On the Allotment Front

Welcome to a second edition of 'on the allotment front'. It is a 'down to earth' account, where I take you on a trip around my allotment, describing what is going on, whether good or bad.

Firstly, writing this article is special to me. The reason is, the 18th of this month is the first birthday of 'Nigel's Gardening Hints and Tips'. I will have been writing for 'The Post' for 12 months on that date. May I just take this opportunity to thank all my readers, and especially 'The Post team' which has always done a splendid job in editing my articles.

Back to my plot: On Saturday, 27th September, I was down on site at approximately 9.30am. The air felt chilly, and an eerie feeling came over me. There was only me on site, and I watched a sudden mist sweep over which clouded up my spectacles. After about half an hour, the sun was shining, bringing a few extra people through the gates.

After the main routine of walking around the plot, checking what needs doing, and looking to see what was doing well or not, I walked up to my plastic greenhouse to open it up for the morning, and my heart flipped.

The re-inforced plastic cover had been slashed with a very sharp knife in three places. The cuts go straight down the right hand side to the bottom, the side that is facing down the plot. I carefully opened the zip-up cover to see what was missing or damaged inside. To my amazement, everything was there intact. After a couple of break-ins last year, I take all my tools home with me and just leave the bare essentials, e.g. netting, and fertiliser, in there.

Near lunch time, the site manager came round to give us all the rent renewal notices, which are due by the end of this month. I showed him the damage and he revealed that the Thursday before (on the 25th September), the metal hasp was snapped off the main iron gates which he discovered and repaired himself the following day.

My uncle has a plot which is five minutes away from mine, and after checking his, he phoned and told me that all of the wire netting had been torn off his vegetable cages and stolen. I suspect that this is a gang which was looking for anything which they could sell as scrap metal. Why they caused so much damage to my greenhouse is a mystery to me, perhaps they either couldn't be bothered to unzip the door or they couldn't find the door.

Anyway, I refuse to buy another cover as they are expensive and it could happen again. Instead, I am going to use special water-resistant tape to seal up the cuts.

If you have an allotment, here are a few tips to keep your possessions safe:

1. It is best to take your garden tools home with you each time. If, however, this is not possible, then either hide them in some undergrowth or under some of the material in your compost bin. If possible, use a bicycle chain to lock them to something secure.
2. It may be possible to build some sort of hidden chest by digging out the soil in a dormant part of the plot, then building it with wood or metal to stop the sides from falling in. Make a wooden top, and then hide it by sweeping dirt or even leaves over it. Going to this much trouble may sound like a big job, but it is worth it in the long run.
3. If you have a shed, then I would recommend buying a contact alarm. These are fairly cheap, and work by contact when opening the door. It includes a small control box inside the shed, which is turned on by the key. If somebody breaks in, then the contacts trigger a loud siren sound in the box outside. I would advise you to hide all wires, as it has been known for thieves to rip them out of the main control box.
   
   Also, I recommended that you either block the window(s) up with wood, or fix wire mesh inside. Talking about sheds suddenly reminds me of this ludicrous article I read about the other day. The allotments are a long way from me, in the Bristol area, but it is interesting.

On to the vegetable patch - My two courgette plants are nearing the end. I have grown the same variety as last year, which is called 'Zucchini'; it is a very heavy cropper. As the weather is changing, they have developed a fungal problem on the leaves which usually indicates the season is coming to an end. I have had an excellent crop again this year, and many of them have been given to friends, being exchanged for a homemade chocolate cake or two!

My swedes have also done exceptionally well. It is the first year that I have grown them, and as I didn't have a clue which variety to go for, I was virtually growing them blind. The variety I chose is one called 'Marion', I liked it for the 'disease resistant' tag on the front of the seed packet. I started them off in June, in seed trays outside; they grew like crazy! Towards the end of June, I planted them out into the plot. At first, they looked weak and vulnerable to slugs and snails, but they soon grew and flourished.

