It's All Kicking Off

Now we are into April we are hitting the sweetspot for sowing just about everything.  Already in March the broadbeans and first early potatoes have been planted out.

The broadbeans were looking strong before and after planting out.

The potato variety is Epicure. We like floury potatoes and these fit the bill.  Also they are about the hardiest potato variety known to me and will shrug off any frost damage. (Famous last words)

 

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.  

Sights of Bruges

 

A weekend interlude away from the allotment.

Canal view

Step gabling

Volkskundemuseum

City Hall at dusk

Dune Bridge

Old St John's Hospital and the Church of Our Lady

Minnewater with Swans

Begijnhof Ten Wijnngaerde

The Belfry

The Gruuthuse

Now it is back to the spring rush with warmer night temperatures and longer daylight.

Do Not Exclude Light

 

the fro

Notwithstanding the frost outside, it is time to sow a group of flowers that appreciate light.  I guess these are all seeds that land on the soil surface over winter and just wait for the heat and light of spring. 

Here's my best attempt to mimic nature. Top level  (The lower level represents my more brazen attempts to steal a march with things loke basil, cosmos and peppers.)

Howick Hall Galanthus Trail

Composting Weeds

Warning = if you are into "No Dig" you won't like this. It is next year's cucurbits and legumes patch in my 5 way rotation. As the season progresses all my allotment weeds get stuffed into black lined bags previously used for manure or proprietary compost mixes. The bags are piled up and left to languish in the sun wherever is out of the way, until now. Yard by square yard I dig a pit, tip in a couple of foul smelling bags and then fill it in from the next square yard. This last year I collected twenty bags of weedy material. I call this fertility recycling. The runner beans, courgettes, squashes and peas seem to like it. Even the pernicious weed remnants underneath seem to get the message that they are the providers of nutrition, no longer the beneficiaries.

I do "high fibre" composting in a plastic dalek at home with the help of brandling worms. Here kitchen waste is generated and so are supplies of paper and cardboard so that the lasagne layering required to keep the greens and browns in balance are to hand. As the allotment is several miles across town the "stuff it in a light excluding bag" method seems to be more practicable. Weeds are excluded from my home compost which I use for mixing my own seed mixes and mulches. I find this a happy arrangement.

Overwinter?

 It is every allotmenteer's dream to be harvesting all the year around. With stored harvests like garlic, onions, and potatoes this can be a viable claim. But the fresh harvesting activity in winter is restricted to digging up parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes, leeks and carrots.  What we crave by this time of the year is a bit of freshly picked greenery.  The reality is that the best we can hope for is for leafy crops to withstand the onslaught of the winter chill and then spring back into new growth at the earliest opportunity. Here are a couple of candidates:

Miner's Lettuce/Winter Purslane

Seakale Beet/Swiss Chard

Last of the leeks and first of the onions

Spring Hero Cabbage

Just out of the (unheated) greenhouse are these winter survivors. They will be deployed in the open soon, probably with a bit of protection.  The pigeons are keen on fresh greens too!

August sown
All the Year Round Cauliflower
Red Drumhead Cabbage
Little Gem Lettuce