Category Archives: weather woes

overwintering alliums, Taking stock, weather woes

Ebb and flow

Over the last few days, there has been a brief window of respite from the deluge of rain that the British Isles has been experiencing. The volume of precipitation has reduced some what, and the sun-yes, the sun-has even made an an appearance or two. With that, the puddles have started to dissipate! woo-hoo!

The plot is still damp, yes, there has been alot of water. But the puddles that had been there have in fact gone. I can see clearly low the dips, and a few of the onions and shallots that were planted in the late autumn. A few of the flooded parts have sent up a few shoots, but not many. Shallots are only just sending up clumps of shoots.  One of my site neighbours does believe that the onions, shallots and garlic will recover. Her logic being that the plot has been under a foot of water before, and the onions et cetra still came off. We shall see!

The garlic doesn’t seem to be doing too badly, a little wind burned, but still there. The red onions are most likely a write off. As are the broad beans that were sown. Both of these could be resown, but this drying up of ground does present me with the opportunity to perhaps sink potatoes there instead. Broadbeans could be sown else where further down on the plot, rather than on the project othello section. Have never had much success with spuds in open ground, so this could be the plausible window to do so. At least now, Ma doesn’t have to have any broadbeans. It is now easier to see where wig wams could also be positioned. Once the plot gets drier, I can assess all the seven open ground beds on project othello.

The doom and gloom is lifting, the whole plot seems lighter, and there were even some crocuses come through. As well what looked like daffodils and tulips.

overwintering alliums, Taking stock, The Big Sunflower Project 2013, weather woes

Squelching through the sludge

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Over the last two weeks, it has been rather difficult to walk down to the plot. Mainly as the weather has been atrocious, but also as I start a new post. The sum of any visits has been to wander down there in the red wellingtons and see if the puddles have got any deeper. One takes one’s life into one’s hands just getting down the path. Sadly, there is no money in the site budget to fix it. I grumbled about that a fair bit at the plot meeting. It is turning into a health and safety hazard. The plot itself, is a maze of puddles; as you will see from the videos. Which is why there are so many raised beds. The benefit of the rain, is that I can see where I need to build things up. The plot is actually lower than the path that runs alongside.

The plot cuts something of a post-apocalyptic scene in the desolate dire winter. A stark contrast to the flourishing flowering scene in the summer gone. I must remember to sow the sunflowers for the Sunflower project 2014. I encourage to think about that, a good cause and it makes the plot look oh so pretty!

I know that the for the last few weeks, all the updates have been somewhat miserable. Sadly, I cannot control the weather! The growing season is still in it’s infancy.

Took a walk down to plot 2 today. Wanted to update you all on just what was happening. Very cold, but very bright. Just not very playable though.

Bit of sunshine, lots of puddles. So much to clear up.

I have battled with the topography of the plot. It is lower in the middle, than everywhere else. Water forms puddles, that then just stand and stay there stagnating. The key has been raised beds. I can safely say, that they have been very useful. Allowed me to get growing, and be successful with it. last year, three beds were full of potatoes. The spuds worked reasonably well, I got potatoes, that was good enough for me. However, there was a lot slug damage to them. The beds were filled with assorted organic matter. Grass cuttings, horse poop, and leaf mold. This year, the beds have sunk; as they do. So will need to have more material added to them.

There are onions, shallots and garlic in there somewhere. These were all planted through cardboard. I would have expected to see a bit more top growth by now, but these were planted a whole month later than expected. In addition, there has been a lot of rain. I can only hypothesis that the roots are being set down, at least by those sets that have survived the wet and inclement weather.

Leaf mold! This was all collected last year, and is cooking in the cold. There are two aims for this stuff. To first use in the raised beds, and there are quite a few raised beds. Then to put what remains where I can, to improve the soil and help raise the open ground areas. Last year, one entire builders bag was used to fill a 1mx2m bed. This bed was then used to cultivate two courgettes and marrows. I can safely say, that the decaying matter did them wonders. Prolific anyway, the squashes somewhat thrived with all that leaf mold.

Taking stock, weather woes

Soggy Stuff

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There has been a momentary pause in precipitation, and sunshine has broken out. Time enough, to go down to the plot and make a survey of what is standing. And with the sheer volume of water, standing is about right. The puddles seem a lot deeper than they were last week. Very cold, with the wind whispering on the plot. Though it was a balmy 12 degrees in the poly tunnel. Did peek in there, nothing has germinated in there. Which is not altogether surprising, given how low temperatures have dropped.

