The battle of the foxes, and my onions

It's been a while since I've posted about our allotment, and I've been trying to show some patience there - but failing miserably. Especially where my onions are concerned. The photo below is from the start of June and there's quite a few onions in our first raised bed area.

We'd repurposed an old shelving unit to create a raised area in a change of plan for how we'd use our allotment, when it became clear that just digging and weeding would be a full-time job for many years to come. Taking a leaf out of Geoff Hamilton's 1970s book we're trying a raised bed approach and building the soil up instead. And as we thought a bed this size will take a lot of soil, more than we have or are prepared to buy in at the moment, hence the Heath Robinson approach. 

Compare the onions above to the photo below.

Yes, by the middle of the month there were decidedly less onions and clear evidence of digging.

Hmmnn.

And then this weekend it was worse still. I know you're not supposed to let onions dry out, but that's almost impossible with our site. I also suspect you're not supposed to dig gloves into the bed too. And yes foxes, I'm looking at you...

And so, evasive action was needed. Cue operation stick and operation wire fence. 

Working on the premise that prevention is better than cure, I'm trying to make it less welcome for my wildlife guests. I'm under no illusion that they have the upper hand, but with some more onions in the greenhouse, I'm trying to make my presence felt. I'm sure the onions I have left to plant out won't come to much but if I can beat the foxes and let them grow undisturbed, it will be a moral victory for me, and we may even get some baby onions in the process.

I'm also embarrassed to say that we had a letter from the council as our weed growing skills hadn't gone unnoticed. They were less happy with this natural skill of ours and so some speed-weeding was needed to demonstrate our commitment. 

THE RESULTS OF OUR SPEED WEEDING SESSION

The broad beans were growing, my path had a layer of black plastic laid beneath it, which I'm not sure the ants appreciated. And in the background, just in front of the wilderness that is our raspberry patch there's some borlotti beans.  I picked some broad beans on our last visit, so they've managed to thrive amongst the weeds.

The small apple tree is also doing much better than last year's single apple - you can see how much better in the photo below. 

We've done well with strawberries this year bringing bag fulls home on each trip. The strawberries have also done well in the garden and now they're easing off the raspberries grown in the wilderness have taken over. Last weekend I picked four takeaway trays (yes, I am that classy) of raspberries, most of which are already in the freezer.

The crab apples are doing well, and the artichokes are growing straight through the tree aiming for the sky.

Quite literally.

I cut a few of the larger artichokes as I thought they'd go well with our broad beans. But there was a lot of choke in them, and not much of the edible stuff so I think they're best use is ornamental.

I've also decided that I'm going to cover the top edge of our plot, where we have some lavender, rosemary and other flowers, with membrane in an attempt to stop weeding this every few weeks. Eventually the plants will cover the space, but in the meantime I think they need some help.

Ah yes, the raspberries and bindweed. Who knew together they'd produce so many fruits, certainly not me.

Our next task on the plot is to finally start digging the area that's covered by black plastic. As one of our fellow plot owners said encouragingly, when that's dug we're over half-way. Technically yes, but it doesn't seem that way most of the time!  He also told us the BBC will be at our site filming this Friday, the mere thought of it filled me with dread and I hope they're not filming anywhere near our plot! Apparently our allotments is one of the best is Greenwich, I really don't think they mean ours, and to our fellow plot-holders we can only apologise!

Hopefully we'll get there, and most importantly feel like we're getting there at some point in the not too distant future!

Starting an allotment, what I've learnt

We've had our allotment for two years now - I know - it's gone quickly, and yet I still don't think we've mastered our plot. It still has the upper hand, and the weeds which I've said before are our best crop, have been joined by poppies, our second best crop. 

I thought today would be a good time to look back and see what we've learnt, how we've adopted our approach to allotting and what we'd do differently if we were to start again today.

