Hot X Buntime

 

Easter is upon us and my shed building project is soaking up all my gardening time.  This is the current state of play. I have sown two rows of carrots and one of parsnips. Also a row of asparagus. It will be potatoes next.

My shorter term project is to bake HXB.  

Parsimonious with Parsnips

 

Parsnips are one of the first seeds you can sow direct out of doors.  They are notoriously slow to germinate and also slow to reach maturity. The slow germination means that by the time you notice they have failed it is too late to sow again - unless you are monitoring them very closely and keeping the weeds from overtaking them.  One suggested solution is to sow radishes and parsnips together.  In theory the quick growing radishes mark out the row and are harvested well in advance of the parsnips which then grow on without competition.  I have not tried this as radishes are brutes and their harvesting would necessarily disturb the parsnip roots in the process.  Another strategy, which I have tried, is to sow groups of three parsnips at regular spacings along the row.  This has the advantage of providing an expected pattern to look out for amidst the germinating weeds.  The only problem is when none out of three germinate.  

A renown feature of parsnip seed is its short viability. Many old hands advise that you need to buy new seed each year.   Seed suppliers are generous with the quantity  (800 in the packet above).  20 well grown parsnips is more than enough for me. It is a good idea to share your parsnip seed with your neighbours.

These considerations explain my interest in the "fluid sowing" method suggested by David Gray  in Know & Grow Vegetables (1979).  The idea is that you pregerminate your parsnip seeds before adding them to wallpaper paste which is piped into drills.  (Given that commercial wallpaper pastes all have fungicide in them I use cornflour paste).  In theory, using this method, you know that your seeds are viable and have germinated.  You can also sow accurately to a desired density (by spreading the paste with the given number of seeds along a given length of drill).  

Today I have wetted the seeds. By next weekend I hope they will be ready for deployment outdoors.

footnote: I did try this system two years ago but the whole project failed when a well meaning neighbour deposited a barrel on the bed which repeatedly rolled back and forth across the bed during a windy weather before I discovered it. Last year I sowed conventionally, three times, and still failed to produce parsnips bigger than carrots.  

Allotment Tour Summer 2021

It is a sure sign of summer progressing when your fennel is ready for harvest.  After a summer where my focus has been elsewhere I realise it is time to do my "warts and all" tour of the plot. 

The parsnips are progressing steadily regardless of the stop start weather.  Alongside I have some second sowing of  autumn crops where the elephant garlic was.

The fruit cage is looking very green where the gooseberries and redcurrants are, A really good redcurrant crop but only a few gooseberries. I might have been a bit vigorous with my winter pruning?  The blackberries and autumn raspberries behind are yet to come. The two summer varieties are finished

Spring planted Onion from sets are flopping over of their own accord.  The early leeks behind show no such tendancy. 

For the first time I have tried to grow onions from seed too.  They are behind the celery and celeriac in this bed.  (It is also the first time I have tried to grow celery)

Moving along to the brassica patch there are three distinct phases as indicated by the height of the plants. The early cabbages and cauliflower are all gone but the Brussels remain tall and now suitably distanced. 

Further along the beans are hitting their peak.  Both Runners.

and Dwarf French

The winter squashes are the sea of green next door to the beans - although there are some flowers.  Fruits?  So far three marrow sized courgettes.

The foreground bare patch here is where the peas were and are now sown with winter leaves (Land Cress , Claytonia and Lamb's Lettuce.

Bringing up the rear I have hedged my bets trying to establish an asparagus bed but growing strawberries in between - at least until the asparagus gets going. It was grown from seed. (The rhubarb blueberries and globe artichoke just get on with their business year after year.)    

The final area is not very pretty,  It is the potato patch with nearly all of the tops cut off.  It looked like this in the middle of June.

But now it looks like this.

Hope you enjoyed the tour around my patch.

Allotment Tour May

It is raining again today, but yesterday was a surprise sunny day.  I took the opportunity to take some snaps of the allotment.  First, appropriately, the potato patch.

The shaws are appearing above ground and very soon it will be time to mound them.

