On the Allotment in April

April on the allotment

- it really is springtime now, or it ought to be but, who is to know in these times of changing climate. We must adapt accordingly. I do realise that you may not be from the UK or even the Northern Hemisphere and so my thoughts may not be appropriate. This year, March has been particularly miserable but now in April it is looking a little kinder. I am hopeful that the blue-tits really are going to nest in my nest box. I can see through the camera that they are now lining the nest with fur and feathers.

We sometimes think of springtime as a season of bounty - new lambs and calves in the fields and lots of planting being done but, in fact March and particularly April are really the 'lean' season. Unless we have had a kind winter and have planned our crops very carefully, our overwintering crops have finished or are close to finishing and our stored fruit and vegetables have either finished or deteriorated beyond use and little is ready on the allotment - back to the supermarket!  I have to admit that I do get very tired of purple sprouting broccoli and even asparagus in this season. Friends and neighbours think I'm amazing generous to give bunches of asparagus away but, really I just can't face another meal of asparagus and broccoli. One of my asparagus beds starts producing in March but, I was given the plants so, don't know which variety they are. They are all female and many sites I read that female plants are not so highly thought of. However, I find that these plants give me very superior spears - fat and flavoursome. 

Maintenance around the plot – what we need to do to keep established plants healthy and pest free;

·         keep the plot tidy;

·        cut grass on paths around your plot, unless the weather is very cold the grass will now be growing vigorously and will need to be cut regularly;

·         weeding - like the grass, those weeds which love your soil will now be taking hold and weeding will be a regular task, especially around seed beds and on newly planted beds;

·         tidy fruit cages - many of the fruit bushes will have flower buds on, make sure they are weeded or that the grass and weeds are kept under control.. The same work will be needed around perennial plants and fruit trees and bushes;

·         compost old plants or those which have finished producing;on many allotment sites, including mine, bonfires are no longer allowed.

Preparation and planning for the coming season –

·         looking after perennial plants – probably too late for pruning, depending on where you are in the country, ensure all perennial weeds are cleared from around them, feed and manure as necessary;

•  re-digging beds ready for planting out;
•  dig in compost and/or well rotted manure;
•  preparing seed beds;
•  top–up raised beds with fresh compost or soil.

Sowing and planting what can be sown or planted now?

in a propagator – aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, peppers and chillies, pumpkin and squash, tomatoes.  Herbs - basil;

·         under cover [in green house, poly-tunnel, cold frame or cloche] – brassicas (Brussels sprouts, broccoli/calabrese, winter cauliflower), celery, celeriac, lettuce, peppers and chillies, pumpkin and squash, rocket, runner beans, spring onions. Herbs – basil, chervil, chives, parsley rosemary, savoury, thyme,
outdoors – [do wait a couple of weeks for the ground to be less cold] – broad beans, beetroot, brassicas [broccoli, Brussels sprouts, summer cabbage, winter cabbage], carrots, summer cauliflower, garlic, kale, leeks, lettuce, onions, shallots, parsnips, potatoes, early peas, radish, rocket, spinach and Swiss chard, spring onions, turnips.
As bare root plants can only be safely transplanted when they are dormant, it is now probably too late in the season except in colder parts of the country where the plants have not yet started growing. If you are buying plants in pots to plant out on your allotment or in your garden, while they can be transplanted at any time, it is best to wait until the ground is less cold.

Harvesting –

• Fresh from the plot, greenhouse or poly-tunnel – early varieties of asparagus, spinach, some types of broccoli, spring cabbage/spring greens, Swiss chard, winter cabbage, winter cauliflower, kale, early lettuce, salad onions, radishes, sorrel, rhubarb, oregano, rosemary, bay-leaves and last year’s parsley plants should be growing strongly now before they start to run-to-seed.
• Autumn sown broad beans may well have now set their pods during late March or early April can be harvested as young pods and cooked and eaten like Fine Beans [albeit with a slightly ‘hairier’ texture – an excellent source of a fresh, healthy vegetable in the lean period but, do leave enough to grow on to maturity.

Planning for winter 2011 - spring 2011/2012

Planning for the Winter

It may seem odd to be thinking and planning for next winter when this growing season is just beginning but, now is the time to make those plans. This is quite a lengthy Blog as there is so much to talk about and, even then, I’m missing out on most of it and most of the advice. But, dealing with the ‘hungry’ months is very important.

I find that, to some extent, I don’t really concentrate so much on what I will eat during the summer months – that comes easy but, on what I am going to eat during the winter and into next spring when we might otherwise have to buy our vegetables and fruit.

This spring I am lucky enough to still have tubs of sweetcorn, peas, apple purée, tomato pulp and chopped herbs in my freezer. I still have pots of jam and pickles and also have a few dried beans – just a few, they really do go quickly for such a significant area of plants. I even have a string of garlic and of chillies and a couple of bunches of onions left - I hope they will keep me going until the new produce is ready. But, planning for the winter isn’t all about what we can store one way or another. I do like to be able to pick fresh vegetables. Although the last two winters have been so bitterly cold that much of my fresh produce did not over-winter well, I was obliged to buy vegetables, how very disappointing.

But, now is the time to plan, sow and plant for that distant lean time. It is a little late for parsnips and much too late for broad beans. For most other crops this month, end of April and May are perfect.

First of all, what do you like to eat? There is no point in filling up your plot with crops you don’t actually like very much and the seeds or young plants cost money.

