Snadgers Penultimate Plot

[Snadger]

I was at the plot a couple of days ago, mainly to drop off some cardboard for mulch.

While i was there I harvested four of my five-a-day. Jerusalem artichokes,carrots,Mooli and beetroot.
The only ones I have processed up til now are the beetroots. I was a bit worried they would be woody, but they weren't ,and apart from the ones I pickled in malt vinegar and sugar, the others were eaten as they were.Yum.



The sun was low in the sky hence the long shadows.

[Snadger]

Called in at the plot today to see if there had been any wind damage. Still partly covered in snow but shed and greenhouse seemed to be ok.

While I was there I harvested a huge swede and a large show leek.

I also dug up my best show leek which I will use for seed and vegetative reproduction once it forms a seed head. I put it into a large pot, roots and all plus a bit of potting compost. Its now in the greenhouse where it will stay until,and after, it forms a seed head.

[Snadger]

Flying visit to plot this afternoon. Plot still waterlogged so harvested a swede and some leeks. The polytunnel from two plots away is lying in pieces in next doors plot. It also took the fence with it.

Started to strip out the old tomato plants but needed a knife to cut the stems.I will take one with me next time I visit.

Pulled up some sprouts that were running to seed and popped them in dalek. I filled a hessian sack with onions that I had on the greenhouse staging but forgot to pick it up and bring it home.
Called at my plot neighbours house on the way home to give them the bad news but after knocking hard on back and front door I remembered my neighbour is corned beef. and wouldn't hear me

[Snadger]

Called at the plot today mainly to see if there were any worms about for fishing on Sunday. Dug a few soggy areas until I found enough for fishing. The old back started playing up so only dug a couple of square metres.

I fancy growing my spuds where I have cardboard spread out on the plot. I need to find some cheap hay or straw though to cover the cardboard once the spuds have been planted through it. I suppose its a case of trawling the farms round about and trying to cadge a few cheap bales that are too damp for fodder or bedding for animals. If need be I will pay full wack for decent bales.
Its been a nice day today and the Council have cut the grass verges. Maybe if I cut my own lawn I will be able to spread the grass cuttings on the cardboard instead of hay or straw?

[smallblueplanet]

Maybe if I cut my own lawn I will be able to spread the grass cuttings on the cardboard instead of hay or straw?

That's what we mulch our spuds with. But we've not that many spuds planted out, maybe 18 or so. Also we've no cardboard but that sounds a good idea for keeping weeds down? We also plant winter squash in the gaps that the early spuds leave when dug up.

[Snadger]

^^^^ I use cut grass to mulch everything here! Keeps the weeds down.

I usually stick grass cuttings in the dalek but shall spread them on cardboard from now on. This won't be a thing of beauty so hopefully the allotment committee won't kick off!
They are mainly from the brown dessert brigade and prefer to see soil that's freshly dug (pretty hard in a no-dig regime) and not necessarily with anything growing in it.

[Snadger]

The Best laid plans of mice and men.:rolleyes

Visited the plot with a plan in mind to tidy the greenhouse which mainly involved taking down the frame I had constructed for toms, and secondly to sow some broad beans.

It all went to plan until I disentangled the old tomato plants but found the frame I had built was still quite rigid and could be used for this seasons toms.

On looking for somewhere to sow the broadies I decided on a bed that was covered in cardboard. A little compost on top wouldn't go amiss so I foolishly up-ended my dalek composter. I really misjudged how much compost these things hold when they are full and spent the next hour spreading it on the cardboard about six inches thick and even filled another bed to the same depth.
By this time I was too knackered to go about sowing beans.

One thing I have noticed is that the brassicas I sowed in seedbeds and didn't get planted out have done a whole lot better than the ones I transplanted. This is particularly so with
the Spring Cabbage and the PSB.
This year I will just direct sow brassicas and thin them out to the spacing I want. Maybe a pinch of seed at each planting station would do and take out all bar one of the seedlings.

