Category Archives: Preparation

Potatoes, Preparation

The plot, the poly and potatoes

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plot

I was going to play on the plot today. If only for a brief spell. What I really wanted to do, was sink potatoes. Yes, already.

I have had fairly dire success when it comes to potatoes. What for others might be a fairly straight forward thing to do, for me, is a challenge. There has been some limited success growing potatoes in raised beds, and that is what I will in a couple of months time. I don’t really want to dig trenches again into the clay. I did that last year, and the seed potatoes were basically eaten by the clay. What could have been a beautiful bountiful crop, was in fact diddly squat of not a lot really. Very few spuds actually came out, and I had planted quite a few. Was rather demoralising really. I don’t particularly want to feel that way again. Last year was the first time for a number of the varieties that I am trying this year.

This year, the spud list is as follows:

  • Red duke of York-first earlies
  • Kestral-second earlies
  • Lady balfour-Main crop
  • Pink fir apple-salad variety
  • International kidney-salad variety

What I have done today, could possibly end with disappointment, as I have set about doing an experiment. I toddled off to the plot, with a bulb planter, a transplanting trowel and a bag of red duke of york seed potatoes. I went into the poly tunnel. The soil in there has already been tidied up and even had poop put into it. It is still horrible clay though, like the rest of the plot. Then over the next hour, I sunk the seed potatoes. I started off with the bulb planter, but didn’t like it, and so the transplanter trowel dug slots for the spuds. Each seed was then popped in. and covered over with the dirt that had been dug over. This is the first time that I have sunk seed spuds undercover, and therein it’s an experiment. It is also rather early. Most people have probably only received their potato orders and are likely to be now chitting their spuds in preparation. There is fleece on hand, to cover the shoots as they come through. I realise that there is a huge gamble when we are still experiencing frosts and will do so, til the end of may. By that time, the spuds should be up and out. Leading to tomatoes and chillies being planted into the poly. I didn’t fancy having an empty poly tunnel for such a long time.

Previously, I have sown kestral and lady, not too bad. Both were okay variety, particularly in light of my spud growing naivete. International kidney got eaten by the clay last year and didn’t work. Pink Fir apple is new this year, as it is such a knobbly looking thing. What I need to reflect upon closely, is where all the potatoes are going to go, and how. I really don’t want to sink into the clay, as that is a short way to write everything off.

Beyond the potatoes, I took this opportunity to walk around and tidy up the raised beds. Three of them, require topping up with MPC. They currently contain leaf mold. These, I suspect will be used to grow potatoes. There are other beds, that would also benefit from topping up, have sunk quite a bit. I can start to work out now, what is going to go where. Mum is going to need a raised bed or two for spinach and fenugreek. Space where running beans and climbing beans might go, is currently covered in black plastic. I don’t want the clay to get even more wetter and stickier. The vast majority of the raspberry canes that were sunk before Christmas do appear to have rooted and remain plugged in. No sign of growth yet on them, though. With the fruit trees, the braeburn apple, falstaff and worcester pearmain have started to form buds. The rochester peach less so. The peach is on persica rootstock. I have done some research about the concorde pear, and it appears that another one near by would improve things. At the moment, I’m not sure there is one near by, and so might reflect on finding another to sink on the plot. The pear treee that I have, has never ever fruited. Even the victoria plum has fruited once upon a time. There are huge great big plum trees dotted on the site, I like to think that may have an effect.

Potatoes, Preparation

Potatoes and precipitation: aloo sinking

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For weeks now, fe sacks of spuds have been looking at me. Urging me to plant them. With Easter later than expected, I’ve verb counting down towards an appropriate dry window. I may have also overestimated how many spuds I might want to sink given the space that I have.

Finding The Artist in Residence-remember him, he sunk bulbs last year-saw to making a start in this task. There are quite a few varieties of potatoes. Today, we sunk red duke of York and lady Balfour. All very old money aristocratic on the plot. I forget now when these will come up.

As you can see, The Artist in residence has a fabulous technique of digging potato trenches. Armed with the magic spade-to me it’s magic, to him “a spades a spade.” Yes he said that- trenches were dug and spuds dropped. The Artist In Residence all too amused by then ‘tentacles’ and very discerning in sinking those spuds he thought were decent. They were all going to go in, regardless.

There had been an ambitious plan to get potatoes planted. Didn’t get as far as kestrel, international kidney; with Maris piper and king Edwards waiting in the wings. We were thwarted by rain drops falling, a bit of wind and thunder in the distance. I had just started to dig a trench for another bag of spuds, and the last one for lady balfours was hurriedly covered over. We’ve established that I can’t really make mounds properly. And if it keeps raining, low chance of spuds. Really don’t know where I am going to put the rest. One part of the plot was still too sticky and had yet to be turned over on preparation.

