Penellype's Allotment

[Penellype]

Fruit



The pink blueberry has been moved and a new blueberry (currently at home) will be put in its place. I was hoping when I bought it that the pink blueberry would pollinate the blue one and give me nice big berries, but either it doesn't, or the blue variety (Spartan) has small berries. At home I have 2 bushes (Dixie and Bluecrop) which pollinate each other and produce large berries, so I have bought another Bluecrop which will hopefully do the trick.



The pink blueberry is now on the old raspberry bed. The idea is to plant it (if the soil ever dries out enough) and train it into more of a fan shape, which it sort of is anyway. Next to the centre post is a new redcurrant bush which I am also waiting to plant and train as a triple cordon, and I have 3 gooseberries on order which will go in the other half of the bed trained as cordons. Hopefully the wires which were put in for the raspberries will help with this.



The chilean guavas are nearly ripe. These are strange things with tough and sour skins, but if you can be bothered to peel them (they are the size of large peas) they taste pleasantly of strawberry.



The melon plants have died but I have left the 2 fruit to soak up any remaining sunshine. One is starting to turn yellow.



The courgette is still slowly developing fruit and there are more flower buds. As the forecast is for mild weather I am hopeful that they will get big enough to eat.

[Penellype]

December
These photos were taken around mid-day once it had stopped raining, not early in the morning as is more usual. The sun had just come out so some are not as clear as they might be.



The raspberry net has been lifted off the canes (that was tricky!) and gathered together so that it didn't break the supports when it snowed.




The top net has been taken off the tunnel for the same reason. Runner beans have gone, I left the pods of the french beans to dry, and some have been harvested. I doubt it is worth saving any more now that they have been frozen. Kohlrabi in the hotbed is fairly happy, the turnips less so. Both were covered with the bubble wrap in the centre on the coldest nights.



More bubble wrap covering the romanesco. The net has been dropped below the supports because of the snow.




Buckets of this year's potato compost waiting to be spread on beds. Parsnips in the front bed. There is also some kale, which has not grown well and is unlikely to be edible.



PSB is doing well. Again the net has been dropped below the supports.

[Penellype]

In the tunnel



All the tomatoes and peas have now gone. The blue-green net is an attempt to keep the pigeons off the calabrese. Again there are some french beans which hadn't dried enough to pick before the frosts.



The cold frame is empty.



The remains of shredded lettuce plants chopped and dropped.



Pak choi that has gone to seed. I may try to grow some over winter by scattering seed pods in the cold frame and see what happens. The strawberry plants could do with tidying up.



Beetroot has been covered with bubble wrap in the cold weather and appears to have survived. This is Lutz Green Leaf, which is said to store well.

[Penellype]

Fruit



The pink blueberry has now been planted in the old raspberry bed.



As has the bigger of the 2 new redcurrant bushes. This was bought as insurance because the one I got by mail order is tiny and all of its leaves were eaten by caterpillars so I am not sure it will survive. This one is much bigger. The angled cane is where I am thinking of planting one of the gooseberry cordons, when they arrive. The black troughs of strawberries behind are not doing well here and the plants may well be thrown away as they are at least 3 years old.



The melons in the growhouse have been harvested and eaten - a bit hard but not bad in a very poor summer. The strawberry plants in here are supposed to produce early fruit, but one of them has got a little over-enthusiastic and is already flowering.



My attempt at layering a branch of the chilean guava.



Last winter I thought I might have lost this bush as it was looking very sick, but it has recovered remarkably well. I have pulled the bucket of rhubarb away from it a bit to give it more space as it was being swamped.

[Penellype]

Brassicas



The PSB is ready to eat.



A few turnips remain. These have not liked the frost, despite the bubble wrap, and the upper part has gone brown, but there is some edible turnip underneath. They need eating very soon before they rot.



The kohlrabi in the same bed is fine and ready to eat.



The romanesco really does not like the cold. I have eaten a huge amount of it but it just kept on growing and is now going brown and mushy despite the bubble wrap cover. There may be a few edible bits left, or there may not.



The 2 calabrese plants in the tunnel (variety De Cicco). The plant on the left is not looking happy at all, whereas the one on the right is still quite perky. These were not covered with bubble wrap because of the pea mesh.

