Looks like an alien installation at present!

After grinding up calcified seaweed last year (never again) I’ve invested in a bag of the powdered version which will go in the long carrot mix. There’s also some Nutrimate Gold, Perkla, SB Plant Invigorator (an expert at our Hort Soc Gardener’s Question Time swears by the stuff so I thought I’d give it a try), green split canes, plant support clips (for the onions), and some more seeds. Yes more seeds! Beetroot Pablo F1, Parsnip Gladiator, Stump Carrot Sweet Candle, Marrow Table Dainty (with Cabbage Ramco and Cauliflower Cornell to follow) and interestingly some free trial seed packs of courgette and stump carrot which I will try out.

And the last bit of shredding is finally complete. 8 bags of 75L F2S done.

So in the next couple of weeks I’ll be mixing and getting the pipes in ready for sowing mid-February. Whilst most sensible veg growers take it easy over December and January, those that want to show to a decent standard are kept pretty busy. Fingers crossed I’ll be exhibiting at the NVS Southern Championships at the New Forest & Hampshire County show this year. I already have the feeling of being behind after having a break over Christmas. Ah well I’m sure I’ll catch up. Have a good weekend everyone!

Radish – Rudi, Sparkler 3
Cucumber – Stimora Mix F1, Marketmore, Paska F1
Courgette – Patriot F1
Lettuce – All the Year Round
Radicchio – Palla Rossa
Cabbage – Derby Day, Winnigstadt, Drago F1, Durham Early
Cauliflower – Goodman
Beetroot – Golden Detroit, Cylindra
Carrot – Merida F1, Autumn King 2
Leaf Beet – Canary Chard

If you’ve grown any of these varieties I’d be interested to hear what you thought of them.

Last year I visited the Hampshire Potato Day at Whitchurch which was excellent with 100s of varieties of potatoes plus onion sets, shallots, garlic and various stalls selling seeds etc. Well worth a trip and I shall be popping down there again on Saturday 29th January. For more info visit their site.

Then I started looking for other events locally and was amazed to find they are popping up all over the place – here’s a list of ones that I can reach within a 40 minute drive for example.

And the great thing about them is I can buy single tubers (were normally from seed companies you have to buy at least 10) so I can try out new varieties and have a greater selection.

So here’s what I’m going for:

First Early – Arran Pilot
Second Early – Charlotte
Maincrop – Pink Fir Apple

I will also be growing Kestrel and Blue Belle for show (and eating) as well as Winston (as I’ve heard some people like the taste so I thought I’d give it a try as it’s the no1 white potato on the showbench as well). Plus a few other single tuber purchases that take my fancy.

Most will be grown in 17 litre polypots that was quite successful last year although it’s important to keep up with the watering.

Well let me know what you think and if you are visiting a Potato Day near you that you can recommend.

I grow quite a few from seed and here’s the current stock list:

Swan River Daisy – Summer Skies

Sweet Pea – True Fragrance Mix & 20th Anniversary Mix (although I may not grow these again since I discovered I’m allergic to the cut flowers)

Sunflower – Harlequin F1 Hybrid, Giant & Russian Giant

Nicotiana Sylvestris

Aster Apollonia Appleblossom

Dwarf Candytuft – Fairy Mix

Rudbeckia – Marmalade

Alyssum – Golden Queen

Nasturtium – Jewel Mix

Pot and French Marigolds - which are my main companion plants and grown in bulk from seed to put in the greenhouse and around the plot.

And then there’s the Dahlia tubers which I stored overwinter last year (with some failures) but have left in the ground this year (under a thick mulch) to save time and space.   The Dahlia bed at the height of summer:

So what’s your most effective companion plant on the plot? And is there a flower(s) you just can’t do without in the garden?