I took a friend's advice, and never thinned the seedlings to one per plant when I planted them out, but left two per plant. This is great, having two for the price of one, but it has drawbacks. The two swedes grow into each other which means they are difficult to separate, and two have to be used at the same time because of damage to the skins when separating. I did try a few separate seedlings, which resulted in a massive swede in the soil – excellent. Swedes are not supposed to be ready before November/December time, but mine are ready now and are very delicious. I am hoping that they will last until Christmas.

As slugs and snails are the number one worst pest in the UK (United Kingdom), according to the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society), various precautions have to be taken so that all the vegetables do not get eaten within hours of planting them. I personally scatter organic slug-pellets around the plot each week, which is currently keeping them at bay. The surface slugs are fairly easy to spot, but the underground ones do the most damage to root vegetables such as swede, carrots, parsnips, and even potatoes.

If your root vegetables are being attacked, then a little tip is to scatter a few organic slug pellets into the hole before planting. This will help for a while, and hopefully deter them a little.

My leeks are now finally doing well, but these will not be ready until early next year.

For 2009, plans for my allotment are already in progress. I am getting the bottom half of my plot cleared of weeds and rubbish, which is revealing some nice soil. This will be used as my leek bed next season, enabling the top of my plot to be used for potatoes etc. Everything will be planted in different positions to give the ground a rest from the same vegetable.

That is all the gossip on the allotment front for this time. However, sit back and enjoy my star tips of the week:

1. Did you know that eating strawberries cleans your teeth and removes plaque leaving your mouth fresh and healthy? It is true, and so they are definitely worth growing. They can be grown in pots and containers, even hanging basket varieties are now available! Make sure you cover them with netting as wildlife will gobble them up.
2. Peach trees are unfortunately prone to a condition called 'peach leaf curl'. This is where the leaves curl and drop off, usually starting with a red blister on the tops of the leaves. However, planting garlic around the base will help stop this condition taking hold.
3. When growing runner beans, it is always ideal to grow sweet peas either up the same support, or immediately next to them. This is so that pollinating insects such as bees will become attracted to the sweet peas, and then go on to the runner beans for essential pollination.
4. Tomato plants are prone to aphid attack, especially whitefly and greenfly. However, if you plant African marigolds next to them, it will deter the insects because of the bright colour of the marigold flowers and also the smell.
5. The best way of storing root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, or swedes, is to basically leave them in the ground! As long as the ground isn't prone to water-logging, and that you do not require some when the ground is frozen, then they will be fine. It is always best to lay straw on top of the ground for added winter protection. Potatoes, however, must always be dug up and stored in hessian sacks, in a cool dry area i.e. a shed or garage. Check them once a week, and remove any that are looking mouldy or black.
6. Isn't it annoying when you are walking around with pink hands for days after cutting beetroot or red cabbage? Well, fear no more! By rubbing your hands afterwards with a raw potato, this will take the colouring away and return the natural colour to your hands.
7. There is no need to cry when chopping onions! Simply place the onions into the fridge for a few hours before use, and this will take away the tears. It will not affect the taste, if you like your onions strong.
8. You pick a lettuce from the allotment, but by the time you get home it is limp and lifeless (I know the feeling). Simply place it in a bowl with a piece of rinsed coal. After about 10 minutes, it should have regained its true shape and vigour.
9. Have you ever been to put some rubbish in your bin and are knocked back by the pungent smell? Try adding a few fresh herb leaves each time you put rubbish in. It will leave your bin smelling rosy and fresh.
10. You go to get some money out of your drawer, and notice that some of it has been chewed by moths! If it is definitely moths, then you have two choices: either spend it quickly, or place conkers or bay leaves in there. Also, you can use conkers or bay leaves in wardrobes or cupboards which will deter these damaging creatures.

I hope that these useful trade secrets will help, and that you will be brave enough to give them a go.

That's all from me. I apologise if you were expecting a copper article. I will write one in the future, when I have finished conducting my copper experiments. For the time being, here are some useful links for the use of copper in your garden:

Also, copper tape is now widely used in deterring slugs and snails, as it gives them an electric shock when they slither onto it. See the section called 'copper' in this article on wildlife gardening.

Happy Gardening.

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