MY WEEK : 43 ( 6TH NOVEMBER )

Hello all and welcome to this week's update from my allotments. I hope that you are all well and have had a good week on your plots and at home. Although the weather has been colder at night we have had some glorious days during the last week with almost springlike conditions. This photograph shows how my no: 1 plot looks at the moment, on this plot I still have Celery, Leeks, Garlic, Carrots and Parsnips in the beds the rest as you can see are empty now and I have gone around them all making repairs to them. I now have to add well rotted manure and compost to the beds in which I intend to grow crops from my OTHERS group of crops which is shown under the Crop Rotation link, this includes Sweetcorn, Tomato, Peppers, Shallots, Onions, Celery, Leeks, Lettuce and Spinach.

Earlier in the week I had to alter my web poll as the one that I had put onto my site kept displaying annoying adverts, so I am sorry for the people who had entered their vote on that one but I have made a note of their vote which I will add to the totals of the poll that I have now installed. I have made a start on writing a book now on my allotments which will be of a similar format to this site in that I intend it to be a Diary account of my year on the plots with hopefuly some useful information as I go along.

This photograph shows how the bottom end of my plot no: 2 looks at the moment, I have been busy weeding the area where I grew my potatoes this year, I have also introduced a raised bed around my Apple trees, I will be covering the soil surface around them with a porous fabric and topping this with bark chippings which we have supplied free of charge by a local tree surgeon, this will act as a mulch to help retain any moisture around the tree roots which I think is becoming more important with the way our climate is changing and hopefuly benefit the Apple trees in their future yield and health.

Jobs that can be done at this time of year include digging and preparing your ground for next years crops, which will give it time to re-settle before you sow and plant in it next year. If you have a heavy and sticky soil then adding well rotted organic matter will help to improve your soil's structure and you can also add some Horticultural Gypsum to the top few inches which will also have the same benefit. If you have light sandy soil then you can add lumps of clay to the surface of your soil which when it has been frosted can be broken up or shattered with a fork or spade and then dug into the top few inches of the soil to improve it's water and nutrient retention.

You can also make sowings of Broad Beans ( Aquadulce or Aquadulce Claudia ) in milder areas of the country, in other areas you are best waiting until February to do this.

To help reduce the effects of club root on your soil you should make sure that you remove and burn any infected plants, add lime to your soil to bring it's ph value to 7.0 which is neutral, you can check your soil's ph value using a simple test kit or ph meter which are available at any good Garden Center, this will help you to get the most from your soil and benefit the crops that you intend to grow, improving the drainage of your soil will also help to reduce the effects of clubroot, another tip that I have been given recently is to sow your plants in compost and when large enough to handle transplant them into pots made from newspaper which will degrade once planted out, this enables your young plants to establish a good root system which will not be disturbed when you plant them out and help prevent too much damage being caused by clubroot in your soil, you should still get a reasonable crop using this method.

Another job that you can do is to lift and divide your Rhubarb crowns, to do this you can cut through them using either a spade or better still an old bread knife, removing the old centre as you go, then transplant the sections or pieces into ground that has been enriched with well rotted manure or compost.

This time of the year is an ideal time to plant fruit trees provided that the soil is prepared well, to do this you should remove the topsoil to a depth of one spit ( spades depth ), break up the exposed lower soil and enrich it with well rotted compost or manure, leave the base of the planting hole slightly domed so that when you place the roots of the tree onto it they point down and outwards, then add planty of well rotted compost or manure to the topsoil you removed first of all along with a handful of bonemeal, place the tree on the dome and ensure that the tree is at the same depth as it was in its pot by laying a straight piece of wood or stick accross the top of the planting hole and use this to see where the soil will come to when you replaced it, if you need to lower or raise the planting depth of the tree then just remove or add soil to the dome, then insert a stake to support your tree ensuring that you do not damage any of the roots and then gradually add the topsoil firming it well around the roots as you go, water if the soil is dry and then tie the tree to the stake for support.

Last weekend was as everybody knows Bonfire night and although on a smaller scale we had our own celebration at home, we had a log fire and our own Firework display followed by toasted marshmallows which is what Daniel is getting his teeth into in the above photograph, there were that many other people in the area having their own firework displays we enjoyed a spectacular show for several hours, for once the weather was kind so a good night was had by all.



Most of the seed catalogues are available for next year now and if like me you have received a few through the post then it is a good time to read through these and check out any new varieties that are available for next year, I try to save as much seed as I can to help keep down the cost but I will still be ordering some. For the new plotholders amongst you it is worth checking to see if your Allotment site or association run a seed scheme which enables you to obtain seeds, Potato seed, Onion and Shallot sets at very good prices compared to the shops or seed catalogue companies, becareful of some of them who have very nice pictures in their catalogue but want you to pay about 2 or 3 times the going rate for the seed this does not mean that you are getting a better quality seed for your money as the majority of them source their seed from wholesalers throughout Europe and the Uk.


Well that is it for this week, I'm sorry that there has not been as many photographs as usual this week but I wanted to concentrate on giving you plenty of information on digging, planting and seeds as possible to help you get the most from your crops next season, time and effort spent now ensuring that your soil is ready for next season will help to get the best from your crops next year. Thankyou for all the kind messages and emails that you have sent me once again it gives me a lift which at this time of the year with the shorter days and gloomier weather is invaluable, speak to you all again next week, regards Steve.