December on the Allotment

December on the Allotment

At last, after an apparently endless wet and flooded summer and autumn, we are having some frosty, sunny weather. There are only a few hours each day when it is possible to do any work on the plot. By the time it has warmed up enough [and the warmth is relative!] to do something – about 11.00am, the sun seems to switch off about 2.30pm and the freezing cold sets in again for the evening. That said, I don’t think the ice melted in many places at all today.

Still, it is cheerful and many plot holders are out there doing what they can to clear up for spring. I am lucky in that I am close to the top of the hill so my ground is not as wet as those plots at the bottom of the hill and being surrounded by trees and hedges [on the western side, so they don’t block the sun], I am also fairly sheltered. In spite of the wonderfully fresh, dry air and the pleasure of being out there doing something after so long, the ground is still sodden. It is possible to walk on it only because it is frozen. I still have a patch – quite a large patch really - which should have been dug. Perhaps it will now have to wait until I’m planting potatoes.

A neighbour was telling me this morning, with some pride, that he has dug over his whole plot since September. And it does look good! He said he just carried on digging through the mud. To my shame, I still have a small patch of potatoes which must still be dug, and yes, I know that if I leave them any longer, they will start growing. I have had little incentive to dig them as the ground has been so muddy and the potatoes themselves have not been so good that each time I have gone to my plot, digging potatoes has been pushed to the bottom of my list of priorities.

Yesterday, I had my much needed bonfire – pieces of rotten wood which have been used as walkways but are now just harbouring woodlice and slugs, prunings from blackcurrant bushes, redcurrant bushes and fruit trees, also the tops of raspberry canes. I have also burnt the cut back asparagus fronds, as well as any litter on the ground around the crowns - hoping to reduce the numbers of asparagus beetle next year.

There is a huge heap of wood chip from cut back hedgerows and trees around the field which I am now using to replenish and tidy the surfaces of paths and free areas around my plot. This year it is beside me so, I am taking the opportunity to make as much use of it as possible. Saying that, there is a lot of it so, if you have a plot near mine, do use it while it is there. And, it looks like the potato digging has been pushed back yet again!

Talking of asparagus, don’t forget to cut back the old fronds and clear all litter from the ground around the crowns to remove as many as possible of the hibernating asparagus beetles. A good dressing of well rotted manure on top of them will help next year’s harvest.

As the winter weather starts to bite, our birds are struggling for survival. It has been a dismal year for them in any case and now that the ground is frozen, it is particularly difficult for them to find food. If you are birdie minded it would be useful to give them something extra to ‘tide them over’. Pete, our vice chair of committee and a bird lover was telling me that he has been putting out the remains of his 2010 Christmas cake. I’m sure the birds just loved it. He says that blackbirds have also invaded his poly tunnel and have been eating his grapes. Of course, many birds, in bitterly cold weather, don’t die from lack of food as much as from lack of water. It is important to ensure, if possible, that there is a source of unfrozen water for them to drink. Last winter, which was so very cold, I would take water each day to my plot and put it in suitable containers for the birds but, I found it would be frozen again in a very short time. Proper bird food is obviously best and I do provide it as often as I can afford it, especially during brood raising season but, I guess our stale household bread is better than nothing during the winter when the birds are starving. Obviously, I don’t put it out every day – well I don’t have a loaf of stale bread every day but, I hope that once a week will keep them ticking over during the winter.

At the moment, each Sunday on our fields, we have a dedicated group of members re-laying part of our boundary hedge along Donkey Lane [ also known as Dead Man’s Lane or Gastons Lane]. It is believed that the lane and the hedges that border it are, at least, 500 years old. How awesome is that! If you are interested in taking part, do check on the details on the linked website.

In case I don’t write again before Christmas, do have a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo

Frohe Weihnachten und Happy New Year

Glædelig jul og Godt Nytår

Prettige Kerstdagen en Gelukkig Nieuwjaar

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année

Feliz Natal e Feliz Ano Novo

圣诞之际，祝你心中有首快乐的圣诞和新年快乐

मेरी क्रिसमस और नया साल मुबारक हो

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo

Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh

Wesołych Świąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

મેરી ક્રિસમસ અને નવા વર્ષની શુભેચ્છાઓ

Selamat Natal dan Tahun Baru

Linksmų Kalėdų ir Naujųjų Metų

Счастливого Рождества и Нового Года

God Jul och Gott Nytt År

Manuring our allotments

Manuring Our Allotments

This is a complex subject and doubtless large portions of degrees on agriculture and horticulture are set around this subject.  If you can get hold of a copy of a book, now out of print – Know and Grow Vegetables –P.J.Salter;J.K.A. Bleasdale; and others – from The National Vegetable Research Station, it is a unique, interesting and  comprehensive study of many aspects of vegetable growing.

