Review of the year

Well this year is pretty much acknowledged to have been a dreadful year. Bad weather affected most growers and combined with a heavy work schedule and a slightly slap dash confidence in my abilities, 2012 was my annus vebetablus horribilis.

It wasn't all doom and gloom:

• The fruit did well and raspberries and rhubarb were great
• My (bought) butternut squash plant worked well and yielded 5.5 squash (even if I did then let them go a touch mouldy)
• This was the first year I had success with Alliums and the yield was good as they were given an autumn head start
• Mixed success with broad beans - I wonder if I should leave them in longer as I have a harvest around May but then I read about their season being later in summer in cooking magazines so wonder if they are a result of successional sowing rather than a second flush from autumn sown plants.  My experiment for next year I suspect.

On the whole though, my plot under-performed with usual favourites failing me:

• Potato yields were tiny in comparison to previous years
• Tomatoes hardly even had enough fruit and even they didn't turn red before being feasted on by slugs
• Salad leaves never really got started (slugs again) - the only exception was rocket which is pretty much a weed
• Strawberries are probably in need of a move to refresh themselves
• Jerusalem artichokes, like potatoes, had a small harvest. Considering that they are near perennials I don't think moving them will help (and the place they are in is good as they don't over-shadow other plants) but I do think I need to water them more (both more often and just more water)

I did measure harvests (sort of) but the depressingly small amounts may have meant that I gave up in disgust this year.

Checking in with the changes

B.W. Before Weeding

After heat and drought, temperatures are back to seasonal norm and Easter onwards gave us rain. However now half the country is in drought (predicted to be the worst since 1976) and we are unlikely to have hosepipe bans lifted until December.

Temperatures at night dropped so much that the emerging potato tops have browned a little in the frost. This weekend it was time to plant last Shetland black potatoes and earth up others. This is done easily by using a rake to drag the soil from the mounds to cover the green (and brown) leaves. Damage to the leaves is noticeably worse on the plot than near house where there are no signs of frost damage.  The house itself must give them a little protection.

I finally got around to weeding the onions and garlic which are shallow rooted and hate competition. This should be a lesson to me to regularly weed rather than do a marathon job - two wheelbarrows later and I was exhausted.  But as you can see, it made a huge difference. Now I just need to fertilise them and water the Jerusalem artichokes which are in the shadow of the grape vines so don't get rained on even if it does rain.

A.W. After Weeding

Great excitment was felt (well, by me anyway) after the weeding revealed our very first stems of asparagus. 2 weedy little specimens but mine own no less.
Window box salad is through as are some spring onion shoots (I think).
We had a mini disaster with the chili seedlings. Tom knocked them off the window sill and all but 3 seedlings are no more. I suppose it's a crude form of survival of fittest. Mind you I don't need many just enough to make chili jelly. Plus  the overwintering grafted one we bought from the RHS Hampton Court flower show is coming back to life. Both tomatoes and chili are actually perennials but our winters usually kill them off and they grow so easily from seed that they are usually treated as annuals.
Other seedlings that are doing well are the butter nut squash - I need to pot them on as can't plant out yet but I want to make room for sowing giant pumpkin seeds. My beetroot and PSB (purple sprouting broccoli) probably need repotting too as they are too fiddly and tiny to plant out but I will also try to direct sow as they look unhappy in their seed trays.

Some tomato seedlings are out but I have let them get leggy and should really pot them on deeper (ie plant them with half the stem submerged) to allow for roots to form further up the stem and make sure they are sturdy.  I also want to sow the black tomatoes to test them out.  Where will I find all the place?

Roast homegrown beetroot and feta salad

Tip: keep trying with different ways of preparing vegetables if you're not sure about them at first. This combination almost made beetroot acceptable to Tom.




I mean the beetroot was home grown not the feta. That's a whole different level of self-sufficiency.

Wrap the beetroot in foil and bake on a low heat.

Once soft to the touch peel if you want to (I kept skin on in hope of increasing healthy fibre content). Chop and toss with a mixed salad. Sprinkle with feta and seeds.

