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The planning stage ...

As I said last time, apart from growing organically I also plan to follow proper crop rotation to help to keep disease at bay. I decided to split the allotment into four large beds, and have now completed a draft planting plan for this (see below).

My first priority when considering what vegetables to grow was to choose the ones we particularly like, and then see if they will grow in the soil.

I feel that the potatoes may be a problem because of the wetness of the soil, and other allotment holders have had mixed results.

Plot 1 will contain broad beans, runner beans and french beans. These are a must for us, so this will probably be a largish plot.

Plot 2 will contain brassicas, swede and radishes. I think the brassicas will end up being cabbage, cauliflower, sprouts and broccoli.

Plot 3 will contain onions, shallots, leeks and sweet corn. Onions are another essential for us, so this too will probably end up being quite a large plot. Sweet corn appears to do very well on the allotments.

Plot 4 will contain potatoes, parsnips, beetroot, carrot and some more onions. The reason for planting onions in this bed is to help deter the carrot fly.

I appreciate that there should also be a bed for permanent plants, but as we are only likely to want rhubarb, this will probably just take up a corner of one of the other plots.

The beds will have to be raised as much as possible to help with drainage, and I hope to do this work over the coming winter months.

Although my first impressions of growth are very good, some of the beds will need good organic material dug in, and I am currently shifting organic compost from both mine and my daughter's gardens.

Having sorted out the beds and what is going in them, I then turned my attention to a planting programme.

I came across a book called 'Planting by the Moon' by Nick Kollerstrom, and this has interested me greatly.

The book gives good explanations as to why it is important to plant by the moon, and also includes a diary to help you work out which seeds to plant when and also when to transplant.

This is bio-dynamic gardening and I am looking forward to giving it a try.

My initial schedule for planting was soon revised to bring it in line with the scope of planting by the moon. Clearly there will be times when it will be too inconvenient to stick rigidly to the planting programme, but I will try to follow it as closely as possible - as long as I don't get locked up for planting by torchlight!

A lot of research has been carried out into companion planting to ward off pests, and some of this is fairly simple to follow:

• I will grow sweet peas between the runner beans to help pollinate the runner bean flowers.
• marigolds and nasturtiums should help to ward off black fly and white fly. The nasturtiums should also give cabbage white butterflies somewhere to lay their eggs.
• onions planted near carrots should deter carrot fly.
• an old fashioned remedy of leaving garlic in water for 2 days, and then watering it around carrots, cabbages etc keeps many pests at bay

There are many other natural pest control measures, and I hope to cover these in future instalments.

Obviously, I would like to avoid 'gluts' of vegetables, unless they can be frozen, so I will be using my best efforts to crop effectively so we can keep the vegetables going throughout the year.

So now to the exciting part: ordering the seeds, onion sets etc. No doubt I will be overwhelmed by plants, but the excess can be shared with others, and I'm sure they will also offer me theirs. Some of the other allotment holders have already been of great help, and I am indebted to that.

See you next month.

Bryan

 

Posted 14th November 2005