Over half way there on clearing plot 5b
An update on our progress on clearing plot 5b
Vegetable and flower seedlings April 23rd 2020
We take a look at the seedlings growing in the cold greenhouse at home.
Growing perennial vegetables
We are all familiar with growing fruit as perennials and most plots have rhubarb, fruit bushes and fruit trees. However, how many of us grow perennial vegetables? One common perennial vegetable grown on allotments is asparagus. This week my first asparagus spear poked through! (I planted an asparagus bed last spring).
Here are some examples of other vegetables that you can plant once and can supply your kitchen for years: Food for thought!
Inside the summerhouse
The summerhouse is a new addition to the plot which was completed over Winter 2019. We had a smaller summerhouse, but decided to take it apart to build a slightly bigger one. With help from a fellow allotmenteer we used recycled the existing summerhouse and with additional materials created this little beauty. Everything was recycled where possible including the furnishings inside.
Outside we still have a bit to finish on the roof and need to put cornerpieces on top of the cladding.Planting beans, peas & sweetcorn
This afternoon we have been sowing peas, beans and sweetcorn. Earlier in the year we were discussing how we were looking forward to increasing range of ‘beans for drying‘.
Here we have sown a mixture of french (dwarf & climbing) and runner beans. A few interesting varieties here so fingers crossed the yields will do well!
Weeds: Couch Grass
Couch grass Couch grass (also known as quick, quitch, cooch and witchgrass) is a very common perennial weed. This grass forms large seed heads which are a good source of food for many native birds, but within a flower garden or vegetable patch it can be very invasive.
Maintaining the edges of grass paths
Many allotment plots are surrounded by communal grass paths. You may or may not have responsibility for maintaining these, but you can make it much easier for yourself if you can keep on top of keeping neat edges. Grass (or weedy) paths will infill into your growing area producing competition. It is also quite a timely procedure trying to weed grass out from around your precious crops!
Different ways of edging grass paths. Flea beetles
Picture credit: W.S. Cranshaw, Colorado State University There are many species of flea beetle and not all of them are pests in the garden. However, some species of flea beetle like to attack brassicas (particularly radishes, turnip, swede and salad leaves like rocket). They are also partial to flowers such as wallflowers and stocks.
Greenhouse update: flowers & veg
Due to the coronavirus we are very restricted with time we can spend at the allotment so we are starting all our seedlings in the greenhouse at home. Our main job recently has been to start sowing veg seeds and to prick out all the annual bedding flowers.
Squash & Coconut Dhal
I have used red lentils to make this dhal, but you could easily use yellow split peas (chana dal). The squash could be replaced with carrots or swede. It’s quite a sweet dish!