[Penellype]

More photos



Spinach continues to grow slowly. It doesn't seem to have been bothered by the cold (variety Amazon).



The leeks are growing painfully slowly. For a variety called Giant Winter they are disappointingly small.



6 bags of leaves gathered from my Mum's garden.

[Penellype]

January photos



Not much going on here.



After heavy rain last night the allotment is flooded again. French beans have been removed, as have the turnips in the hotbed, which had rotted.



Romanesco wasn't edible after the November cold spell. The top layer of last year's hotbed has been moved onto the nearer bed, which has very little compost (it was a hotbed in 2023) - this is now ready to fill with fresh horse muck to make a new hotbed.



I had to put the net back over the parsnip bed as the cat was using it as a litter tray. I'm keeping a close eye on the forecast as this net will not support any snow.



Harvesting PSB for tea today was somewhat tricky as my boots leak!

[Penellype]

In the tunnel



All looking very empty on the west side. The french beans at either end of the centre bed have been removed.



The pak choi has been removed and some of the seeds sprinkled in the cold frame. No sign of any germination yet.



Another view of the nearly empty tunnel.



Beetroot (bottom right) is slowly being harvested. The strawberries have been tidied up.



Calabrese has recovered from the cold snap and is producing more shoots, some of which I will be eating tonight. Whether it will cope with a longer colder freeze is debatable.

[Penellype]

More photos



The new gooseberry bushes have arrived and have been planted and mulched with hay. The mesh is to prevent the birds from throwing the hay all over the allotment. From left to right, redcurrant summer pearls, gooseberry Himmonaki yellow, gooseberry Invicta (all single cordons), gooseberry Captivator (double cordon) and just on the right is part of the redcurrant Laxton's No 1 which was planted in November.



When I was pruning the gooseberry bushes to make cordons a couple of pieces had roots so I planted them in one of the potato buckets - Himmonaki yellow on the left and Invicta on the right.. Either they will grow into bushes or they won't - the Invicta branch only had a couple of very small roots. Not sure where I will put them if they grow though...



Strawberries in the grownhouse.



An attempt to get a closer photo of the PSB without getting my feet wet. This is growing well and the 2 older plants (in the picture) are being harvested. There are 2 younger plants at the other end of the bed, one of which has had its main head harvested over Christmas. Variety is Rioja.



Parsnips have died right down. I harvested one of these recently and it had a lot of canker and some carrot fly damage which does not bode well for the rest of them.

[Penellype]

More photos



Kohlrabi in the hotbed is being harvested. I have left this a bit too long and the texture is not as nice as when it is smaller, but it will do for soup.



Spinach continues to grow slowly and I am hopeful of having an early spring crop.



The leeks are very disappointing. I have harvested a couple of these for a risotto today, but they are no bigger than a spring onion.



The tunnel is wetter than I have ever seen it - this is the entrance. The green is liverwort, which loves the wet shade. I really should put weed matting down on this bit.



The wind has broken the bottom of one of the wooden poles holding the tunnel net. I have tried to tie it to a piece of rebar, but the ground is so wet that the rebar has just wobbled about making a hole. It isn't going anywhere at the moment but I will have to do something with it before I put the net back on. To be honest, given the fact that the tunnel frame is held in place by being strapped to wooden pegs, with the ground flooding so often I am surprised the whole lot hasn't rotted and collapsed in a heap! The net is wearing into holes so the whole thing will probably need a rethink in the next couple of years.

[Snoop Puss]

Clearly very wet, Penellype. But still nice to see green things clinging on. Best wishes for 2025.

[Penellype]

Thanks Snoop Puss. I'm just glad I opted for raised beds!

[Snoop Puss]

Can I ask about the leeks? Are they supposed to continue growing during the winter? I thought they just withstood winter weather or were for harvesting in winter.

[Nicos]

I have a few leeks outside, so would also be interested in whether I should leave them a little longer and risk a hard stem prior to flowering or maybe it’s worth leaving them a couple of weeks- or longer , or harvesting them now and cooking them down then freezing them?

Sorry to see so much flooding Pen. Raised beds are deffo the way to go aren't they?

[Snoop Puss]

What variety are your leeks, Nicos?