Allotment Vegetable Growing in November 2004
The Salad Bed with Horsetail 06/11/2004 It doesn't seem like 2 months since I last took some photographs of the plot - but it is. September and October carried on the tradition of rain, rain and yet more rain. Because of this and work intruding on life, The plots are looking a little in need of care. Plot 29 is coming on. The part where the sheds were is nearly all dug over with turkey litter and compost buried in the trenches. Used potting compost sits on the top. Hopefully some hard frosts will break up the near solid clay and I can rotovate in the spring prior to planting potatoes. The mares tail is defeated except for a couple of fronds behind the compost heaps and on the salad bed. These have now been sprayed and that should see it off (fingers crossed). Note - it didn't see it off, I spoke too soon. Here you can see the remains of the salad bed - apart from some immature spring onions and the wonderful horse or mares tail it's empty. So out with the Amicide spray, which is now not licensed as a herbicide. Next spring the bed will be moved in to allow access from all sides What to do about horsetail or mare's tail weed |
Plot 29 - After the beans.. more beans! 06/11/2004 The runners and French beans are gone, the soil had a generous helping of turkey litter (dropped at the site for all to grab) and a handful of fish, blood and bone per square yard (I don't know, 3000 milligrams per hectoacre or something). Good mixing with the rotovator then planted autumn onion sets and garlic. To the left I planted some field beans as a green manure and not to waste the fertilizer. At the rear more field beans (a green manure planted earlier). |
Plot 5 - Turning over the Soil 06/11/2004 Having been dug over twice before, plot 5 is getting better. This year it will benefit from the leafmould. Glorious texture and I'm told 'good enough to put on your sandwiches' Clay will compact and the only answer is to keep adding organic matter, digging each year and liming as much as is reasonable. You can add sand or products such as 'claybreaker' pellets. I've not tried those myself but they involve money. Besides, I need the exercise! |
Plot 5 - Out of control? 06/11/2004 Having concentrated on Plot 29 and having been kept off plot by the weather so much, the weeds have gone berserk. Some hard work is called for here... You can see from the photo that everything is pretty wet - not the best time to dig.. It must stop raining sometime. |
Plot 29 - Onions and Garlic 14/11/2004 The winter onions and garlic are popping up now (PHEW!) - behind the field beans which have taken a beating from the frost. Field beans are pretty hardy so they will survive |
Plot 29 Dug over and Limed 14/11/2004 The patch that had the sweetcorn on is now dug over and a generous dusting of lime applied. Lime increases the PH of the soil and helps break up clay. Although this is good soil here I want to keep it that way. See Lime - the Vital Fertiliser! Not sure what I am going to plant here next year yet but may well be brassicas. |
Plot 29 - Victory over the Mares Tail 14/11/2004 Just a week after spraying with Ammonium Sulphamate (Amcide) the mares tail is brown and shrivelled. It will have gone down to the roots so it won't be back (touch wood) next year. As it turned out, I was to have problems with mares tail for the rest of my time on the plot. It was held in check but never 100% killed off It is no longer legal to use Amcide but this article should help: |
Leaves delivered to the door 19/11/2004 The nice chap from the council drops the leaves swept from the roads to the site. As a favour, he dropped this pile right by my plot. Still took the best part of a day to move to the cage. If I'm to have as much leafmould next year, I'm going to need another load at least. |
The leafmould cage on plot 29 is filling up 27/11/2004 It's amazing how barrow load after load of leaves goes in yet it never seems to fill up! But gradually it does and then they rot and it goes down again! |
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