What to do on the allotment in May

May on the Allotment

From April until June are probably the busiest months of the year on the allotment. These months are the times when you must juggle sowings indoors and outdoors, transplanting, watering, digging, weeding, taking care of all those pests – which seem to multiply every year. Yesterday, as I was transplanting the first of my brassica plants, two pairs of pigeons perched nearby watching and waiting for me to move far enough away for them to have a feast of young tender leaves [doubtless, the slugs and snails were doing the same but, they were not so obvious]. I have noticed lately that spreading nets over the new plantings is not quite enough, unless the new is secured tightly, well away from the plants, the pigeons will push the net inwards to get to the plants. They will also sit on top of the netting and its supports to gain access to the plants from above. I do love birds but, sometimes I think – PIGEON PIE!

·         Maintenance around the plot and in green house or poly-tunnel

– keep established plants healthy and pest free – protect from slugs, snails and birds, especially on newly planted brassicas – cabbages, cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli. As asparagus is now growing well, watch out for asparagus beetle and remove any beetles or larvae as soon as they are seen. Aphids, whitefly [on brassicas], caterpillars can all weaken or eat you precious young plants. Watch out, also, for ants – while they don’t, in themselves, damage the plants, they encourage aphids and will build their nests under plants undermining them.

Watch for red-spider mite on indoor plants – spray the young plants with water regularly – [red-spider mites like dry conditions]. Regular spraying with SB Plant Invigorator [it is organic] will strengthen the plants and discourage pests.

- Keep the plot tidy - cut grass on paths regularly to prevent weeds and grass from encroaching on your plot and to reduce slugs and snails.

- Weeding – keep seed beds, particularly, free from weeds. Hoeing is useful but take care to not damage young plants [hoeing is not very effective in wet weather as the hoed weeds will often re-root].

- Earth-up potatoes as they start to appear, to protect from late frosts.

- Set up support for early sowings of peas.

- Pinch out the tender top growth of broad beans as soon as the first few rows of pods set at the bottom of the plants to deter black-fly [aphids] – particularly in spring sown beans, autumn sown beans, if they survive the winter, are less likely to be attacked.

- Protect strawberries from resting on the naked earth or mud – place straw under the plants or plant matting. Blackbirds do love the early ripening strawberries so netting might be necessary.

- Remove the flower heads of rhubarb as soon as they start to appear as they will stop the production of new leaves [also some people prize the rhubarb flowers for flower arrangements – the flowers can attract aphids].

- As soon as they are big enough to handle, thin carrots and parsnips – dispose of carrot thinning carefully to avoid attracting carrot fly.

- Keep fruit cages tidy and weeded – for particularly vulnerable bushes like redcurrants and gooseberries, ensure the cages are secure although do allow an escape hole for those intrepid birds which find a way in, in case of predators – cats and foxes will force a way in to catch trapped birds.

- Compost old plants or those which have finished producing.

·         Preparation and planning

- re-dig beds to create a good workable tilth - ready for planting out. As far possible, maintain the plan for good crop rotation you created over the winter – sometimes this does not work out as planned – weather, timing and condition of the soil can prevent implementation of excellent plans. Avoid planting root crops where you have added manure or lime.

When transplanting brassicas, it is a good idea to add a sprinkling of lime around each plant if you know your soil is too acid. Don’t add manure at the same time as lime but try to dig in good, well-rotted manure earlier in the season when digging the beds.

For outdoor seed beds, ensure the soil has been broken down to a fine tilth. If your soil is particularly heavy or wet and is not breaking down easily - this can difficult on heavy clay soil or after a particularly wet season, it can be useful [especially with small seeds] to dig the bed over then create a shallow trench, fill with good quality compost [ bought-in is fine] and sow the seeds into this medium. Water well.

·         Sowing and planting

-  under cover [in green house or poly-tunnel] - winter cauliflower, celery, pumpkin and squash, runner beans. Herbs – basil.

– outdoors – [do wait a couple of weeks for the ground to be less cold] – beetroot, brassicas [broccoli/calabrese, spring, summer and winter cabbage, summer and winter cauliflower, kale, Swedes], Beans – runner and French, carrots, courgettes, outdoor cucumbers, Florence fennel, lettuce,  parsnips, potatoes [up to early May – the later the crop, the greater the risk of blight] 2^nd early and maincrop peas, pumpkins and squashes, radish, rocket, spinach and Swiss chard, spring onions, sweetcorn, turnips.

o   You can now transplant – into a poly-tunnel or greenhouse, young plants which have been raised in a propagator or heated greenhouse/conservatory – tomatoes, chillies and peppers, aubergines, indoor cucumbers.

o   You can now transplant outdoors – aubergines [only in warmer, sheltered areas], broad beans, French and runner beans, Brassicas – broccoli and calabrese, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, kale], celery, celeriac, outdoor cucumbers, leeks, peas [if raised under cover], peppers and chillies[only in warmer, sheltered areas], pumpkins and squashes, outdoor tomatoes.

