This week is a busy one with lots of work visits to Chelsea flower show, so allotment activity this weekend aimed at keeping every thing going for the next 6 days.
Transplants
are being set out as fast as possible, with autumn cauliflowers, autumn
and winter cabbages and savoys being planted. This just leaves Swedes, white storing cabbage, purple cape cauliflowers and purple sprouting broccoli to be planted in the brassica patch.
I am sorry to say that all the courgettes planted out last weekend have been eaten by slugs. In
the past they would have been treated at planting with slug pellets as
a matter of routine, but now I feel obliged to take a more measured
approach, and decided to leave out the pellets as slugs did not appear
to be numerous. However, as the Brussels sprouts previously grown on
this ill-drained piece of ground were rich in slugs I should have been
warned. Replacement plants have gone in, been watered and pelleted and I hope these will make it.
A row of sweet and chilli peppers and a short row of lablab beans were planted out and covered with fleece. Slug
pellets were applied and with the longish dewy nights followed by
drying, windy, sunny days great numbers of slugs have perished.
The second sowing in modules of sweet corn was planted out for August cropping, and the next sowing for early September made in situ where the plants are to grow. Two seeds per station were sown.
Celery and celeriac transplants are nearly ready to set out, so trenches were prepared for these. Although
celeriac does not really need a trench it does make watering so very
much easier and these roots do need a lot of watering. Lettuces were planted out and other lettuces, radish and rocket were sown in between where the celeriac is to grow.
A very little of dill, coriander, fennel and oregano were also sown.
Spinach was sown in a slightly shaded area near the tree at the end of the plot. It is less inclined to bolt in the shade.
Weeding continues. I use a step-by-step approach. As soon as emerging seedlings can be seen the row is hoed. When the seedlings are big enough the row is hand-weeded. Subsequently the row is ‘picked over' with an onion hoe and weeds hooked out between the row.
For some plants the soil can be moved from the inter-row space in
between plants in the row smothering weeds inside the row itself. The
in-between space is then hoed to kill any weeds that have survived the
first hoeing and any that have re-rooted after the onion hoe treatment. This hooking out and inter-row treatment is continued for as long as necessary and development of the crop allows. A
little hand weeding is often needed to get rid of big weeds growing
right in the row and tight against crop plants for they must never be
allowed to set seed. At Wisley of course the
gardeners and an army of volunteers weed once and weed perfectly, but
more seeds still germinate and repeat treatments are needed. This is
too slow work for a busy allotment holder.
Peas in particular needed weeding, followed by supporting. I use wire netting where possible as it is quick and easy to set up and to clear. The spent peas are quickly pulled off and flung on the compost heap. However, I am a bit short of wire netting so some peas are supported by stakes and string. This
is not quite as good as wire netting, but even easier to clear, merely
cutting the string and throwing it all on the compost. And it is a lot cheaper. Wire netting is expensive stuff. I always use natural fibre string that will rot in the compost or soil.
Peas
and beans sown recently have yet to emerge and it will be possible to
lightly hoe over the top of the germinating seeds to make for a very
clean crop. However, I will wait for the rain to clear first.
Black bean aphid has appeared. Unfortunately
my aphids are too clever to be dealt with by picking off the tip as
recommended by the gardening literature. My brainy beasts
form colonies all over the plants. An organic oil based insecticide was
applied in a coarse drenching spray to the entire plant at dusk when
bees are absent. This is reasonably effective.
The selective insecticides that kill aphids and spare bees and other
helpful insects are no longer offered to gardeners, although farmers
can still use them.
Cabbage root fly damage has begun to appear in the radishes. Cabbage root fly loves radish, but because the crop is short term I ignore the losses. Other plants protected by collars have yet to show damage. There are usually a few losses but I have some plants in reserve.
I am gathering mange-tout peas and broad beans in abundance now and salads are going well.
The mange-tout, sown in October, have suddenly 'given-up', going pale
and looking as if they have a magnesium deficiency. It appears that
'foot rot' fungi have attacked the base of the stem cutting off water
and nutrient supplies from the roots. Most of the crop has reached
picking stage so it not a great loss and probably a consequence of a
wet winter. They will be pulled up and consumed as soon as possible.
The follow-on crop sown in February is in full flower and now is
already 10cm taller than the over-wintered crop and is therefore free
of disease - long may this continue. Rotation is the only control
measure open to gardeners.
New potatoes and baby carrots are on the verge of being ready to harvest. I have also eaten my first strawberries but these are fruit so I should not mention them here.