Organic Allotment

Cauliflower Challenge

I’ve never grown cauliflowers before so was really pleased to accept these cauli seedlings that I was given by my allotment neighbour, Brian. I’ve always heard that they’re quite tricky to grow but Brian assured me that they’re not so bad if you prepare the soil properly and make sure they’re not allowed to dry out if things get parched in the summer.

I should probably point out at this juncture that our neighbour is extremely good at growing everything he plants. He did have a couple of cucumber plants that died on him last summer, but only when I was looking after them for him when he was away on holiday. He’s one of the old hands at the allotments and has had real experience of growing most veg knowing when’s best to put things in and what grows well where. In fact he’s been a font of all knowledge since I took on the plot and I’ve now come to accept that if he hasn’t got his onions in yet or put out his runner beans I probably shouldn’t be doing either.

This isn’t to say that I just copy everything he does – I’m not an allotment stalker! It’s all organic on our plot and his isn’t. When I first moved on I suspect he thought some of my methods were frankly crazy but now that I’ve got a couple of years’ successful growing under my belt he does occasionally ask me questions about stuff I’m doing on the plot. The caulis will be a test though. Will ours turn out as well as Brian’s? I’ll keep you posted…

Playing Catch Up

With one thing and another I've got a little bit behind myself with planting this year. It does feel worse because Easter was so early but there's no doubt that normally I'm a lot further on at this time of year. Having said that, there's no real benefit in being too hasty about planting stuff. Last year I planted my tomatoes in February but they were never really happy and took weeks to get big enough to move on. This year they've only been in for a fortnight but they already look much stronger and healthier.

Judging by the forecast for snow this weekend it's not a bad thing that there isn't really anything in the ground on the plot. I did get some peas planted into a drain pipe this weekend in the greenhouse though which will be much happier to wait a couple of weeks until it's warmer before they go out into the big wide world. The world may be heating up but last year the last frosts were not until the end of May for us in Manchester so, despite the warm days, it's best to hold off a little before even thinking about getting any of the more tender plants in like courgettes or sweetcorn... Regardless of how strong the temptation may be to plant, plant, plant at the first sign of spring!