Grand Allotment Tour

Recent reflection has reminded me why I started a blog. To keep a record!  I've discovered that I have got rather too precious about revealing the true state of play at the allotment.  So I'm going back to my roots. Welcome to the warts and all tour of my plot today:

The internal path divides the plot into a broad side and a narrow side.  The path has been lost under piles of weeds that have never dried out with all the rain we've had this summer, so I'm excavating it:

Internal Path

Starting at the shed end of the wide side (on the right in the picture above) the raspberries are just finishing and the strawberries have definitely finished but require their winter tidy up now.

Next along, the broad beans and onions have gone and I'm using the space for leeks, recently planted out. Spot the remains of a row of beetroot - (lack of planning!)

Leeks + Beetroot

Moving along the three wigwams are runner beans barlotti beans and purple French climbing beans. Sadly the last one ended up as a mixture of leftovers - not a good idea.  By the way I have two wigwams at home too (neither of which is a mixture).


3 sisters planting?


Next in line, the potato patch looks a bit shambolic now that the earlies have been dug up and the maincrop haulms are dying back, but I've resown the area dug up with all sorts of autumn and winter possibilities like lettuces, corn salad, radishes, sorrel, spinach beet.  It was going to be green manure but I figured on growing an edible green manure instead! Also the remaining potatoes under the ground should be good judging from the healthy tops they grew. This was in sharp conntrast to the earlies which hardly managed any tops to speak of this year!




Potato maincrop + new sowings



Just over the wire is a riot of dwarf French beans. As usual the pods have come on strong but are rather hidden away under the leaves.  Not to worry as most of these are Canadian Wonder which dries nicely to give a substantial mealy red kidney bean.



Dwarf French Beans

 Next up is the area I reached up to when digging in manure last winter when it had leeks growing in it. It is currently my fire/compost/utility area...


Ugggh

 Beyond that there are the remains of my bumper pea crop!

Peas plants

And at the end of the broad side there are the trusty rhubarb plants that have loved the weather,  and my Cambridge Favourite strawberries.

Rhubarb + New Strawberries

On the other (narrow) side of the path there are two areas: Carrots, under the  nets, and other roots (celeriac, beetroot, parsnip, turnip and artechoke)


Carrots and "other roots"

and last but not least: brassicas under their protective net (together with even more strawberries and some othe soft fruit bushes)




Brassicas



Hope you enjoyed the tour.

There is work to be done, but this year's food returns have been secured. It remains to be seen whether in the Committee's  view this to come up to the acceptable standard.

Potatoes for Damo

I'm a bit piqued because folk "down sowth" are getting delivery of their potatoes. Potato days are appearing like a rash in January. This is faaar to early to start chitting spuds. Here in Scotland - incidentally the potato breeding centre second only to Chile - the Edinburgh potato day is 20th February whereas the daddy of them all the BOGS (Borders Organic Gardeners Society) Potato Day is not until 6th March.

Setting my resentment aside, Damo has asked for some coloured potato recommendations and I just happen to be dusting off some of my older pics.

Top recommendation has to be Rooster.  It is becoming rather common - and I can see why. It's heavy cropping, large, apparently pest free, has excellent cooking qualities (particularly mash or baking) and flavour! We grew it two years ago and again last year and will do again this year. The only criticism I have read is that it is becoming "ubiquitous".

Here's a cause celebre: Shetland Black. Promoted for eating, like a lot 'speciality' spuds by Waitrose. The idea that you are keeping a Scottish Island crofting tradition going is beguiling.

The reality is a bit more mundane. Poor yield, some disease and peeled they look like this:

Very floury they retain some of their colour but disintegrate in the blink of an eye. (Children may not be very impressed.)

Here's a newer introduction. Sarpo Mira. Supposedly resistant to all known potatoe diseases. Taste not brilliant. Curiously they are long and flat! Deselected on taste grounds.

Now for blue potatoes go for early Edzell Blue (named after a town in NE Scotland)  Disintegrates in a split second. The story goes that boiling Edzells was how cooks were tested by prospective employers in days of old. (Not pictured because they look almost identical to) Arran Pilot (Arran another Scottish Island - spot the theme) is a maincrop that looks good and tastes good if you like a floury potato. A good standard.

I'll be growing Rooster this year but also something (anything I come across on potato day) new. I haven't grown Shetland Black again, but they are so photogenic I might!

If you want to read more about them try Rebsie's blog entries at  Daughter of the Soil

As ever, the rider is that different soil and conditions suit different varieties, and tastes differ. Keeping as wide a range as possible is good for us and good for the future.

Black and Blue

Well, actually more purple than blue. As the rain stopped today I decided to dig up some of the more interesting potatoes. They are Edzell Blue, Arran Victory and Shetland Black. They don't look so very exciting in the field:



But with a bit of a wash and a scrub up:




The Edzells and the Arran Victory are quite similar but I have yet to test their eating qualities. The Shetland Black were small and hard to find in the soil. The yield was disappointing, halfe a row giving up the same as two plants of the other varieties. Some had been attacked by eelworms. Again, I reserve judgement until I've eaten them. They have characteristic blue markings in the flesh (see below) but this is reported to have no effect on their taste.



Of course these vivid colours do not survive the cooking process, but I'm pretty excited about them all the same!

Bank Holiday Battle Stations

It's been two weeks since I last visited the plot, and at this time of the year, that's bad news. So It's battle stations...

...and here's the front line troops:



Three jobs to do today, mounding the potatoes, netting the brassica patch (in readiness for the army above) and ....weeding, weeding, weeding.

Here's some mounded potatoes:



















And here's the new netting in going up:




...and in place:



Phew, with the weeding that was a three hour stint, that's enough for one day.

Easter Sunday Update

Back to basics. Here's the same view as on my first post:



The difference is that the roots patch (to the right) has room for just 1 more row of potatoes. The 'Others' patch has been started in earnest, and there is chicken wire around the brassica patch (the brown posts in the distance) in readiness for planting out seedlings which have now been sown at home.

Here's a different view of the 'roots' zone with the brassica zone beyond it:


For the record the rows of potates (from furthest to nearest)are,

Sarpo Mira(Maincrop)
Sarpo Mira(M)
Rooster(M)
Rooster(M)
Robinta(M)
Robinta(M)
Kerr's Pink(M)
Shetland Black(?)
Arran Pilot(?)
Duke of York (Early)
Sharpe's Express(E)
Edzell Blue(E)
Ballydoon(E)