There is no new news on the experimental chillies that were sown. Though the mini cloches are perspiring as it were, quite happily. There are no visible signs of any chilli babies. This can of course take some time. Super hots have yet to be sown, simply as I haven’t got around to getting some compost. They will hopefully be sown into yoghurt pots and placed into a heated prop.

Baby leeks sown at the start  of the autumn term. Not doing to badly, are sat in the wendy house. Have been largely ignored, and don’t seem to have suffered. They are of course quite hardy. I remains to be seen how many of these will be come pencil thick and then make it through transplanting.

Baby onions have not been as successful as one would have hoped. Whilst there are lots sown in the plot, sets have to survive the torrential downpours. These seeds were sunk at the same time as the leeks. Very disappointing to see so few babies. Guess there is still some time remaining to sow some more directly into the modules.

Leaf mold is always an interesting experiment. These are sat at the back of the plot, and left to their own devices. Last year, a whole builders bag was used to fill a raised bed used for squashes. The plan is to use these in the raised beds. Whilst the resulting soil doesn’t necessarily have a great deal of nutritional value, it will fill the beds nicely. This is a certainly cheaper than buying lots of compost.

A small bed of leeks that started off their lives in my classroom. Not many survivors, but better than nothing. Am hoping that the leek babies you see above will do some what better than these. These were actually freebies, so in having something rather than  nothing is always a bonus.

The netted cabbages that are becoming very lacy; as though they were net curtains. Very disappointing, and there are valuable lessons to be learned here. There are slim chances that some of them will be salvageable. Sad, in that we like cabbages. Just have to take additional care and put in place further precautions.

A raised bed of assorted spinach, chard and some kale. There were stalks of nero di toscana in there as well. The problem with this entire bed, like the cabbages, is the sheer volume of holes that get made by  slimers. I suspect that this bed will remain occupied for sometime, and that there will have to be applications of the blue pellets of doom.

 

Preparation, weather woes

Blizzards in Blighty…Again!

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‘March comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb.’

I can believe that!

With the snow departing the East Coast of America, it has now arrived on our shores. We had experienced a dry patch, that segued by a bit of damp; has become yet another snowy patch.

With the Channel Islands all but shut, Middle England has experienced some snow flurries and the odd blizzard. The sense of spring arriving has been quickly displaced, the radiators have been switched on again. Mr.Sunshine has temporarily gone on holiday.

This probably means damp squidgy clay, the stuff that sticks to your wellingtons. Not easy to dig over or play with generally. The bulbs are probably more than a bit confused.

I do hope it leaves like a lamb. There will be potatoes to plant, beans too.

Here’s hoping,

Yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

Preparation, Taking stock, weather woes

Planning post puddles

As I sit here, planning world domination, sleet falls outside with the weather being its nefarious wanton self. Spring seems to be hiding its face, as further inclement weather hits blighty.

Should the weather change the face it currently pulls, it would be nice to get things going. As it stands, the classroom sills are full of seed trays. The windows are not in the least bit big. Lyon 2 Prizewinner leeks are still standing, very wiry young things that they are. Don’t seem to be getting any fatter, and further towards the pencil thin girth that they need to have. The cauliflowers that were sown, purple cape, mayflower and all year around, grew very leggy. Subsequently keeling over. Celery, remains, as does the beetroot. At last check, the aquadulce claudia broadbeans and suttons dwarf were just starting to poke their heads through the dirt in the paper pots.

The chilli adventure is still altogether frightening. At the last observation, five baby seedlings had stood up. The paper pots were removed from the heated prop and into a cold one, lined with white paper by way of reflecting heat and light. They had keeled over previously, in not being warm enough or having adequate enough light.

I would like to sow more cauliflower, and in turn some some tomatoes. There are still lots of other things to be sown too. Such as cabbages. I must still fill the raised beds. Damp lead mold has been used to get the raised beds at least a thirdish, or half full. Poop-that pops and I gathered-has then be used to cover the top of this. I have one bag left to pour into a be. Beyond that, I envisage topping the beds up with compost. Not filled entirely, but enough to get sowing. An aim, had been to sow various spinach seeds and fenugreek for Mama H. That would truly mark the start of the sowing season.

Last week, I took delivery of potatoes and spring garlic. It is most likely too early for either of these to be sown. The potatoes may well find themselves in the raised beds somewhere. I’m not sure where. Whilst I have garlic, these will replace those many that were eaten by the elements. However, I feel the section of the plot designated to them, may well be too wet, and not able to drain as quickly as I would like.

