Sweet Success

Regular readers will remember I planted out around 50 sweetcorn plants at the allotment at the end of May and today they have all been harvested. I had my reservations with the rubbish summer we’ve had that I would get any crop from them but I harvested 70 cobs which is not bad all things considered.

From the 70 there were around 10 that hadn’t germinated and a similar amount that were ‘overcooked’ as I hadn’t been to the allotment in the last 2 weeks with one thing and another. So considering the neglect on top of the weather I was very pleased with the result!

Cut Your Losses

Why did I ever bother to grow tomatoes outdoors this year? With blight lingering I decided to cut my losses and salvage the green fruit before it too was riddled. Having just finished the last batch of green chutney made three years ago at least we’ll have a new supply and I won’t ever bother growing outdoor tomotoes again!

A long overdue job was digging out the compost heap that I started last year. As you can see it was well rotted and has reduced from three and a half foot in depth (after being regularly topped up) to two foot. I’ve learnt a couple of lessons along the way – firstly don’t put any woody material in no matter how small in diameter – unless the heap is going to stand for years it’s not going to rot down. Secondly remove all plastic, that’s every scrap of tape on the cardboard and don’t bother including the hoover contents – especially if you have kids – as you’re always going to have scraps of plastic in there. But apart from that it was good stuff that’s now been spread over the beds.

I used the quick cook method which I can recommend – it’s based on heat rather than worm action (that’s about as technical as I get). If you want to know how to use this method check out my earlier post.

Today’s main job is the annual hedge cut – a mixture of beech, conifer and a few other assorted trees – I find it best to do the job once a year in August and I usually blitz it all in a day. As I left it until the Bank Holiday weekend I’ll have to endure the traditional heavy downpours but at least I won’t upset the neighbours trying to enjoy their gardens!

Hope you all have a great Bank Holiday weekend!

Village Show

It was my local Horticultural Society’s Summer Show yesterday and we had superb weather at the Village Hall. Whilst the vegetable entries were down understandably, the flower entries and other classes held their own for another successful local show.

After winning the cup for most points in the vegetable classes for the last three years I didn’t want to enter all the individual classes again – and I’d entered a few in last week’s Allotment Association Show, so it was just my shallots and any other veg (marrow) which achieved 1st and 2nd respectively. And I won the top tray although I was the only entry!

In the 4 Dahlia classes I entered I had a 1st (small), 2nd (minature), 1st (5 mixed) and 2nd (3 cactus) which I was pleased with.

And it was great to see some new faces taking prizes and cups which is what it’s all about!

This was my top tray entry of onions (Vento), Runner Beans (Stenner) and Potatoes (Kestrel).

And my shallots (Hative de Niort) – the same set I won with last week.

Finally my winning vase of 5 Dahlias (minimum 3 varieties). The girls entered their classes as well with Chloe taking the prizes for her leaf print picture, picture made from recycled material and play-doh flower. Winning £8 she took home more prize money than I did!

Salisbury Allotment Association Show

I decided to enter a few classes in my local Allotment Association Show. It’s open to anyone and has the full range of classes you’d expect at a good local show.

I entered Long Carrots (3), Shallots – culinary (6), Runner Beans (5), French Beans (5), Coloured Potatoes (4), Cabbage, Cucumbers (2), any non-root veg (3), any root veg (3), heaviest cabbage and 3 Dahlias, one variety.

By the time I left the hall after staging there looked to be a good standard of exhibits building up.

And the results were Long Carrots 2nd (behind Darren), Shallots 1st, Runner Beans 1st (winning a £5 seeds voucher), French Beans unplaced, Coloured Potatoes 3rd, Cabbage, 1st, Cucumbers unplaced, any non-root veg 2nd with celery, any root veg 3rd with parsnips, behind Darren (again) in the heaviest cabbage and 1st for the Dahlias. Not enough entries to challenge for a cup but I did win one for the Dahlias which was a nice surprise at the presentations as I didn’t realise there was even a cup for that class until it was announced. I was impressed by the standard of the exhibits, certainly a step up from most of the Village Shows I’ve seen.

A couple of the judging decisions were interesting. Not sure I should have won the cabbage as it had taken a bit of a beating from the slugs and didn’t look as good as the second place entry. And I had 3 decent celery (a 20 point veg) which was beaten by 3 garlic (a 15 point veg) – anyway the judges decision is final and it evened itself out in the end.

I was quite surprised with the Runner Beans as I picked them on Tuesday night so they were 4 days old by show time. Just goes to show if you store them right (wrapped in a damp cloth in the bottom of the fridge) they will be OK.

