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Field Allotments Hixon
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Hartley.
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Alan J Hartley
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The Plant Sale & Onwards.
This year we had our Annual Plant
Sale a few days later than we have been having it because of Charles
Coronation event. His event pretty much took up the whole Bank Holiday
Weekend whereas ours only lasted 3 hours, BUT the weather wasn’t kind to
him and the Sun shone on us ! ! ! It was undoubtedly our best Sale yet,
although on first glance we only raised about the same sum of £350 as
last year. However, I did sell quite a few Plants to friends and Family
beforehand raising another 80 odd pounds that was added to the Total to
take it to about £440 with a little bit more still to come, (as of
writing this) from the Honesty Box on the Allotments which will take
care of some of the leftovers. I will also say that we were much better
organised this time than we have been some years which made it a more
enjoyable occasion and made it less stressful. Having the Sale at the
Villager Hall instead of actually on the Allotments meant that we had
less Plot Holders attend and more general Gardeners though. This in turn
was born out by the fact that we sold less of the Fruit and Vegetable
plants and actually sold quite a number of Garden Plants that I had
fortuitously decided to grow more of to add to the mix.
After the Sale was over the Fruit and Vegetables were taken up to the
Allotments and the Garden Plants went back to my House for further
distribution. A lady that sells Flowers brought me a quantity of large
Plant Pots so she had a few of the leftover Plants in exchange and a
selection of plants were collected for the Hixon Rail Crash Memorial
Garden. Then a larger number were collected to be added to the Plants on
Sale the following Weekend in another Village Fundraiser. After all of
that there were not a lot of Plants left for me to sort out, but my Yard
looked a real mess. There were Pots of half dead Plants and Weeds, with
Compost spillages every where. However, with a bit of determination I
soon got it tidy and a lot of the rubbish that was Swept up, was emptied
into the bottom of my 3, large, Potato Bags along with most of the
residual Compost. My Greenhouse had a real sort out as well which made a
lot of room for me to sow and plant other things. My Cherry Tomato
Plants were finally put into their 12 inch Pots with Canes and Strings
up and as I say I planted the 3 Potato Bags with one last Tomato and two
leftover Yacon Plants. I have decided to grow more Yacon Plants because,
although I discovered long ago that the Tubers would keep for a couple
of weeks in the Fridge, I have recently found out that they seem to keep
almost indefinitely if simply cleaned a bit, dried and stored like
Potatoes, in a cool, but frost free room.
According to the back of the Packets it was time to put in the Edamame
Beans and Climbing Spinach – Malabar, that I was given as part of my
last Christmas present, so those were the first things to go in to fill
up my greenhouse. Next I decided to put in some Eucalyptus Seeds,
Eucalyptus Gunnii and the Dwarf Eucalyptus Cinerea. It is my intention
for a few to be grown on for future sales and some to go to Work, and in
particular I put in some white flowered, Snow Gum seeds, Eucalyptus
Pauciflora, to replace the one on my top yard that was taken by the cold
spell last Winter. Normally Eucalyptus germinate fairly easily and grow
quite quickly, but I imagine that they will want a bit of protection
when next Winter comes. Last Autumn I put in a small selection of Tree
Seeds including Black Elderberry, but it was only the tray full of
Hawthorn seeds, that I had simply gathered from one of the Hedges around
the Allotment, that germinated well. They are of course intended for
work and will be added to the few bigger ones that I dug up and Potted a
little while ago. Every year I get a few germinate naturally on my
Allotment, amongst the Wood Chip, and if I am careful I can dig them out
and pot them up. At the Charity where I work there are a lot of Hedges
and from time to time gaps appear in the them that need replanting, so
all of the little rescued Hawthorn Trees from my Allotment, come in very
useful.
In my Garden is a lovely golden, Leycestaria Shrub that I also gathered
some Berries of last Winter and I think those are coming up, but they
are too small to pot yet.
