Normal weather resumes!

Well the snow has gone, didn't last much longer than a day but it was a surprise and caused much disruption on the Yorkshire roads.
This is a picture taken as the snow was going, when the sun came out.

 You can see that the rhododendron at the bottom of my garden is in full bloom now, well not quite, weirdly there is a stripe across the middle which is not flowering yet, not sure what is going on there.

So the long Easter weekend has bought grey skies and cool winds but at least it has been mostly dry here in Huddersfield apart from some drizzle in the air. Have been doing some useful jobs at the allotment, I've put a structure up for my first sowing of peas. I sowed pea 'Meteor' and 'Purple podded' on the 7th March and placed them in the mini-greenhouse. They all germinated and I've been hardening them off this week. Normally I grow my peas up a structure made from bamboo canes and pea netting but it always drives me mad putting that up, getting tangled up and last year it didn't feel very sturdy and collapsed a bit. So this year I have made a more substantial structure, still from bamboo canes but strung together with twine and taller than normal. Took a while to do but much less fiddly and I think it looks better than the bright green plastic pea netting.

I know some people say that peas are so cheap and easy to buy frozen, but for me, they are one crop I always make room for as I love the taste of peas straight from the pod. Its always exciting when the first plants of the new season go in. 

My broad beans that I sowed in autumn are flowering now so it shouldn't be long before some beans appear.

I also planted my potatoes. They were all ready and chitted.

The varieties I've gone for this year are Pentland Javelin (first early) and Cara (maincrop). In the post that I wrote when I received the seed potatoes in the post I discussed the varieties that I had grown last year, one of which was Vales Emerald. I hadn't enjoyed the taste or texture of this variety and they had broken up on cooking. This was mentioned on Gardeners World on Friday when Monty Don was planting his potatoes. He noticed that some of the varieties that he had grown had done the same and that though he'd blamed the variety at first and was going to do a potato trial this year. It turns out lots of people had this problem and that the weather conditions in late spring into summer last year were to blame. We had a very cold May and June and it was proposed that this had an effect on the structure of the potato. So maybe I was a bit hasty at giving up on Vales Emerald as it was a very healthy and clean crop. Maybe I'll try it again next year.
I've planted my spuds at the bottom of my plot in ground that I didn't use last year but I have given it a good dig over and added plenty of compost. We'll have to see how they do. You can see its still a bit weedy on one side! But I'm planning on putting some proper paths in, in the next week or two, all being well so will sort that weed out.

So a useful day at the plot today.
By the way talking about Gardeners World, is it just me or is anyone else loving the many appearances of Nigel the dog! He's the real star of the show....

Potatoes in the post

My potatoes have arrived in the post!

I've gone for 'Pentland Javelin' which is a first early variety. It has white skin and flesh, with a waxy texture. Then also 'Cara' which is a Main Crop variety. It is white with pink eyes and considered to be a very robust variety. Good for jacket potatoes.

I think I'll also put in a few 'Pink Fir Apple' potatoes which are a bit unusual looking but taste great.

Last year I grew three varieties 'Charlotte', Vales Emerald' and 'Pink Fir Apple' and whilst I had a good healthy crop from the 'Vales Emerald' they were a bit floury in texture for me. Everyone will have different preferences for potatoes, but I definitely prefer mine more waxy than floury. I'm still trying out varieties each year to find which I like best and which grows best on my plot.

This is the time of year when you get articles in gardening magazines about the pros and cons of chitting. To chit or not to chit, that is the question! Most people seem to think it is an advantage and I have always done it. It basically just encourages the potatoes to produce shoots, and encourage them into growth quicker when you plant them in the ground. I'm going to start them chitting in a cool, frost-free but bright place. They need to be in the light or they will produce the long white spindly shoots that you get when you forget about your potatoes and find them weeks later in your cupboard! In the light they will produce smaller, dark green shoots. The advice is to start chitting in warmer parts of the country from late January or in February in cooler parts, but about six weeks before you intend to plant out the potatoes. Can you chit for too long!? I planted mine last year at the end of March beginning of April, but I guess it all depends on where you live and the spring weather conditions. We did have a frost here quite late in the spring and the tops of my potatoes were damaged a bit but it didn't seem to affect the crop. I plan to plant them in the part of my plot that didn't get too much attention last year. Potatoes are know to be a good 'cleaning crop' for allotments as they break up the soil and the foliage grows fast and thick and can help smother some weeds. I will give the site a weed, add some garden compost and give a fork over before I plant them but that will be all.
I still find the digging up of your first potatoes of the year is one of the most exciting parts of the veg growers year and the first spuds always seem the tastiest. Apparently the heaviest potato was grown by Peter Glazebrook and weighed 11lb (4.99kg) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-14934269), thats heavier than my cat! Don't think I'll be trying to break that record, small and sweet for me.

