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Field Allotments Hixon
Gardening
Tips
By Mrs FM
Hartley.
Unusual
& Old
Fashioned Fruit
Trees.
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Vegetables,
Herbs & Other
Edible Plants.
Environmental
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By
Alan J Hartley
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Our Autumn
Sale.
Before our Autumn Sale I was offered some Plants at work that had been
dug up out of a Team Members Garden and nobody really knew what they
were. The Staff had used a Plant Identification App on their Phones to
try and identify them, but I wasn’t convinced about the Identification.
A number of the plants had been potted, but when I came to take some of
the remainder home, I was told that they had been put on one of the
large Compost Heaps. So, I went rummaging and found them almost
completely buried in rubbish. Getting them home I set about Potting them
and was still not convinced with the name given to them, so I did some
research. I looked up Cordylines on the Internet and saw that they
produce a bare stem as they grow and as older Leaves are removed, very
much like a Coconut Palm, or Tree Fern and these plants were definitely
clump forming. Cordylines tend not to be very hardy either and these
plants were definitely that. Yuccas were another, hardier, option, but
here again they produce a tall bare stem as they grow. I added Dracaena
to the list of possibilities but instantly dismissed them as they are
not at all hardy and are really a “House Plant.” Phormiums, or New
Zealand Flax on the other hand were a perfect candidate and when I
looked at some Online Pictures, I could see that the Plants were indeed
a Plain New Zealand Flax. It just goes to show that although the Plant
Identifiers are very good you do need to have some knowledge to use them
accurately as they are not infallible.
The Allotments Annual Plant Sale should have been held at the start of
September, but as several Committee Members were going to be away on
Holiday the date was put back. However, when we got close to the day, we
saw that the Weather Forecast was bad and most people wanted to cancel
it to a later date. We had already advertised the event, so I was
insistent and won the day with it going ahead indoors at the Village
Hall. Admittedly, we did get a bit wet moving the Plants from the
Allotments down to the Hall, but we were pleased to see that a number of
People turned out to buy from us. We have been having the Sales for a
while now and are definitely developing a bit of a following with a
number of faithful Plant-aholics turning up for each Sale. There is a
Car Park right next to the Village Hall, so people didn’t have far to go
to get wet going to and from their Cars. We actually raised about £170
on the day which was more than some of the Committee expected, but still
a little disappointing. It was decided that as it was so wet we would
finish the day a bit early and at about 12 noon, when we were packing
away, the Sun came out which at least meant that we were moving the
left-over Plants back up to the Allotments in the dry! As usual we had
more money come in after the sale and with my pre-sale Sales of over
£300, we raised a grand total of over £600. This was our second biggest
Sales Total only being beaten by the May Sale earlier this Year.
Previous Sales had been to raise funds for work on the Allotments
Including a New Composting Toilet, Communal Storage Shed and the
Re-development of the Compost Bays, but this year’s Sales were both for
the benefit of the new Community First Responders Project that is to be
based in our Village but that will also serve several nearby Villages.
With the other planned Fundraising Schemes, it is hoped that the Village
will meet the Target shortly and that will enable everything to go ahead
and enable the First Responder scheme to start operating officially.
Normally, after a Sale, we put the left-over Fruit and Vegetable Plants
down the side of the Allotments Driveway for Plot-holders to help
themselves to with an Honesty Box amongst them. However, as we didn’t
really have any Allotment type Plants left with them all being Garden
Plants, or Trees, we simply put them back on my Plot. There was a lot
more left than I had hoped for, but as I pointed out, it will save me
growing so many for the Sale next May – so long as I can keep them over
Winter! Since then though I have already started Potting things up for
next time. I have potted a number of Twisted Willows which are always
popular because they are very pretty and decorative, along with about 20
odd Raspberries. Raspberries can be a bit temperamental about rooting
into Pots, but I am hopeful and some should take. I hope they do because
several people on our site have lost theirs and have already asked me
for some plants! Really, I suppose I should have waited for their Leaves
to drop before digging them up as all plants will move better when they
are Dormant.
