In My Seed Box For 2021 - Index

To find the information for a particular variety of vegetable being grown for 2021 use the index below as it's gradually completed over the next few months. Due to Covid-19 not many seeds packs actually got used in 2020, so basically my seed holding is increasing and some of the use by, and best before dates are expiring. 

However with an additional eight beds in place and three square foot gardening beds to be created for next season I'm planning for a much more productive 2021. 

If in a 2nd or 3rd wave of Covid-19, this time I will still visit the allotment if nothing else than for my mental health. Being in isolation shielding my wife and not working for 5 months was not good for my mental wellbeing in the first wave, and I really don't think I can do that again.  

Vegetables

Aubergine  Beans  Beetroot  Broccoli  Cabbage & Spring Greens  Carrots  Cauliflower Celery  Chard  Courgette Cucumber  Gherkin  Green Manure  Herbs  Kale  Leeks  Lettuce  Luffa  Marrow  Okra  Onion  Onion Sets  Pak Choi  Parsnips  Peppers  Potatoes  Radish  Rhubarb  Salsify  Spinach  Spring Onions  Sprouts  Squash  Swede  Sweetcorn  Tomatoes  Turnips  Water Melon.

Flowers 

To read about my New Seed Storage Method 

Old Seed Storage Method 

Slug Pellet Ban the Sequel

In July 2019 A High Court order overturned the decision to ban metaldehyde slug pellet products, with immediate effect. So many companies had sold off their stock and holding of these pellets and many allotment holders had stocked up on the pellets being sold off cheap.

Now it looks like the sequel has arrived, question is will it get overturned once more? 

The Need to Grow

Our global food system is broken. In fact, the UN estimates we have fewer than 60 years of farmable soil left on Earth. And many of us are concerned that governments, pesticide manufacturers and “Big Ag” want to control what we eat. However, there ARE solutions.⠀

And our movie “The Need to GROW” documents disruptive (and hopeful!) new technology that threatens to shift the balance of power AWAY from the global food companies…And into the hands of the people.⠀

⠀

If you’re passionate about healthy food and creating a brighter future for our planet, please Watch This Film (for FREE) right away:

⠀

Many deep-rooted corporate interest groups want this technology to quietly disappear.⠀

⠀

We can’t let that happen. We WON’T let it happen. Which is why we're sharing our movie for free at:⠀

⠀

The film is engaging, informative, and compelling without being preachy. The more people who watch this movie (and learn about these solutions)... The more chance we have of leaving our children and grandchildren a green, healthy, thriving planet.

⠀

The film is engaging, informative and compelling without being preachy.⠀It will give you hope, and inspire you to participate in the restoration of the Earth. Join us in making a difference.⠀

Watch the Movie, learn about the solutions, and help spread the word.

Long Cropping Raspberry Collection - D.T.Brown

No plot visit today as rain has stopped play, but during my last visit I marked out the area behind the middle row of beds and established that I will be able to get four narrow 600mm wide fruit beds in what remains of plot 1 as shown above. 

The three 1.2m beds to the right will be for Square Foot Gardening. 

I've been looking trough the Catalogues and have decided on the Long Cropping Raspberry Collection by D.T. Brown. A great value raspberry cane collection, containing 6 canes each of the following three varieties:

Malling Juno (early) - Tasting the first raspberries of the season is always a treat and Malling Juno is one of the best on the market. The medium to large berries have a firm texture and a deliciously sweet flavour - just perfect for eating fresh. The spine-free canes are leafy, easy to handle and prune and, the fruits are well presented, so picking is easy too! Cropping from early to late June (even earlier if grown under cover), plants are known to have excellent disease resistance as well. Bred by East Malling Research.

Tulameen Pearl (mid) - Tulameen Pearl is far superior to the popular Tulameen which D.T Brown have sold in the past. They think this vigorous new strain is a real find and you are sure to agree it’s a winner. It has a high yield with berries which are larger and brighter and the fruit is firmer so keeps better once picked, though we doubt these fruits will last long in any household with a taste like this! 

Polka (late) - A multi-award winner at the National Fruit Show, Polka has exceptional fruit quality and the large, medium red berries are full of fragrant zesty flavour. Bred in Poland with Autumn Bliss as one of its parents, the virtually spine-free raspberry canes will yield double the crop of Autumn Bliss and Polka crops up to 2 weeks earlier, from late July to October. Polka even grows well on less desirable soils. 