• A covered potting area – I currently have 2 options for potting on, either on the bench in the greenhouse or in the workshop at the back to the garage.  In between the end of the garage and the greenhouse is a 8 foot square area which is north facing, so has no real growing potential as it’s shaded by the garage and is just gravelled at the moment with a log pile and compost bin.  The project is to build a covered area with two sides that will house a bench for potting and store compost bags etc underneath and have space to store logs down the side.  With easy access to the greenhouse and back garden it would be ideal and allow me to do some useful in those winter and spring nights were you still need a bit of shelter to be comfortable.  A great way of increasing the usable space in the garden and relatively low cost as well.  Not a simple project though (for me) so I’m hoping my Dad will be on hand to assist!
• Extend the compost bin and have a cage for leaf mould.
• Get the new half allotment into shape and add some well rotted manure to the shared plot to improve the soil.
• Dedicate a small area for the children to grow stuff.
• Be more wildlife friendly – a few bird boxes and places for bees etc.
• Add more to the Hort Soc website and blog (I am now Treasurer as well so I hope the books will balance at the end of the year!).
• An Asparagus bed up at the allotment.
• Sort the two lawns out – they’re a bit of a mess and need some attention this year to get rid of the worst of the moss and weeds.  I don’t want a Titchmarsh standard  lawn but something that looks less like a field will do!

I’m hoping that by writing this stuff down I’ll actually get round to doing it.  Time will tell!

So what garden projects do you have planned?

Is there anything that would be on your list year on year without fail?

Asparagus Pea
Asparagus
Aubergine Bonica F1
Beetroot Boltardy
Beetroot Burpee’s Golden
Beetroot Pablo
Broad Beans Bunyon’s Exhibition
Brocolli Early Purple Sprouting
Brocolli Late Purple Sprouting
Brocolli Early White Sprouting
Brocolli Sprouting Redhead
Brokali Apollo
Brussel Sprout Bedford
Cabbage Golden Acre Primo
Cabbage Pixie
Cabbage Offenham 2
Cabbage Ramco
Calabrese Aquiles F1
Cauliflower Snowball A
Cauliflower Deakin F1
Cauliflower Cornell
Carrot Royal Chatenay Red
Carrot Nantes Frubund
Carrot Sweet Candle
Carrot Early Nantes
Carrot Early Nantes 2
Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3
Carrot Amsterdam 3 Sprint
Carrot Early Nantes 5
Carrot (Long) New Red Intermediate
Celeriac Brilliant
Celery Loretta
Chard Swiss Chard Bright Lights
Chilli Pepper Cayenne
Chilli Pepper Jalapeno
Climbing French Bean Sultana
Courgette F1 Orelia
Courgette F1 Defender
Courgette Black Beauty
Cress Curled
Cucumber F1 Carmen
Dwarf French Bean Borlotto Firetongue
Dwarf French Bean Purple Teepee
Dwarf French Bean Pencil Pod Black Wax
Dwarf French Bean Prince
Dwarf French Bean Sprite
Garlic Purple Wight
Herb Summer Savoury
Herb Chives
Herb Parsley
Herb Oregano
Herb Coriander
Herb Chervil
Herb Rosemary
Herb Dill
Herb Basil
Herb Thyme
Jerusalem Artichoke Unknown
Kale Dwarf Green Curled
Kale Scarlet
Leek Porvite
Leek Lyon 2 Prizetaker
Lettuce Artic King
Lettuce Little Gem
Lettuce Lollo Rosso
Lettuce Webb’s Wonderful
Lettuce Tom Thumb
Lettuce Winter Density
Mangetout Oregon Sugar Pod
Okra Clemson’s Spineless
Onion Red Baron (red)
Onion Globo
Onion Toughball
Onion (set) Radar
Onion (set) Electric (red)
Onion (set) Troy F1
Onion (set) Hercules F1
Onion (set) Centurion F1
Parsnip F1 Picador
Parsnip Exhibition
Parsnip Gladiator
Potatoes Charlotte
Potatoes Pink Fir Apple
Potatoes NVS Amour
Potatoes Salad Blue
Potatoes Nadine
Potatoes Kestrel
Potatoes Blue Belle
Pumpkin Rouge Vif d’Etanps
Radish French Breakfast 3
Radish Albena
Red Orache
Rocket Va-Va Voom
Rocket Runway
Rocket Wild Rocket
Runner Bean Moonlight
Runner Bean Stenner
Savoy Cabbage January King 3
Shallot Hative di Niort
Shallot Jermor
Spring Onion White Lisbon
Spring Onion Paris Silverskin
Swede Invitation
Sweetcorn Lark F1 Hybrid
Tomatillo Purple de Milpa
Tomato Gardener’s Delight
Tomato Tumbling Tom Red
Tomato Golden Peardrop
Tomato Marmande
Tomato F1 Incas
Tomato Moneymaker

This blog was viewed about 31,000 times in 2011 (compared to 13,000 in 2010). In 2011, there were 64 new posts (compared to 137 posts in 2010), growing the total archive of this blog to 211 posts. There were 206 pictures uploaded (compared to 561 the year before). So I’ve written less than half the posts I wrote in 2010 and had almost three times the number of visitors, obviously it’s not all about quantity!

