A tale of two days in one



Foggy New Cross

What a funny old day it was on Thursday 15th March 2012. The day started with dense fog all over and frost in some areas outside central London. The puffa jacket was definitely brought out of seasonal purgatory (the coat pile in the next room).

But, and it's a big but, the BBC were predicting 20 degrees later in the day. How is a girl supposed to dress for a day like that?!

Sure enough, lunchtime saw me sunning myself, a tiny bit sunburnt and regretting wearing thick tights.  The scene on Islington's Upper Street reflected the day's quandry - a jumper passes by someone with bare legs.

How are we supposed to know what season we are in and what to plant when we seem to be experiencing early winter and early summer in the same day? 

Sunny Islington

Hosepipe ban due 5th April

With the announcement of a hosepipe ban due to start on the 5th April, my thoughts go to ways of preserving water.

One of my water butts is in place on the allotment and I must remember to reclaim it and initial it so that I can use it.

The water butt in the front garden still needs to be fixed by Bernie as he still hasn't fixed a diverter at the end of the downpipe that stops the water overflowing down the side of our house.

Another way to improve water efficiency is to mulch (after it has rained or you have watered) to keep water in the soil not block it out.

I will be following the example of my Turkish allotment neighbours this year and create little sunken beds for the plants so that plants create a reservoir of their own.  Perhaps for the more vulnerable plants I will also bury at time of planting water bottles to allow water to seep down to the roots.

I am also probably planning to install a water meter at home as apparently if you have more bedrooms than people then you can end up paying less per year - there is a handy Uswitch calculator that can help.

Consider using grey water ie water saved from baths, washing up, dehumidifiers to top up water levels in the garden.

Don't pander to plants and over water them as they will become dependent on you and not send roots down into the ground to find water for themselves. Like a disciplinarian parent you must allow them to stand on their own two feet. Or roots. Save watering for when they really need it ie when they are establishing themselves after being first planted and at fruiting times to help the fruit to swell.

Use gel crystals in pots for the most water hungry plants. Avoid terracotta pots that, though attractive, are porous and allow water to leach out. Don't use metal pots that heat up and fry the plants (sort of). Group plants together when watering so they all get the benefit. Water at the root where it will do the most good and so water doesn't evaporate off leaves and scorch them.

The best laid plans of mice and men and all that

To (sort of) quote Robert Burns, it is time to plan out what goes where on the allotment. And to realise there is never enough space both on the plot and at home on window sills. I guess that is where the second half of the quote comes into its own and said plans 'gang aft agley' ie often go awry.

The rotation system means that I should move the potatoes so they don't get blight. They have ended up (almost) where they were in my first year(ie 2 years ago) - not quite the ideal 3 year rotation but it will have to do.

The shallots, onions and garlic can't move unfortunately until at least midsummer so I will have to interplant them with courgettes or tomatoes if I don't want the land to be a dead zone come June/ July. Perhaps the land could be used for PSB (purple sprouting broccoli). I am currently lusting after some ready grown pot plants (to save me seed space at home) from Dobies.

Then there are the perennial plants (asparagus, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb and herbs) that can't be moved. The Jerusalem Artichokes cast shade so are tough to site and can cope with the dry soil under the overhanging grape vine so they will probably stay put by the wall.

That means that, roughly speaking, the plot will look a little like this. But not as neat.

















PS I may have been over optimistic that the plot is 7m x 14m but I was brought up in a metric/ imperial limbo which means I have no idea of what a metre or a yard looks like.  I have been reliably informed by co-workers that a metre is about a stride's worth. 

The measurement isn't helped much by the allotment society calling it 2 rods. Now, I looked up a rod online and there isn't a general agreement on what one is. It seems to be anything from 1.5 metres squared up to 7 on the continent. In the UK, all I know is that the standard allotment outside of London is 10 rods so I have a fifth of what those lucky out of towners have.

As the hungry gap approaches, my thoughts turn to making the most of the last of the season's bounties especially those in the raised beds at home.  The kale is fast going to seed and the broccoli is probably common old broccoli not BSB so the challenge is to use them up before the next lot of plants come through.

To this end I made a simple supper/ lunchtime snack.  I stir fried tender baby kale leaves with chicken stock and a little tomato paste and a drained can of kidney beans (it was supposed to be chick peas but I had run out). It would also be nice with crumbled feta in it (or bacon).

