My New BOL/Allotment Diary

[junmist]

Really enjoying this thread thank you

[featherstick]

Thats great! I've just been chatting on a gardening thread on my social site about how great broad beans are, leaving the soil better than when they got going
.

Not really, I'm afraid, unless you dig them in early as a green manure. Beans and peas will fix enough nitrogen for themselves but they don't leave lots behind as that would be a wasted effort. And they only do it in the presence of the correct bacterium. You can tell whether you have the bacterium present in the soil by pulling the roots up - if the nodule on the roots are pink or red, the bacterium is present. If white, then not. It is possible to innoculate the soil with the bacterium though, the name of the preparation will come to me.

[Arzosah]

Thats very interesting, thank you! Everywhere I turn, there's more information to be researched

[featherstick]

Thats great! I've just been chatting on a gardening thread on my social site about how great broad beans are, leaving the soil better than when they got going

Love the idea of getting the soil set up and then letting it sit for a bit - its certainly going to repay you big time.

My brothers idea to chicken manure the poly tunnels and water them in now so that when the seedlings in the greenhouse emerge we can transplant them over at the right time.

I just got John Harrison's allotment newsletter - he recommends adding a dressing of fish, blood and bone meal now, giving it time to work in and become available before planting.

His veg books are very good, by the way. Proper advice, not RHS/Dorling Kindersley coffee-table-books with lovely photos posed by models. : )

[dannytsg]

Featherstick so did I. I've copied it here for anyone who wishes to read it for tips:

Well it looks like spring may have arrived – although winter is having a last go as I write. At least I hope a last go but in Britain the weather holds more surprises than certainty. So it's wise to keep some horticultural fleece handy in case a late frost strikes.
March is the month when the horticultural year really gets going, the propagators get fired up for the tomatoes and peppers and, as the weather improves, outdoor sowing starts in earnest. So I'd like to share a few tips that are appropriate for this time of year and then I'll answer some of the questions sent in after last month's newsletter.

Warming the soil
Cloches and fleece coverings are great for providing protection but if you set them up a week or so before planting or sowing the soil will be a couple of degrees warmer than otherwise. That couple of degrees can be the difference between fast and good germination or slow and poor.

Feeding the soil
Composts and manures are critical to achieving good soil structure and supply the micro-nutrients, which are like vitamins to plants. But vegetables demand a lot of nutrition to grow to their potential so I like to give them a boost by applying a couple of ounces per square yard of fish, blood and bone or Growmore fertiliser around this time. So often the problems people have with vegetables are down to those vegetables being malnourished.

Keep Your Crop Weed Free
Especially in the early days, it is critical to avoid competition from weeds so that your crop gets off to a good start. Allowing weeds to develop can reduce the final crop by 70% even if you manage to clear them later on.
Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends if you wish or let people know they can sign up for their own copy here. http://www.allotment-garden.org/newsletter/
If you change your email address, don't forget to change it for the newsletter by following the change options / unsubscribe link at the end of this letter.

Tomato Tip
This was a surprise to me but a study has shown that transplanting tomato seedlings within six days of them germinating results in better plants. Quite why is a mystery still but I don't need to know the reason so long as it works!

Book Offer
Don't forget you can get my Vegetable Growing Month by Month, The Essential Allotment Guide and Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces with £9.00 worth of Suttons Seeds with each copy and free postage.

Edible Garden Show
Just a reminder that you can get two adult tickets for £25.00 (children under 16 go free) using the code AL2425 for the show. Click Here: http://www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk/book-tickets
We'll be there on Friday 20th March – so if you see us do say hello.

Britain's Best Allotment Competition
As you might have read in my diary, I'm on the judging panel for the Britain's Best Allotment Competition. The competition is open for entries now until the 16th July 2015. All you need to do is to go to the Britain’s Best Allotment website and upload some photographs of your allotment along with a short statement about why you love your allotment.
During National Allotments Week, August 10th-17th 2015, the panel will be visiting the shortlisted plots and announcing the winner in our grand finale. I’m really looking forward to seeing the photographs and visiting the shortlisted entrants so please have a go.

