Todays harvests & weeks update

Welcome back to our allotment retreat, where today we were greeted by the sight of our newly transplanted Rhubarb (v.Victoria) plant. As you can clearly see, it's loving it's new home, and sending up new shoots all the time. It's really encouraging to see such good growth, and together with the 2 crowns at home, should mean bumper harvests for the next few years. I know it takes up a lot of space on the plot, but in my opinion its a good sacrifice. This year we have experimented a bit with it - Rhubarb & Ginger jam etc, and then there's the possibility of wine too!

Today we harvested yet more veg. We have been getting a bag full every now and again! The spuds (v.Nadine) are the 2nd earlies, and we plan to leave them in the ground until we need them. This will continue unless we get a bout of wet weather, which may lead to slug damage. We are also now getting a good crop of Runner Beans(v.Scarlet Emperor), as well as the Purple Podded Climbing French beans. The latter are causing quite a stir at the plot - there's a well trodden path to our plot from other plotholders, keen to investigate this "new" crop! The Climbing French beans are also just starting to crop. Lovely!

We have more Marrows on the way too. This specimen now about 8" long and 4" diameter, and there's about 4 more starting off on the same plant! Yummy. In line with the experimenting(above) we are now thinking of Marrow Preserve. That's making my mouth water just thinking about it!




The second marrow plant next the the one above, is adorned with more large flowers, a beautiful sight and more promise of things to come. This has been our first year growing marrows - and even then its by accident - as the plants we purchased as "Courgette" were indeed Marrow! Oh well, we're not complaining!




The Butternut Squashes (v.Waltham Cross) that we planted atop our compost heap are also growing really well. This pic shows the 1st fruit starting to form, and there's plenty more buds too. It's all quite exciting, as we patiently wait to see what will / won't grow!








The plant's that were donated by Stephen at Victoriana Nurseries, are also growing on well. Several of the plants are producing fruit, all about the size of tennis balls at the moment. Considering how late these were planted, they are doing really well. There's also a couple of Courgette (Zucchini) plants which have fruit on them, and a sole Cantaloupe Melon plant. The latter is adorned with flowers but no fruit at the moment.


We have recently found a source of free manure, which we have started transporting to the allotment. At the moment we are spreading it over the beds that contained our second early spuds. Over the next few months we will get as much as we can and use it to improve our soil structure. Rather than "digging" it in, we plan to just mulch the surface with it, and let the worms do the work! The manure is all fairly well rotted down already, it doesn't even smell much! Just wish I had a towbar and a trailer!




That's it for today folks. Hope you've all enjoyed our update, and we look forward to welcoming you back to our allotment retreat soon.

Take care all and enjoy your plots.

TTFN.

1st August - And what a haul!

Welcome back to our allotment retreat, where we are enjoying the fruits of our labour once again! After a quick visit to the plot today we came away with this bumper harvest. We cant lay claim to the courgettes - they were a gift from a fellow plotholder - he grew so many he's been eating them every day for weeks! The marrow is our second this year and the plants are still flourishing. We picked a good handful of Runner Beans, French Beans and Purple podded french beans. Only a couple of Pea pods - but they are soooo tasty ! Finally we dug the first of our Second Earlies(v.Nadine). We'll be conjuring up some lovely home grown veg to go with our Hake Fillets for tea! Yum.
Our Butternut Squash plants are also going well. No sign of any fruits yet, but buds galore on the 4 plants that are planted atop our compost heap. The flower in this pic looks to have a fruit developing underneath, all we need now is some sunny weather to help it grow on a bit.
The mixed bag of plants that we were given are also doing very well, considering they've only been in the ground about ten days:


This one appears to be Zucchini - you can just see the yellow fruit starting to form.







Not sure what this one is either, but something is growing !! Unfortunately, the majority of the plants that Stephen gave us were without labels, so we'll just have to wait and see. We can't thank Victoriana Nurseries enough, and can't find enough superlatives to describe their nursery. Maybe we can show how grateful we are by buying a bit more from them next year!



Our newly located Rhubarb crown is going great guns too, obviously liking it's new growing position. Won't be enough growth to harvest this year, but we're hoping for bumper harvests in years to come.









Our first attempt at growing Borlotti Beans is proving to be a great success. Faced as we were today with a multitude of beans, we need to read up a bit before we harvest them. The plan was to grow them for drying, with a view to using the dried beans in winter stews and casseroles, but we are now thinking they could be picked to eat as "runners" - maybe one of our readers can advise us on this ?