The busiest day of the year was March 22nd with 205 views. In 2010 it was 137 views on December 19th.

Thanks to the top referring sites in 2011 who were:

twochancesvegplot.co.uk
ukveggardeners.com
vegpatchblog.blogspot.com
glallotments.blogspot.com
theidiotgardener.blogspot.com

Some visitors came searching, mostly for sweet peas, hunter thompson, two chances veg plot, celery, and snow. In 2010 sweet peas, big flower pots, flower, cauliflower, and gladioli were the most popular search words.

Visitors came from round the world including Trinidad & Tobago, Peru, Sudan and Northern Mariana (I had to look that one up they are a group of islands in Micronesia).

My posts may have longevity as 4 out of the 5 most viewed posts in 2011 were actually posted in 2010 (2 as far back as March 2010).

So there you go, does it mean anything? No of course not, it’s just a few stats.

That was 2011 and roll on 2012! Happy New Year everyone!

Top of the Class
My best ever carrots and parsnips this year.
And it was a cracking year for beetroot, we had barrowfuls of them.
Strawberries and raspberries – not that I saw many of them as the girls picked and ate them as soon as they were ready!

Pretty good effort
Quite a few in this category – all the brassicas, beans, spuds, mangetout, overwintered onions, leeks, tomatoes, peppers, chillies and courgettes.

Could do Better
Sweetcorn, cucumber, aubergines, squash and pumpkins.

Weatherwise it was a strange year again. A really hot, dry spring but with cold nights running through into July. When we left for our annual holiday to France in mid-June it was with some trepidation as the weather had been fantastic – why were we going abroad? Thankfully we did as it chucked it down in Salisbury for 2 weeks and continued to be damp and miserable for the main part of summer only drying up in September and October. No wonder all the veg that need a hot, dry summer did badly. Oh well there’s always next year.

Best Newcomer
…….was celeriac…..only grew a few but they were great and I’ll definitely be growing more next year. Closely followed by mangetout, not many made the steamer as they were great eaten raw.

Never again
Aubergines…..what’s the point? Maybe in 20 years once global warming really makes an impact on the South of England! That said I expect I’ll try again next year.

This year was the first for my shared plot in the next village and it was filled with onions, brassicas, beans, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, spuds, sweetcorn, squash and pumpkins. Next year the Empire expands further to half an allotment in the same village as my shared plot. Can’t wait to get stuck in! And I finally got round to building a much needed proper compost bin which will bear fruit next year.

On the show front it was the last year of entering all the vegetable classes in my local Horticultural Society village Summer Show were I won cups for most points overall veg, root veg and Top Tray. I’ll just stick to the Master Gardener and Top Tray next year with my sights firmly set on the NVS competition at the New Forest and Hampshire Show after seeing Darren pick up his first red card for long carrots. I have 30 pipes to use for my carrots and parsnips and the mix is already shredded and ready for the mixer. Bring on 2012!

So what will I be doing next year? Well more of the same really. Loads of good quality family time, cooking and eating great homegrown food. Producing loads of veg and enjoying the fresh air as much as possible. Raising the bar on my show entries and expanding to the allotment so we can have more veg on the table. The annual trip to France – same place as last year as we loved it so much – and the next leg of the Pennine Way hopefully. As always lots to do!! I hope you’ve all had a good Christmas and are looking forward to a great 2012!!!

Thanks to everyone who reads and hopefully enjoys this blog. I haven’t been online much in the last couple of months due to working longer hours – the last thing I needed was more time in front of a computer screen! But I have the whole winter to catch up with what you’ve been doing so I’ll see you soon!!

Well after 3 months it’s full and ready for the final layer of soil and fertiliser before I leave it to cook down over the winter. I’ve been amazed at how much material I’ve been able to cram into this four foot square space. Virtually everything from the garden and plot has gone in, I’d recommend it to anyone who hasn’t already got a compost area. By April I’m hoping to have some lovely compost to spread around the plot and allotment.

And I’ve also taken delivery of 8 75litre bags of Levington’s F2+S which will go into my carrot mix for next year’s assault on the NVS Southern Championship at the New Forest Show. Fingers crossed!