Beyond the potatoes is the fruit cage.  The first of the three bays was strawberries.  Notoriously these have to be moved around in order to avoid build up of disease.  So currently this bay is garlic,  Elephant to the left, ordinary to the right.  In between are two rows of parsnips which are indistinguishable from the germinating weeds currently.  But believe me they are there!

The remainder of the fruit cage is more conventionally raspberries and a mixture of currants and berries:

Reaching the turn at the end I am most pleasantly surprised by these autumn planted red onion sets.  I had given them up for lost but come the new year they have reappeared and are thriving.

Also at that end are spring planted onion sets (tent to the left ) Carrots (temple to the right) and leeks between them.  Next  is onions and shallots from seed (I went a bit mad on alliums this year) and the start of the brassica patch in front of that in the picture below.

Working back to the start I have covered the ground, temporarily with weed suppressant fabric.  This is going to be the the other half of the brassica patch and the legume/cucurbit patch which currently only has broad beans and a row of peas on the go along with some salads.  The runner bean poles are up in readiness but the runner beans are only now germinating back at home.

Broad beans (under netting)

For the sake of completeness here is the last section with strawberries and blueberries to the left, rhubarb to the right and asparagus bed featured in my last post in the middle.

 

So there you have it.  Together with the seedling nursery at home this is my vegetable home!  Hope you enjoyed the tour.

The Allotment in November

 

I think you can agree things are looking a bit forlorn on my visit to the allotment today.  I keep wondering  "Who is that"  before remembering that the sunflower is being left for the birds. It is all that is left of the beans and cucurbits (and I think it came in with the plants having originally come from the birdfood at home).

One area still very much in production is the "Other Roots" which is mostly given over to carrots (under environmesh netting) because we eat so many of them over the year and they taste so much better than any you can buy.  We haven't even finished harvesting half of them. as we pick them as we need them.  I do hope we will get away with leaving them in the ground over winter.  The net helps - and I will supplement that with straw if severe frosts are forecast. 

Carrots under netting

The rest of the "Other Roots" are parsnips and scorzonera squeezed in at the end.  These happily don't need protection.  Celeriac had to be squeezed elsewhere (with the cucurbits) as space had run out! 

Green tops of "Other Roots"

The Allium area only has leeks left. They have been intercropped with late lettuces, some of which are still on the go - along with the weeds.

Lettuces and Leeks

Harvested lettuces and leeks - and beetroot

Something else still on the go, by design, is curly endive - Pancalieri.  I tried these last year tying a string around each plant to blanche them.  It worked fine but some insects got wise to my plan and took up residence.  So I am being a bit more relaxed (lazy) this year and I have left the rosettes unrestrained.  They make great lettuce soup.

New this year is chicory.  Rossa di Traveso (I think) is the one that has worked out best.  Time will tell if they reach edible proportions.

Rossa di Traveso heads

A mention for the more traditional brassica patch.  The small plants are Spring Hero cabbages I am overwintering.  There's plenty broccoli, sprouts and kale for the winter too, provided the pigeons don't gain access under that net.

Brassica Patch

So even though it is looking murky and winter is approaching there is still the prospect of more to come from the allotment.

The view from the end

Now here's a song for my sunflower:

Remember Your Plot?

Days have shortened, temperatures have dropped, rain has been sweeping past and outdoor activities have become less attractive.  It is tempting to just forget about the plot on the other side of town. That's not to say that there is nothing cropping at the moment.  It's just that as soon as your gloves get wet you have to change them before you lose the use of your hands.  So today three pairs of gloves at the ready I harvested

The last of the row of fennel

                                  

Swiss chard:

and spinach:

 Cabbage:

Kohlrabi

Swede:

Carrots from under their cover:

and that's a row of salsify to the left which, like the parsnips, I have yet to explore. 

Less photogenic but also picked today Jerusalem artichoke and sprouting broccoli. There's plenty beetroot too and Brussel sprouts to come.  The leeks I am leaving for when things get really depleted.

Nearly forgot to mention the late brassicas planted after clearing the strawberry patch! There's spring greens, kale and mooli in there.   

So all in all I have still got lots of reasons to remember to visit the plot, (just don't ask me to do any weeding).