However, most plot holders just want to know which of the manures available will give the best results on their plots.

It must be remembered that adding any organic manure will contribute to the acidity of the soil due to the breakdown process of the compost. But, for most plotholders on our heavy clay ground, adding organic matter, no matter how poor in essential nutrients, helps to break down the heavy structure of the soil and allows for freer drainage and greater nutrient uptake – of course, it is more complicated than that.

As a simplification of the needs of plants – Nitrogen[N] is used for leaf growth, Phosphorus[P] is for seed germination and root growth and Potassium [K]  for flowers and fruit.

Not all of our members are dedicated organic growers and their choices must be respected though, continued addition of non-organic fertilisers brings its own problems and there is an argument to suggest it is not sustainable.

I have gained the following information from:

 http://www.allotment.org.uk/grow-your-own/fertiliser/npk-values-of-manures

NPK Values of Animal Manures
	N Nitrogen %	P Phosphorus %	K Potassium (Potash) %
Cow Manure	0.6	0.4	0.5
Horse Manure	0.7	0.3	0.6
Pig Manure	0.8	0.7	0.5
Chicken Manure	1.1	0.8	0.5
Sheep Manure	0.7	0.3	0.9
Rabbit Manure	2.4	1.4	0.6
Growers usually have a preference for either cow of horse manure but, for the most part it does depend on what is available and how much straw [or even hay] is mixed in. Of course, the addition of the straw is very useful for improving the quality of your soil, particularly in heavy clay. Resist the temptation to add fresh manure to your ground – it too strong. At least pile it up, cover it with a plastic sheet, a tarpaulin or an old carpet and leave it for a couple of months – longer is preferable. With all poultry manure it is generally too strong to use directly on the garden but it does make an excellent activator for a compost heap. There is little bulk in poultry manure so using it as an activator makes most sense. The only plant that you can apply it to directly is comfrey. NPK Value of Home Made Compost
	N Nitrogen %	P Phosphorus %	K Potassium (Potash) %
Average Home Made Compost	0.5	0.27	0.81

NPK of Natural Fertilisers

                                                                  N Nitrogen %               P Phosporus %                K Potassium %

Bloodmeal                                                     12                                        0                                       0

Bonemeal                                                        3.5                                      18                                    0

Hoof & Horn                                                  12                                      0                                        0

Fish, Blood & Bone                                            6                                          6                                       6       

ChickenManurePellets                                    4                                          2.5                                   2.3

NPK - Liquid Comfrey – although low, it is immediately available to plants

Having covered manures and compost, the next thing to look at is a fertiliser you make yourself, comfrey tea. Following the recipe of 6 Kg (14lbs) of wilted comfrey in 90 litres (20 gallons) of water in a barrel, produces a liquid feed with these values

                                                N Nitrogen %                                    P Phosporus %                      K Potassium %

Comfrey                                    0.014                                               0.0059                                    0.03440

http://www.allotment.org.uk

That said, none of these tables shows the availability of or the importance of the trace elements. And, how do we ensure our plants have enough of these to assure excellent growth and crops.

 I will put up more information on adding lime and trace elements on my next blog.

Mid November on the Allotment

Mid November on the Allotment

Although we have had a couple of days when it has not rained and is, in fact, quite sunny, the ground is wet – nay, saturated. There is much to be done.

I have covered my no-dig plot with manure – as I’ve done for the last 3 three years and have dug most of the other areas of my allotment which need to be dug but, I still have a small area of potatoes to lift – Sarpo Miras – I’m sure they will be fine though, I have noticed some slug damage on them – the blurb on these potatoes claims that they are resistant to all sorts of pests and diseases but, unfortunately, not slugs in a really wet year. Still, they are tasty, hardy, keep well and are resistant to all sorts.

Each time I go to my allotment, I am faced with a huge number of jobs which seem to be urgent. This is the first year I have been faced with this dilemma as every other year the weather has been more predictable and it was possible to keep up between the periods of very dry and very wet.

I have been clearing my poly-tunnel of the last of the tomato plants. What green tomatoes were left I have dumped as there were signs of blight on a few of them though the crop this year has really, in the long run, been very good.