D.T Browns specially selected canes are propagated from disease-free certified stock, and the web site informs that they will have well developed root systems when received, so they will establish well and give excellent yield.

Floricane varieties fruit on canes produced in the previous year while Primocane varieties produce fruits on current season growth.

The first-year canes are called primocanes, and these canes, after a dormant or rest period, bloom and fruit the following year. These second-year canes are known as floricanes.

• Sowing & Harvesting

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Sow Indoors

 

Sow / Plant Outdoors

 

Flowers / Harvest

 

I'm so looking forward to getting the infrastructure in for these Raspberries, and having a harvest from June to the end of October. My wife and eldest daughter loves them and finally I should be able to supply both of them with ample fruits for a five month period. 

With the beds being 2.4m long and six canes I will place the first and last cane 200mm from the ends and have 400mm between the rest.  

I have room for 4 beds and I'm having a little difficulty deciding what to put in the last bed. Blueberries or yellow or gold Raspberries? any suggestions or recommendations?

   

Planning and Reviewing October in Previous Years

Reviewing the diary over the last eight years for October 

2012 - 19th October I took my first allotment on at Mill Green Plot 1, and got my key to the gate. I started this blog and recorded the state of the allotment before I touched it and then the progress made on the first day trying the clear the plot.

The purpose of the blog was to record my progress and perhaps get some feedback and comments on what I was doing right and wrong and to remind me how much I had actually achieved when I really didn't really feel like I was getting anywhere or moving as fast as I wished. This blog has grown into so much more than my original scope and reason for starting. 

I purchased my first three Allotment books, of many that were to follow, and got my first packs of seeds with two of the books I bought.   

2013 - By the end of September and the start of October this year I had eight beds in place and was still clearing weeds and putting in an infrastructure of paths and beds in place. I created a portable chicken wire hoop frame to stop the site foxes from digging up the beds as I was creating them. 

I had manged to source a number of paving slabs off freecycle. The first formal plan of how the plot was going to ultimately going to be laid out was drawn, and as I worked nearby most dry lunch hours were spent on the plot doing little and often.

I harvested Cabbages and Cauliflowers, Tomatoes and Potatoes and I had real peppers growing in the blow-away greenhouse erected next to the shed and on the 9th of October the company I was working for informed me that my job was at risk and I was on the Redundancy list!.

The end of October was very wet and I recall being very frustrated  that I would not be able to get on with building the infrastructure.  

2014 - September this year had been the driest on record, and I started October by harvesting Marrows for the first time, other harvests included courgettes, Onions, Spring Onions, Carrots, cucumbers then on the 4th & 5th October and we had the first frosts. Continued to harvest runner beans, beetroots and peppers from the greenhouse. Picking up leaves from the pavements and at the end of the month picking Brussel Sprouts and I came up with a neew design for the slug traps.    

2015 - Due to the developments around Mill Green I had taken on an additional plot on Spencer Road Allotment and was working on clearance and infrastructure as well as working on Mill Green Allotment during the start of the month because of the dry and mild weather.  Tomato plants still growing in the greenhouse, Cabbage seeds in modules. 

Keith dropped off loads of Strawberry runners, Cutting down Mustard green manure on plot 1A. Clearing 23B and marking the boundary and the first two beds weeded and installed.    

Harvesting carrots and beetroots and planting cabbage.

2016 - Saving Tomato seeds, Infrastructure works progressing on Spencer Road plot 23B. cutting weed membrane for paths, beds and planting membrane sheets. All the tomatoes in flower buckets in the back garden removed, Green tomatoes in the Space Saver waiting to go red. harvesting King Edward spuds, first frost 8th October and lost some squash to it. Rest of the squash harvested and stored in the shed. Runner Beans cut off at the bottom so those left on the plant can die and dry out and be harvested for seeds. 

Additional beds created at Spencer Road, Break-in's and damage by vandals every other night for a week. then rain stopped their and our play on site. Following a committee meeting we tried to get everyone's email address and set up a Spencer Road Facebook group so we can let people know when we see shed doors open or polytunnels burnt.

Over wintering onion sets in modules, Horse muck delivered  and barrowed to the plot laid on beds and in Daleks to rot down more as too fresh.          

