Rabbits seem to have got a taste for our leeks. Even though I repaired (bodged) the fence they found a way in by burrowing under the shed, which forms part of the rabbit defence. I want to repair and alter the fence, but the ground is a quagmire. Most of the snow has melted, but the ground is frozen about an inch down, so the meltwater can't drain away.
We took some leeks, with a struggle, but the parsnips were frozen in and will have to wait. The winter has only just started and already the plot is a muddy mess.
The rent for the plot is due. This year it is moving to January so that anyone taking over a plot will be able get it ready for the spring, a good idea I think.
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Friday, 17 December 2010
Leeky rabbits
The weight of the snow on our fence brought it down, the fence post was already weak. As some of the snow melted and revealed the leeks the the rabbits sneaked in and nibbled the tops of them. Yesterday I propped up the fence to keep the hopping nibblers out. Jean harvested some leeks and parsnips. Only the tops of the leeks were eaten so the rest will be fine.
There's still more leeks so they will last into next year, just. The parsnips were awkward to find in the snow, large and a bit woody in the middle. The ground was soft under the snow, but now the hard frost has set in again and harvesting without damaging becomes harder.
There's still more leeks so they will last into next year, just. The parsnips were awkward to find in the snow, large and a bit woody in the middle. The ground was soft under the snow, but now the hard frost has set in again and harvesting without damaging becomes harder.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Looking for leeks
It's now two weeks since the first snow fell and there has been no real thaw at all. We ventured up to the allotment passed the chunks of ice dug from the road and piled onto the footpaths. The diggers were probably well-meaning but they certainly have not done us any favours. The piles of ice, well over a metre high, will take ages to melt, the compacted snow was fine to drive and walk on and now some parts of the road are cleared and some not there are four inch steps from one to the other making driving difficult and walking a nightmare as you are forced onto the narrow strip of cleared road because the rest is covered in jagged mountains of ice.
At the allotment there was only one other set of footprints in the snow, heading to Norman and Sue's plot. We carried on past to our plot. The fence in one corner is down and the foot prints show rabbits have ventured into our plot. We entered the same way as they had rather than dig out the gate. At the back of the plot the snow had drifted slightly, engulfing the fence and making a route for more rabbits to enter. They seem to have just had a look rather than eaten anything here, though on one of the other plots they have dug under the snow to get at crops that had not been gathered.
We had hoped to dig some leeks but they were under a deep mound of snow, you might just make it out in the middle of the picture. If we had uncovered some we would have laid them open to rabbits getting at the rest so we left them alone. The blanket of snow, which is about 45cm deep, will hopefully be protecting them from the worst of the frost and from hungry lagomorpha.
A thaw is forecast, so we'll need to repair the fence quickly when we can get to it.
At the allotment there was only one other set of footprints in the snow, heading to Norman and Sue's plot. We carried on past to our plot. The fence in one corner is down and the foot prints show rabbits have ventured into our plot. We entered the same way as they had rather than dig out the gate. At the back of the plot the snow had drifted slightly, engulfing the fence and making a route for more rabbits to enter. They seem to have just had a look rather than eaten anything here, though on one of the other plots they have dug under the snow to get at crops that had not been gathered. 
We had hoped to dig some leeks but they were under a deep mound of snow, you might just make it out in the middle of the picture. If we had uncovered some we would have laid them open to rabbits getting at the rest so we left them alone. The blanket of snow, which is about 45cm deep, will hopefully be protecting them from the worst of the frost and from hungry lagomorpha.
A thaw is forecast, so we'll need to repair the fence quickly when we can get to it.
Friday, 26 November 2010
Next year's plantings
The bit of snow that has fallen has reminded me that winter is close and I haven't put a plan together for next year's plantings. There will be a bit more room for vegetables because we've moved the raspberries to the back of the plot which we've not made much of and cut down our rhubarb by three-quarters.
Firstly the review.
This year we didn't take enough care to water when the rain didn't fall. We planted more leeks but they didn't get enough water and are small. Winter onions were great, summer onions were good, but also small. Spring onions came to nothing. Mange-touts were great, but freezing them was not very successful so we need to eat them as they are ready. Cabbages were awful because they didn't get enough water (even the caterpillars left them alone). Potatoes were small and not spectacular. Peas were nice, but not plentiful. Garlic is great, but a bit small. Courgettes were great again, and our first sweetcorn was wonderful, but needs a bit of care to pollinate it all. Broad beans were few and a bit tough, but tasty. Parsnips seem good so far. Spinach was very poor, some not even surviving planting out. Beetroot was good, and better for leaving to grow to a bigger size. Gooseberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and rhubarb were all great, strawberries were poor.
Overall with either more rainfall or careful watering we could do better.
Our current plans for next year include:
Beetroot, broad beans, courgettes, French beans, garlic, leeks, mange touts, onions, parsnips, savoy cabbage, spinach, spring onions, sweetcorn. The existing fruit bushes will remain. I need to plan the layout around the winter onions, spring onions, garlic and broad beans that are already planted.
Firstly the review.
