Plot holders contributions

One of the questions facing all gardeners, and particularly new ones, is the spacing of crops. Too close and your crops don’t have space to reach a good size or to produce a good yield; too far apart and you are wasting ground.Most seed packets and gardening books will give instructions about spacing and it is probably worth keeping a note-book/diary with planting dates and spacings to refer to later.

With potatoes my Dad always put his rows the length of a spade handle apart. One year when I had early blight, Peter Parr suggested that I had planted my potatoes too close. However, early potatoes can be planted closer in the row than main crop.

With carrots, sow the seeds thinly. This year I must have had nearly 100% germination and as I don’t thin carrots I have got a massive crop of mini carrots.

With beetroots, harvest the larger ones first to give the smaller ones room to grow on. However with carrots, thinning can attract carrot root fly.

Find out what works best for you!

Happy Christmas to you all and happy planting in 2010!

Andrew Hawkins, Chairman

We are all aware of the publicity given to Global Warming, but have we thought about how it might affect our allotment gardening? I find more and more that planting early is beneficial. Last year the onion sets planted early did much better than those planted later. Likewise early sown carrots didn’t suffer with carrot fly.For the past few years I have been sowing peas and broad beans in February with success. I’m even coming round to planting my seed potatoes earlier. As Good Friday is really early this year, let it act as an incentive to get cracking with your allotment gardening. Good luck and pray that we don’t get a late frost in May!

Good gardening!Andrew Hawkins, Chairman

At the Gardeners’ Question Time the topic of successional planting was raised.Successional planting should enable you to harvest particular crops over a longer time scale.

This idea links in well with Lunar Gardening. The basic idea here is that seeds are planted in the two weeks after a new moon, that is during a waxing moon. Plants are planted out after a full moon, that is a waning moon. This produces a successional scheme without too much trouble.

I have followed this system more or less over the past few years and have been pleased with the results. I seem to have been particularly successful with carrots, planting a packet of seeds every 4 weeks, 3 or 4 times during the spring and summer. Yes, all our family like carrots!

Another thought: it is generally considered that planting seed potatoes should be done on Good Friday, a date which changes each year. But did you know that Easter is set according to the moon?

Good gardening!Andrew Hawkins, Chairman

Another useful tool for the allotment gardener is the trowel.I use one particularly for planting out cabbages. Using a line I dig holes at suitable distances apart. Then I fill these holes with water and when it has soaked in move the damp soil enough to enable successful planting.

It also helps when planting runner bean seeds or onion sets, if the ground is hard.

The trowel is also useful for delicate weeding. You can lever out weeds like dandelions when they are close to your crop plants without disturbing their roots.

Try to keep your trowel clean and sharp for effective use.

Good gardening!

Andrew Hawkins, Chairman

Perhaps the most useful tool for the allotment is the hoe.Regular use of the hoe will keep your allotment weed free.

Yes, it really can! An elderly allotment holder gave me the tip to use the hoe before your can see the weeds and this was good advice.

Weeds are in competition with your crops for water and nutrients from the soil so get rid of them.

The hoe also helps keep your ground moist by moving the surface of the soil and destroying cracks which cause it to dry out.

Finally, the hoe plays a vital role in planting out seeds. Simply use it to draw out a drill along your string marker, sew your seeds and cover them with soil with your rake.

Good gardening!

Andrew Hawkins, Chairman