2017 -  I started doing my seed storage box audit and producing lists here on the blog. During the first week of October Redrow finally did the work to create the drop off and pick up area that I managed to negotiate with them. I had made the decision that I was going to keep on Spencer Road long enough to get everything I needed for plot 1 on Mill Green moved over including the Dalek, Shed and bed frames etc. 

My son-In-law helped me remove items from Spencer Road and bring them to Mill Green. 

Clearing beds on Mill Green Plot 1 and putting them to bed. Gross miss management of allotment plots 138 plots that could have been occupied and bringing in revenue.  

I worked out how much weed membrane I was going to need to cover the plot and ordered it off ebay. 

Pumpkins for carving were picked up from Spencer Road and the kerb stones I had transported over were laid on flat along the bottom of plot I defining the boundary. The 29th October was a full day of clearing and burning debris from Mill Green plot 1 

The plan layout for my new kingdom was drafted out in CAD based on the vision I had in my head at the time of taking over the plot.  

2018 -  Not a lot on the allotment front actually happened in October 2018. Three weeks of rain and my brother-in-law Keith who was more like a brother to me was seriously ill and we didn't know it at the time but terminally ill, in hospital during this month so days spent visiting him rather than the allotment. 

2019 -  Woodchips for the paths dropped off, Daughters Wedding stopped allotment play followed by bad and wet weather meant that sorting out seeds and planning next year took place for a week and a half during the middle of the month.  

124 people out of the 429 people on the waiting list that a plot is just waiting for you to view and accept.

In terms of lost revenue as the vacant list are no longer shared I can be exact with figures as in previous years, but assuming the plots are a mix of 250m2 and 125m2 at one end and possibly 250m2 at the other the council is losing revenue of between £9,176 - £11,594 pa which would pay for an admin clerk.

Taking little man Finn down to the allotment to harvest Pumpkins for carving for Halloween Harvesting Mini White Cucumbers & Kiwano's 

2020 - October is normally the month for last harvesting and overwintering plus bonfires to clear the blighted foliage and if the weather holds infrastructure works and closing down beds for the Winter months.  

Below is the to do list in no particular order and catching up with what actually happened in September and what has slipped. The plan is now to get a few late crops in and to work on getting the plot ready for next season. 

Coronavirus UPDATE

Early into March I ended up self isolating because my wife is very high risk and from the looks we were in isolation for a lot longer than the 12 weeks.  My first visit to the plot was on July 21st Fathers Day.

My daughter and son in law kept a lot of the weeds at bay, but the bind weed beat them and now I'm in allotment rescue mode as well as putting in some new infrastructure and removing some so that remedial works can happen to a boundary wall. 

The second wave is coming, and this time I will be taking the opportunity of exercising on the allotment to get everything ready for next years growing season.  

To Do List  

Below is the to do list in no particular order of what needs to be done and what has slipped 

Mill Green - Plot 1A

• Clear Bed 2 of Cabbages and cover - TBD
• Progress on the wall rebuild behind Shed - Contractor Finally after much drum banging and chasing the Councils Contractor is due to carefully deconstruct the wall and replace it with a timber fence.
• Remove and dispose of Corex on the roof - TBD once wall has been rebuilt
• Re felt the roof of the shed - Additional Temporary covering made at the end of September to keep watertight until the roof can be replaced following the remedial works to the wall and site boundary.
• Fix the potting Bench - TBD after the bindweed is removed. 
• Clear the Wasp Nest in greenhouse 1A - To Be Done Hopefully during October
• Rhubarb Bed to be created - I have now cleared the weeds in the bed and covered in cardboard in current location and will move the Rhubarb when I expose it again on plot 1, or perhaps buy some new.
• Tidy Up the Allotment  - Ongoing 
• Weeding - Ongoing   
• Butternut Squash - Harvest and store this month before first frost   .

Mill Green - Plot 1

• As much infrastructure works as the weather will allow - Raised Beds, Paths etc.
• Baking Potato Squash - Harvest and store this month before first frost   
• Plant Butternut Squash - Harvest and store this month before first frost.
• Clear the weeds and install a 600mm margin around the perimeter of the plot - Ongoing
• Install the kerb edging along the bottom of Plot 1 - TBD
• Trench for hose from corner of plot 1 to the tap and water butt - TBD
• Prep the next Dalek area  - TBD
• Empty Last years Apple Dalek and relocate to Dalek Army 2  - TBD
• Cut and paint timber for the Square Foot Gardening raised beds - When dry and able  
• Cut and paint timber for the Raspberries raised beds - When dry and able  
• Beds and Paths -  Dig and weed the remaining square foot gardening beds and fruit beds. 
• Erect the greenhouse - New Timbers have been cut and treated   
• Tidy Up the Allotment - Ongoing over the Autumn/ Winter to be completed by March 2021
• Stockpile Timber ready for burning  - Now covered to keep dry until Nov. 