A good day all in all and I’m looking forward to our Village Show next Saturday and then that’s it for another year!!

Here’s some photos (on the long carrots mine are at the top and Darren’s winning set are on the right, on the parnsips mine are on the left and Martin’s winning set are on the right).

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We are now awash with veg which is OK as the girls love eating it.

Although not sure we can eat this much cabbage, this pair weigh in at 11 pounds each!!

It’s been a while……..

As a regular blogger going a month between posts is unusual for me but it’s been a busy few weeks. A 3 day Stag do in Dublin followed by a 4 day trip up to Northumberland for another section of the Pennine Way and then back for the New Forest Show. Pretty hectic!

I managed to get four entries into the NVS Southern Championships at the New Forest and Hampshire County Show at the Lyndhurst Showground. Long carrots, coloured potatoes, cabbages and cucumbers and I didn’t embarrass myself with what I showed although no prizes this time (to see how it’s done check out Darren’s blog, he had an excellent show). I was pleased with my carrots they just needed more weight so I’ll be trying again next year. Same with the cabbages, they were a nice, clean pair just needed more weight to get anywhere near the winner Chris Hewlett. Anyway there’s always next year! Rachel and I took Chloe and also my friend who kindly drove me back from Northumberland and we had a great day out, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky (where has the sun gone?) and there was so much to see we’ll definitely be going back there next year. And we got to rub shoulders with Alan Titchmarsh…..

Back on the home front a quick appraisee of what’s good and bad and the veg plot – decent onion harvest, garlic has been rubbish, many have just rotted in the ground, peas/beans – good so far, courgettes – very slow to get going, brassicas are generally good, cucumbers – too many to keep up with, tomotoes – very slow to ripen. Visited the allotment for the first time in a month this morning and managed half an hour of frenetic weeding before harvesting some broad beans and rhubarb. Just hope the 60 sweetcorn plants I put in there pay off, there’s quite a few cobs (2 – 3 per plant) and they need to ripen now, fingers crossed.

On the show front, it’s the Salisbury Allotment Association show next Saturday (I’m putting in 14 entries all being well) and my local Village Show the weekend after. It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks!!

Allotment Beans

I finally got up to the allotment this morning making the most of a gap between downpours. With our holiday in France it’s about a month since I’ve been and the weeds were well on their way to swamping parts of the plot. I had the girls with me so it was a quick visit just pulling up the larger weeds particularly around the broad beans which were ready for harvesting. I couldn’t believe the amount of slugs and snails, I suppose with all the rain we’ve been having and the overgrown state of the plot it’s inevitable but it still took me by surprise as I don’t really see many on the plot at home. I think a combination of good plot hygiene and the frogs from next door’s pond provides a relatively slug and snail free environment. And any that do make it onto the plot are shown no mercy! I haven’t used pellets on the allotment but I think I will next year.

We came back from the allotment with a bag full of broad beans and a few sticks of rhubarb. The sweetcorn was doing well, a bit short but there were quite a few cobs forming. Back at home there’s plenty of soft fruit, mangetout, calabrese and brokali to keep us going with everything else poised to be ready for the end of the month. All we need now is some decent sun to warm everything up a bit!

Catching Up

We returned from a fantastic two weeks away about on hour south of La Rochelle (pictured), on the west coast of France, last weekend and there was lots of catching up to do on the plot.

The cucumbers (Carmen) in the greenhouse are coming on well. There’s six plants in two growbags on the staging which I’m training up and across the roof. The growbags are laid on large trays with a layer of gravel to act as a reservoir for water which is drawn up through the cuts in the bottom of the growbags – this has proved an effective method to make sure they are always well watered whilst I’m away. Picking off any sideshoots and tendrils as they develop so all the energy is concentrated into the fruits, plus removing the lower fruits that would not be able to fully develop without touching the staging. Hopefully I’ll have an unmarked pair for the New Forest Show which is three weeks on Tuesday. I won’t be giving them my full attention though with a three day stag do in Dublin and four days walking the Pennine Way between now and the show. Fingers crossed the hands off approach will pay dividends.

Alongside the greenhouse the Goldstar tomatoes are between five and six foot high with some of the fruit on the lower trusses forming nicely. As with the cucumbers I’m keeping them well watered and feeding regularly with a potash feed.

One of my main hopes for the show is a pair of cabbages (Ramco) – difficult to get a decent photo of them as I daren’t lift the net tunnels off them for fear of breaking some of the leaves. This won’t happen until the night before the show. Fingers crossed they’ll heart up by then and remain bug-free. A liberal sprinkling of pellets every so often has helped keep the slugs off them up to now.