But a start nonetheless.>

Preparation

Celery, carrot and parsnip experiment

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Felt like sowing some experimental seeds before going to the plot. I know many people are averse to using peat free fibre pots. I am just experimenting, as I can also make my own paper pots.

Mama h was my glamorous assistant in sowing the seeds once I had filled the pots with MPC. They are now sat in the four tier blowaway on slow cook. Have sown these direct before, the carrots at least. Not bad but not much of a crop. These can be transplanted hopefully, even though I do have clay soil. Nothing wrong with wonky carrots! Celary, was tried last year but keeled over with legginess. Have ne’er succeeded with parsnips.

A huge experiment!

Preparation

Diggin’ the dirt-making a start

With the dry weather today, and the sunshine, it made sense to go down to the plot and make a start on the preparation jobs. Since there is a stack of potatoes waiting to be sank, the plot is also in dire need of being dug over.  This was the job that Mama H volunteered herself for, besides, she actually likes digging, I do not. So Mama H, took up the magic spade and fork to dig over the heavy clay. It has dried out considerably, and Mama H was able to slice through it quite quickly with the spade and fork. Occasionally, she would smash the clods with the spade, and hurl lumps of weed passed my head as i walked past with the wheel barrow.

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My job, was to start filling up the raised beds with leaf mold and organic waste. In time, the plan is to top off the raised beds with MPC. Many of the beds have sunk after last year so need replenishing.

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There are five builders bags and two black bags full of leaves. These two beds were filled with leaves that haven’t fully decayed. This shouldn’t really be a problem. I had a similar situation last year, and in covering them with MPC, producing a bumper crop of courgettes and marrows as they decayed. That specific courgette bed, does need replenishing. However, it contains strawberry plants that had been nestled in between the squashes that will be rehomed and repositioned so that it can be.

Have managed to fill four beds today, there are a few more to fill. The beds that still have soil in them, will benefit from weeding over. There are patches of grass that have come through.

 

Preparation, Taking stock

Lay of the land

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As you know, plot 2 is very low and liable to get flooded. Whilst for half of the plot this is remedied by having raised beds; the other half is proving to equally challenging. A few of the beds are quite uneven and these dips fill up and write off crops. Today, I took a by whim walk down. It’s been a few days. I noticed that there was big heap of woodchip and tree left for communal use and decided to make use of it. Whilst I can hear the harbingers tut and groan about using green woodchip; I am using it as organic material. In the same way you might use poop or grass cuttings. It will help even out the land and possibly help alter the otherwise heavy clay. If the worst comes to worse, It will covered over with any spare leaf mold that might be available.

Preparation, Taking stock

Thinking out aloud

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In this gap, with the wind hurling its weight around and the potential to start sowing; I find myself speculating what I might grow. All plots are different, I know I would say that mine is stuck in its own little universe with its own microcosm. The site I am on, varies as to who has success with what. Plot 2 spends a lot of time under water when we have rain, and the open grown is heavy clay. This means that some things work and some just don’t.

With lots of raised beds on the lower half of the plot; this helps overcome
Some of the flooding issues. The top half-project othello-is largely open ground and the dips in the topography are flooded. Dips, which were where onions have been sunk.

Whilst there are early sowings of window sill babies, I have turned my attention to what happens next. A majority of the raised beds have sunk and need refilling. That is what the leaf mold will be used for. There are seed potatoes that need to be sunk. Might experiment with both open ground and raised beds. Beans would be the next thing. Both runner beans and climbing French beans to be grown up wig wams. Usually these are modularised in March. I would also like to retry celery and cauliflowers. I had some purple cauliflower seeds to try. I did try these before, a classroom experiment that didn’t come off as they got too leggy and keeled over. Have yet to do carrots properly. There is also fennel to consider; didn’t quite get the hang of it last year. Cucumbers were an interesting foray. With crystal lemon and marketmore being the only ones working. Might well be a polytunnel job. Another experiment might be the sweet crimson watermelon in the polytunnel.

Sweetcorn was curious. Did only end up with eight plants surviving. Not sure if I fancy trying that again. Was debating modularised cabbages in the vein as cauliflowers.

All these potential experiments. But will the Wendy, 4TB and poly cope?

Preparation, project othello, Taking stock

Tidy up time at the winter solstice

Today is the winter solstice, and the darkness will soon descend as the afternoon draws to a close. The shortest day of the year, means you have to move a bit sharpish if you plan to do anything useful.

The inside of the poly tunnel has been on my mind for some time. All very untidy, and with grass sprouting up. This morning, on the second day of the Christmas holidays, I donned my red wellingtons and coat and wandered down to the plot. I had also, in rummaging in pop’s shed, found some bulbs that I forgotten about. A few crocus, alliuem and daffodils. Managed to dib in a few crocus before mama H arrived and told me to get home. Her reasoning being that I was the only there and no one was faffing on their plots.