It's harvest time, in between the weeding and watering!

So whats been happening at my allotment in July and August since my last allotment post, well I seem to spend all my time up there either weeding or watering (well Ok not this week!) but I'm really starting to harvest my crops in earnest now.
I had a bumper crop of potatoes, the first and second earlies, Vale's Emerald and Charlotte. I've still got a few Charlotte still in there too. My main crop spuds I haven't looked at yet, they are Pink Fir Apple.
I've harvested my garlic which has been a fine crop and also most of my shallots, they are both being dried off at home so that they will store well. My red onions are almost ready to pick too, they have done really well too after a slow start.
My squash plants are really taking off now and spreading across the plot.

 I'm getting masses of courgettes, in fact I've had so many I've sold some to my local greengrocer.

I'm also very proud of my Calabrese and the cabbage which is has been great once I protected them from the pigeons.

The runner beans have just started and again this promises to be a bumper crop.

Its the first time I have grown celeriac and this seems to be growing well.

The leeks are getting big already, they'll be ready before long.

I've got some cucumbers growing though whether they will grow into proper fruit but we'll wait and see.

The flowers on my plot are coming on too, the sunflowers.

Nicandra.

Cerinthe.

One thing I've noticed on the plot is that there is a healthy number of ladybirds and for the first time I'm also seeing lots of lady bird larvae.

Catching up!

Time is flying I can't believe we are nearly into June. After a lovely April, May has not been quite so nice but at least we had some rain but the problem has been the wind which has been very strong at times. I've been a bit lax at keeping up with my blog recently but lots of things have been happening so I'm trying to catch up. So I'll try and post a few blogs over the next few days, one to catch up with what has been going on at the allotment and also my garden. Then I've also been to visit a few gardens so I'd like to talk about them and show some pictures. This week I've been down to the Chelsea Flower Show, the last time we went was in 2006 so I was really looking forward to it. As always I love the fact that we get at least an hours coverage on TV every night. Alan Titchmarsh back on TV doing what he does best talking about gardening.
Anyway I'll talk about that in a later blog, but first things first. My allotment. There has been a few disasters but some things are doing OK.
We had a frost at the beginning of May which damaged the tops of the potatoes.

There has also been a problem with flea beetle on the radishes that I sown.

On a stormy night in May I planted two rows of Calabrese.

I didn't manage to get up to the allotment again for a week and this is what I found when I next got there!

Bl.oody slugs! Luckily I didn't plant all the seedlings and have some back at home which I'm now going to grow into bigger plants which will hopefully survive some slug attack. This has been the first sign of slugs since I  got the plot but I guess that is due to the dry April. Will be much more vigilant now.
I had a long day on the plot on the 25th, there has been an explosion of weed seedlings, they seem to be some form of annual Euphorbia. They have ruined my sowing of carrots and parsnips, but the radishes have survived, despite the weeds and also the flea beetle.

 My strawberry beds are starting to fruit.

The runner beans have germinated and are coming through well.

The potatoes have recovered and growing well now.

The Broad beans are starting to develop pods.

The shallots are doing OK but the onions not so good, only just really starting to grow now and not the best growth.

I had a thorough weed and then carried on digging over one of the new beds.

 I need to get the strimmer up there soon though as I'm getting a great crop of buttercups!

So thats where I'm up to with the allotment. I've also planted some more peas tonight and some flowers, some Ammi majus, Cerinthe major, sunflowers, Campanula persicifolia and Alchemilla mollis, plus the sweet peas.