Vines I cut back my beautiful, dwarfed, grafted,
red leafed, Twisted Hazel. The tree was creeping up slowly so I took a
bit off its height to keep it within the 2 metre rule, but as it was
also spreading well I cut it back to clear the path. The pieces that I
cut off did not go to waste though as I gave some to a Flower arranger
that I know and tried putting some in to root. Normally, hardwood
cuttings should be done in the Autumn, but I understand that Hazel can
be done just before the Buds start to break in Spring. Apparently this
goes for Willows as well, so I Coppiced the Willows that I had grown in
large pots to make them bushy. I think that they should be more
appealing for the late summer, Fundraiser sale, with bushy growth on
rather than the long, single, straight Stems that they had. The tops of
the Willows didn’t get thrown away either as I put them in as cuttings
that will hopefully root through the Summer and will maybe be ready for
a sale next year!
Apart from the Willow and Hazel Cuttings I had some Cuttings of a short
Euphorbia, Silene and lovely variegated Hebe in my Green House over
Winter, and in my Cold Frame, with the Fig Cuttings on my Allotment,
some cuttings of a tall Euphorbia, Weigela and red stemmed Cornus.
Normal Hardwood Cuttings take much longer than many softer shrub
cuttings like the Cornus and Euphorbias, so I am expecting that by the
Spring some of these will be rooted. Winter is not normally a good time
to root soft stem cuttings as they tend to rot, but hopefully, this is
not the case with the Cornus and Euphorbias. The Silene was not really
Cuttings at all, but more little bunches torn up from a patch that was
spreading over the Path, so there would have been a few tiny bits
already rooted in each bunch. The Hebe Cuttings were from the fancy one
in my Garden that was caught by the Frosts, so I am keeping my Fingers
Crossed for those!
Elsewhere on my Allotment my Sea Kale is always one of the earliest of
the new Crops at the start of the Season and as usual I couldn’t wait to
cut the first Stems. By mid January some of the Buds were starting to
show colour and swell so I covered them with up turned Buckets. I do
have to check the Buckets each year for holes though as they get used
for all sorts of things and if any light gets in it turns the Stalks
green. It doesn’t take long for the Crowns to shoot after being covered
because they are protected to some extent from the cold by the Buckets
and this thereby encourages them to shoot. I eagerly waited for the
first picking and was soon rewarded. The elongated Stalks look like
Celery, but cook and eat like Asparagus. Indeed they are often called an
“Asparagus alternative,” although I have only ever seen them offered for
sale in a Supermarket on one occasion. However, quickly boiled, or
lightly steamed, they go down well with some melted Butter, or a Butter
Sauce (Roux) drizzled over them.
In mid January we had another cold spell that lasted for quite a few
days causing even more damage to tender plants in the garden and on the
Allotments. My Hebes already looked sad from the earlier spell in
December, but this time they really got hammered. The two Bay hedges on
my Allotment Plot were quite badly burned as well and one of the two
Loquats looks particularly bad. Even my young Passion Flower that was
doing very well on my Allotment is not looking so good now and the
Callistemon, or Bottle Brush in my Garden, along with one of my
Eucalyptus, are both looking quite sad with the leaves all discoloured
and going brittle. However, I will leave all of the plants intact until
the weather really warms up before I cut out the dead wood as you can
never really tell what will shoot and what won’t until the Summer comes.
Plants will often surprise you by how they can come back seemingly from
the dead. Eucalyptus and Bays in particular will re-shoot after very
severe frost damage.
In my Garden the Blackbirds had not eaten all of the Crab Apples on my
ornamental Tree before Christmas and they were starting to rot, but with
the return of the cold weather in January the Blackbirds renewed their
interest in the fruit with squabbles often breaking out over them. It is
good natural food for them though. Better, I think than actually feeding
them with nuts and seeds, etc.
After the Cod Spell was over we had some milder weather again and some
of the Tree Buds started swelling. Indeed in the mild spell back in
early January some Buds were showing signs of growth even then. We have
always had changeable weather, but I think our Seasons are less clearly
defined than they used to be when I was a kid. Personally, I think that
this is why we are having so much trouble with imported pests and
diseases. We are not getting a proper, prolonged cold spell in Winter to
deal with them and keep them in check. Last year some plants were
getting so confused with the weather they actually flowered 3 times
instead of just once. I am hoping that we have had enough of a cold
spell to “Stratify,” the various Tree Seeds that I am trying to
germinate, but I guess I won’t know until Spring proper comes.
As we go through February and get nearer to Spring, I will put the old
Chrysanthemums Stools, that are in my Green House, outside on the Yard
to make room for other, more tender things. I will leave them in Trays
though and watch the Weather Forecasts so that I can take them in for
the night if necessary.
With the extra space I will start the Seed Sowing of regular Vegetables
like Cabbages and Beetroot, etc, but it will still be far too early for
tender things like Sweet Corn, Runner Beans, Peppers, Aubergines and
Tomatoes unless they are going to be grown inside a heated Green House
throughout the Spring.
Going further into February some things can even be sown outside and
these include some varieties of Parsnips and Broad Beans and then Onion
Sets can go in and it will be time to prepare the Runner Bean Bed and
put up the Bean Canes.
 
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