Home 

• Planning - Ongoing
• Catalogue Seeds - Vegetables for 2021 
• Cut Path Weed Membrane -  Ongoing when dry   
• Cut Bed Weed Membrane - Ongoing when dry
• Cut Planting Membrane - Make some narrow bed tomato planting sheets

Reminders

• None at the moment.- Add when remembered.

Batten Down The Hatches Troops.

Two sever weather warnings from the met Office for my area received today

New Seed Varieties from Mr Fothergill's for 2021

Part of my order of New! Seed Varieties from Mr Fothergill's for 2021 and just New To Me! varieties that arrived on the 30th September, there are a few packs to follow from the 9th October.

The seed packs along the top of the photo appear to be temporary seed packs because the seed are so new they have not got their final tailored jackets just yet. 

So top row from left to right we have;

New! Sweetcorn Picasso 

New! Parsnip Picador F1

New! Aubergine Green Knight F1

New! Tomato (Cherry) Honeycomb F1 

New! Broccoli (Sprouting) Purple Rain F1

New! Squash (Winter) Mashed Potato 

New To Me! Cucumber (Gherkin) Cornichon de Paris 

New! Coriander Lemon (FREE SEED) - No web page set up yet. 

New! (annual) Blue Derim Salvia horminum (FREE SEED) - No web page set up yet.

Bottom Row from Left to right we have; 

New To Me! Green Manure - Autumn Winter Mix 

New! Brussels Sprouts Igor F1 

New To Me! Tomato Principe Borghese

New! Beetroot Kornett

New! Mint (Applemint)

New To Me! Vailan (Winter Gem)

New To Me! Tomato Gold Nugget  

A little bit about why each one ended up on my order form, and my to grow list for 2021 

New! Sweetcorn Picasso - Its a New Variety to Mr Fothergill's and I'm up for trying out new varieties, I have some from this year to trial, however with the extra half plot I can keep them far enough away from each other so that cross pollination should not be a problem, plus I will have twice as many as they go way to fast in our family, and if I'm not lucky the local squirrel find out they a ripe before me and eats some.  

New! Parsnip Picador F1 - This parsnip has a nice shape to it the web site says clean and high yielding as you only get one parsnip per seed I assume they mean good germination rates. According to the web site write up it is resistant to canker which is always good and it has an excellent flavour. It was a winner of an RHS Award of Garden Merit, so it has to be worth a go.

New! Aubergine Green Knight F1 - Now I have to admit I have not grown Auberine before , I have some of the more traditional black varieties to grow next year but this slender, smooth jade green variety just looked so interesting. The web site says the flesh is dense and holds together well when cooked. Now I have not only not grown before but I have not knowingly eaten them either, however I have an Asian friend who makes chutney for charity and I promised him I would have a bash in 2021 and he can have the produce as long as he cooks me something to try, or I get some of his chutney. I have a solar tunnel to play with in 2021 and after reading about them I'm thinking Aubergine's will like it in there.    

New! Tomato (Cherry) Honeycomb F1 - Now anyone who knows me or reads manvslug knows that I grow a lot of tomatoes usually in excess of 22 varieties in the back garden and some additional varieties on the allotment, under cover and out in the open. I have a huge tomato seed bank of heritage varieties and have been in a lot of seed circles. However I'm not against growing Fi varieties and as I have been turned from the dark or should I say red side of the force, I was interested in trying some orange and yellow varieties this year. 

Honeycomb fits the bill on account it's a cherry, it's a "Sungold" type producing lots of delicious, firm and juicy cherry tomatoes. The wife and I consume for cherry tomatoes daily all year with our lunch. It can be grown outdoors as well as indoors. The web site states that this vigorous vining plant has been bred with a resistance to splitting which is always annoying when it happens. 

New! Broccoli (Sprouting) Purple Rain F1 - Normally I grow the more traditional varieties of Broccoli and we love to have it with a Sunday or any other day roast dinner. I don't normally have problems growing broccoli, I do however sometimes have trouble catching it at the right time to harvest, especially being a carer and not being able to get down the the allotment as frequently as I would like. 