Cauliflower Question:
'Every time I grow cauliflowers the go brown no matter if I grow from seed myself or buy plugs. I have treated the soil with boron and Epsom salts as advised but the results are the same. They start off ok but then change. I'm about to feed the soil with seaweed.'
What an interesting question. Brown curds, as against sunlight discoloured curds on cauliflowers, is a sure sign of Boron deficiency. It's a pretty rare problem, but happily it's easy to fix. Get some borax (NOT borax substitute)and mix with warm water to dissolve in a watering can. It's tricky because you only need to use 2 grams per square metre.You don't want to over apply - so be careful.
It can help as a foliar feed but the problem is that by the time you realise you have the problem it's too late!
Add as much manure and compost to the soil as you can in the autumn/winter prior to planting - this will help to balance the micro-nutrients as will the seaweed.

'I have a lot of trouble with slug damage on potatoes, any remedies?'
There are all sorts of remedies and barriers for slugs but I think the most effective solution is to use nematodes. See: Controlling Slugs with Nemaslug Nematodes Less expensive is to use Advanced Slug Killer Pellets which are wildlife and pet safe.
Well that's nearly it for this month, I hope the tips are useful to you. Last month I mentioned how the newsletter goes to different countries around the world – I missed a few so a big hello to readers in South Africa, Spain, Thailand and India!
Don't forget, I welcome your emails with suggestions for the site and the newsletters. If there's a topic you'd like me to cover, do let me know.
Thanks for reading and good growing
John

[dannytsg]

Saturday 7/3/15

So today at the allotment was more about checks and measures after planting last week. I've been up today and watered everything thoroughly and upon checking my greenhouse have some seedlings starting to emerge already.



We have also been toying with the idea of acquiring some livestock to raise to slaughter and have settled upon us wanting 1 pig and 1 lamb (more so driven by me than my wife). As we cannot keep such animals at our allotment we found ourselves reaching out to a local farm friend who has suitable land and luckily for us was also in the market for the same animals. We have agreed to purchase 1 lamb and 1 pig to raise to slaughter. The lamb will be raised to about 5 months and the pig to 8-12 months so within the next 12 months we are in for some really fresh, ethically raised, locally sourced meat to compliment all the lovely fruit and veg we intend and hope to grow.

We are yet to get to meet our lamb as it hasn't been born yet however we have chosen a piglet from the acquired litter which is a mangalitza cross breed to offer good meat that isn't as fatty as a pure bred mangalitza. In the picture our piglet is the one right at the front, side on with the black spot on its hind leg.



I will be weaned from mum at 8 weeks or so and then brought over to the farm with others for bringing on.

More updates in the coming days and weeks

[Arzosah]

Gorgeous little piglet and you can already see what a good - if short! - life those piglets are going to have from the depth of the straw they've got to footle around in

[dannytsg]

Gorgeous little piglet and you can already see what a good - if short! - life those piglets are going to have from the depth of the straw they've got to footle around in

The benefit of the arrangement we have with our farmer friend is that we can be as hands on as we want to be in the raising of the pig and the lamb, although we will be relying on their expertise when it comes to the slaughter house.

Since getting the allotment I have decided as I do with anything else, that if it's worth doing it's worth doing to excess, hence the livestock. Chickens may also be in the agenda along with plans I have for an aquaponics system whereby I have a setup that allows me to have trout in a tank and then use the fish waster to fertilise plants.

[dannytsg]

Sunday 8/3/15

A good few hours spent at the allotment today in between the intermittent rain. I had to concentrate on mending and fixing a few things that had broken whilst my wife concentrated on planting yet more seeds to get them ready further for transplanting into the poly tunnels in the coming weeks.









So we now have kale, radish, cucumber, beetroot, mushrooms and melon to compliment our already planted rhubarb, strawberries, onions, broad beans, broccoli and sugar snap peas. Potatoes will be going in within the coming weeks as well as leek and parsnip.

A helpful tip for those composting, if you enjoy a Starbucks coffee, the next time you visit their store looks for the silver bags with "grounds for you garden" on them. Starbucks give their used coffee grounds away to gardeners for free. Add these to your compost head and allow them to compost in, it will give your compost a big nutrient boost for any seedlings you plant.

[dannytsg]

Tuesday 10/3/15

After finishing a long day in work I went up to the allotment as between myself and my brother we had a delivery of fresh wood chip bark to lay on the paths.

After booking 20-30 wheelbarrow loads up the hill to our allotments, distributing it and taking it out my main paths were now nicely wood chipped. Next will be to dig over one of the overgrown beds to enable me to plant our potatoes in due course as well as to sort out some more decking for in front of the summerhouse.