Crop protection

Now that the weather is improving and I've planted some crops out I have decided that it is time to build some more permanent crop protection. My plan is to build 2 fairly large moveable brassica cages from wood and scaffold debris netting, and build a hoop and debris netting cover for the salad raised bed.

As the local hardware store sells timber in 2.4m lengths and the allotment is around 5.5m wide I decided on making the cages 1.2m high, 2.4m long and 2m wide. You may ask why I didn't make them 1.2x2.4x2.4 and the easy answer is that I purchased 2m wide debris netting and thought that 2m wide made more sense. If I had realised at the time how much you have to stretch 2m wide debris netting to actually make it 2m wide I would probably have gone for 1.2x2.4x2.4 and doubled up the netting in places...

I transported all my tools and timber/netting to the allotment early one saturday morning in the car and walked back down with essential supplies (Cider.)

My father is a retired cabinet maker so I have picked up a lot of skills with timber so it didn't take long to build the frames and make sure that they were sturdy and square. In fact I would estimate that it took longer to attach the debris netting with my faithful staple gun.

Brassica cages under construction - more timber needed!

Brassica cages under construction - just one to net up

Brassica cages completed and in final position

Once the brassica cages were built and in place I got on with protecting the salad raised bed - I had approximately 6m of blue flexible water pipe laying around so I cut it in to three equal lengths, screwed it to the sides of the raised bed with decking screws and large washers then attached the debris netting to one side of the bed with stables, attached a piece of timber to the other end of the netting and hey presto I had a protected raised bed. 

Protected raised bed

Time to plant some potatoes

Learning from previous years when I planted everything very early and got caught out by a late frost, I have decided to hold on a bit this year as I figure that things planted a little late will always catch up pretty quickly. The things that I can't wait any longer for though are my early potatoes - International Kidney and Arran Pilot this year.

The seed potatoes have been chitting away in the garage for a couple of months now, and they are now definitely ready to continue their germination in the soil. Now that I'm on an allotment I don't have the luxury of an MF Tractor with a plough on the back as I have done in the past:

Richard Dixon preparing for potatoes at the old plot

This year it is going to be all done by hand! My process was slightly different to normal as some of the potatoes had fairly long chits on them and I was concerned that they would break when covered in soil, so this is what I did:

1. Put out the line and dig a trench 8-10 inches deep
2. Sprinkle a good helping of slug pellets in the bottom of the trench
3. Place the seed potatoes in the bottom of the trench, with chits facing upwards
4. Cover the seed potatoes with general purpose compost
5. Sprinkle pelletised chicken manure on top of the compost
6. cover the trench over and ridge slightly

It isn't really necessary to put a full ridge over the potatoes yet as I can do that later in the year when they start to appear above the ground. All there is to do now is wait until late June to harvest them!

Trench dug and slug pellets sprinkled

Seed potatoes in place

Covering of compost

Chicken manure applied

All planted

New year, new start!

It's hard to believe that it is March already and spring has most definitely sprung! Here is an update of what has been done since my last post in October:

December 2015

• Uncovered the broad beans as they were hitting the top of the small 'poly tunnel'
• Harvested Leeks and Brussels Sprouts for christmas

January 2016

• Tidied the shed and installed some shelving
• Planted the last garlic (Solent Wight)
• cleared away the remaining brassicas
• covered half the allotment in a tarpaulin to try to keep the weeds at bay

February 2016

• completed filling the raised beds with a compost and sand mixture
• built the runner bean climbing frame

March 2016 (so far)

For valentine's day this year Jo gave me a couple of things that she considered essential for the allotment - a small hip flask and a portable DAB radio - what can I say other than what a great addition they make, along with my purchase of a 'thermos' flask. 

Most weekends in January and February were taken up with work, so I knew that I had to do a lot in a small space of time to get back on top of the allotment. Last Sunday was to be my first full day at the plot of the year, so I prepared myself - spare batteries for the radio, flask full of coffee, hip flask full of Chairman's Rum (the best Rum to come out of St. Lucia), 4 cans of cider, welly boots and plenty of layers of clothing.

Essential Allotment equipment

Having been down to the allotment the previous Tuesday afternoon to plant 8 asparagus crowns and remove the tarpaulin, I knew how bad everything was looking. After 5-6 hours of work I had managed to weed and feed the garlic/onions/broad beans and rough dig/weed more than 2/3 of the allotment.

2/3 dug

I wasn't finished though, so on Monday afternoon I trekked down again with some more coffee and rum to finish the digging.

All dug

During my recent visits I have been pleased to notice that the asparagus crowns are already shooting through the soil - it is obviously warmer than I had imagined. I plan to plant some asparagus seeds towards the end of the month to supplement the crowns.

We have Asparagus