On the way back from the plot, we stopped off at a newly discovered site (being vague on purpose!) and picked approx 10 pounds of these lovely Cherry Plums. As I sit here typing, wifey is busy preparing the first 5lb batch of jam - yummy yum. We already have about 4 jars in the larder from a previous picking a couple of weeks ago. If you could smell the fruit now as it gently boils on the stove . . . . oh, you can't ! Oh well!!


That's about it for now. Hope you are enjoying the growing and gardening, and also hope that you will pop back soon for more updates.

Till then, take care all.

TTFN

A great week

Welcome back to Reads Allotment Retreat, where we've had a lovely and somewhat busy week. We had a "free" day this week and decided to visit Victoriana Nurseries in Challock,Nr Faversham, Kent. We've only visited once before, but when you see the entrance to the place, you just know you want to get inside! There's no mass of commercial adverts and bustling car parks to greet you, just the awe inspiring polytunnels and the somewhat quaint entrance. Once inside, drawing a deep breath of air tells you right away you're in a great place. The smell of the soil is lovely, as is the serene atmosphere within. We inquired as to whether the proprietor Stephen was available, and were delighted when he downed tools (well almost - secateurs in hand) to come and say hello. Even more delighted that he remembered us! The main purpose of visiting was to find some inspirational advice for what to plant next at the allotment, as the vacant spud beds were dying to be filled with plants. Stephen suggested a few things to try, like a Mustard "Green manure" as well as a couple of other ideas, but already I was thinking "more crops" for this season! On the way in we had passed some rather bedraggled squash / courgette / melon plants which were already lodged in the back of my mind. I mentioned these to Stephen, and he replied "take what you want, they're going in the bin later!". I couldn't believe my luck. Maybe they won't amount to much, but as fellow growers will tell you - it's heartbreaking to throw plants away. Victoriana Nursery recently took part in the BBC Gardeners World Live Show where they picked up a RHS Silver Medal - well done to all, especially to Stephen's daughter Milly (aged 3) who also picked up a Silver - the youngest ever recipient. Well done Milly!
Having bought our goodies from the nursery, we headed back to the car. This pic shows the driveway back to the main road. It really is a lovely place, we just felt like we wanted to stay, pull on some gloves and do a spot of weeding. It is definitely worth a visit if you can spare the time. It seems that family run businesses like this are a thing of the past, but Victoriana Nurseries is definitely a thing of the future, and we wish Stephen and his family all the best.


Having left the nursery, we set off to find a place to eat our picnic. After driving around for ten minutes, we stumbled across the beautiful vista literally just off the main road. Not wanting to impose too much, we pulled the car in off the road and parked up. The picnic was yummy - thanks Jen! I couldn't resist a few pictures after our lunch - this really is the Garden of England - we love it. We could live there!!! Where's that lottery ticket?


Next day we were straight up to the plot to plant up our haul. The bed pictured was previously home to our First Early spuds which produced a reasonably good crop. The ground has since been re dug, and 2 bags of spent hops added to improve the soil structure. The plants from Victoriana Nurseries were planted approx 3' apart, over a mound of grass clipping and some general purpose compost.(We used Wickes - 2 bags for £6.00). The plants were well watered in, and now we can sit back and wait. As I said to Stephen, they've got 2 chances! We also bought a pack of Marrow seeds to sow, as we are so pleased with our current marrow plants, we want to try some more. It's a small gamble, but if the weather holds out, we may get more crops?

That's about it for now, except to wish you all the best with your plots and gardens.

Hopefully you will pop back soon to check on our progress.

Take care all,

TTFN

Five days - What a difference!

Welcome back to our allotment retreat. Just for a change we're bringing you pictures taken at the plot - Today! Check the pic from 5 days ago in our previous posting - I'm simply amazed at how quick this Marrow is growing. By way of a thank you, I not only watered it today, but gave it a good feed too. I think it deserves it, don't you ?





And here's the plant just 3 feet away, in the same bed. Obviously it doesn't want to be outdone and wants some of the attention too! These 2 plants were "shop" brought in Sunny Hunny a few weeks back, and considering how cheap they were, and the fact that they were a tad bedraggled, tells us we are doing something right. This second plant was planted over layers of garden compost/ grass clippings, and seems to be thriving on it.



After the many disasters of trying to raise Courgette plants at home this year (can't use slug pellets due to 2 year old Ruby might take a shine to them), we decided to plant this late developing Yellow Zucchini at the plot. It has found a new home in the bed that was home to our first earlies. Lets hope the recently introduced "spent hops" give the ground the nutrients it needs to support this new addition. Certainly smells nice !!!

