Organic Allotment

It Isn't All Good News You Know...

Sometimes looking at this blog and others that cover similar ground you could be fooled into believing that nothing ever goes wrong on allotments and gardens all over the country. I'd like to be able to say this was true but have to confess that I as much as the next blogger could be accused of missing out the gory bits, and only sharing my successes with the outside world. Okay, so I have shared with you snippets of information on the pests and diseases that I have encountered but, on the whole, the news has tended to be mainly good...

Well now, it's time to get a bit nasty and I want to share with you the brutal truth of this evening's visit to the plot. Firstly the resident rabbit has been munching his or her way through my parsnips seedlings that, until this point were doing pretty well. I wouldn't be so offended if he actually ate the leaves but the fact that he chews them up then spits them out really infuriates me. Then my squash plants that I promised myself would pick up when the weather got better still look dull and depressed, and the celery that I was so proud of a matter of weeks ago looks like it's giving up the ghost. Finally, and most annoyingly, I spotted the first signs of blight on my precious tomatoes in the greenhouse. I have pulled out the offending plants and hope that I've got in there early enough but I'm not holding up much hope because blight tends to be so persistent once it rears its ugly head.

I'm sure that all you growers out there can relate to the feeling of the visit to your plot when it feels like it's just one bad thing after the other. Fortunately my flower bed is thriving in the heat so I was able to pick this glorious little posy of flowers to console myself in the face of so much bad news. Lovely aren't they?

A Little Bit of Heat

We've had a bit of hot weather up here in Manchester so suddenly all the plants that need a bit of heat are coming on a pace. The cucumbers and tomatoes have put on a growth spurt and the chili peppers that are in the greenhouse produce more flowers and fruit everyday.

If you are growing stuff in the greenhouse like chilies it's really important to remember to open th door everyday so that the bees can get in there to do their job of pollinating. If you don't you'll have loads of flowers but no fruit and there's no fun in that! And if you're growing chilies on a window ledge inside you'll have to play the part of the bee yourself. Get a light paint brush, use it to gently brush each flower, then move the pollen from bloom to bloom to make sure all of them are pollinated. Ahhh! The things we do to get a successful crop in the garden!

If all this goes well for us this year there should be well over a hundred chilies to be eaten so we're thinking of popping them into jars and making a spicy chili oil. Any tips out there from people who've had a go at making this before?

Comfrey the Wonder Plant

Comfrey is a wonderful thing. It isn't the most handsome plant but it has so much to offer that every gardener and grower should find room for some on their plot. As you can see from this picture bees adore it, but it also makes one of the best liquid fertilizers that you could ask for. All you need to do is cut the plant down and fill a bucket loosely with the cut leaves, then cover it with water, put a lid over it and leave it for a couple of weeks. Some people also weigh down the leaves with a brick but that's up to you.

When you uncover the potion it will look and smell awful but, diluted with water, it is a wonderful potassium feed, perfect for any potash-hungry crops. Comfrey is this nutrituous because its deep roots are an amazing accumulator of potassium. As well as making fertiliser you could try adding comfrey neat to the compost bin or using it as s a nutritious mulch under roses, tomatoes or gooseberries.

Try to get a bocking variety as other cultivars can be real bullies and spread all over the place. I have two beds of it on the allotment and wouldn't be without it to help keep my plants happy, strong and healthy.

A Welcome Visitor

Just in case you haven't come across one of these little guys before let me explain what it is...

This peculiar little thing is a ladybird larvae and is every gardener's best friend. Each one is only about 1cm long but they have a huge appetite for greenfly, whitefly and a whole host of other garden nasties. In terms of their appetite to eat aphids, ladybirds and their offspring are only just beaten into second place by hoverflies who should be another welcome guest to any gardener. You can buy ladybird larvae to release into your garden or greenhouse but the best way to attract them is to make you garden a wildlife haven so that as many ladybirds take up residence there as possible. We've got hundreds of them all over the plot, so much so that I often spend more time moving them to safety than weeding when I'm supposed to be tidying up!

Ladybird adults like to take nectar or pollen from Alliums, dill and yarrow, which are the same plants that hoverfly and lacewings adore. The other good way to encourage them into your garden is to make sure there is plenty of tempting food for them. If you grow plants that are laden with aphids like nettles and honeysuckles you will soon create a healthy community of ladybirds who will keep on top of aphids all over your plot. It is also good to provide a home for ladybirds and lacewings in the winter. They are happy to hibernate in conifers, evergreen hedges and dense herbs but it is possible to make nest boxes from hollow stems for them as well. Just make sure you leave the stems in a nice dry place. Ladybirds will also make a home for themselves inside garden canes in the autumn so, if you haven't tidied them away by autumn, it's best to leave them until the following spring so that these amazing little creatures who have taken up residence don't get disturbed.

Best Newcomer

I like to keep myself on my toes on the allotment by having a go at growing new things each year. This year's newcomer is celery.

I planted the seeds in a heated propagator in February and finally the seedlings are nearly ready to go outside. Apparently they are really sensitive to any drops in temperature and will bolt if it gets to cold so that's why I've let it so long to move them into the big wide world.

I am growing a self blanching celery that means, unlike more traditional varieties, they do not need to be grown in trenches or be earthed up. I've got my fingers crossed that they transplant successfully because, if I manage to grow them, I'll be able to make my favourite Minestrone Soup with all home grown ingredients. Without proscuitto of course in our house of vegetarians!

Has anyone else tried growing celery? Any suggestions for success?