In all cases, harden the plants off well before planting out and do consider the weather. The young plants should be well watered into their final growing spot and continue to water until the plants have established – if necessary.

o   If you are planning to set up an asparagus bed in the spring, May is the last month for buying crowns. Of course you can also buy in the autumn which will give you time to create a suitable permanent bed.

·         Harvesting – May is well into the lean time of the year. With luck and good planning spring cabbages should be available. If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse or poly-tunnel, a crop of over-wintered spring cabbages should be available from late April onwards and should be available until the outdoor crop is ready – Try Frostie, F1.

Overwintered cauliflower should start to head up now – as soon as the small heads start to show, make sure the plants are well watered.

For salads - over-wintered lettuce should also be ready for harvesting. Spring onion - White Lisbon can overwinter successfully although it will have a strong flavour. Of course, radishes sown under cover or outdoors will provide a crop very quickly. Sow successionally for a constant harvest.

Spinach and Swiss chard should provide a good harvest now – fresh young leaves are excellent in soups, salads, stir-fries, etc.

Early sowings of peas – if sown under a cloche should start to provide an early crop in late May.

Young turnips, sown under cover in early spring should now be available for harvesting.

Of course, the queen of the vegetables now is definitely ASPARAGUS. Depending on the variety you have, in a clement year, asparagus will start to produce harvestable spears from late April.

Early varieties of rhubarb should now be ready for picking [don’t forget that the leaves are poisonous].

Growing Peas

Peas   - Pisum sativum

Peas are definitely one of our essential crops. They are easy to grow, easy to cook – or eat raw, healthy, easy to freeze or dry.

Sowing and Growing –

Peas prefer a well cultivated plot in a sunny and unexposed site on well drained and fertile soil. Of course, for many of us, this is not an option but, my heavy clay soil on a fairly exposed site can also produce excellent crops of peas.

Although I know of growers who plant their peas and beans on the same site every year as the correct conditions have been set up for them, I do think it is advisable to rotate these crops. I like to follow my potato crops with beans and peas as the ground has already been well manured in the previous season for potatoes.

I used to follow instructions in vegetable growing books for planting peas [dig a trench 2in deep or 5cm. and space the peas 3in apart or 8cm along the trench] or something similar. I always wondered why I always had such a miserable spindly crop. I spoke to an elderly neighbour on my allotment who had been growing for years and had amazing lush and productive pea crops. He laughed and then demonstrated to me how to sow peas – dig a trench 2-3 in [5 – 7cm deep] sow a whole packet of seeds or more – my trenches are 4 -5 metres long – sow 1 – 2 packets of seed along this trench by sprinkling fairly extravagantly along the trench. I usually sow about 3 trenches with 4 – 5 packets of seed. The plants are then fairly self supporting although I do stake them with 1 metre canes fairly liberally – on a diagonal in each direction, providing a criss-cross network of support. I sow the rows fairly close together 2 - 2½ft [60 – 80cm]. Although this spacing does not allow me to weed easily when the plants are maturing, the dense pea cover also blocks out most weeds. Of course you can use branches of shrubs or trees as stakes or you can spend a lot of money in setting up staked and wired supports. Unless you are a perfectionist gardener this is not really necessary – for me the crop is the end product, not the tidiness of my plot – though, of course, this is also important.

Slugs, snails and pigeons are a particular pest on my allotment when the peas are emerging so I use slug pellets and put nets over my plantings.

Mice and perhaps rats or birds can also dig to access the chitting seeds. I’m not sure how to prevent this though netting can, obviously help. Birds have a way, in spite of our best efforts, of finding their way under our netting which can make them ‘sitting ducks’ for hungry predators like foxes. Do make sure the trapped birds have an easy escape route in case of panic – that said, I haven’t always been successful in this endeavour.

Although peas and beans have, for a long time, been thought of as a good source of nitrogen, the nodules on their roots fixing nitrogen in the soil, recent research has shown that this is not the case. It is now believed that this is not the case – that the ‘fixed’ nitrogen is only available to the plant that produces it.