However, I was keen to get things done so went ahead
anyway. I will leave the Rhubarb Crowns that need to be dug up until
later though. I have several smallish Rhubarb Plants in the wrong place
that have grown from bits left in the compost that didn’t rot down
properly! They will be ideal candidates to pot up for the Spring Sale. I
also have a number of Black Currant Bushes left-over, so don’t need to
do anymore of those but, I have put some Gooseberry Cuttings in that
normally root quite easily. Surprisingly we had quite a lot of Fig Trees
left this time which is unusual as they normally sell very well, so the
part rooted cuttings that I already have in my Cold Frame, may end up
being donated to the Charity where I work, especially as I will probably
take a lot more cuttings when I trim around my Fig trees. They shouldn’t
really be pruned until late February/March as they are liable to Bleed
and Die Back, but I have found that it is safe to cut off what would be
Suckers in other trees. I do the same with the well-established Red
Hazel in my Garden, after it drops it’s Leaves. In theory you can Root
Hazel Cuttings, but I find it much easier to remove shoots that are
growing from the main Trunk below Soil level and that are already partly
rooted. Fig cuttings will certainly root as normal cuttings, but here
again I like to take off part rooted cuttings for a better success rate.
For the Spring Sale I could do with some more Flowering Plants, but I
have decided not to divide my Herbaceous Perennials until early next
season as sometimes they will rot in the Autumn if they are done a bit
late. I did do some a few weeks ago though that I then planted in my
Allotment for Cut Flowers next year that will hopefully be alright.
One Plant that I was given which I hadn’t heard of before was Anaphalis,
or “Pearly Everlasting.” Apparently, they produce small flowers that dry
easily like those of the Helichrysum, but unlike them they only come in
one colour. However, they do have rather attractive evergreen, “Hairy,”
or silvery Leaves that are a bit like those of Stachys. I was also given
some White Phlox along with some purple and pink ones that will all cut
nicely.
Anyway - back to my Allotment. As predicted my Apples did very well and
I picked an abundance of different varieties of Apples filling many
crates. I normally only give away the smaller ones after I have picked
out the best, but this year there were so many I felt generous and gave
away several crates, before sorting, to some friends and I then gave
another lady a couple of Crates for her to take to get juiced along with
a lot of her own Apples. Admittedly, some of those that I picked did
need a bit longer to ripen better as they were still a bit sharp, but it
will be a long time before I can get through all of them so that doesn’t
matter in the slightest. There were a few Grubby ones amongst them as
well and those had to be removed from the others and used up first. If
you don’t do that and you try to store them, they may well rot quickly
and if you are not careful, they can spoil others close to them in the
trays. The old adage about “One Bad Apple,” is still very true today. I
used to store my Apple Harvest in some large Crates that I lined with
the dimpled Cardboard Trays that you see at the Greengrocers. However,
this time I didn’t have any of those bigger Crates available and had to
use smaller ones that the Trays weren’t really suitable for. So, I tried
the old-fashioned method of Apple Storage and wrapped each individual
Apple in a single sheet of Newspaper before placing it into one of the
Crates. The Crates then easily stacked up in my workshop with the air
able to get through them. Good ventilation around your Apples can help
to prevent problems as they can “sweat.” As a single tall Stack, they
are taking up very little space and they will be OK to stay where they
are until they get used up sometime during the coming Winter. With
Apples costing anything upwards from £1 for 4, they are a very
worthwhile crop and there is quite a saving there. They may not be as
perfect as Shop bought ones and they may have a few Blemishes on, but if
you are really fussy, you can easily nick those out with a fruit Knife
and some people cut up their apples to eat them anyway. I often chop
mine up and mix them with a Banana and small pot of Yoghurt. The Yoghurt
and Banana sweeten them if they are still a bit sharp.
Now that Autumn is upon us with the Apple Harvest just about over and
the Leaves starting to drop, the main job on the Allotment will be
tidying up. However, some things like Garlic, Broad Beans, Over
Wintering Onions and Bare Root Plants like Raspberries and Strawberries
can still be planted. Sweet Pea Seeds can also go in and some Brassicas
can be planted. Other seasonal jobs to be done include putting Grease
Bands on the Fruit Trees and tying in Branches to train them. Even
though it is getting cooler there are still plenty of tasks to do on the
Allotment when the weather permits.
 
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