Organic Allotment

Not Totally Blighted

Despite the fact that we've been totally hammered by blight at my allotments this year we've still managed to end up with some very tasty potatoes. It's been quite reassuring to see that all the old hands have had the same problem, which means it probably isn't just something that I've been doing wrong! On the flip side of that, it's quite frustrating that I paid a premium for blight resistant potatoes that didn't seem to make a jot of difference.

As soon as the tell tale black spots reared their ugly head on the leaves I cut back all the foliage in an attempt to stop the blight spores getting down to the potatoes. This seems to have worked and the harvest has been more than reasonable, all things considered. The main problem that could arise would be if we intended to store the spuds because any lingering blight spores would cause them to rot but these taste far too good so ther'es no worry that they'll be hanging around that long.

Just Add Sun.

The tomatoes in the greenhouse are coming on a pace - I can hardly believe they're the same tiny little things that were planted in February. The cool weather has actually been of some benefit to them because it's meant their soil hasn't been drying out so no blossom end rot for now!

These San Marzano plum tomato plants are being pinched out and grown as cordons but we've also left a couple of plants to go wild to see if the difference in yield is significant enough to justify the different in manpower involved in their upkeep. There's still a long way to go but it's looking neck and neck at the moment. What we really need now is a bit of sun to start ripening the fruit and it shouldn't be too long before we're finally eating homegrown tomatoes again.

The View From The Shed...

...In one word - horrible. Tried to spend a bit of time on the allotment this weekend but the torrential rain kept stopping play. The weather's been a disaster for loads of my crops as well. I've had to pull the onions because they were showing signs of white rot, which is always more of a problem in wet and warm weather but on the other hand it isn't warm enough for the courgettes - I've only picked two which is pitiful bearing in mind that this time last year we were picking about thirty a day!

My squash plants look really unhappy as well - they're desperate for a bit of sun and some warmth which is a real disappointment because they're one of my favourite things to grow. And as for the sweetcorn - they're ready to be planted out but the chance of them doing anything in this weather is pretty much non existent.

Fingers crossed for some sun then...