I have picked most of what was left of my chillies and peppers. I will hang the chillies up to dry, hopefully where they had started to ‘turn’ they will ripen and save well. I’m not so sure about my unknown variety [given to me by my daughter – she couldn’t remember what they were] they are quite fleshy and may not dry so, I might have to chop them up and freeze them. They are similar to Jalapenos but I don't believe that is what they are. I will make chutney with the last of the peppers. As usual, in my fear of not having enough – like my squashes and pumpkins – I have ended up with far too many. Still, the preserves of all sorts have proved very popular with my family – close and extended – already my preserves cupboard has been well raided. I still have heaps of pumpkins which I must find a home for. There is no way I could eat all of them.

I have been digging up nests of red ants in my poly-tunnel, already buried quite deep and torpid with the cold weather. I have sprayed them again with Py solution when I have found them. While I had said that I would use something more nasty to ensure their demise, I am really reluctant to do so – there are so many other ‘good’ insects and spiders in the tunnel I don’t want to endanger.  This summer, in spite of my phobia of them, I have collected wolf spiders from around my allotment and brought them into my tunnel – many with their little sacks of eggs attached. I now have them everywhere, including hundreds of little ones. I have found that my fear of them has reduced somewhat though, I still find it difficult to move them out of the way when I’m spraying the ants.

Each winter I have washed the inside of my tunnel to remove any moulds and the ubiquitous green algae which coats the surface of the polythene. While I don’t think it does any harm to the plants, it does reduce the light levels and therefore, affects the growth of the plants. This year, I see this ‘plant’ form has also coated the outside of the polythene and, having dried quite hard, I have had to scrub it quite vigorously to remove it. The polythene has now been on my tunnel for four seasons and is beginning to show its age. There are splits along some of the original fold seams and I have to repair them but, I do hope I can get, at least, another season from it, as this sheet of horticultural polythene is quite expensive to replace – but, worth its weight in..... well, maybe not gold as it is quite heavy and gold is expensive at the moment but... you know what I mean, my poly-tunnel gives me a lot of pleasure, and not just from the crops.

 I will need to have a small bonfire soon, as I have a small heap of rubbish [old pieces of rotted bamboo canes; pieces of now rotting planks which I have used for walkways; prunings from my fruit trees and bushes]. I know that I should find a spot for them to rot down naturally over several years but, so far I have not sacrificed a corner of my allotment to this purpose each year. I reckon it would take three years for this type of wood to rot down to make a useable compost so, really that would be three spaces I would need to find. However, I might work on this for the future. In the meantime, I will burn the rubbish. This can provide a useful amount of wood ash [potash] which can be dug back into the soil but, unless you have a dedicated area or a barrel in which to contain the bonfire, it will ‘bake’ the ground under it. This is not only destructive to the various insects and worms within the soil but, makes it difficult to till afterwards.

A couple of days ago, a plot holder in a neighbouring field was indulging in one of his many winter bonfires and as the wind was drifting over the hedge in clouds onto my plot I could smell that the choking smoke also contained residues of plastic. Not only is this forbidden, it is unacceptable and inconsiderate on several levels. I was driven home by the noxious fumes.

On a positive note, I see that my broad beans, sown a month ago... ish, are now appearing above ground. This year I won’t cover them with fleece as, I do believe it caused more harm than good last winter – slugs had a ‘field day’ on them, well protected from the bitter weather. I might use environmesh, held well above the young plants if it gets very cold.

Over the last few years, since I took my plot on, I have been buying at least one truck load of manure which I have spread liberally across my plot. [taking care not to manure on areas where I expected to sow root crops and definitely not when I was liming areas of my plot]. I always asked for cow manure as it seemed to be more manure than straw [ of course this also also a useful addition to my heavy clay soil]. Even then, it often arrived straight from the farmyard and not particularly well rotted. Delivered in the autumn and covered over winter, this was fine for potato ridges in March, around fruit bushes and raspberry canes, etc.

The rest has been allowed to sit for a year and is now beautifully rotten down.  I have put the last of it around my plot and into my poly-tunnel in preparation for next season’s crops, but have discovered that my regular supplier is temporarily unavailable – and might be for some time. I have been forced to look for and at alternatives.

I have had a look at a variety of sources of information on different types of manure – I might put this information up on my next blog. It is interesting and informative. As a result of my explorations I have bought a truckload of ‘well-rotted’ bagged horse manure. It would seem good quality and good value and although I have not yet spread it and experience its results, it looks good. If you are in the Bristol or Gloucestershire area and looking for a good source of horse manure do try Paul Pearce on 01454851945 or 07981884389.