Make a dressing with blackcurrant jam, vinegar, chopped garlic and a touch of mustard gently heated together in a pan. Drizzle (or pour if greedy) over the salad. Hey presto - gastropub salad.

Seven degrees and sowing

They say that 7 degrees are when things start to germinate (including weeds sadly) but to me it feels colder than last week. Though dry, the winds are bitter.

The period between February/ March when the last of the winter veg are harvested and may when the spring veg start to crop is called the hungry gap. It's clearly a hungry gap for the birds as they've stripped the leaves off some of my brassica seedlings. I hasten to add I won't miss them and they were refugees from other parts of the plot that must have germinated late.

I am preparing a list of what to sow and plant.

In March I want to plant:
Outside - mangetout, potatoes, beetroot, corn salad and winter salad leaves.
Indoors (end of the month) - tomato, courgette. Squash, extra mange tout and broad beans just in case the ones I plant outside don't do well.

The magazines suggest waiting till the end of the month before sowing the tomatoes and squash to avoid them getting leggy.

To come later: French beans

I will also get the salads from supermarkets and plant out as I find lettuce difficult to germinate

PS the purple sprouting brocolli is still not sprouting much more. Lovely leaves though.

Top tip: Don't be in hurry to clear everything away. 

I learnt this earlier on in the summer where the mangetout came back to life and it's true again this month.  

After the first broccoli (or more precisely, calabrese) harvest I made a cross cut in the stem and a few weeks after we got an extra harvest of shoots.

Meanwhile I am struggling to keep up with the runner bean glut - I have even taken to giving it away to our builders as without a kitchen I can't blanch them and the freezers are full.  A few pods (well quite a few actually) have got too big to be tasty and will have developed a tough inner skin. Rather than use them to eat when I already have so many tasty pods I have decided to let them dry on the plants and use them as seeds for next year.  Doing this will discourage the plants from flowering and creating new beans but I think I can probably cope. The books say that runner beans keep on cropping until the first frosts but I'm not sure I can cope with any more beans.  In Cornwall at the weekend I saw that someone made runner bean chutney - I suppose that's a possibility if I get desperate. And if I ever get my kitchen back again.

On the other hand it can be good to clear things away. A recent preference for fast food has slowed our salad consumption. Unfortunately this means a) that we have put on weight and I feel toxic and b) the lettuce plants have bolted. An attempt to braised them from a recipe in Nigella's 'Forever Summer' wasn't quite what I expected and they are still sitting on the plot, gradually reaching for the skies. I will clear them away when I'm not spending all my time harvesting beans and tomatoes (52 kilos so far!) though I suppose they provide a good diversion for the slugs which are sneaking around the plot eating beans and tomatoes (fill your boots guys!).  My other attempts at organic slug control was too gruesome to keep up. They recommend snipping them in half with scissors but when I tried it the poor thing oozed in a totally gross way that stopped me from ever doing it again.

Clearing away the dead wood and new beginnings

Top tips: Keep an area overgrown (a perfect excuse to be a bit messy), collect up your kitchen waste and avoid chemical sprays if you can (do you really want to be eating that?)

With Prince Charles hosting his eco-friendly garden parties, we are all being encouraged to live greener lives. As part of that gardening has a huge part to play. Not only do we reduce food miles by literally having your plot stock your larder (or 3 freezers as is our case - does anyone actually have larders any more?), but also by growing heritage plants and encouraging wildlife into our gardens we reduce the use of chemicals and keep a diversity of plants.  The subject is so huge it can be a bit overwhelming but there are lots of little things we can all do to help. On the most basic level, grow your own salad - it reduces the need for the huge polytunnels and you don't have to pay over the odds for a plumped up pillow of a bag with a few sad, soggy leaves in.

