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Early Summer Roundup

by Bryan Smith

I'd like to begin with a thank-you to my son Richard and my wife Rosie, for all the help they have given me in setting up the bean frames and building my shed.

It is now almost a year since I took on the allotment and it is quite unrecognisable from where we started. Virtually the whole site is growing something, or will be in the next couple of weeks. For a comparison see the photos below - the best way to compare them is by using the dead tree at the back of both pictures as a point of reference.

The weather in May was very cold and wet. Plants suffer badly from the extremes of cold, wet and dry, so we may not see everything succeed this year. I have accepted that this first year will be about testing what grows best in the soil, and what doesn't, so that next year we will be able to concentrate on exactly what will grow well.

The main crop of broad beans is doing very well, with plenty of flowers. The second crop is rather slow, but I have put this down to the cold weather.

A sharp frost in the middle of May did just 'singe' the potatoes, but these have now recovered and appear to be doing very well. Heavy rain over the last couple of weeks has meant there has been a lot of top growth - hopefully the plants are all growing just as much beneath the ground.

I have protected the carrots with fleece barriers in an attempt to ward off carrot fly (see the photo on the right). These are progressing well, as are the parsnips and beetroot.

At the end of May I planted out cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, calabrese, runner beans and dwarf beans which I had grown in my greenhouse at home. These are taking time to get going, and I suspect they may have been affected by the cold winds and rain.

I also planted sweetcorn, which has been particularly difficult to germinate. I suspect this may be because the soil was too moist. Hopefully now the warmer weather has arrived they will start to make good progress.

The onions, shallots and garlic are all doing well, although some of the onions did seem to suffer a little from either the cold or wet. We now want to see them swelling out.

Courgettes and cucumbers have also been planted, and I am told that these generally do very well in the soil here.

Strawberry plants given to me by a fellow allotmenter are in flower, so they should produce some fruit. A friend has also given me some rhubarb, which is doing well but will not be ready for eating this year.

As we are trying to do everything organically I have to consider the problems of pests, so I have been doing some companion planting. Nasturtiums and Marigolds have been planted to help keep blackfly and greenfly at bay; and Sweet Peas will hopefully attract butterflies to help pollinate the runner bean flowers.

The worst challenge facing me is the weeds. These grow at a phenomenal rate and have to be constantly kept back, otherwise plants are soon 'strangled'. This is the job that is taking up most of my time now, to ensure that the plants succeed.

Photo 1 above shows the two types of frames I use on the allotment to protect tender plants and seedlings from pigeons and other birds. The frames in the middle of the picture are sturdily constructed from wooden batons and covered in chicken wire. Although offering good protection, I find they are heavy to move around, especially since most days I am down here alone.

Photo 2 shows the solution I found to this problem - lightweight frames made from bamboo canes around which I've moulded and bent chicken wire to fit. You can see in this photo how easy it is to access the plants for weeding purposes etc. by simply lifting the top sections apart. There's no right or wrong in the garden, I'm quite happy to learn by experience and use methods which suit me.

I have harvested some radishes which have been brilliant. If these are anything to go by then the rest of the crops should be good.

Finally, the shed has been erected, and I will be posting a separate article on this soon. It is a fairly simple shed, but I saved around £150 by constructing it myself.

Now all we need is for the warm weather to continue, to push things along, and hopefully we will harvest some good crops.

Happy growing!

Bryan