On The Plot

The Bank Holiday weekend has seen many people turn to their allotments in an attempt to catch up or get ahead. I was no different and I thought I would use the time do exactly that.

I had brought on all my plants in the greenhouse before hand, so it was just a case now of planting some of them out, now they were strong enough

Before planting anything out, I had to turn my ground over to turn any remaining manure back into the ground and mix with the soil. This was back breaking and I found myself doing it in stages.

First to go out were my broad beans. I have planted then out 9" apart, in two rows also 9" apart.

Then I planted out my onions into the pollytunnel. These onions were Vento, a globe shaped onions. I am also growing some Toughball which is a more rounded type.

I have supported the onions with small canes and clips in an attempt to keep the necks straight, which will help prevent Botrytis.

Last year I planted through a polythene sheet which was black on the underside and white on the topside. This is aimed to hold the moisture. I chose not to this year as these onions I only plan to be for eating and not showing, also I found the conditions attracted swarms of red ants, which were as detrimental to the onions as not using it and killed a few off.

Finally, I sowed some stump carrots. I had previously made a couple of raised beds. One was filled with manure and covered with compost and soil, the other was filled with sand as per my raised beds at home for showing. I cored out 50 holes, filled with a compost mix and sowed 4 seeds per station. I put some collars on to protect the young seedlings once they come through, from the direct winds they will face. I then covered with polythene to help keep warm and aid the germination process.

I hope to use the remainder of the bed to to a similar method for some beetroot.