[Snadger]

Managed to get the grass cut at home so took a large bag of grass cuttings and some Elfe potatoes that were well chitted after sitting on the windowsill a month, to the allotment.
I only had a broad idea of how I was going to play it but finished up tipping the grass cuttings onto a strip of cardboard I had laid and took off the six pieces of wood that held it down. I am uncertain what I will be planting in this area so have left it for the time being.
I had eight broad beans which were self seeded around the plot so I dug them up and replanted them at the end of a raised bed.
Even though its a bit early for planting maincrop spuds I decided to plant the Elfe I have chitted as they are starting to shrivel. To offset the earliness of planting I was going to plant these very deep (Up to one foot).
After pulling out old sprout plants and putting them in compost bin, I hoed off the area where the spuds were to go and ran a string line along where the spuds were to be planted. I used a bulb planter and put eleven holes in ground along line. Checked how many chitted spuds I had and I had exactly eleven.

I then got a phone call from OH to say she had clattered her head against a door edge. I shot away home calling at a local newsagent to buy some Elastoplasts.

Luckily, once I got home OH's head wasn't as bad as I expected and it had stopped bleading.

[Snadger]

Busy day today. Went to chemist to pick up prescriptions for myself and OH. Went shopping for basics.

Called at plot on way home and parked in a side street in case some over zealous bobby had a go at me for travelling to plot and seen my car parked in front of main gates.

Decided to plant some Elfe potatoes which had good strong chits, but the potato had started to shrivel. I planted these with a trowel about 9 inches deep until my trowel snapped half way through planting and I had to resort to a spade. Even though I had the spuds stood on end to chit they had chitted at both ends. This meant I could lay the spuds side ways on and give all the shoots a chance to grow. My logic is, more chits more tatties but I may be wrong as I have heard of people rubbing off chits for some reason?

After planting spuds I dug up some Elephant garlic which I had forgot about. They didn't do very well last year so I just left them. I dug up nine large corms which had started to grow and planted them out with a decent spacing between them. I have a feeling they will do well this year.

I then retired to the greenhouse and filled two trays with compost. In the first tray I planted 24 red torpedo onion seedlings and in the second tray 24 ailsa Craig seedlings I had been given by another plot holder. I still have loads more which I will plant in clumps in modules and plant these out later for smaller onions.

After watering everything I had planted I headed for home a happy man pleased that I had made a start on this years planting.

[Penellype]

Decided to plant some Elfe potatoes which had good strong chits, but the potato had started to shrivel. I planted these with a trowel about 9 inches deep until my trowel snapped half way through planting and I had to resort to a spade. Even though I had the spuds stood on end to chit they had chitted at both ends. This meant I could lay the spuds side ways on and give all the shoots a chance to grow. My logic is, more chits more tatties but I may be wrong as I have heard of people rubbing off chits for some reason?

I think the logic behind rubbing off chits is that lots of shoots means lots of small potatoes, fewer shoots means fewer but bigger potatoes.

[Snadger]

I think the logic behind rubbing off chits is that lots of shoots means lots of small potatoes, fewer shoots means fewer but bigger potatoes.

Well hopefully in my case it will be more shoots giving a bigger poundage of tatties! In the few years I have grown Elfe I have always had decent sized spuds so I will see what happens. If I get a lot of undersized tatties I will refer back to this post!

[Snadger]

I went shopping for basic stuff today so as usual I tied this in with a visit to the plot. I watered my seedlings of onions and red torpedo onions in the greenhouse. I then went outdoors and dug a small section to complete a small section already dug.

I then planted a double row of broad beans

Back in the greenhouse I potted on a grapevine grown from a cutting of my old vine. I sowed some leeks in a large pot and sowed a plug tray of a wildflower mix. Buying plug plants is expensive, growing plug plants from seed is cheap.

After an hour on site I headed home.

[Snadger]

Been to the plot today and planted two rows of Charlotte spuds. I just hoed of fthe area and used a bulb planter to plant them.
Pulled up the last of my swedes which were running to seed and put them in compost bin.

Collected a bag full of PSB for my tea. I love PSB steamed and drenched in butter with loads of freshly ground black pepper.

[Containergardener]

^^^^^hmmm yum

[Snadger]

Back to the plot today. Assembled a pile of scrap into a shortened version of a polytunnel I had on my old plot.
Dug up my Mooli (surprised it survived the winter) and tickled over the bed with fork and raked level. Put a glass panel over it to warm up the soil for for sowing carrots.

Harvested a carrier bag of beetroot which appears to be ok and weeded that bed ready for possibly a sowing of parsnips soon or for sweetcorn later in the year.

Need to get on top of the weeds but I am concentrating on getting stuff sown in case of full lockdoown where it will have to take care of itself.