First Sowings of 2011.

Today I have finally made a start on sowing.
All the seeds have been sown in a cold greenhouse.

Leeks: Blue Solaise, Snowstar, Lyons - Prize 2 and Musselburgh.
Hope I have a better year this year with leeks. I am planning on buiding a cover for the leeks similar to the sort used for stopping carrot root fly. I have purchased the netting ready for this task.

Cauliflower: All the year round.
x6 sown into modules.
Planning another sowing in mid February.

Broad Beans:
Witkiem Manita x6
Planning a further sowing in mid Feb of Crimson variety.

Spring Onions:
Ishikura - x3 modules.
Spring North Holland Blood Red - x3 modules.

Planning to make a start on chilli's, onions and peas later in the week.

Heritage Seed Library 2011

Selections For 2011.

Climbing French Beans:
Kew Blue
Cherokee Trail of Tears
Blue Queen

Pea:
Commander

Dwarf French Bean:
Soldier

Celeriac:
Balder

Lettuce:
Bronze Arrow

Looking forward to seeing how these perform. Must remember to cover peas if sown late to avoid the nasty pea moth.

Gardening Year Starts Here For Me.

Over the last season I just haven't had the time to blog. I have been beavering away at the allotment and had a rather good first proper season.



I have been juggling my time between home and family, working five days a week and the allotment. The garden has also been returned to flowers, herbs and some veg but the majority has been grown at the allotment.



At the same time as getting the allotment up together, we have also been decorating at home.



So this year, I am planning to spend alot more time at the allotment. At the end of the growing season I managed to get all the winter digging done, I didn't manage to get as many crops sown over the autumn for winter crops as I would have liked and got a bit behind so there is a lesson learned for this season.



I visited the allotment in January when it was covered in frost and decided to draw up the plan for this year. The plan is completed but may be subject to change. I have included crop rotation and I am planning to increase sucessional sowing as this also was an area where I can increase yeild.



At present I have the following at the allotment in the ground: Chard, Brussel sprouts (although these didn't perform particulary well - most have blown), cabbage, carrots, garlic and shallots.



In the greenhouse I have over wintered Broad Beans, strawberry runners (approx 50) and onion sets ready for planting soon. Indoors the seed potatoes are chitting.

I have been itching to get on with some sowing so today I will be going through the seed box and picking some varieties.



I want to start my leeks early this year as they were a disaster last year and were plagued by leek miner.



After the amount of fruit and veg we enjoyed last year, I am enthusiatic and itching to get started with the growing seaon for 2011.



Happy Gardening xx

HSL

Heritage Seed Library.

Just prior to Christmas the Heritage Seed Library arrived through the letter box. Once I had some quiet time, I began looking through the selections for 2010.

The catalogue has so many different varieties that I would love to try; but I had to choose six, plus 1 lucky dip.
Last year I picked mostly peas, beans and tomatoes, so this year I decided to limit 2 varieties of peas and beans.

These were my selections:
Peas:
Robinson.
It is thought to be around 80 years old. A tall, sturdy variety (2-3.5), white flowers followed by 6-10 marrow fat type,wrinkled peas in each pod.

Hugh's Huge.
This pea was donated to HSL by Michael Stanley from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, who had been growing it on his farm since the 1950's. He was orginally given the seed from Mr Robinson, also from Leicestershire who had acquired it from Scotland. A favourite amongst exhibition growers for its long,slim,slightly curved pods which have pointed tips. Extraordinarily sweet, they retain their when a little over mature or when frozen.

Beans:
District Nurse.
An elderly lady in Cardiff donated these beans to Anita Bourne's step daughter who is a district nurse. Pretty lilac flowers followed by dramatically coloured pods, green splashed with navy blue.

Major Cooks Bean.
This bean was given to HSL by Mr Luxton. It was handed down by his father who acquired the bean from Major Cook who was a colleague during Mr Luxton's work for The Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the 1920's.
Major Cook is thought to have developed the variety. Pretty purple-violet flowers followed by string less beans with fine flavour.

Onion:
Up to Date.
This variety is originally from R Brittan Seeds in Northampton and is at least 80 years old. In 1948, the Ministry of Agriculture announced its white rot resistance (MAFF Bulletin 2,1948). However, it was thought that 'Up-To-Date' was the same as Bedfordshire Champion and was discarded. Apple shaped with yellow skin, rather square shoulders and a rounded base. Good storage onion.

Squash: Chicago Warted Hubbard.
An American Heirloom variety developed by Budlang Gardens, Chicago and introduced by Vaughans Seed Store, Chicago in 1894. Trailing vines produce large (5.5-6kg) warty,wrinkled,olive green fruit with fine-grained, sweet orange flesh.

Lucky Dip:Asparagus Kale.
Listed in 'The Vegetable Garden'(Vilmorin-Andrieux 1885), this variety is reputed to be one of the tastiest kales. The violet tinged, fringed leaves are mild-flavoured and, in the spring, the young,tender flower shoots can be blanched and eaten like asparagus. Compact, hardy and very productive.


The seeds arrived two days ago and I got all my first choices!!!! Looking forward to growing these varieties and saving seed.

Onions

First Onions Sown For 2010 Harvest.

29th December 2009.

Today I have sown the following varieties of onions which will be kept indoors in a cool place.
I decided to follow the moon planting method again as I had reasonable results last year and find by following the moon planting calandar it keep me to track.