The excitement of starting out

It seems a long time ago since we excitedly (me) and unhurriedly (him) headed over to our allotment for the very first time. I was determined that we'd spend a full day there getting to know our new space and we quickly learnt there was a lot of work to do.  But undeterred, and knowing when he was beat, we dug and dug and dug and even managed an ice cream as refreshment, as well as planting out some purple sprouting broccoli.

DAY 1 ON THE PLOT, A DAY FULL OF DISCOVERIES

It was a great first day and we were full of the joys that only new plot holders can have. We had big plans and fairly quickly realised we'd need some compost bins and somewhere to store our tools.  The compost bins were easier to source, especially when I drove past a skip with a stack of pallets alongside it and house owners that were happy for me to help them out.

TWO COMPOST BINS MADE FROM PALLETS

We also learnt that digging can be therapeutic, and of course there was the weed off!

Crops to be proud of

We've had kilos of broad beans, a cauliflower as big as my head and plenty of sweet peas and sunflowers which kept us in cut flowers. I also used some of the globe artichokes from that rogue artichoke plant under the crab apple tree that continues to thrive as a cut flower. One year - hopefully this year - we'll master harvesting them at the right time and how to prepare them too.  Later in the year there were turnips and I had a good crop of tomatoes, strawberries and raspberries too. 

SUNFLOWERS: AND PLENTY OF FREE SEEDS TOO

Without the successes of taking home produce we'd grown, I think our enthusiasm would have waned much more quickly, so for us, it has definitely been the right approach to try and tame our plot section by section.  

And those sunflowers, I saved a couple of the heads and have a whole sunflower farm currently growing in the greenhouse, so they are a great crop to grow!

After a long, cold and inactive winter

When we checked in with the allotment in April this year and found it covered in weeds, we hit a low of almost despondency. The areas we'd weeded at least three times before needed clearing again and it seemed to be never ending. And that's probably true, I think I read somewhere once that it is likely to take seven years to be completely weed free - but true to form the amount of weeds and this year poppies too,  couldn't get me down for long. I needed a plan!

Shortly after we watched a Gardener's World episode where Monty paid tribute to Geoff Hamilton and how he'd pioneered organic growing methods when it really wasn't the done thing and we learnt about the no dig approach. We paused that part of the programme and watched and re-watched it many times, both realising this could be something that would help us.  And a plan began to form.

But for it to work we'd need to add raised beds, something that we'd resisted before, and because we didn't quite believe it would work on top of the weeds and to be thorough we had a bit of weed before we piled up bags and bags of compost into our new beds and planted out our onions.  We've still more to add, but I'm confident that this will help us, and we'll be able to use the compost from our garden bins, as well as those on the plot, to keep them topped up.

ONIONS, UNDER COVER AS PROTECTION FROM BIRDS AND FOXES

What I'd do differently

1. Have a plan, but be flexible but don't be too optimistic about what you can achieve in the hours you can dedicate to your plot.
2. Consider installing raised beds and adopting the no dig approach, or a semi-no dig approach as we have in one section of our plt.
3. Research sturdy and secure garden storage which can be used on the plot to save carrying tools to and from the plot each time; it's amazing how the thought of taking your tools can dissuade you from visiting, however keen you are.
4. Decide how much time you can realistically spend on the plot each week or each month, and hold yourself to it.
5. Try to sow just enough plants for the plot, not over sow, and not be faced with the need to dig and prepare beds as you need to use them. Although that's something I think will take me a while to work on, and I may never really manage!

* This is a collaborative post, but as usual, all views and opinions are my own.

Sow & Grow: May

Today I'm sharing my new monthly round-up of what I'm growing right now, and comparing that to the list published in the Grow your own fruit and veg magazine, as well as sharing an allotment update - so quite a functional post from me today, but hopefully useful nonetheless.

At a glance the magazine list looks a little shorter this month - there seems to be bigger pictures than last month - and that's welcome, although I think my sow & grow list is probably just as long as last month. I am starting to make space in the greenhouse though, and I have another 75 litres of seed compost so hopefully there'll be no stopping me - or my seedlings - soon!

