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Allotmenting for Beginners.
“The what, when and how.”
Summer
- Care for your allotment.
- What else to plant – Sow.
- Care of tender plants
Introduced and run by Gordon Powell, Plot 20
Welcome to everyone.
Today it’s all about:-
The summer months.
May/ June/ July and August.
Things are selling down now with a lot of plants a seeds sown. However, there are more plants / seeds to set and sow. It never seems to end.
Also think about what you may have meant to sow but forgot, there is usually enough time.
It’s a time though when we can start to enjoy the warmth of the sun and those balmy evenings when we can stop and take a look at the potential of the crops growing and start reap the rewards of our labours as various crops start to mature.
There is nothing nicer than say, picking a fresh lettuce and some radishes and eating them straight away
Care for your allotment.
What do we mean by caring for our allotments throughout the summer. There are still plenty of jobs to do, but perhaps a little more time to do them in. To me its also a time to maximise the potential of what you have plants, so how do we do this?
The main jobs for me are :-
- Thinning things like beetroot, Carrots etc. Make certain you thin out so there is room for the crop to grow think about what size the crop will grow too. Take away all thinning’s and don’t leave them on the ground as this will only attract pests. (put them on your compost heap) This is particularly true of Carrots, as the carrot root fly is attracted be the smell. Another tip is to do it on a dull cold day, or in the evening when the pesky flies are not about. Water freshly thinned plants to settle them down again.
- Weeding. Not only are your plants wanting to grow quickly so are the Weeds, take time out to use one of the most useful tools you can have , a Hoe. Keeping the weeds down will not only remove any competition for moisture, light and nutrients but at will allow your plants to grow stronger. When hoeing be careful as hoes are usually sharp and I have lost many a plant or seedling to the hoe. I usually walk backwards down the row so that I don’t tread on the freshly hoed soil. Don’t put your foot on the rows of seedlings.
- Earthing up potatoes, we need to do this to encourage the roots that the potatoes grow from. To reduce the occurrence of green potatoes when we harvest them. (remember that the green on potatoes can be poisonous and will upset your stomach) Earthing up also protects those tender shoots which can get frosted very easily, usually they will grow again, but your crop will be reduced.
- Watering. If it turns dry then you need to think about watering some of your plants, things you have recently planted out or shallow rooted vegetables such as Onions. Give them a good watering every so often and not just a sprinkle.
- Feeding. Some crops will also benefit from an extra feed during the growing season, hoe any fertilizer in, or use a foliar feed such as Phostrogen or a foliar feed liquid. Don’t continue using after say Mid -August as some plants need to be grown a bit tougher to mature and be ready to survive the colder weather.
- Pick crops. Pick your crops when they are young and tender, there is nothing like fresh peas straight out of the pod.
What else to plant – Sow.
As we move even further into late spring early summer it’s time to think about sowing / planting those more tender things.
Thing like tomatoes / Beans both French and kidney / courgettes / marrows / squashes/ cucumbers etc. They can be sown directly in the ground or these grown at home, or even purchased from the Nursery.
We can also make successional sowings of most things up until late June/July.
If you grow winter vegetables like leek / Cauliflowers / Brussels Sprouts etc. or whatever you like.
Care of tender plants
All of those plants I have mentioned are tender. Before planting these out we need to be what’s called hardened off, this means getting them used to being outside. We do this by gradually putting them outside taking them in over night and then leaving them out overnight on a warm night, do this for a week to ten days and they should be ready for planting outside. Another thing you could do is cover them outside with fleece or cloches.
Remember above all enjoy these months, the weather - the fresh warm air– eating those fresh new vegetables and the company on the allotment and try to relax it will be good for you.
Want to ask Gordon a question?
Leave a comment and he will get back to you.
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