MY WEEK : 8 ( 19TH FEBRUARY )

Hello all and welcome to this week's update from my allotments and my kitchen garden. It is an exciting time now for all of us as the first signs of Spring are appearing, we have seen the first of the Bees and even Butterflies this week and the Birds have been singing their dawn chorus, there have been many reports of the Daffodils coming into flower up and down the UK and the plants around this part of the UK are beginning to produce their new shoots. My Camellia at home looks fantastic this year, when I see the first of the flowers it really gives me a boost as the prospect of what lies ahead is exciting.




Last weekend I went to my allotments, it was a glorious sunny day and pleasantly mild. As a result of starting work on the kitchen garden I have decided to pause my project of constructing another caged area for growing crops in for the time being as I will be very busy at work and will only be able to grow a limited amount of produce at my allotments. I have covered the ground underneath the frame with weed control fabric to help prevent any excessive weed growth making it easier for me to keep the allotment neat and tidy. Fortunately as I have made the rest of my allotments into raised beds with weed fabric paths it will be easier for me to manage this large area which is ideal for my new circumstances regarding work. I will shortly be taking possession of some Asparagus plants that my Mum & Dad have ordered for me from a grower near Evesham which is renowned for it's Asparagus farms, I have prepared the bed at the allotment in readiness for their arrival by adding plenty of well rotted manure to the soil to give them a good start as they will hopefully be in that bed for the next 10 to 20 years. There was a buzz at the allotments as the seed Potatoes and Onion sets had arrived, there were plenty of fellow plot holders getting their plots ready for the start of the season along with several new plot holders keenly attacking their overgrown plots. Fortunately now we have some new blood on the committee and obviously a change at the top things are already starting to improve with the work on replacing a section of our perimeter fence nearly complete, people who have not cultivated their plots have been advised that they have 3 months in which to get their plots in order or face possible eviction as now that we have a healthy waiting list with people itching to get a plot then it is only fair to give them that opportunity and also it is not fair on those plot holders who do keep theirs in good order to suffer the constant supply of weed seeds drifting onto their plots, thank you to Pauline and Malcolm for all of your hard work together we will make our allotment site much better for all of our plot holders both present and in the future.



At the kitchen garden this week we have finished preparing the beds in the Cedar wood greenhouse by installing raised edging stones using Victorian blue bricks and then adding plenty of compost and Chicken manure pellets to the border soil to improve it. As an experiment for future years of production I have planted 12 tubers of Swift first early Potatoes to see if we get an earlier crop than those that will be planted later in March out in the field as we will be growing produce for use in the Hall's restaurant it is important for me to see what we can produce and when for the Chef to use.





The seed production at work is getting into full swing as you can see in this photograph, they are germinating well and the white walls in the glasshouse are providing excellent light conditions for the seedlings to grow in. The Aubergines, Chillies and Cucumbers have germinated excellently and by the end of the week the Chillies were potted on into 3" pots for them to grow on. The Roscoff Rose Onions that I sowed last week are just starting to come through along with Basil, Romanesco and the Tomatoes. One tip that I wanted to share with you is regarding the watering of the delicate seedlings, if you were to water them from above using a watering can even if fitted with a fine rose then you damage them, the best way of watering them is to get a suitable container that is big enough to take a full seed tray and fill with an inch of water then place your seed tray into this bath of water so that the water can be taken up through the soil via the holes in the bottom of the seed tray or pot, wait until the top of the compost gets damp and remove this way the seedlings will not get damaged.




This week the soil and weather conditions were perfect for sowing my Early Carrots after the addition of wood laths to the sides of my cloches kept the polythene weighted down nicely, I have sown 4 double rows as thinly as possible at a depth of 1/2" with 6" between the rows, also this week I have sown the Summer Cabbage ( F1 Duncan ) and placed on the propagating mat with a bottom heat of 15C to get them germinated, once they start to emerge I will remove them from the heat and place in the cold frame to grow on. In the Cedar wood greenhouse the Peach tree is showing signs of coming into blossom so this week I will be pruning and feeding it, you can just see the buds showing their pink petals forming in the above photograph.



This week out in the kitchen garden we decided to clear up to and around the top gate which leads to an area where there are more fruit trees and bushes such as Cherry, Plum, Apple and Blackberries. Either side of the gate their are two very old Wisteria's which Glenn has pruned and hopefully this will encourage them to flower as they will look spectacular, the large tree you can see to the right of the gate is a Bay tree and when we lightly clipped this the smell was lovely. We also removed the last of the dead Box hedging plants on the one side of the kitchen garden and we started on transplanting the spare Box plants that the past gardeners had planted into the gaps left behind from the removal of the dead ones.



The main reason for the Box hedging suffering from last years heatwaves was due to the fact that the kitchen garden is on a gentle slope and over time with the soil being improved by the addition of organic material the soil level has risen by about 9" the Box plants and their roots have slipped down the slope and onto the edges of the paths so in the very hot and dry conditions of last Summer they dried out. To prevent this from occurring again in the future I have decided that the best long term solution is to make small retaining walls along the bottom edges of the large beds to prevent the soil from slipping down and onto the paths, I will replant the Box hedging behind the walls and in time they should blend back in with the surrounding hedges, this week we made a concrete footing on which we can build the retaining walls which is the strip you can see in the photograph next to the path.






The strength of the Sun is increasing now at this time of the year and when it has been out for any length of time the temperatures have gone up to 70 - 75F in the glasshouse which is why the Fuchsias and the Bottle brush plants are starting to produce new growth and flowers which is nice to see and work in, you also need to be careful with your seedlings though as they could get scorched or baked by the Sun's rays and you may need to shade them slightly during the day.




Another job that I managed to finish this week was the creation of a set of concrete steps into the Cedar wood greenhouse, with advice from the builders who are working on the refurbishment of the Hall I think that I have made quite a good job of them. Work on the Hall is getting into full swing now with the final approval of the plans being passed by the local council earlier in the week, the Hall is now due to open sometime in May so it won't be long before my vegetable and fruit production will be put to use and the fun and hard work begins. We will have to get the grounds around the front of the hall and the beds shown in the above photograph ready for the opening so there is plenty to be done in a short space of time, hopefully though it will all come together.

Well that is it for this week, I will be back as usual next week with another update on all my progress from here and the allotments, have a good week yourselves and I hope you are all enjoying the excitement of the arrival of Spring and the prospect of growing your own fruit and vegetables, thanks Steve.