Apart from Seed sowing I have been putting in more Cuttings because with
everything in its peak growing time it is a good time to root most
things. It is really only Hardwood Cuttings that don’t go in now as they
go in over Winter. With the warmth that is in the sunshine and the soft
fleshy growth that is on most plants, you do have to be careful that the
Cuttings don’t wilt and dry out which can happen very quickly. When
taking any cuttings they should immediately be put into a plastic bag as
they are taken to try and stop them losing too much moisture and they
need to have their leaves trimmed back, or even totally removed to again
reduce transpiration and give them a better chance. Having said all
that, if done properly, most cuttings will root fairly easily at this
time of year. The Cuttings that have gone in will be for the Late
Summer/Autumn Fundraiser/Sales Day. They include 2 different types of
Hebe, one a plain green and white flowered one and the other a slightly
tender, but lovely variegated one to replace the one that I lost last
Winter; a large red Sedum; 2 different types of Euphorbia, one a ground
cover rosette shaped one and the other a pretty, but large variegated
one and a very pretty, purple variegated houseplant called a
Tradescantia. I have had some hardwood Cuttings in all Winter including
a red stemmed, with brightly variegated leaves – Cornus; some Weigela;
some more Twisted Willow and some twisted Hazel that again have been in
all winter. However, although the Cornus have started to root the others
will probably take all Summer and it will be next Winter before I will
be able to Pot them.
When I tidied up my Greenhouse, in about Mid May, I finally took down my
Bubble Polythene that had been up all Winter. At times the Greenhouse
was getting far too warm, but even so, nearly at the end of May, we
still had one or two nights that were quite cold and I had to make sure
that the door and Windows were all shut. I did finally plant out my more
tender, Dwarf French Beans, Yacons, Courgettes, outdoor Cucumbers and
Squash. As usual I filled the planting holes with water before planting
them and then watered them in afterwards as well. I have found that
filling the planting hole with water draws the Plants roots downwards
instead of encouraging them to stay on the surface. This means that they
will be able to cope with dry spells a lot better and won’t be at the
mercy of the Weather if they don’t get watered regularly because of
Holidays, or some other reason. Indeed after the wet March that we had,
things have started drying up again and as we passed the middle of May,
I was finding things were starting to get a bit dry at times. People on
the Allotments have started reconnecting and repairing Guttering and
Water Storage Tubs again. I am hoping that all of the Mulch of
Shreddings/Woodchip that I have been liberally spreading everywhere will
do some good. At the moment, where I have put a good layer down, the
soil is still very moist underneath. I used to just put it down between
my Fruit Trees and Bushes, but last Winter I started to put it down
everywhere within reason.
Wet Winters can cause Asparagus Plants to rot and some years I lose one
or two, but this year they seem to be fine and have been cropping well.
The winter did affect my Globe Artichokes though, cutting them back
several times as they started to shoot, but they are shooting well now.
I am hopeful that they will crop, but think they may be a bit late. The
Rhubarb seemed to start into growth a bit late as well, but I am doing
all right with it as it growing quite quickly now. Indeed most things
are growing well, especially the Weeds and it is almost a full time job
trying to stay on top of them.
The only good thing about that is that my
Compost Heap is filling up rapidly and the heat is maturing it nicely so
it won’t be long before I can dig out some more for my Beds.
Elsewhere the small Willow Trees that I grew for last years Autumn sale
and didn’t sell, have Coppiced well and are looking good. Instead of
just a thin and uninteresting single stem they now have much more
luxuriant growth which I am hoping will develop into a “Plume,” that I
think People might find more appealing and may encourage them to buy one
when we have our next Sale. The Young Figs and Red Hazels that I Potted
are leafing up, so I am hopeful that they will also be ready when the
time comes. Gradually, I am accumulating a number of Garden Plants that
will be added to the Sale. By then the Composting Toilet and Storage
Shed should be constructed and in use so the money from the Autumn Sale
will go towards “finishing off,” tidying up Paths and making some Picnic
Benches.
 
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