Ramblings on the Allotment in mid may

Allotment Observations in mid-May

Well! What a wonderful growing May it has been so far. A good spell of rain to wet the ground thoroughly has been followed by an excellent spell of warm dry weather. The plants are loving it and the ground is still diggable – just! I still have a small area to dig for my leeks which are just about ready for planting out.

Of course, I am growing on heavy clay soil which goes from boot sucking mud to a brick yard within about four to five days.

Yesterday, the plot I needed to dig was just about perfect and a juvenile robin kept me company for most of the morning catching wolf spiders as I disturbed them and cutting up and gorging on the most enormous earthworms – where was this little bird putting all of this food? Perhaps its brothers and sisters were swapping places with it when I wasn’t looking. These little birds can be such good company on the allotment before they are pushed out by their parents who are already sitting on the next brood.

Today when I dug a bit more, it was becoming quite ‘clumpy’. I guess, by tomorrow, it might be too dry for digging and to plant out my leeks I will have to wait for a wet spell or water the ground – which is such hard work.

I injured my back last May [trying to dig a large area when the ground was much too dry and not giving up when the pain started – of course, now I am regretful as it has taken a year and some to be able to look after my plot -  and I am still having to accept help to get it all up together]. Interestingly, having realised I need a bit of help my plot this year is looking better than it ever has. There are still a few corners which need a bit of attention but I /we will get there.

Asparagus this year is good – [though not my best year – I think the weather in April may have affected it somewhat]. I still have more asparagus than I can eat and am giving it away to neighbours. Interestingly, this is a spectacular year for asparagus beetle. I know I go on about this beetle every year but this is the first time I have seen the beetles four to five thick on just emerging spears [ bless them, they don’t know that their eggs will be ‘toast’ within a couple of days! ]  But, do keep a look out for these super destructive bugs [ the beetles don’t do the damage but the abundance of larvae will destroy your crop for next year.]

There has been good germination on beetroot, parsnips and parsley though I don’t think the new parsley will be ready before last year’s parsley has ceased to be productive – pity.

My garlic plot is growing on strongly though has [as in previous years] been affected by leek rust. So far, this disease has not affected the plants too much and I am hoping that they will continue to grow to give me a decent crop.

My autumn sown broad beans have over wintered well this year and are looking very strong. I have already harvested a few – still a little small but oh so tender and delicious. I see already that the ants [which introduce the blackfly] are crawling all over the plants and I expect that blackfly will be the next pest to be dealt with. This is the really big advantage of autumn sown broadbeans – they miss the main attack of blackfly. Of course, that is only part of the story.

I really must continue my ongoing issue with red ants, especially in my polytunnel. I thought mint would be the answer [having tried all sorts of other eradicators – organic and not organic]. I had noticed that there were no ants in that area of my allotment where mint was in control. I planted a root of mint into a pot and put it into an area of my tunnel where I knew there was a problem – brilliant! No ants but mint starting to colonise!

I found another red ant nest in another area and of course  thought let’s do the same again – I potted up another root of mint and planted it in an area I knew had a red ant nest. A few weeks later – the ants have colonised the mint pot !

It has been suggested to me that I might try soaking essential oil of mint onto cotton wool – apparently it works well for mice. I will try it.

There has been an outstanding set on our fruit trees and bushes this year. Probably, I will have to ‘thin’out the setted fruits to allow a reasonable amount of fruit to develop though, now is probably the time to think about netting the most vulnerable harvests. Do think about the dangers of the nets you use for defenceless birds. Being trapped by a net can be a cruel way to die.