Author: oldlanelottswp

Planting potatoes

Plant your chitted potatoes when the soil starts to warm up, usually in mid- March to early April. Start by digging a trench 7.5 – 13cm (3-5 inch) deep, add a sprinkling of fertiliser to your trench before you begin planting. Plant early potatoes about 30cm (12 inch) apart with 40-50cm (16-20 inch) between the rows, second earlies & maincrops about 38cm (15 inch) apart with 75cm (30 inch) between the rows. Handle your chitted seed potatoes (tubers) with care, gently setting them in to the trench with the shoots pointing upwards, be really careful not to break the shoots. Cover the potatoes lightly with soil & fill in the trench. As soon as the shoots appear, earth up each plant by covering it with a ridge of soil so the shoots are just buried. You need to do this at regular intervals creating a small mound around the plant to prevent any sun damage or element damage.

Harvesting

Your home grown potatoes should be ready for lifting from June until September, depending on the varieties & the growing conditions. Earlies can be lifted & eaten as soon as they are ready, this will be when above -ground growth is still green,& usually as soon as the flowers open on the plant. Second & maincrop varieties can be kept in the ground much longer, until late September, even though above-ground growth may well be looking past its best. Two weeks before you lift the crop, cut the growth off the plants at ground level. This should give the skins of the potatoes sufficient time to toughen up, making them far less prone to damage from lifting and easier to store.

Blog written by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

Grow Organic is a 100% organic fertiliser, it improves soil & breaks clay. I have included some pictures so plot members can read what it can be used for, & what the benefits are. We stock a minimum quantity and the price is £6.85 & would cover  1/2 plot if spread out & dug in. People who use it say it is as good as cow manure without all the hassle of delivery & off course the mess. It can be used for different applications.

All monies taken go towards the up keep of the site.

OLD LANE ALLOTMENTS COMMITTEE

Dear Plot Members,

This is to make plot holders aware the allotment committee meet the first Sunday in every month to discuss allotment issues If there is anything you want to be raised in our monthly meeting, please put it in writing & place it in our site letterbox in the toilet area.

Thank you

Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

 Stores Opening Times 2020 Growing Season

Monday          10am – 12 o clock   Tony Paine   (plot 38)

Tuesday         Closed –

Wednesday    9am – 11.45 am  Mark Burton (plot 14)

Thursday       Closed –

Friday            9am – 11.45 am   Mark Burton (plot 14)

Saturday        10am -12 o clock   Tony Paine   (plot 38)

Sunday          Closed

If for some reason the stores are not open on said above days/times it will be due to unforeseen circumstances. All monies from stores go to the upkeep of our site. If you could bring the correct money for your purchases that would be great. Members need to visit our stores on the days & times outlined above.

Thank you

Mark Burton / Tony Paine

ON BEHALF OF OLD LANE ALLOTMENTS COMMITTEE

SEED POTATOES

WHAT TO GROW

There are dozens of different seed potato varieties you can buy, usually described as early, second early,  & maincrop potatoes. These names indicate when they crop and also give you an idea of the space you will need to plant them. You should concentrate on the earlier types if your short of  space, its worth mentioning that earlies are less likely to encounter pest problems as you can lift them much earlier in the year.

First earlies should be ready 10 weeks after planting, second earlies take 16 to 17 weeks to mature after planting, so you should be able to harvest them from very late June through to the start of August. Maincrop seed potatoes will be ready 18 to 20 weeks after planting, so they can be lifted from late August through to October. These varieties tend to be the best for storage.

CHITTING

Chitting simply means encouraging the seed potatoes to sprout before planting, you should start chitting in late February, about 6 weeks before you intend planting your potatoes. Each seed potato  has a number of eyes, stand the tubers (seed potatoes) in trays or old egg boxes, with plenty of natural light. The seed potatoes are ready to be planted out when the eye shoots are 1.5 – 2.5 centimetres long.

Find out in my next blog – How to plant your seed potatoes

and how to harvest them

Blog created by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

March they say is when the growing season really starts to take off, definitely on a windowsill, in the greenhouse or grow tunnel.  Outside is possible too, but as we all know it becomes dependent on the weather. Ideally the soil temperature should be over 10 degrees Celsius. March is also the time when the weeds start to spring up, so the hoe becomes an everyday tool in use. Also slugs & snails seem to emerge. Controlling them early in the season can have a big impact later on by disrupting the breeding numbers.

What you could grow in March in the greenhouse, broad beans, Brussels sprouts, Leeks, broccoli, salad leaves, radish, lettuce, onions, peas, globe artichokes, spring onions, summer cabbage, celery, early cauliflowers, cress.  Also start off at home in the house, tomatoes, cucumbers & peppers.

Direct sow in March under cloches if the weather is inclement (bad), beetroot, carrots, parsnips, early turnips, onion sets,shallots, chitted potatoes, swedes, Garlic.

Remember to always read your instructions on seed packets.

Research & Blog   Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

Car Park

With all the bad weather we have had recently  the slope leading to our bottom car park area has become difficult to drive on. Can members please use the car parking area next to the hut building for the time being whilst the slope leading to the bottom car park dries out We don’t want it to get any worse.We know this might be a problem in the future so it was spoken about at our committee meeting on the 1st March to look at ways to eradicate the cutting up of the main path through the winter period.

Blog by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

For & on behalf of Old Lane Allotments Association

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

We are not quite sure where onions originated from, but central Asia, Persia, & Pakistan are all good possibilities. It is said they have been cultivated for about 5,000 years. Its believed their concentric layers of flesh or circles within circles, it represented eternity to the Ancient Egyptian’s & were buried with the Pharaohs. Traces of onions have even gone back to Bronze Age settlements. During the middle ages onions were used to treat snake-bites, headaches & hair loss. Onions contain natural sugar, vitamins A,B6,C, & E Minerals such as sodium, potassium, plus iron & fibre. Athlete’s in ancient Greece  ate onions in the belief it ‘would lighten the balance’ of their blood.

Roman gladiators rubbed themselves down with onions to firm up there muscles. Alexander The Great fed his army onions as he though that strong food would make strong soldiers. Onions thrive in an open position & in fertile well drained soils. If acid soil will need liming. Do not sow onion seeds on recently manure ground. Onions should be rotated in a 3 year cycle to prevent the build up of soil-borne pests & diseases.

Always read sowing instruction’s on the seed packet.

blog & research by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Photo by Toa Heftiba u015einca on Pexels.com

The leek is a cousin of the onion originally from central Asia, it has been consumed since ancient times. It was on the menu of Egyptians & later the Romans they used it plentifully in their cuisine, especially during there great feasts. It appears on the national emblem of Wales & is that countries national vegetable. Both a vegetable & condiment the leek has always enhanced a wide variety of dishes with its unique aroma.

A most valuable vegetable capable of cropping for six or seven months of the year. Leeks have an important concentrate of the B vitamin folate, natural occurring folic acid, plus vitamins A,K. They are also a concentrated source of antioxidants. Leeks do best in an open position on rich, well worked soil into which plenty of well- rotted organic matter has been added. They have a high nitrogen requirement.

Always read the seed packet for growing instructions

Blog & Research by Mark Burton (Allotment secretary)

Snow

These photographs were taken on the allotments today 24th February 2020 at 11 o clock Don’t think anybody was expecting the snow to settle . As I am writing this blog the sun has come out & the snow has now gone. We are I suppose still in the winter months, is this the last of the snow or is there more to come ?

Blog & photographs by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)