Penellype's Allotment

[Penellype]

Some photos from 1st June



Bluebells have died down along the hedge. Peas are nearly ready to harvest. Supports are up for the beans and climbing french beans have been planted around the nearer one.




A new hotbed has been made ready for melons and is currently covered in plastic to keep the heat and moisture in. The strawberries have been taken out of the growhouse - they have been badly attacked by aphids and although there is some fruit several plants appear to be dying. Leeks and marigolds are in there waiting to be planted (I planted out the summer leeks today).



The hotbed cover has been replaced by a net to keep the cat off and the spinach is bolting. The remaining few lettuces are going the same way. Some of the beetroot has been eaten as baby beet and it is growing rapidly. Behind, under the green net, the onions are growing and there are 3 cauliflowes which will hopefully start to produce heads soon.



The nearest bed is still waiting for courgettes, which are late this year as I have had dreadful trouble getting them to germinate (new packet of seed). The potatoes are doing nicely and the Desiree in the 4 nearer buckets are starting to flower.




More cauliflowers - these are slightly behind the ones near the onions as they get a bit less sun here. Parsnips and beetroot under the white net are growing well. The experiment with planks of wood wasn't great. No slugs appeared under the planks and some of the beetroot germinated but none of the lettuce. However the plank over the lettuce was not long enough to cover the whole row, and lettuces did germinate in the uncovered bit, so I mark this down as a fail. To add insult to injury, after about a week all of the lettuce seedlings that did germinate disappeared over night, presumably due to slugs.

I tried a variation of this technique in my greenhouse at home with some pak choi seed, covering the tray with cardboard instead of wood. Apart from the cardboard blowing off on a windy day, this worked very well and kept the modules damp on top so I didn't need to water. I left 2 of the 6 modules uncovered as a control, and these both germinated 1 day later than the 4 that were covered, which was interesting. So, yes to covering with cardboard in the greenhouse, no to a plank of wood on the ground!

[Penellype]

More photos from 1st June



The net is now on over the cherry and blueberry. Despite plenty of flowers, the cherry tree has only 4 developing fruit. The tree on the neighbouring plot has similarly lost most of its fruit, so I think there must have been a late frost at just the wrong time. The blueberries are laden with fruit and look like producing a bumper crop. The ones at home are similar, which makes a change from a very poor crop indeed last year.



The tunnel is now looking very empty apart from a row of peas in the middle and an overwintered calabrese at the far end which has produced quite a large new shoot. I am not sure I want to keep this though as I have quite a few calabrese seedlings and i am likely to run out of room.




PSB has finished and has been removed. Compost has been spread over both sides of the tunnel - this came from the old hotbed. The strawberry plants have mostly been mulched with Strulch in an attempt to protect the fruit from slugs. The random bricks laid about are there to trap slugs - bricks, especially those that are not completely flat, make much better slug traps than planks of wood.



From the far end of the tunnel you can see the 4 cauliflowers. These are behind the ones in the raised beds, as they get less sun.



Another view of strawberries and peas. Quite a few of the strawberries are too near the edge of the tunnel and I intend to remove them when they have fruited. I was supposed to do this last year...

[Penellype]

Some more photos from 1st June



Strawberry plants that have been attacked by aphids are looking very yellow...



But nowhere near as unhappy as the ones in the trough, which are dying. Apart from aphid attack, I have no idea why this has happened. The 3rd pot, on the left, looks much better and is now producing fruit. All 3 pots are self watering so it is not drought



Leeks in the growhouse - the biggest ones are the summer variety Lincoln, the others are Oarsman and Northern Lights (smallest).



Newly planted climbing beans - the 2 nearest are Monte Gusto, a yellow french bean, the 3rd one is Firestorm, which is a red flowered runner bean. The whole thing has been surrounded by a strip of copper mesh and there are slug gone pellets round the plants. The black tray is one of several scattered around the plot to catch rain water.

Incidentally the bird netting around the peas is proving an effective snail trap. The snails try to crawl through it and their shells get stuck in the mesh. This has certainly saved the peas from at least 10 snails that I have collected - they seem to live under the bluebell foliage in the hedge.

[Bren In Pots]

Good tip with the 'snail' netting Pen.

[Penellype]

Photos from 1st July.



Grass is starting to look rather dry as we have had very little rain until the last couple of days (and not much then). Meteor peas are finished - I've left the support up to keep the cat off the bed. Beans are growing well.



Tomatoes and courgettes in the new hotbed, which is rather shady due to a large cherry tree planted about 3 years ago by the previous next door plot holder. The current holder says she will prune it - I hope she does as it is going to get very big otherwise. Self-sown nasturtiums are taking over around the growhouse, which contains tomatoes. I'm leaving them for now as the bees like them, but they are getting too big really.


The older hotbed has been cleared except for a couple of beetroot and a melon has been planted. The last of the cauliflowers in the bed behind was harvested today. The onions in this bed got white rot and have been harvested.