Brassicas (cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, winter cabbage, cauliflower Romanesco[those delightful acid green swirly caulis – Oh yummy! And they are so easy and actually harvest quite quickly]) – these can of course be bought at every garden centre right now. They look like good strong plants but, consider. A packet of approx. 100 seeds or more costs £2 - £3 and will provide you with almost 100% success. They are easily sown outside now on any well tilled piece of ground, (think 1mtr x 1 mtr) for a packet. Just sprinkle them over the bed, rub them in and water well. Give it a couple of weeks and BINGO! Also the seeds will keep for 2 – 3 years so, don’t sow more than you think you will need.

Today I’ve been planting out young brassica plants – already grown in my poly tunnel. We love them but, of course, so do others, particularly pigeons. If you have a problem with birds eating your plants you will need to deal with it – please don’t look to kill the birds. Like us, they are just trying to live and rear their babies and, what joy they can bring us.

While I was planting my brassicas, I was also trying to raise the pH level of my plot. Many years of no lime being added has resulted in very low pH values. I try to add a little each year (don’t try to rectify in one year if your pH is very low – do check back on an earlier Blog). As I plant the young brassicas, I sprinkle some ground limestone around them. Water it well in and water the young plants as well in this very dry weather. This morning I had to water the ground several times before I planted out.

If your plot is anything like mine I have problems with pigeons (and blackbirds when fruit comes on mainstream) so you will need to think of ways to protect your crops. For me, I use 25mm plastic water piping in 2metre lengths, raised on 3ft( 1 mtr) canes, in rows along the length of the young plant bed. This gives me a cheap framework for netting over the entire bed area. Do seal it down but, leave a reasonable hole so that birds that do find their way in (and they will) can also get out when a predator appears. I am(this year) covering with hard mesh netting- 1cm holes approx.( this is more expensive than the fine net I’ve used previously but, it doesn’t trap birds as easily as the fine netting available – very distressing for them as their feet get caught, making them an easy target for cats, magpies, foxes or just shock – and distressing for us! The harder netting on a raised frame also gives us fairly easy access for watering, weeding etc.

Legumes – beans and peas. While it’s too late for broad beans it is still a bit early for runner beans and French beans. If you are planning to sow peas, now is definitely the time to do it. Think of the crop you want. For a maincrop pea I recommend Hurst Greenshaft – they are sweet, tender and will freeze well. Don’t even think about sowing as the books say – ie, 1 seed every 2 to 3 inches. Sow 1 – 2 packets along a 3-4 metre shallow trench, in other words, ‘loads’. When they germinate you will need to stake them and protect from birds. You can use prunings from fruit trees or other sources but the peas will only climb up frames they sense will support them ( I’m trying to avoid the anthropological phrases here). I’m using 3ft – 1 metre stakes crisscrossed as I see that other allotmenteers are doing this successfully. This year I’ve sown all my pea seed at the same time(mid April) so that I can harvest the optimum crop for freezing. It is still time to sow them this way. I will need to protect them from pigeons which love them, the young shoots and the young peas.

Years ago I kept hens and, believing (and knowing really!) that they would eat slugs and other garden nasties, I released my hens into my vegetable garden. When I came to harvest the peas, the pods were still there but were totally empty. Yes, the hens did like the garden nasties but they also learned that they liked peas and how to harvest them from the pods – oh well! I had lots of excellent brown eggs! Now, pigeons will do the same thing but will also eat the young shots as they develop.

Those fruit/vegetable crops must also be considered – tomatoes, courgettes, squashes, pumpkins, gherkins, cucumbers, peppers, chillies – these can all be grown on our plots. Some of them can be grown successfully outdoors but, others are best in a polytunnel or green house. Don’t even think of buying the plants from garden centres if you have any way at all of propagating them from seed. They are easily propagated in a warm environment. The limiting factor is the amount of light you can offer when they germinate. They really must have good light or they will become too ‘leggy’ to be viable That said, sow now, it’s easy, especially tomatoes (actually when you spread last year’s compost around you are likely to find tomato seedlings all over the place – they are viable – really, and will produce a crop, given time. Tomatoes will produce fruit outside in mild climates – beware of blight and protect your crop from it! Otherwise they are excellent. Courgettes, pumpkins, squashes, gherkins and cucumbers will grow successfully outdoors – make sure there is no risk of frost ( say, mid May) then plant out, more information on storing and harvesting later.

Sweetcorn – what a gem of a crop.  I have grown or tried to grow this crop for the last three years. It is easy to germinate with a moderate amount of heat but, as with other crops, it needs light. Once germinated, move it into your polytunnel or green house where it can grow on in pots until 10cm(4in) high, at least. I have made the mistake, in the past, of giving these plants lots room, when planting out, to grow – well forget it! The plants need to be pollinated by others. Plant out no further than 20cm( 8in), give or take! I have planted a bit further apart and although the plants grew well the cobs didn’t pollinate. This year they will be living in each others’ bedrooms!

I have planted peppers and chillies outdoors but, although the plants grew well enough, the fruit sat for a long time waiting to ripen, by which time the slugs had caused too much damage for the fruit to be useful. I recommend they be grown under cover. If you can’t offer that – except in a long dry hot summer, forget it. In a hot, dry summer 9 (even in England) they might well produce a viable crop outdoors. It is for you to decide.

For those vegetables(fruit) I’ve suggested here, you really must consider planting/sowing now but, consider the climate and likely-hood of frost where you are. Perhaps later by a few weeks would be advisable, especially if you are in more northerly, cooler areas.

Think! – there is nothing wrong with buying your young plants from the garden centre – it is more expensive and they are readily available when it doesn’t necessarily suit your conditions but, keeping in mind the heat and light conditions you can offer these young plants perhaps this is the best option for you.

I’m sure I’ve missed loads of crops and chores needed for the end of April( this is a very busy month – I allocate a whole page on my allotment spreadsheet for April but, keep posted, more later.