Anyway, the purpose of today’s visit was tidy the polytunnel. The green edifice of all year growing. Sprouting grass is not all that attractive. Thankfully, most of the sprouting grass could be pulled and plunked up without taking clumps of earth up. The rest was decapitated by a three edged ‘oe, Also helped aerate the soil a bit.  Still looked a bit weary inside. The morrison’s buckets that had once held the chillies and bells were emptied out on top. Spent compost by way of refreshing it.  The polytunnel now looks like a blank canvass. if i think about it, and have a root around in the seed stasher. There are has to be something that can be scattered into soil.

Preparation, project othello

plotting for the poly

2013_summer

Evening all, the first day of the Christmas holidays has me in a reflective mood; trying to figure out what to do next on the plot. The weatherman has just forecast a very wet, windy and turbulent festive period. Leading me to think about making plans without venturing outside and getting soaked to the skin.

The whole plot does required tidying. Winds and rain has tossed around bits and pieces as though they were flotsam and jetsam. That can be easily remedied in just walking around and putting things back in their places. The nature of the wind, the buffeting on the windows always makes feel ill at unease. It would sad, if either the wendy house or poly took flight as though some farmhouse in kansas. The allotment site is windy, and things have been known to take flight before. So always unsettling to hear the wind whistle and then moan.

The inside of the poly does require tidying as well, Since it was raised, it has merely house pots of chillies. There wasn’t, sadly, a plan to start filling it over the winter. There was, a hope that it would actually survive the winter, and I could then focus in the growing season in terms of planting and growing. A notion, that set about when sorting out the seed stasher. Established that I have lots of cress and basil seeds, not likely to sow them. All freebies, actually. Perhaps suited to a loving home. As well as lots of black cherry tomato seeds. Enough to cultivate a small forest. Didn’t have a vast variety of them, as I had thought. This year, the tomato crop was prolific. Fruit didn’t go red on the vine, but it was bumper crop. Good use was made of them all. I didn’t label any, so that makes it difficult to consider what I should or shouldn’t think about sowing. Since I didn’t have a poly when these were being cultivated,all of the tomato plants were planted without cover and in raised beds. The question then being, what shall I plant in the poly. I am not likely to sow seed directly. There is a mistrust here, of slugs and such like. Critters knibbled on the potted chillies, which rather brassed me off to be entirely honest. I have no sympathy for the creature that gnarled through the jalapeños.  That, my friends, is called karma.

Mother has had word with me, about the number of plants I sow. Don’t sow so many, being the long and short of it. The only concession that I make, is that I tend to get carried away, and not all seeds might germinate.

With the polytunnel, I am hamstrung by the size. It is not massive. A nice neat size of 3m x 2m. Inside, there is a wooden plank down the middle-the one pops constructed, remember-leaving a horseshoe shaped space to sow things into. I would like to cultivate plants so that they are at least 8-10 inches high, whatever they might be, before sinking them into the ground of the poly tunnel. There might have to be the blue pellets of doom, by way of preventative measure.

Must get the inside of the polytunnel weeded though. Being warm and light inside, there is a fair bit of grass that needs to be removed. A process that might involve the inside actually being dug over once more, and each offending blade being painstakingly removed. That plays on my mind, in making sure that I have an adequate canvas to play with. It’s also a bit grubby on the inside, watery tidemarks that need to be wiped down.

Other than tomatoes, I have a list of things that I would like to dabble with. As observed in a previous post, I would like to grow some superhot chillies. So chillies and peppers will feature, hopefully. Again, despite what Mama H has said. A re-match with Aubergines too, having failed to get a single fruit last year. We had lots pretty lilac flowers, but not a lot else. Cucumbers are a potential, though I only have the outdoor variety at the moment. May have to look into that. And melon. Something that may require a structural investigation, as they require a bit of support.

 

And all in the confines of 3m x 2m.  Defying the laws of physics, and turning the poly into the tardis. The inside, being bigger than the outside.

 

Yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

Preparation, Taking stock

Thinking out aloud

Outside a hanging gale blows; the cold bites, winter is on its way. And all I can dwell upon is aubergines. That’s eggplants by the way.

How soon after Christmas could I sow seeds, where shall I put the seeds to germinate, and will they be okay in the poly? All questions that have me thinking. The poly is of course a huge toy to play with next year. As well as aubergines, there also chillies and bell peppers to think about. Thing is I won’t have any warm window sills to use. This year chillies were sown in January, and then again later as the first batch keeled over with poor light. Mother advises me not to sow so many. A scary prospect when there are so many in the seedstasher; and there is never any guarantee that each and every chilli or sweet pepper seed will actually germinate. I actually want to find some Naga seeds, incidentally, to experiment. Might sow a variety of seeds but just not many. That is going to be difficult.

Melon.

I would rather like to grow one in there. I managed to grow a butternut; so I am somewhat encouraged to try a melon.

Squashes too. More winter ones. On the hunt for a Turks turban. Purely because of beautifully ugly they are.