Sow

• Broad beans: Yay! Mine are on the allotment, we planted them out in a team effort as our almost-the-last-job-before-we-packed-up-and-came-home on Sunday.  It was a glorious day to spend on the allotment, but there's still so much more to do.  I'm tempted to add another row or two, when we manage to clear a bit more space to the left of this picture.

BROAD BEANS PLANTED OUT ALONGSIDE A NEWLY WEEDED PATH

• Cabbages: A lack of greenhouse space has meant I've still not sowed these yet. They're still on my list, and hopefully once the warmer weather comes along (soon please!) they'll catch up.
• Carrots: I do have a tyre at the allotment - long story, but it's off my car as the wrong size tyre was put on when I had a flat at some point, and rather than leave a hardly worn tyre with the garage, I brought it home for the allotment - so maybe I could use that. Hmmmn.
• Courgettes and squash:  I'll definitely be planting these. I've no idea where I'll put them on the allotment but these are one of my go to crops.
• Cucumbers: I'm getting quite impatient about the cucumber seeds I've planted.  None of the six have germinated yet. Maybe they will soon. Please.
• Florence fennel: I still plan to give these a go, if I have space. My seeds could be past it though, so I'm not holding out too much hope.
• Herbs: I'll be sowing more Basil, Coriander and Chives, as well as a first sowing of Angelica as one of my existing plants is flowering and I suspect that means it will be all over soon.

FLOWERING ANGELICA

• Kohl rabi:  No, not ever. This isn't a vegetable I'll eat.
• Peas: Yes, because you can't beat home grown peas. And some of them may even make it into the saucepan. I've got some lengths of drainpipe which I grow peas in (so I don't disturb the roots when planting on) and I also grow a pot full in the greenhouse which I use as a steady supply of pea shoots for salads. If you like pea shoots you should definitely do this, it's one of the easiest things to grow.
• Potatoes: Phew, I'm glad to hear that these can still be sown, as mine are still out of the soil. We took them to the allotment on Sunday, not so they can see where they'll end up, but to plant them, but we ran out of time and dug space.  Soon though!
• Radishes: I'm in two minds about these - they're quick to grow and the rainbow varieties are such pretty colours, but there's only so many radishes we can eat, and as usual I do the glut thing and they all come at once and I get all radished out. I should look to buy some of those lovely French-style radishes, I think I'd tire of these less quickly.
• Salad leaves: I thought the other night that I don't have any of these on the go yet either, and that I really should. Again moderation and frequent sowings are key, both things that sadly I'm not so good at!
• Sprouting broccoli: still my most favourite veg I think, and definitely something I should grow. We haven't eaten much of it this year as our local greengrocer has started to sell it in packets rather than loose, so I've sort of been boycotting the packeted stuff. If I grew my own then I wouldn't have this problem, would I?
• Sweetcorn: I'll be growing this again this year, despite our mixed success last year. Why? Because the success we did have provided the tastiest, sweetest sweetcorn - and the smaller cobs, well I took the corn off the cob and I've still got some in the freezer, which is great for adding to stirfrys.
• Sweet peppers: I'm still a probably not for these this year, but I would like my chillies to germinate.  I hit on a brainwave of an idea yesterday too, and that's to put my chilli seed tray on the parcel shelf of my car so they can get the heat they need, as when it's warm it's much hotter in our front garden than the back. I'll just need to remember I put them there or else they could frazzle or more likely end up over the backseat if I braked suddenly.
• Turnips: The advice here is little and often, so while I will be growing some, I could struggle with the little and often bit. We'll see.

Plant

• Aubergine: I'm not growing these this year, they're MOH's least favourite vegetable - although he still eats them - maybe these are ones for when we've got the allotment under control.
• Blueberries: My plant is still doing relatively well, the flowers have gone and I'm still waiting to see how many of the fruits develop.
• Brussels sprouts: Hmnn, I never got any sown last month, so maybe these will be off my list this year. 
• Cauliflowers: Oh dear, I think I must have missed the sow these prompt. I had some great success with cauliflower plants last year so maybe I'll pop up the garden centre. Remember the cauliflower as big as my head?!