Thinking now, as to how many tomato seeds I wish to plant. I have both cordon and bush varieties. Yet, hobbitland is a blight hotspot. There yellow, red, and black tomatoes. So a veritable mix. These will be started off inside, and might just make it outside. Last year, they got to about 12 inches high inside. All very nice, but butchered by the weather, and therein a horrible waste. In the seed stashers, a hoard of beans to be sown. I don’t anticipate doing them yet. But will consider do so, in about six weeks perhaps. The mythology is to sow around the time of St.Patricks day.  This is most likely another paper pot job, one copy of an atrocious paper that will remain nameless, produces provisionally 50 pots. That is a lot of seeds. Mama H has made her opinion know. There are to be runner beans. Yes, Ma. I have those. The old favourite of Scarlet Emperor-the first runner bean that I ever grew-sits alongside one called painted lady. Furthermore, there dwarf varieties of French beans. Tender-something, as well as borlotto beans and purple queen. Though I can see Mama H pulling faces at the purple dwarf beans. Whilst I am convinced of their metamorphosis from purple to green on cooking, Mama may have her queries about them. Flicking through seed catalogues, I was trying to hunt down yellow ones.  The plan with the legumes, is to plant them where ever possible. The advantages of planting them by way of nitrogen tapping and its volume of doing so, are debatable  I was advised by an allotment neighbour, of ‘if in doubt, sow beans’, so this will be an interesting hypothesis test. Does the ground actually have better characteristics having formerly housed legumes. A half plot of beans may well seem a waste, but could potentially be useful. Having inherited a plot that is deemed a waste in itself, the challenge is to get something productive out of it. As it stands, garlic and onions have done well. Now the bar is set higher.

The snow is coming down apparently, outside. I do wish it wouldn’t. Makes planning that much more difficult.

Yours in anticipation.

Preparation, Taking stock, weather woes

After the freeze, come the thaw; and that means puddles

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After the freeze, comes the that. As you can see, that means puddles. Lots of them, and fairly deep too. I ventured down there today; it’s been over a week and a half since that snow fell. More than once, my wellies got stuck in the mud. On one occasion, I felt myself about to lose my centre of gravity. There would have been a splash, I tell you. I righted myself, and kept plodding on. Being heavy clay, the word plodding is the operative verb here.

The agenda, was to do something about the poop that Pops and I had gathered some weeks ago. An allotment neighbour had also found me some-from the same source-and was kind enough to stash it on the plot for me. I had to haul the bags towards the larger 2m x 1m beds. Today, four out twelve beds had poop added to them. I often feel that I have made a rod for my own back, in having so many raised beds, that subsequently need filling with dirt. The thought process required therein, was how that would happen. Two of the rectangular beds have poop in them, as do two of the smaller beds. A fifth larger bed, was filled entirely with a whole builders bag of leaf mold. I think that it roughly one tone of leaves. One is a little bit closer to having filled raised beds. The next part of the plan, is to use the remainder of the builders bag and the three bags that sit at the back of the plot. These are very heavy! I struggled somewhat with them today, there was way no I could physically lift them. So I will have to think of a creative way to fill a rectangular raised with them. it is the central bed, in the third picture that is left to fill with poo. I can have a bottom layer of leaf mold, and put the poop on top. There is some luck, in that the smaller beds, are already full of leaf mold. What they would need, is to be topped up with compost. Something to be done in phases, I think, over the next couple of months.

On the sowing front. The chilli adventure is altogether frustrating. Once out of the propogator, the baby chillies keel over on the window sill. They are probably too cold. Aquadulce claudia Broadbeans as well as suttons dwarf broadbeans have been sown. A good 53 paper pots worth of seed. One of the allotment neighbours shared the wisdom of ‘if in doubt, sow beans.’ I therefore intend to test this hypothesis. Further to this, there are baby cauliflowers. These are all year around, purple cape and I think, Mayflower. They took their time, as did golden self blanching celery. I will be intrigued to see how that copes really. And if the plot is always going to be wet, then maybe it has a fighting chance. There are also baby lyon2 prizewinner leeks. I don’t think mussleberg ones have taken off.

In another month or so, I will think about tomatoes. There are many different varieties in the seed stashers, and it would be lovely; if something actually came off. There are yellow, red and even black cherry tomatoes. In addition, there will be further beans. Dwarf french and also runner beans. Mama H has been really quite vocal about these. What can be envisaged, is lots and lots of dwarf beans all over the plot. This is going to mean alot of paper pots. Paper pots, that mama h has developed a technique for making. She simply takes the paper from me, as I try to make them; and makes them for me. Who am I to argue?

In the spirit of growing, I have also donated a batch of seeds to http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/seed-swap/68032-virtual-seed-parcel-v4-uk-france-3.html

As the growing season is only yet in its infancy; anything can happen.

Yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

chillies, Uncategorized, weather woes

January jeepers

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You have seen the extent of the current weather and winter woes. Plot 2A  is currently under a foot of snow. There is not an awful lot I can do with that.

At the moment, there are various seeds sat on window sills. In the propagator, are chilli seeds. In the last week or so, a few have peeped out of the dirt. Only to keel over again, once on the window sill. A combination of poor light, and reduced heat is most likely what has caused them to keel over. I daresay that I will be sowing seeds again, as not many have yet removed their head from the dirt. Beetroot is germinating, cylindra and bonel were sown into modules about a week ago. As was self blanching celary, but this is yet to show it’s face

I have sown some cauliflowers, three different varieties. Mayflower, purple cape and All year around caulis have been sown and are sat covered on a window sill. I tried once upon a time to sow these, but didn’t know enough about their propogation. Fingers crosses this time. I will be intrigued to see whether or not they come off. For many, cauliflowers are a staple. What will be amusing, is if the purple ones come off. Yes, I am aware of the need for environmesh. I remember sowing Kohl Rabi and having an infestation of white fly thingies.

That will mean, that at some point; Cabbages will be sown. I’ve had very limited success with cabbages in the past. They’ve been eaten by slugs and snails despite blue pills, collars, ceramic tile bits and beer traps. I am convinced, that the hobbitland slugs are particular about the types of beer that one attempts to dose them with.

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Well, If I’m not going out there, I’m not going to the plot….

The home wendy house is at least standing, compared to the one on the plot.

The seed stashers are bulging, with lots and lots to sow. With the snow, that is not going to be easy. Let’s hope it clears, and soon….

yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

weather woes

White Stuff landeth

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Somewhere under all that is my plot. The white stuff has been falling for a few days more. We are expecting further snow over the next few days

I made a quick dash down there, a very brief stop. Walking down there, the snow was easily up to my ankles. Blighty is expecting about a foot of snow to fall. It was bad enough that we had seen that much rain.

The plan had been to get some compost to start filling the raised beds. For the moment, there is manure to part fill them. We shall have to see!

Yours in anticipation,

Horticultural Hobbit

Taking stock, weather woes

Still a very sorry, soggy sight….

Soggy still, the plot yeilds a wearied shake of the head. As we anticipate another dose from the Siberian beast from the east; there does not seem to be any let up from the elements. My heart well and truly sinks, each and every time a drop of rain falls.

The water is, as you can see, still standing, and does not seem to be any hurry to go anywhere. The puddles are more than a couple of inches deep. One step in the wrong direction, and you will need to be fished out somehow. I took a walk down there as dusk fell, to see what exactly the damage was. The raised beds seem to be okay. It is the surrounding flat that is in the most trouble; especially the far side of the plot. There a lot of water has pooled, covering a third of the plot and submerging one rose bush.

On the near side, one would have expected some of the over wintering onions to have risen. I had to delicately return a few today into their holes; they had exited, most likely at the beaks of a bird or two. I couldn’t see many if any that had started to sprout. Perhaps it is still early; though they were sunk in October some time. Or perhaps, with the increased levels of precipitation, the hungry water logged clay has eaten them. I am feeling sorely disappointed about it really. I don’t recall last autumn or winter being so damp and squalid. There will be a lot of surprise, if anything that is over wintered actually comes off.

The wendy house really is a shadow of its former self. With no cover, it looks like a bare skeleton with its flesh picked off. I am debating the investment into a proper wooden wendy house,-yes, a shed- of the same proportions. One that won’t take flight or keel over. Though you cannot be sure of that not happening, given the erratic nature of the elements. One has been window shopped, and may well be purchased before Christmas. From first glance it does fit within the allowed parameters. The one job that is also weighing heavy on my mind, is the filling of the raised beds with compost. There are 12 beds in all. Whilst there builders bags full of leaf mold; these take time to break down. It would be nice to have the beds usable within time. I have yet to get my head around finding manure possibly, to put into the beds. That would at least break down and cook over the winter months. Ultimately, I think the entire plot will be raised beds; a shame, since the clay could actually be quite useful in being so nutrient rich.

The seed stashers have been fished out of Dad’s shed. There is vast plethora of seeds between the two boxes. Some which I will try and use, others which I may not. For example, the aubergine seeds; I have a number of varieties. The aubergine experiment failed to work, in that there were no fruits at all. Lots of foliage based plants, with pretty purple flowers. But nothing else. So they may well go. One thing I plan to have a go at, is to sown some seeds and place them onto the classroom windows. Perhaps some tomatoes, chillies, courgettes; various things that could be transplanted with growing season.