I’m concerned the long carrots won’t be thick enough as they’re behind last year and I’m also hoping a set of stump carrots will be ready in time.

I’m not entering celery in the show as this is my first real attempt at growing this difficult veg, but I’m pleased with progress so far. I need to swap the collars for longer ones to draw the plants up further for a good blanch on the stems.

And the potatoes are looking good, with really healthy looking haulms which are in flower. These are in polypots filled with a potato mix from Medwyns so they are my best hope for the show. As with all the veg a question mark on whether or not they’ll be ready in time – never sure what’s underneath. They’re all coloured potatoes so I’m hoping for a decent matching set. Next weekend I’ll cut the haulms and move the bags under cover to dry out and let the skins harden. Hopefully I won’t be looking at a bag full of marble-sized spuds after that!

This is also the first time I’m growing peas and the pods are starting to fill out nicely.

On the harvest side we’ve had loads of soft fruit this week, the usual strawberries and raspberries and also these gooseberries for the first time which all the family loved!

Also some shallots, a mixture here of Hative de Niort and Jermor.

And finally some mangetout and calabrese as well. Not a bad harvest.

It’s not all be great news though, up at the shared plot I lost most of my squash and pumpkin plants to slugs but up at the allotment the sweetcorn are doing well and no sign of the dreaded deer so far. It’ll be a busy few weeks as everything comes to fruition and also getting in some late sowings to take us through Autumn. Have a great weekend everyone!

All In

The Two Chances Veg Plot is now fully planted. Every square inch of available space in the garden has been used and the plot is flourishing.

In the large bed (front to back) are potatoes which are coming on nicely after a slow start. They’re followed by 7 Green Ramco cabbages which I’m really pleased with at the moment – they’re perfect and putting on top growth that you can see every day. I’m just hoping I can keep the pests off them until the end of July when I’ll hopefully have a pair good enough for the New Forest Show. Then there’s some calabrese, a double row of celery, a couple of kale and a couple of late purple sprouting broccoli plants and finally a row of french beans and a row of runner beans.

In the medium sized bed there’s the pipes with the carrots which are starting to take off along with shallots garlic and onions. And in the small bed there’s a few more onions, dwarf french beans, mangetout and peas. My main hope for the Show out of that lot is the carrots although they are behind where they were last year but I guess we’re all in the same boat.

In the greenhouse I’ve got the cucumbers set up on the staging to grow over the roof and tomotoes, salad crops and aubergines in the bed. The greenhouse is being optimised for cucumbers so it’s shut up 24/7 apart from a few minutes of watering each day or damping down so the tomotoes in the greenhouse will have to fend for themselves. In the 3 mini greenhouses alongside the main one are the Goldstar tomotoes which I’m hoping to get some decent fruit off.

In the front garden is a bed full of summer and autumn fruting raspberries and strawberries and another bed with marrows, cauliflower, courgettes, carrots and parnsips and that’s it there’s no more room. I have a couple of trays of celeriac seedlings with nowhere to put them – up at the shared plot or allotment I can’t water them as much as they’re going to need so they may not get planted at this rate. There’s some leeks which I’ve got room for at the shared plot alongside the 24 squash and pumpkin plants I’ve just planted out up there. The last of the runner beans will go in tomorrow along with sowings of carrots and beetroot and then that’s it, I can do no more, and to be honest I haven’t got the energy even if I wanted to!

With today being the best of the long weekend weatherwise it’s a BBQ and a few drinks with friends and 24 hours off the gardening – well apart from watering the greenhouse, tieing up the peas, supporting the potato haulms………………

Sweetcorn In

I finally finished the allotment planting with sweetcorn which had been taking up much needed space in the greenhouse. I weeded over the last section of the plot bar a metre square area that I didn’t have time for. Then dug in some manure and then planted 60 0f them about 12 inches apart in a block. I returned later with some netting to protect them from the deer only to be offered a roll of chicken wire from a plot neighbour. On chatting to him it was obvious he’d taken pity on my pathetic attempt to keep the deer off the sweetcorn and I gladly accepted his offer and put the wire round most of the plot with only the spuds and rhubarb left unprotected.

That should keep ‘em out!

Tough Love!

This is the most unusual wildlife photo I’ve taken on the plot. Whilst watering in the back garden I came across these two slow worms locked in an embrace – or one was trying to eat the other one! I’ve seen quite a few slow worms around the garden but never witnessed this before. They’re living along the edge of one of the raised beds and have now started to be a lot more active in the warm weather.

A busy weekend ahead with our Horticultural Society plant sale this afternoon and loads of plants to get out in their final positions. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.