Blog

August with a bit of luck, brings us the best of the summer weather but being the traditional holiday month,  it can be hard keeping on top of your allotment with a fortnights holiday. Early potatoes should be dug up now, its best to harvest potatoes early in the day rinse them & leave them to dry,  in the sunlight for a day to harden the skins before storage.

Vegetables you can still sow in August

Spring cabbage, Spring onions, radish, beetroot, turnips, Spinach, Swiss chard, carrots, Kale for Winter & Spring cropping, parsley, coriander & chervil can be sown in the greenhouse for growing throughout winter. Plant out summer  Cauliflowers early this month for an Autumn harvest

Stop tomato plants growing now to encourage fruit to swell, keep side shoots in check, you want tomato’s & don’t want a mass of green foliage.   Keep an eye on your brassicas for butterfly eggs & caterpillars. Most of these will be under the leaves in clusters of little yellow/white balls. Pick or wash them off before they develop & dine on your dinner. Turn your compost the warm weather will help break it down, water it if it’s really dry.

Blog by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

 

31/7/19 – Myself (Mark) & Peter Armitage spotted a hedgehog crossing the main path near the hut building this morning. We think it was a baby judging by its size. Our Chairman (Mick Hogan) has built a hedgehog hotel on his plot a safe environment where they can (hang out). Below are the pictures I took of Mick Hogan & our new little friend.

Blog By Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

Photographs By Mark Burton

There are roughly 5,000 different species of lady birds in the world. These much loved critters are also known as lady beetles & lady bugs, and in many cultures they’re considered good luck. Most people like ladybirds because they are pretty, graceful & harmless to humans. They eat aphids & other plant eating pests. The ladybirds bright colours act as a defence mechanism, warning animals they best not eat them. When threatened, the bugs secrete an oily, yukky, yellow fluid from the joints of their legs. These brilliant bugs have another trick to avoid danger, they remain still & pretend to be dead. During Spring & summer they are most active, these incredible insects can be seen fluttering around or walking on the leaves of plants. When the weather turns cold in Autumn they go in to hibernation.

 

Blog & Research – Mark Burton

Photographs – On My plot (14)

Anti Bird Netting

We now stock anti bird netting it is 2 metres in width.

It costs £1 a running metre

Use it to cover your brassica plants before the wood pigeons feast on your crops !

All monies go back into the running of the site

Blog by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

newsletter 24

Please click/double click on the link above to read this months newsletter

Editor/Content : Steve Johnston (Treasurer)

Content : Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

July is one of the driest months so a lot of time may be spent watering your plot. Although the hectic sowing of the first part of the year is past, there are still things to sow, plant, and happily harvest. Those early potatoes should be coming out of the ground by the end of this month, and although they do not store as long as main crop varieties they will store before you finish eating them.

Leeks – Finish transplanting or “dibbing in” leeks raised in pots, modules, or temporary seed beds. They should be in their final position this month. If you have too many to transplant cut them up & put them in a stir fry instead of spring onions.

Peas & French Beans – This is your last chance for sowing or planting out peas & beans. any later the pods are unlikely to develop in time.

Root Vegetables – Sow your last batch of beetroot now. Late carrot & turnip varieties can still go in at the end of this month.

Other crops you can still sow – Radish, spring onion, Kale, Chinese cabbage, Lettuce, Spring cabbage, last chance to plant out any Brussels sprouts, winter cabbage, autumn cauliflowers you have been growing from seed.

Don’t forget to keep your onions weed free, summer thinning can be now done on apple, pear, plum trees etc. Keep the hoe in your hand & keep on top of those weeds.

Blog By Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

 

 

The pride gnome – Old Lane Allotments supporting L.G.B.T.

Our treasurer Steve Johnston bought this garden gnome for a family member supporting the L.G.B.T movement. I thought it would be a good idea to put it on the lawn on our site & take a photograph.

Old Lane Allotments supporting L.G.B.T

Blog created by Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)

Photograph taken by Steve Johnston (Treasurer)

 

 

 

Club – Root  is an infection of the roots of, a soil dwelling micro-organism related to slime moulds, leading to massive swelling, distortion & severely retarded growth. It affects Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips & radishes. Club-root can infect whenever the soil is moist & warm, so most new infections occur from mid-Summer until late Autumn. You may see the following symptoms stunted growth, purplish foliage & wilting in hot weather. Below ground the root system becomes massively swollen & distorted, with a loss of finer roots badly infected plants might die.

Once you have club-root on your plot i am afraid you are stuck with it, Start your brassicas off in modules using bought in composts to which a small amount of lime is added & pot up to 3 inches & then at least 5 inch pots before planting out. This allows the plant to develop a good root system prior to infection. Club-root thrives best in acid wet soils so ensure your brassica bed is well dug, adding grit if needed to keep the soil free draining. Before planting in the ground dig a hole 1 foot deep & in diameter then dust with lime to whiten the soil in the hole. Fill the hole with bought in compost and then plant in this. This method has been proven to work & enable good quality crops to be taken. Obviously this is very time consuming & you may feel that growing in containers is your only option. There are now club-root resistant seed variety’s available but remember this is a resistance not immunity.

Blog & Research  –  Mark Burton (Allotment Secretary)