The white net was an attempt to keep the birds off a pot of strawberries. It worked, but didn't stop the aphids, which have killed the plants. The potatoes in the bed behind are doing well - the Lady C are nearly ready to harvest.


One cauliflower left in this bed, which is being replanted with brassicas, currently calabrese, with kohl rabi to follow. The bed behind contains parsnips and beetroot, both of which are doing well.

[Penellype]

Inside the tunnel (1st July)



4 more cauliflowers - these are behind the ones in the raised beds as the tunnel is shadier. The 2 on the left look different from all of the others and would not surprise me if they turned out to be cabbages.



Romanesco, calabrese, PSB and kohlrabi down the west side of the tunnel. I have covered the path area with weed matting as trying to keep the algae, moss and liverwort off it was driving me nuts. The first lot of main crop peas (nearest camera) are ready to harvest.



Peas and rampant strawberries (which have produced a great crop this year). The plants in the tower are old and a less good variety and have been a victim of the lack of water, as have several other potted strawberry plants. I simply hadn't enough water for them. There are more PSB and romanesco, plus another melon plant on the shelves at the far end.



A better view of the strawberries, including some in trays on the shelves. Once the strawberries have finished fruiting I will sort out the path this side and put weed matting down. You can clearly see the problem in this photo.




Summer leeks (nearest) and 2 varieties of winter leek.

[Penellype]

More photos from 1st July



One of last year's calabrese plants, which decided to regrow from the bottom and produced a decent, if rather small main head. Sideshoots are now ready to harvest.



Cucumbers have flowers.




French beans (left) are just starting to set. The runner beans on the right were planted a little later.



My poor raspberries are trying valiantly to produce a crop, but I will have to take them out later as they are dying. The plan is to get some more and plant them at the top of the plot (where the peas and beans are this year). They won't get wet feet up there. The plan for the bed behind is to sow spinach and possibly salads, and plant some florence fennel seedlings.



The gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes have been netted against birds, which took the first ripe gooseberry and some of the currants. The 14 onions (of 50 sets planted) that haven't got white rot are drying on a wire shelf in the sun. They go in the shed at night and when rain is forecast.

[Penellype]

Yesterday I harvested the first bucket of Lady C potatoes, which have got what I am pretty sure is early blight. The leaves are yellowing and very spotty (unlike the Desiree next to them, which look healthy), so I thought I would see what I had got. I've been trying an experiment with the potatoes this year - I watched a video back in the spring which advocated mulching buckets of potatoes with a thick layer of mulch and watering thoroughly every couple of days (I normally water every day). So I tried it with a couple of buckets of Lady C in the greenhouse, but these got frosted so were not a good test. I therefore decided to do this with the potatoes at the allotment this year. I have 4 previous years of yields without mulching to compare them with. The mulch I used was Strulch, as I had some, but anything will do - the guy in the video used grass cuttings, but mine are full of bits of horsetail.

Yields of Lady C vary enormously depending presumably on the weather, compost and watering. The lowest yield I have had from 3 seed potatoes in a 30 litre bucket was 0.65kg and the highest by a long way was 1.95kg (next best 1.65kg). Last year was my best yet, with 4 buckets at the allotment planted on 15th March yielding 1kg, 1.25kg, 1.5kg and 1.95kg, all harvested between 14th and 20th July The compost I used last year was a mix of rotted horse manure from the old hotbed and home made compost from the compost bin, with bfb added, so I used a similar mix this year, but with the Strulch put on top when I planted the potatoes.

I was not expecting much from the bucket I harvested yesterday because:
- The potatoes were planted on 10th April, nearly a month later than last year
- I was harvesting 10-15 days earlier than last year.
- The weather has been exceptionally dry and sometimes windy, possibly negating the effects of different watering regimes.
- Unlike last year when the plants were healthy, there are definite signs of disease. (The Lady C planted at home at the same time are still healthy green and much bigger plants than the ones at the allotment).
- I forgot to rub off the excess chits and some had loads of haulms, so I expected lots of tiny potatoes.

I pulled out the haulms, which came up with several pea-sized potatoes attached to each. I began to think I was going to get almost nothing at all. Then I turned out the bucket onto a sheet and began to pick out the potatoes. There were plenty but they were mostly smallish to middle sized, with nothing particularly big. I took them home and weighed them. Then I re-read last year's notes and went back and weighed them again. Then I went back and checked that I hadn't accidentally changed the units from kg to lb. I hadn't. There were 1.9kg of potatoes in the bag. Just 0.05kg short of my best ever yield of Lady C from 1 bucket.

Planted late. Harvested early. Poor weather. Disease. Yet a near record yield. I am absolutely staggered. I will report back on the yields from the other 3 buckets.

This is the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxHOfFPwnNA, which I came across from watching this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uAuE-umok4 - both are well worth watching.