Hi Keeper - F1 Hybrid.
Good autumn variety for sowing outdoors to over winter. Sow September outdoors or March - April for spring sowings.
Harvest in June, from overwintered sowings. August to September from Spring sowings. Exhibition quality in under 4 0z class. I already have some of these onions growing on the allotment which were sown back in September.

Ailsa Craig.
Large globe shaped, straw coloured bulbs with a mild flavour. Will store for a few months. Popular variety for growing 'heavy weight' exhibition quality.

Brunswick.
Mild, yet tangy taste, red skined semi-globe type. Good long term storage.

Bedfordshire Champion.
Popular tasty variety, brown skinned, mild flavour. Long storage period.

Roja de Niort.
Red onion. Seed purchased from Lidl, never tried this variety before so will have to wait and see.

The Kelsae.
Show bench winner, exhibition onion. First introduced in the early 1950's. Record weights and exceptional flavour.

Once the seed have germinated they wil be moved to a cooler place as onions don't need to be kept warm.

Summer Flowers.

Summer Flowers.

Some of the flowers from

the back garden which did well during 2009.

Lillies:

Did well and smelt divine.

Poppies: These were very pretty. I saved seed from these for next year.

Globe Thistle:

I saved the seed head from these at the end of the summer.

After removing the seeds from the prickly seed case, I decided to see if they would germinate. I now have a full seed try of seedlings which will go to the lottie when they are ready. I like the intense shade of blue and the fact that the bees seem to like them.

Talking of bee's, this one is enjoying the nectare from the head of a Sedum.

I planted several varieties of nasturtiums,

so I had lots of different colours.

We picked some of the blooms for Jess, for her art homework which was a collage made from petals of different flowers.

Nasturtiums did well and certainly brightened up the plot.

These were the night scented stocks and marigolds that a friend sent me up from Bristol for the allotment. Thanks Judy xx

I have saved the seed for next year.

Now that I have dug up black currant, red currant bushes and raspberry canes I can now sow more flowers for next year, as I have more space. The marigolds did much better on the allotment than they did in the garden, so I will plant them at the lottie again.

The only problem with getting a lottie ..............

Lottie Update.

The only problem with getting a lottie is that I haven't had time to post regular updates!

What a summer, the weather was ok, most of our time was spent at the lottie digging, weeding, laying paths, marking out, building raise

d beds, planting and putting in the new shed.

It has been hard graft but it has been worth it. The lottie is starting to take shape and I should be able to have a full growing season next year. All the beds (with the exception of 3) have been dug through the Autumn, alpaca manure has been added and covered with black polythene for the winter.

Although I didn't get the lottie until the end of June we managed to grow carrots, purple sprouting broccoli, winter cabbage, beetroot, and chard. We have met a lot of the plot holders who have been very friendly and welcoming.

All the strawberries have been transplanted to the lottie and we built a fruit cage (21ft x6ft) which has black currants, red currants, loganberry, raspberries, and tayberries growing inside.

The picture on the left was taken whist we were building it, it is a wooden frame, the roof is covered in strong pea netting and the sides in scaffolder's net.

I have planted three varieties of Rhubarb: Timberley, Red Champagne, Victoria, and at the start of December managed to plant the bare rooted fruit trees that I ordered back in the summer. We have planted: Victoria plum, Opal, Pear: Beth, Apples: Bramley, Bountiful, Bleinham Orange, and Discovery. All trees are M9 root stocks. I am hoping to pick up a few more trees in the spring when the supermarkets have their offers on. We have planted three gooseberry bushes - green, yellow and red. The Goji bush has been planted towards the front of the lottie.

In October we build a leaf mould bin from wire mesh and stakes. We managed to collect a trailer load of leaves and the bin is half full, will have to get more for next year. The compost bin that we built is not completed yet but is usable. I want to modify the front so it has doors on it, which are the width of the wheel barrow. The bin is made from recycled pallets and has two bays.

In September we visited a factory which gives away free recycled wood. We managed to get a trailer load of wood which we have used to make raised beds down the other side of the path.

We have built an asparagus bed which has been planted along side the herb bed. I have planted Comfrey bocking 14 in a block leaving plenty of room for it to grow, this will be used across the plot as liquid fertilizer.

Blueberries have been planted in their own bed with special acid compost. We also managed to grow our first pumpkin!! It was one of the small varieties called Baby Bear. We used it to make soup. I was very proud of this little pumpkin as it was the first produce off the lottie.

We have planted broad beans as a direct sowing at the lottie. I tried these once before and didn't like them so picked a different variety to try. We ended up with Bunyards Exhibition. All the seeds germinated are about 2-3 inches high, and I have a few spares at home. I may risk another sowing later in the spring .

At the end of the summer I sowed some onions which I wanted to over winter on the lottie along side some Japanese onion sets that I picked up in wilko. At the start of the year I had ordered sets from a reputable company which let me down by sending mouldy onion sets, I threw them in not really expecting much from them, a lot of the onions were ok, but they didn't reach a good size. So I decided that from now on apart from the Japanese overwintering sets that I would try my own onions grown from seed. I planted a couple of varieties Hi keeper and one other that I have forgotten the name of. These onions grew very well and have been transplanted out on to the lottie, they have put on suitable growth before the weather started to change so I will see how I get on with these. I am planning to do another sowing of onions this week which I will keep indoors until they have germinated and then they will be moved to the utility room as its a bit cooler in there.

We have had a great time getting the lottie ready and I am looking forward to starting a new growing season.

We still have lots to learn and it may not all be successful but here's hoping. Thanks for reading