The runners (all varieties) are going great guns at the moment - reaching as they do up and beyond the supports provided. When you stand next to them, they look just great, but it's not so easy to get a good picture of them, hence this shot taken looking underneath and through the foliage. I think it looks ok. Still not enough fully developed pods to get a plate full yet, so they have been left and will hopefully be more productive in a few days time.





We're really pleased with the Butternut squash plants, this is the strongest of the four on the top of the compost bin, but the other 3 plants are also doing well too. Squash has been a fairly recent addition to our kitchen, and we're hoping for a good harvest here too. There's so many delicious recipe's for squash, that we need as many as possible. I sowed quite a few varieties, but the ones doing best in this environment are the Waltham Cross variety.


The recently moved Rhubarb is growing well. It seems to send up new shoots every time I make an appearance. We are somewhat surprised by the growth, not withstanding the fact that it has been moved mid season. Great expectations here!
Well that's about it for today! Hoping for a few more trips to the plot this week, so we'll keep you all posted.
Till then, we hope you all enjoy your plots and gardens, and we look forward to seeing you back here again soon.


TTFN

Crikey - Where has the time gone ?

Welcome back once again to Reads Allotment Retreat. Has it really been that long since I last posted an update ? I guess it has ! Its been a busy month, and there's loads to update you all on:You probably remember that I planted out all my climbing beans / peas etc on the 30th April, trying to get an early crop! Sadly the attempt failed, due mostly to the battering winds that sweep across the site, which demolished the young seedlings. Not giving up at the first hurdle, i set about acquiring some sheets of plywood (from a skip!) which i then erected both sides of the cane rows, in an effort to limit the damage from the winds. Next , I planted the seeds straight into the ground and waited for the appearance of new seedlings. As this picture shows (taken 29/5/09) we have been somewhat successful. As always, getting to the plot to tend the young plants is always an issue, especially when trying to juggle shift work and family life, but at last we are making progress, and with a concerted effort am now finding more time to get to the plot. After all, with summer upon us, this is when we need to be there! Just this morning i got to the plot, spent ten minutes watering, and was away. A quick visit but none the less , worthwhile.
Making good use of every available spot of land, we have adapted the top of the compost bins, one of which is now home to our Squash plants. We've planted a few varieties, and as its our first attempt at growing them, would be happy if we got just one fruit for our efforts. Loads more would be good too, but like everything else, we'll have to wait and see! As usual, we've planted through holes in either black plastic sheeting or weed membrane fabric. This will help to warm the soil as well as prevent light from reaching the light hungry weeds.
A fair few of my regular readers have been asking how my spuds are getting on ? We planted our first earlies back on the 7th April, and our second earlies / maincrop went in about ten days later. The most common question was "do they grow through the holes ok ? " and the picture above shows that yes they do. Occasionally a side shoot veers off under the sheeting and has to be "Re - routed" but on the whole, they have been left to their own devices. In all, we planted approx 180 seeds, and about 160 of those are growing on strongly. I noted on my brief plot visit this morning, that both the first and second earlies are now starting to flower. A sure sign of good things to come. The other main question is "How long do they take to grow ? " . Well, how long's a piece of string ? ( Twice the distance from the middle to the end - ha ha ) . Growing time will always depend on a number of factors: Soil condition, watering, weeding, time in sun, etc etc. , so it's always hard to give an exact length of time. However, give or take a few days, the following acts as a rough guide to sowing / harvest :

• First Earlies - 70 - 80 days
• Second Earlies - 80 - 100 days
• Maincrop - 100 - 130 days.

I'll probably get lots of comments about this, but experience tells me that this is about the right time frame. Others will tell you to harvest at different times, i.e. when the flowers die off. Each to their own ? Simply the best way is to lift a plant gently and have a look!



We've successfully planted up a bed of leeks, as well as a single row of Parsnips, the latter of which should be lovely for Christmas dinner. We had hoped to get the raised beds in and constructed by now, but time and money has sped past us, and we are yet to get round to it. The Leeks will need earthing up later in the year, and we'll try to get the "construction" done at about the same time. Otherwise, we can just leave the bed to its own devices. Just the occasional weeding should suffice.
And finally ( for today anyway) here's a pic of our overwintered onions. A few of these have already graced the table at home, and there's plenty more where these came from !
Once again, I've run out of time, off now to make sandwiches and then to work.
I hope you've enjoyed this update, and we look forward to seeing you all again soon here at our allotment retreat.
Keep those comments and questions coming, and we'll get back to you soon.



Take care all, and enjoy your gardens.

TTFN