Spring has sprung

The blossom has just opened up on the plum tree in the garden and the blueberries are coming into leaf.

Temperatures are averaging 15 degrees and the weeds (sadly) are springing back to life. (Note to self: hoe between garlic, onions, shallots etc. which are looking a touch jungle like).

Though the saying goes "ne'er cast a clout till May be out" (see the excellent phrases.org.uk to learn more about the phase) implies we shouldn't discard our winter clothes till May (or indeed till Hawthorn (also called May) is in bloom) weeds actually start back into life from 7 degrees so keep a vigilant eye open and a hoe ready.
With the joys of spring growing within me and limited chances to sow seed, I made a mad dash before a flight on the 10th to plant some of the potatoes I have had chitting in the kitchen.  In went the first earlies and a couple of Shetland Blacks.  I had dug 4 trenches and I filled 3 of them (30cm or a foot's length separating them and in the pit not top of the piles and gently firmed up the soil above them) in this order:
- trench nearest plank pile: Sharp's Express PLUS Shetland Black x 2
- middle trench: Swift
- 3rd trench from plank pile: Pentland Javelin

That leaves one more one more trench which I shall save for the rest of the Shetland Black x 4 and the British Queen. Though I also have Ratte chitting madly so they will need a home.  I have 3 patio potato planters which I think I will use for Charlotte and Ratte. The compost is already waiting by the kitchen steps though I plan to stagger the planting of these to see if I can spread the inundation of spuds.

Delicious magazine (April edition) have got 6 lovely sounding recipes for use with Jersey Royals so I might use the last of the stored potatoes for chips, tartiflette and sauteed but paired with Chorizo rather than black pudding.
Jersey Royal chips with Saffron Aioli - 500g potatoes sliced lengthways in quarters, cook in boiling water 3-4 minutes, toss with 2tbsp olive oil, roast 30-40 minutes till crispy + cheat's aioli (thanks to Donal Skehan) 3tbsp mayonnaise, 1tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 chopped garlic clove
Jersey Royals with anchovy gremolata - finely mince 1 garlic clove, zest of 1 lemon, parsley, toss with potatoes, 25g butter, 2 sanchovy fillets finely chopped.
Jersey Royal and fontina frittata
Jersey Royal salad with hot-smoked salmon, dill and mustard creme fraiche - 4 tbsp creme fraiche, 2 tbsp olive oil, squeeze lemon, 1tsp Dijon mustard
Tartiflette
Sauteed Jersey Royals with black pudding and fried egg

According to the books this si the time to be planting jerusalem artichokes so it is also time to harvest the last of them (leaving a few behind int he ground for next year).

I intend to use another recipe from Delicious magazine for Mother's Day: Jerusalem artichoke and potato bake with welsh rarebit topping. Considering that the last 2 plants I dug up yielded 1.9kg I may need to consider making a Jerusalem Artichoke Flan too (from the excellent BBC website).

Mistakes I have probably already made

The growing season hasn't even started properly yet and I have already been making mistakes here there and everywhere.

When trying to spread the manure mulch I knocked the growing tip off the rhubarb - hopefully it will recover but at least I still have many other rhubarb plants scattered around the plot thanks to dividing it up last year (and rescued abandoned bits from the compost heap).

I am also worried that the manure I used was probably too fresh so may burn young plants and roots. Technically I should have let it rot down for 6 months but I wanted to mulch before the weeds started coming and wanted to feed the ground ahead of planting (which will have to take place the weekend of Mother's Day as travel and work will stop any earlier activity on the allotment.

The only planting I did was to sow broad bean seeds (aqua dulce) but I wonder if I didn't plant the seeds deep enough. The RHS magazine 'The Garden' suggests 5cm. I don't think my hoe-created trenches were that deep and I certainly didn't dig in any manure. Oops. Along with the other planned sowing indoors maybe I will sow some extra bean seeds in case this lot fail to take root (they are popular with mice apparently).

Finally I harvested tiny sprigs of broccoli in the raised bed in the garden but I'm now wondering if they weren't the beginning of a Purple Sprouting Broccoli harvest I have cut off in its prime. Left a few on just in case.