[Penellype]

Update on the Lady C potatoes, all of which have now been harvested. The remaining 3 buckets produced 2.05, 1.95 and 2.0 kg potatoes.

Interestingly the first bucket of Desiree, grown in the same way, next door to the Lady C and harvested because it was starting to die down and I was getting very short of water, produced a very disappointing 2.6kg. Last year (harvested in September) the 4 buckets of Desiree produced between 4 and 6kg each. I think the Desiree have suffered a lot more from the shortage of water than the Lady C, which probably did most of their growing before the drought hit. I have left the remaining 3 buckets of Desiree to die down completely to see what difference that makes to the yield.

[Penellype]

Photos from 1st August



Rhubarb is dying down quite fast. Runner beans are starting to flower and the french beans beyond have been producing plenty of beans. The grass has greened up remarkably quickly after a little rain.



2 courgette plants have completely filled the bed and are crowding out the tomatoes (Garden Pearl) on the right. There are more courgettes than I can possibly eat.




The melon Emir is growing well and has 2 fruit. The Magenta under the white net (to keep the cat off) is growing extremely slowly and has no flowers yet. Beyond are the desiree potatoes which are dying down.




Under the green net are 2 rows of spinach and some florence fennel. I intend to sow more spinach where the weed matting is soon. The spinach is 2 different varieties - Amazon on the left and Banjo on the right. It isn't easy to see in the photo, but the Banjo is bolting much quicker than the Amazon (which looks as though it will bolt soon). I think this has done extremely well considering the weather, which is about as far from ideal for spinach as you can get.



Calabrese under the green net is growing well and the turnips in the middle are nearly ready to eat. Romanesco on the left looks less happy, although this was a spare plant that got left in a small pot rather too long. Behind are parsnips which have not been watered at all but seem to be surviving and beetroot which is ready to eat. Tomatoes in the growhouse are doing ok, particularly the Sungold which has produced a couple of ripe fruit.

[Penellype]

More photos



The cucumbers are doing well despite the drought, although the one on the right has lost its leading bud.



Blueberries are covered in fruit that is being harvested. The pink ones are starting to look as though they will be ready soon.



The old raspberry canes have been cut down, revealing just how little new growth there is. There is no doubt that these are dying and I intend to remove them. I have ordered new canes for the autumn and they will be planted at the road end of the allotment, which doesn't flood. The blackcurrnats and gooseberries have been harvested and the net has been removed.



Sungold tomatoes doing really well in the growhouse. The nasturtiums are self seeded and have invaded the paths - some were removed yesterday so I could get past.



Huge numbers of courgettes on Sure Thing. I think I have already had 6 off this plant.

[Penellype]

More photos



Romanesco, calabrese and kohlrabi. The Hurst Greenshaft peas have been harvested.



Strawberries have finished and are producing runners. Leeks beyond. The path needs covering with weed matting as I am finding it impossible to clear the moss and algae. Why moss and algae is growing in a drought is beyond me - I thought both liked damp conditions..



Terrain peas are suffering badly from the drought and have produced only a handful of pods. They usually do much better than this.



PSB at the end of the tunnel.



The summer leeks are ready to eat. The strawberries that were in mushroom trays on the shelves have died and been thrown away. I intend to plant some runners in trays for next year.

[Penellype]

More photos



This was supposed to be a cauliflower. 2 of these came in a pack of Maybach ordered in the spring. The other 14 plants were cauliflowers as expected.



Melon Emir has 2 fruit, supported in nets.




Melon Magenta, sown on the same day as Emir, is rather smaller.




Tomato Garden Pearl (2 plants) left to do its own thing, is covered in flowers and fruit.

[Penellype]

Photos taken 1st September



Runner beans are starting to produce well.



Courgettes are producing more than I can eat or give away, but are showing signs of powdery mildew.



Melon Emir (nearer) has already produced a ripe melon and has 4 more developing fruit. Magenta has one fruit that looks like it may have set, but it is still very small.




The first sowing of summer spinach has bolted and the 2nd sowing is nearly ready to thin for baby leaves. Some of the florence fennel is starting to bolt. All but one of the buckets of potatoes have now been harvested.



Calabrese is bursting out of its net and has produced a couple of nice heads. The turnips are also doing well. Parsnips behind appear to have survived the drought with no added water although some of the leaves are a bit yellow. The beetroot (which has been watered) doesn't look happy but is still perfectly edible. Tomatoes in the growhouse are ripening.

[Penellype]

More photos



Romanesco, kale, calabrese and PSB are looking worse for wear with whitefly infestation and some caterpillar damage.



Strawberries are in need of attention - I have been meaning to pot up runners for ages, but lack of water has stopped me. Summer leeks behind are doing well.



Kohlrabi is nearly ready despite being in a fairly dark corner of the tunnel.




PSB at the shed end of the tunnel has been staked.



Winter leeks are growing slowly.