Types and Varieties –

Peas can be classified as:

- Earlies which take 11 to 12 weeks to harvesting time and can be sown as early as late February to early March under cover or cloches [depending on the weather and your situation]. They can then be harvested as early as May – June. Or they can be sown outdoors from late March to mid April for harvesting June/July.

Try - Early Onward, Kelvedon Wonder, Little Marvel, Twinkle, Meteor

- 2^nd Earlies which can take between 12 – 13 weeks to harvesting. Sow outdoors when the soil has warmed up a bit, from mid Spring. Try - Early Onward, Kelvedon Wonder, Little Marvel, Jaguar, Avola, Hurst Green Shaft [called ‘ the grower’s favourite’ with some justification].

- Maincrop will take 13 to 14 weeks to harvesting time. Sow from mid April to mid May. These are likely to be the peas which will provide a heavy crop for freezing for winter use. Although there are other varieties, my favourite, by far, is Hurst Green Shaft – they are heavy cropping, sweet, good to eat raw, excellent for cooking and for freezing. Try also, Oasis, Bingo [good for pots in the back garden or patio, Rhondo, Starlight.

- Late Maincrop – It is still possible to sow peas in July for autumn cropping into September, although the crops are not likely to be so heavy and there is more risk of maggots in the pods and peas and mildew from later sowings. Although it is a risky crop, if you have the space and the weather is kind, it is a treat to eat fresh peas late in the season.

Try – Starlight, Rhondo, Kelvedon Wonder, Ambassador, Douce Provence [which can be sown as an overwintering variety or from early Spring under cover].

Peas can also be classified as:

-Shelling peas – are grown to maturity and taken out of the pods to eat – the pods are not suitable for eating. The varieties listed above are all ‘shelling peas’.

- Mangetout – a literal translation from French means ‘eat all’. At the immature stage the peas are harvested and eaten raw or cooked in their pods. They can also be grown to maturity and harvested as Shelling Peas.

Try – Sugar Ann, Kennedy, Sugar Flash, Shiraz [a purple podded variety], Oregon Sugar Pod, Delikata.

- Sugar Snap – very sweet, small peas. They are ususlly eaten as shelling peas but can, when immature be eaten as Mangetout - try Cascadia, Oregon Sugar Pod.

- Asparagus Peas - psophocarpus tetragonolobus – are not really peas but, are a member of the vetch family. I have grown this vegetable once – well you have to experiment with different vegetables! While some growers think highly of this vegetable and it is, undeniably very pretty, it is something of a nuisance to harvest. The winged pods must be harvested very regularly or they become tough and uneatable. The pods are tiny [2 – 3 cm long] and hard to see for harvesting. It takes a lot of them to provide a vegetable dish. I tried various ways of cooking to make a tasty dish but, failed – I found them fairly tasteless.

Harvesting and Storing

Freezing – A wonderful vegetable for freezing – sit out in the garden on a warm sunny day and pod them. Do check for mould or maggots and discard any damaged or under-developed peas. Pack them into suitable freezer bags, seal and freeze. Don’t forget that, when you come to use them, the peas are uncooked, they do need a few minutes to cook, unlike bought frozen peas

Drying – Only attempt to dry peas from undamaged and undiseased pods and discard any which look undeveloped or underdeveloped, The given advice is to allow on them to dry on the vines or, bring the dried pods home and allow them to dry out completely before removing from the pods, or use a dehydrator if possible. As I am often harvesting in damp conditions, I am more inclined to harvest when the pods looks as though they are drying out [not always dry on the wet ground!] bring them home and pod. I discard any discoloured or damaged pods or peas, being a bit worried about pests – especially bean and pea weevil. I lay the seeds out on tray in a coolish room with good ventilation. When the peas are well dried – this may take a couple of weeks - they should be very hard and give a sharp sound when dropped on the tray or surface- they should then be dry. Peas are a good subject for seed saving for the following year though, it is a good idea to buy in new seeds every few years to avoid a disease build-up.

Nutritional Value

Peas are low in fat and sodium [salt] and contain no cholesterol. They are high in fibre and protein [though an incomplete protein]. They are good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin B – riboflavin, niacin. B6 and folate. Also Vitamin C [when fresh- 1 cup provides 98% of daily needs] and Vitamin K.

