More
Web-sites!
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.
Books
By
Alan J Hartley
|
|
Cold
Spells.
We have had several Cold Spells this Winter and just as we started
approaching Spring we had another lasting from late February and going
well into March. However, it was not too bad with just the odd few very
cold nights and some snow that fell much more heavily in the North and
even south of us with our region largely missing it. However, I had got
some tender Seeds, including Peppers germinated, in unheated
propagators, in my Greenhouse. It will teach me not to “Jump the gun,”
as they suffered badly and I had to re-sow them along with one, or two
other things. I remember that one year, at work I had a lot of trays of
young vegetable seedlings that had just been pricked out, growing in a
small, unheated, greenhouse and over night the wind blew the door open
allowing the snow to blow in and give them an icy covering. Going back
even further I remember that one year I was selling Goldfish from
outdoor tanks at my Parents Garden Centre in what we thought was Summer,
(in the middle of June,) when we had a cold blast and a sharp snow
flurry. We got off lightly though as they had far more around Buxton
with roads temporarily blocked and even more Snow fell further North.
That year the Runner Bean plants that everybody had growing were killed
with an almost total crop failure countrywide. People tried to re-sow,
but that led to a dramatic shortage of Seeds and Customers were coming
from 50 miles away to buy Seeds as we had over ordered!
With Global Warming and our seemingly mild Winters, we can so easily get
caught out by assuming that it is time to sow and plant all sorts of
things as the weather warms up and Winter finishes, but we can still get
cold weather right up until May and even then it pays to watch the
Weather Forecasts, because as I have said, the Weather can be very
fickle.
At the start of March I did put my Chrysanthemums outside on the yard,
but had to keep taking them into my Greenhouse over night when colder
nights were forecast. I kept the Pots in large Trays so that it was a
simple job to move them about quickly and easily. I didn’t bother
putting them back onto the Staging, but simply put the Trays in the
gangway down the middle of the Greenhouse over-night. Towards the end of
March I will plant them out properly onto my Allotment. We may well get
one or two colder nights even then, but they should be able to handle it
better especially being in the ground.
Later this Month I will also plant my Potato Tubers. A lot of People
like to “Chitt,” them first to give them a flying start when they do
plant them, but I don’t usually bother. I do tend to put them in a bit
too early though and then if they do shoot they are susceptible to frost
damage. However, if you are careful remembering to “Earth Them Up,”
regularly you can protect the tender young shoots from damage. (This
also helps keep the weeds in check and improves Potato yields) I also
planted out my Onions at the start of March. These were the ones that I
had started off in Trays to get them going quicker in the Greenhouse.
They had been a bag full that were reduced, at the end of the Autumn
Planting Season, before Christmas. They were quite shrivelled when I put
them in and I wasn’t very hopeful, but with a bit of extra TLC that they
wouldn’t have got outside on my Allotment, I think nearly every one
started into growth and had nice green shoots with plenty of roots on
when I put them out.
Other things that have gone through the Winter and already started
shooting include some of my Tree Seeds that were put in the Cold Frame
on my Yard, outside my Greenhouse, at home. I hadn’t made much effort to
carefully sow the Hawthorn Seeds and had merely squashed the Berries
between my fingers rather than washing the Seeds away from the flesh of
the Berry as they say that you should do. However, they were the first
Tray to start shooting and it looks as though I shall have a fair number
of small plants for the Charity where I Work so that they can use them
to fill in gaps in the Hedges that occur from time to time.
At the start of March I began putting quite a few different Seeds in.
Leeks, Parsley, Swiss Chard, Kale, Cabbages, Beetroot, Turnips and Swede
were amongst the first to be sown and didn’t really need any heat to get
them going other than a Frost Free Greenhouse. When they are big enough
they will get planted out in my Plot after first hardening them off a
bit.
However, the Sweet Peppers, Cape Gooseberries, Asparagus, Globe
Artichokes and Aubergines did need the extra warmth of the house to
start them off. They won’t be ready until the May Plant Fundraiser Sale
as they all take a bit more time to grow and they will have to be kept
in Frost Free conditions in my Greenhouse right up until they are
actually sold in May.
Some varieties of Parsnip needed to go in, in February, but the variety
that I am growing this time has a quicker maturation time so can be sown
later in the Spring. Some People try starting them off in Trays, but I
was always told that if you Transplanted Root Crops like Parsnips and
Carrots they would develop “Forked,” roots, so I always sow mine
directly in the ground where they are to grow.
My Greenhouse also has a number of large Pots of Jerusalem Artichokes
in. The idea is not to grow them in the Pots, but just start them off so
that they can be sold in the Plant Sale. In Pots the Tubers are
susceptible to damage by Frost so I have to keep putting them in the
Greenhouse over night when Frosts are forecast. Normally this is the
time to be Planting the Tubers outdoors in the ground though where they
will be OK with the cold.
However, my Cannas lilies definitely need to be kept warm even though
they are starting to shoot. In a week, or two, as the Shoots develop, I
will be able to divide up the Plants and re-pot them bulking up the
number of Plants that I have. Several people have already asked me for
Plants as they are ridiculously expensive to buy later on in the Summer.
I have 3 different varieties if they all come through the Winter. I have
one that is tall and very spectacular with large red flowers, along with
a much shorter yellow flowered one and one with a lovely variegated
leaf.
We have had large, Communal, Compost Bins for some years now and one of
the jobs that I have taken upon myself as a Committee Member is to
maintain them along with the Compost Storage Area. With this in mind I
do all that I can to encourage Plot Holders to make use of the Compost
on their Plots. As a consequence of this I often help barrow Compost
onto other people’s Plots. The site is built on a slope that doesn’t
look much, but when pushing a heavy Wheelbarrow up it, it is very
tiring. So, when a new Plot Holder said that they were putting in a
series of Raised Beds, I offered to help. They said that they had got a
Motorised Wheelbarrow at the Stables that they could bring up to make
life a bit easier and I was fascinated. They duly brought it up to the
site on a small trailer with some spare batteries and we got to work
with it.
A number of years ago one of the long running sitcoms did a skit on a
motorised Wheelbarrow, so at the time, I never thought for one moment
that they actually existed, but there it was, in front of me, and quite
capable of powering up the slope with a good hundredweight, or more of
Compost in it. I was told that the running time was anything up to one
hour depending on its use and it had 2 forward speeds with a reverse as
well. Travelling fully laden at a gentle walking speed with some sort of
Sprung, or hydraulic tipping facility to empty the barrow, it did
everything except fill itself! Costing around £500 new they are not
cheap, but what a tool for the elderly of infirm, or just to make life
easier!
My own Compost Heap had to be dug out and barrowed away by hand and
after some 12 barrows had gone onto my Bean Bed I was quite tired,
although the Beans will enjoy it as they like to get their roots down
into a good, thick layer of Compost. The remainder of my Compost Heap
was bagged up so that I could take it home and use it in potting my
rooted Fig cuttings and also to use it to fill other large pots. It is a
bit rough so I don’t actually pot in it, but use the compost to fill up
the space in the bottom of large Pots, below the Plants roots. Then I
top up the pots and around the Plants with some finer stuff.
Along with the Figs, I potted up some divisions from my Aronia bush that
is well established on my plot. The Aronia is definitely a Multi Stemmed
Plant and can always be relied on to provide partly rooted stems that
are easily cut away from the bulk of the fruiting plant. They take a
little while to root into the pots properly, but will happily do so as
they leaf up. These will be added to my ever growing collection of
Plants destined for the Plant Sale that will be upon us before we
realise.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adverts
|
|