CAULIFLOWER SUCCESS IN 2016

• Celeriac:  I'm still tempted to give these another go, and I think our new approach to the allotment may help.

As we've struggled to control and tame the weeds, after watching a recent episode of Gardener's World we're attempting the 'no-dig' approach. Well almost 'no-dig'.  We're having a bit of a dig, because it's what we do and then we're chucking in a load of compost to new raised beds, in a "we're-bringing-the-level-of-the-soil-up" kind of approach. I didn't really want to put raised beds into our plot, but equally I don't want to have that despondent feeling of having to start again each time we visit the allotment either, so hopefully it'll help our progress.

Even though we're using some old shelves, it's a more expensive approach, especially for such a large bed. We started as we planted the onions out, not that you can really see it as it's well hidden beneath this netting.

USING THE BLACK SACKS FULL OF WEEDS AS WEIGHTS FOR OUR NETTING

• Celery:  For me, this is on the advanced list. 
• Courgettes and squash: A different sort of advanced list, if I had some already I'd plant them out, if I could.
• Globe artichoke:  Our randomly growing artichoke is thriving under the crab apple tree. I'm not sure it's supposed to do so well there, and I really should take some cuttings from it this year, just in case it doesn't cope with the move I have planned for it well.
• Marrows: I don't dislike marrows, but I don't tend to grow these. Dad usually does though and they're a must for any chutney maker.  Sorry if you're a chutney-lover and marrow-hater and I've just spoilt chutneys for you!
• Pumpkins: Mine are still in the seed packet, but I've plans to grow some so I'd better get a move on.
• Sweetcorn:  I noticed one of my fellow plot-holders already has her sweetcorn out and they're about six inches tall already. No wonder hers were always ahead of mine last year!

Harvest

• Asparagus: I've none to harvest, but I'll happily eat any English grown asparagus.
• Cauliflowers: No none of those either.
• Endive:  I do like these, and we brought some back from our trip to France, but I don't think I can count those as harvested.
• Kale: My kale was finished last month, and we enjoyed that added to some vegetable soup.
• Radishes:  I've already shared my views on radishes earlier in this post!
• Rhubarb: Our rhubarb is done, as is others on the allotment. I knew we wouldn't get much off of ours this year as you're not supposed to cut it in its first year. But next year, I'm going to be all about the rhubarb!
• Salad leaves:  Ooh I wish.
• Spring cabbage:  Again, I wish - I'm rather partial to those hispi cabbages.
• Spring onions: Aha! I found some of these while I was clearing a space for the broad beans. MOH was having none of them because they were red, but they were red because they were the North Holland Blood Red type, we ate them for our late lunch yesterday evening. And their flavour was well developed, even though they were tiny!
• Swiss chard: I still have a few plants on the allotment, and I'd noticed that the white variety seemed to have resurgence. I'm very tempted to pop back over there and cut some of those leaves, and slightly overlook that this is another of MOH's less favoured veg.

So there you go, I told you the list was shorter didn't I?  And I don't feel anywhere near as bad - or as behind - as I thought I might. I am though looking forward to some pottering in the greenhouse sowing some more seeds.  WE've also got some more digging to do as despite getting two seed trays of onions out, I've another four (yes four) to plant out.

Another of my greenhouse successes is my sunflowers. I sowed some from a packet and some from the sunflower heads I saved from the plot, unsure how they'd fare. And guess what? They're doing just as well, perhaps better than the packet seed.  I read somewhere too, can't remember where, of someone that grew sunflowers and cucumbers together, and I'm hoping to do that (if my cucumber seeds germinate), as I can see that working really well.  

That's one for another day though - how's your growing month been?