Good source of minerals – phosphorus, copper[trace element], manganese

Pests and Diseases

Pigeons – will eat the young growth from any young plants on our plots when nothing else is available. You might find that you need to net these crops if this appears to be a  problem. Pigeon damage has increased hugely in the last 10 years – many plot holders claim this is a direct result of the decline of the number of birds of prey on our fields as a result of some people laying poisoned bait for these wonderful raptors. If netting, do leave an escape hole for those intrepid birds which do find a way in.

Slugs and Snails – these can be a serious problem when the bean plants have just emerged or are very young and tender. In a damp year, they can clear your bean patch overnight.

Bean/pea Weevil will attack young plants and may destroy a young crop if serious but, more mature plants should outgrow any attack.

Seed Beetle or Weevil – if you are storing beans for seed or for eating the dried beans during the winter months this may be a problem. Seed will need to be checked regularly [weekly] when small round holes will be apparent or the small beetles in stored jars. Sort and remove contaminated seeds and the beetles or destroy the stored vegetables if the infestation is serious. [ see above].

Aphids – can be a pest but is not common – keep an eye on ant nests near your plantings and spray with SB plant invigorator [ organic and feeds the crops as well as reducing the numbers of pests and diseases.

Mildew and Botrytis – Many varieties these days are resistant to these diseases though attacks of aphids can leave the plants open to infection, especially in wet years. Spray with SB plant Invigorator an organic compound which will encourage the plant to outgrow problems.

Time to Plant Potatoes

Planting Potatoes

Although I have been trying to keep up with essential work on the allotment throughout this bitterly cold ‘spring’ it has been difficult to persuade myself that it is a good idea to plant stuff. I have been trying, within reason, to assume that spring will eventually come so have been planting with only half a mind to the very unseasonal weather.  

I did actually plant a ridge of 1^st Earlies – [Accent] - in my Poly-tunnel in the middle of February, as I have done for the last few years since I first got my tunnel. In previous years I have planted a couple of ridges taking up one side of my tunnel but, I did find that some of them were still there when I needed the space for other crops.

I also chanced putting a ridge of 1^st Earlies [Epicure] outdoors, as soon as the ground became workable, at the beginning of March. Yes, this is a little early even for me but, The ground is very heavy this year and I need to start the process early so that I have a chance of getting all the planting done – the very early plantings will either work or they won’t – I will report back on this strategy later. Traditionally, where I come from, potato planting starts on or around St Patrick’s day [17^th March], depending on the weather. Many people in England will plant, traditionally, from Good Friday. However, as this can be as early as March or as late as May – with little reference to the weather, I find this an unreliable guide.

While I start planting my Early potatoes first, there is no reason why all the potatoes can’t be planted more-or-less at the same time, as the harvesting time relates to the length of time for the plant to grow and produce a crop, and its keeping qualities, rather than the time of planting. Guidelines usually recommend planting Early potatoes any time from mid March with an expectation of harvesting from June [depending on your situation]. These varieties will not store well and are best eaten as soon as they are about ‘egg sized’. The longer they stay in the ground, the larger they are likely to grow so, if you like your new potatoes fairly small, don’t plant too many and harvest them as you mean to eat them.

Second Early potatoes can be planted any time from the beginning of April – expect to harvest from July.

There are Early Maincrop, Maincrop, and Late Maincrop potatoes. Plant any time from Mid-April [depending on your situation]. Harvesting time can be up until late October or even into November. These are the potatoes which should store for over-winter use [to do so, make sure they are undamaged, have no lumps of earth attached to them – though it’s fine if they are dirty and are dry on the surface. Stored potatoes should be checked regularly to ensure there are no rotten ones which will affect the whole crop.

Everyone has their own favourite method of planting potatoes. Many of my allotment neighbours dig little holes, put in some well rotted manure and drop in the potatoes. I like to serve as many operations as possible in my planting and potatoes, as a crop, lend themselves particularly well to this.

·        I achieve [hopefully] a crop which is important to me;

·        Potatoes are great at ‘tilling’ heavy ground [breaking it up and making it workable];

·        As I add a lot of manure to my potato ridges, that part of my allotment is effectively manured for the next couple of years as well.

I have gradually been planting all my potatoes over the last few weeks and have only one ridge of late maincrop [Sarpo Mira] to plant.

 So far this year there had been little sign of any growth [apart from early bulb flowers like daffodils] until, suddenly, on Wednesday 10^th April, our first fairly pleasant, mild day, plants started appearing above ground. I noticed my first potatoes peeking above ground in the tunnel and two rows of early carrots, also in the tunnel, have germinated. Now I’m waiting for something to appear outdoors.