It is official and experts have confirmed what we in the UK knew all along, August has just experienced the coldest August in 23 years with a total absence of 'hot days' (where the temperature rises above 27 degrees). Rainfall was almost one and a half times the average amount for August.  No wonder that my thoughts to clearing away the tired and collapsing plants on the plot.  To that end I have been researching compost (oh the glamour!).  To compost is the ultimate in green and also in tune with greed. Refuse to relinquish your kitchen scraps and turn it into something useful that will feed your plants later on. Perfect.

When we first got the allotment I knew we needed a double compost bin - one for collecting and one for rotting down.  I have had mixed successes at home with composting. I tried the tardis bins the council subsidies (and am due a delivery of another one, now free, which I ordered before the government cuts touch that) but found it slow to rot down and access was hard. I have a wormery but I killed the worms (indoors they tried to escape and the cat started playing with them while outdoors they caught a chill in the winter). I also had a couple of Bokashi bins which have been successful in breaking down the start of the kitchen waste and produce a liquid that, when diluted, becomes a good fertiliser. The only problem is that, despite many hints no one has bought me any replacement Bokashi granules which contain the organisms that break down the food and reduce the smells. I finally went for a rotating composter that works when it is spun round and you introduce air into the mix thus avoiding the tiring, smelly and boring job of turning your pile.  This all works very well unless you are lazy like me and forget to traipse down the garden path to spin it occasionally.

At the allotment though home made rules. In the same way that you don't turn up with new wellies, to buy in a shiny new composter would be frowned upon. Which is a shame as these easy build ones from Crocus (nursery supplier to many Chelsea gardens) look great.  I experimented in dumpster diving (well actually it was just dumped on the street) by rescuing some parts of an old bed and designing a double bins. Ably assisted by the elusive sous-gardener, Tom, we built a suitably home made structure which I have been filling ever since.  Now that both bays are almost full (and covered (mainly) by plastic to keep the heat in), it is time to see the results of my labours. 

Creating compost is supposed to be easy as long as you get the recipe right.  According to the BBC Gardeners World website, it will take about 6 months to create perfect compost if you turn it regularly. I am slightly concerned about this last part as I haven't turned it at all (has the rotating composter not taught me anything?).  Avoid putting animal products on the compost as it will attract nasty beasts - wildlife is all well and good but I draw the line at rats. 

Apparently it's all about getting the balance of carbon and nitrogen right. Most piles have too much nitrogen, especially if the main source is from grass cuttings and kitchen waste - the result is an evil-smelling sludge. Equally, an excess of carbon will significantly slow down the composting process.  Nitrogen typically comes from lush green material and carbon from woody stems. For every barrow load of cut grass, you should mix in the same volume of straw, sawdust or cardboard. Ensure any woody material is broken into small pieces or shredded.

Maybe I'll delay turning the pile until another day when sous-gardener Tom is around to help.

With over 4 kilos of mangetout, it's been hard to eat it all

Top tips: Keep picking mature pods to encourage flowering and therefore more pods later. At the end of the season leave a few pods on strong plants to grow big so you can sow them next year. Make sure the roots of your plants are well watered and there is space for the air to circulate. Aim the water at the soil not the leaves to avoid scorching and mildew.  When the plants are finished, cut the stalks off and leave the roots in the ground as they will fix nitrogen in the soil.

The mangetouts have finally given up the ghost. They have been a fantastic success. Initially, I thought they weren't going to perform well as all I got were a couple of pods sporadically but in the end they were miles better than the peas.

I guess I'd better come clean about my shameful secret. In a pretty anal way, I have been weighing the crops that I bring home.  A spreadsheet and graph even exist. 

Looking back I am glad I did as I can see that the mangetout started cropping on the 26th June. They produced a prolific crop of 2.7 kilos in  two weeks.  At that point the plants were looking sorry for themselves so I cut down half of them and left the others to see what would happen.  It was a good thing that I did as 10 days later they started cropping again and we got another 2 kilos. Not bad from half a packet of seeds.

On top of that you can use the new shoots in a salad - just like they do in smart restaurants. I've been freezing them like mad and have even had to buy a new freezer to accommodate them as unfortunately I don't have many recipes to use them up with.

Any ideas?