MY WEEK : 44 ( 13TH NOVEMBER )

Well another week goes by here at my allotments, the weather has been more like it should be for this time of the year with cold nights and a mixture of sunshine and showers during the days.

Thankyou to all of you that have voted on my poll, as you can see from this photograph I have made a start on my book, encouraged by the interest and comments that I have received I have made enquiries into how to go about writing and publishing a book which hopefully I will bring to fruition, I will keep you all posted on how I am getting on with it.





In the past you may remember me talking about a pest that has recently emerged on our allotment site which attacks members of the Onion family it is called the Allium Leaf Miner, the above photographs show the damage that it does to your crops, in this case it is my Leeks and also the Pupae in my Leeks.


This is the life cycle of the Allium Leaf Miner ( Napomzya gymnostoma ). The advice that I have been able to find as to the best way of controlling this pest seems to suggest that covering your Leeks, Onions and Shallots with fleece will greatly reduce the adult's capability of laying it's eggs and also crop rotation will help as some of the Pupae will overwinter in your soil.





Moneymaker.....................................Gardener's Delight

After a request this week for some information on what varieties of Outdoor Tomatoes there are available which do well in the Uk, I thought that I would share with you all the information that I was able to find out, I know from my own experience on my allotments this Summer that 'Moneymaker' and the Cherry type 'Gardener's Delight' both grew very well , the main thing to look for is how early the variety fruit, the earlier the better in the Uk as the Summers can be unpredictable. There are as you may know 1000's of different varieties from all around the world, the Tomatoes that have been bred in colder climates will do best here in the Uk and I have found an excellent online seed company based in Oxfordshire who stock over 200 varieties of Tomatoes from a whole host of seed suppliers, as an added bonus they do not charge any p&p and the information on their site is very good, their link is: http://www.eseeds.com/.

Next Sunday is our allotment site's AGM, it looks like it will be a lively meeting as I was recently approached by a few plot holders to see if I would be prepared to be the Chairman or Secretary of the allotment association, there have been numerous complaints made to me over the last couple of years that I have been on the committee, about the lack of action by the committee regarding the implementation of the tenancy agreement and it's rules, the concensus is that it is time for a change at the top and would I be prepared to take on the responsibilty of the position, after some considerable thought I have said that as long as other plotholders will join the committee and help to take the allotments forward then I would be prepared to have a go. After the recent increase in the popularity of allotments, we have gone from a site with vacancies to having a waiting list of 15+, however as you can see from the slideshow below not all of our current plotholders are cultivating their plots which is causing a vast majority of the complaints that I have received, they would also like to see more improvements in facilities and security to the site, I am sure that our's is not the only site to experience an ineffective committee and we won't be the last, hopefully things will improve.




This week at my plots I have continued with maintenance of my raised beds, weeding, path repairs and weeding the ground under my new tunnel area, the slideshow below is of my allotments as they look at the moment.



One important job that I have done this week was to check my soil's ph values to see whether the soil is Acidic or Alkaline as different crops prefer different values. I recently purchased a soil ph probe to help measure the soil, you can get a simple soil test kit from most garden centres or a probe like the one that I have purchased. Usually they have a chart included which shows you the prefered ph value that a particular crop will grow best at and also some information as how to get your soil to that value by either adding Lime or Aluminium Sulphate to your soil.
Good soil does more than provide a foundation for roots to grab on to, well-structured soil lets the roots breathe easily, provides the right amount of nutrients and water to the plant, and has the right pH balance for the kind of plants you're trying to grow. Poor soil can inhibit plant growth in a number of ways, if it has too high a clay content it will compact easily, drain poorly, prevent air from getting to the roots, and dry into hard clumps. If it's too sandy, it will drain too quickly, erode easily and have difficulty holding nutrients for the plants to use. When you pick up a handful, it feels moist and loose without falling through your fingers, has a fresh, clean smell, and a rich dark colour.
To find out what your soil structure is like, stir a handful into a clear glass of water and let it sit for several hours until the water clears. The coarse heavier sand particles will eventually settle to the bottom, with silt layering the top. The finer clay particles will eventually settle on top, and some humus (organic matter) will float on top of the clear water. Looking at the side of the glass, you can tell what your soil is primarily made of. If it's mostly sand, digging in lots of organic matter will improve it a great deal, if it's mostly silt and clay, it will benefit from the addition of washed sand to help it drain and aerate well.
All soils will benefit from liberal applications of compost and well rotted manure, work the soil by turning it over and mixing it well to a depth of at least one foot, before planting.
Acidity or alkalinity in the soil is measured by pH values, on a scale of 1 (most acid) to 14 (most alkaline) with a level of 7 considered "neutral" Each level is ten times more or less than the next, ie. 5 is a ten times more acidic than 6 and 100 x more acidic than 7 a pH level of 8 is ten times more alkaline than 7, and so on.
The pH level influences the availability of nutrients for you plants and the type of plants you can grow, most plants will grow well in a pH range of 6.5 to 7.2, where nutrients are readily available to them. Alkaline soils can be neutralized by adding Peat , Moss or small amounts of Aluminium Sulphate. Acid soils can be neutralized by adding Hydrated Lime, you should change the soil pH slowly and carefully to ensure you don't upset the balance too far in the opposite direction. Compost will also help neutralize soil pH and add nutrients at the same time. All plants need a good balance of the major nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potash), as well as minor or "micro" nutrients such as magnesium, copper, iron, calcium, manganese and many others in minute quantities. You can test your soil for the presence of these nutrients and add those that are needed in the form of fertilizer, they will quickly become available to the plants (providing your soil pH is fairly neutral) and promote healthy growth. Regardless of pH level, the absence of any key nutrient can cause growth and pest/disease problems.

Well that is it for another week, I hope that I have not overloaded you too much with information and hopefully you will find it useful on your own plots. Thankyou all for looking in on my website, speak to you next week regards Steve.