This year we didn't take enough care to water when the rain didn't fall. We planted more leeks but they didn't get enough water and are small. Winter onions were great, summer onions were good, but also small. Spring onions came to nothing. Mange-touts were great, but freezing them was not very successful so we need to eat them as they are ready. Cabbages were awful because they didn't get enough water (even the caterpillars left them alone). Potatoes were small and not spectacular. Peas were nice, but not plentiful. Garlic is great, but a bit small. Courgettes were great again, and our first sweetcorn was wonderful, but needs a bit of care to pollinate it all. Broad beans were few and a bit tough, but tasty. Parsnips seem good so far. Spinach was very poor, some not even surviving planting out. Beetroot was good, and better for leaving to grow to a bigger size. Gooseberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and rhubarb were all great, strawberries were poor.
Overall with either more rainfall or careful watering we could do better.
Our current plans for next year include:
Beetroot, broad beans, courgettes, French beans, garlic, leeks, mange touts, onions, parsnips, savoy cabbage, spinach, spring onions, sweetcorn. The existing fruit bushes will remain. I need to plan the layout around the winter onions, spring onions, garlic and broad beans that are already planted.
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Mice and compost
A calm, sunny day tempted us to do a bit of tidying up. The asparagus was ready to be cut back almost to the ground. I put up supports for the newly moved raspberries and tied each stem to a wire. Jean turned the compost heap and covered the heap to help it rot. The compost bins work, but we don't get enough from them to improve our soil and to use for potting young plants.
We cut a few more leeks. They are growing well, but they won't catch up enough before we are ready to eat them all. The winter onions are growing well and a lot of spring onions have come up too. The recent warm weather and rain has helped. Some of our broad beans have sprouted, but the mice have dug a few up. I'm currently going to leave them alone and fill any missing ones in the spring, that might help spread the harvest. I might yet plant a few more in the spring anyway so we can try harvesting the beans a bit earlier than in the past so they are even more tender.
Most of the work has been done for this year now, so there will be a few little jobs and wait for the spring.
We cut a few more leeks. They are growing well, but they won't catch up enough before we are ready to eat them all. The winter onions are growing well and a lot of spring onions have come up too. The recent warm weather and rain has helped. Some of our broad beans have sprouted, but the mice have dug a few up. I'm currently going to leave them alone and fill any missing ones in the spring, that might help spread the harvest. I might yet plant a few more in the spring anyway so we can try harvesting the beans a bit earlier than in the past so they are even more tender.
Most of the work has been done for this year now, so there will be a few little jobs and wait for the spring.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Wandering raspberries
The raspberries have moved. Well actually the plants moved, the berries have long since been picked and either eaten or consigned to the freezer for later use. The plants needed a hand to move of course - they're raspberries not triffids.
The land at the back of the plot has not been very useful. The soil is very sandy and light here, so we have been steadily improving it with compost. We moved the raspberries here, with a good dollop of compost from our bin under each one. The original plants came with the plot and we have struggled to clear the bindweed from around them. Digging them up made it easy to clean the roots of all of the weeds before moving them.
The whole plot now looks pretty tidy, but the old raspberry plot needs another dig over to completely rid it of the weed roots.
The next stage could be to move the fence. We've decided to not fence the new fruit bush area - rabbits should leave them alone. It will make it much easier to dig the weeds out from the bottom of the hedge and so stop them spreading to the rest of the plot. We also have some young trees around the edges of our plot and the original plan was to move some into the hedge to replace the grotty elderberries and supplement the hawthorn bushes. We have all winter to do this.
The land at the back of the plot has not been very useful. The soil is very sandy and light here, so we have been steadily improving it with compost. We moved the raspberries here, with a good dollop of compost from our bin under each one. The original plants came with the plot and we have struggled to clear the bindweed from around them. Digging them up made it easy to clean the roots of all of the weeds before moving them.
The whole plot now looks pretty tidy, but the old raspberry plot needs another dig over to completely rid it of the weed roots.
The next stage could be to move the fence. We've decided to not fence the new fruit bush area - rabbits should leave them alone. It will make it much easier to dig the weeds out from the bottom of the hedge and so stop them spreading to the rest of the plot. We also have some young trees around the edges of our plot and the original plan was to move some into the hedge to replace the grotty elderberries and supplement the hawthorn bushes. We have all winter to do this.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Less rhubarb
A bright, calm day tempted us up to the plot. We took some more leeks and some good-looking beetroot. The beetroot seems to have slowed down, so most of what is left might turn out to be small. A few of the bigger beets had been nibbled - it looked like mice.
Jean dug over the piece where the courgettes were, next to the newly planted garlic. The winter onions are sprouting and some of the spring onion seeds have sprouted too. We dug our first parsnip. It was huge, probably our biggest ever. One parsnip that big is more than enough.
The biggest hassle was digging out a chunk of the rhubarb. The clump of rhubarb is much too big and is full of bind weed, so we dug more than half of it up. We might yet dig some more of it up.
Jean dug over the piece where the courgettes were, next to the newly planted garlic. The winter onions are sprouting and some of the spring onion seeds have sprouted too. We dug our first parsnip. It was huge, probably our biggest ever. One parsnip that big is more than enough.
The biggest hassle was digging out a chunk of the rhubarb. The clump of rhubarb is much too big and is full of bind weed, so we dug more than half of it up. We might yet dig some more of it up.
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