According to the web site this variety is "extremely productive, it will continue to produce fresh young, deeply coloured spears for weeks on end which taste tender. Plants have good heat tolerance and are slow to bolt", which if 2021 is anything like the last couple of years will be useful. 

New! Squash (Winter) Mashed Potato - Now I'm growing Thompson & Morgans Winter Squash Mashed and Baked Potato varieties and I have no idea if what is new to Mr Fothergill's this year is what was new for T&M Last year. It's curious if it is that Mr F's is not selling the baked potato variety!

So why grow in 2021, well as the web site page for this Squash says "Grow Something Different" I love that it can be mashed just like potato but with a fraction of the calories as I'm stout, type 2 diabetic and need to loose weight and eat more healthy. It appears it produces 5 - 6 fruits per plant like the T&M one and I want to see how similar it is or isn't to what I'm growing this year and about to harvest and try.     

New To Me! Cucumber (Gherkin) Cornichon de Paris - Not a new variety to Mr Fothergill's but a new one to me. I have great results growing cucumbers and I know Gherkins are just another cucumber but one that is good for the pickling jar, however my results in the past have been dismal and I'm looking for a variety of Gherkin that I can have some success with. 

I don't actually like Gherkins, but there again it's not all about me! My Sister loves them and I would like to grow, pickle and provide her with something that has been grown and pickled especially for her.

New To Me! Green Manure - Autumn Winter Mix - See my previous post about this green Manure 

New! Brussels Sprouts Igor F1 - Sprouts are like puppies they are not just for Christmas the web site write up for this one says it yields high amounts of remarkably sweet and solid, mid-green buttons, and that its has a very good resistance to frost.    

New To Me! Tomato Principe Borghese - Now Tony C Smith on YouTube has been going on about his Prince Bogies Tomatoes for weeks and when I saw what these look like and taking into account that Tony is from up North, I think this is the variety hehas been growing and harvesting. Now I have to admit for him they were very prolific and I thought no one is going to call a tomato Prince Bogies but I do believe I've found them.

They are a classic Italian sun-dried type (Midi-plum) Charming, egg-shaped fruits that grow in generous bunches. The classic Italian 'sun-dried' variety, harvest whole plants and hang in a sunny, airy position until fruits become leathery to touch. With a determinate, bushy habit that require no support it is best grown outdoor in a sheltered location.

New! Beetroot Kornett - but the web site says "A previous favourite which is now back!" Very productive, this dependable ‘Detroit’ type is easy to grow and versatile. Roots are sweet and firm and can be lifted as baby beets when young or left to mature. An excellent source of folate and good source of potassium.

I grow a huge amount of beetroots, and pickle them and distribute around the family and friends. I have a huge amount of saved jars and I have only a couple of jars left in the store as beetroot growing didn't happen this year. 

New! Mint (Applemint) - I'm not very good at growing mint especially as It's always in containers as it spreads so easily and is invasive. In 2021 I'm looking at having a square foot herb garden, and hopefully I will find a way of containing it to it's square. 

New To Me! Vailan (Winter Gem) -'Little Gem' type lettuce for winter greenhouse or frame. Sweet, succulent well filled-hearts given frost protection. I found this variety when I was looking for Lettuce to grow over winter and if I can get the second greenhouse up and running on the allotment, I will try to grow some hydroponically as well as in soil. My aim to to grow lettuce all year round as again it's something we eat all the time. 

New! Tomato Gold Nugget -  A slightly oval-round  yellow cherry tomato with thick tender skins and a mouth-watering flavour balanced perfectly between tangy and sweet. A determinate variety with compact and bush habit. Winner of an RHS Award of Garden Merit for reliability and good performance. They look mouth watering, and after the yellow tomatoes I grew this year I just had to give this new variety a go in 2021.  

Here are some of the New! Varieties that can be found on pages 26 - 31 of the Autumn 2020 Seed Catalogue that didn't make it to my grow in 2021 list but, may be of interest to you.

Carrot Marion F1 

Celery Pink - I was tempted with this one but resisted celery this year

Cucumber Lili F1

Dwarf (French Beans) Elbar 

Kale (Ethiopian) Amara

Leek Porbella F1

Onion (Silverskin) De Paris 

Onion Redspark F1 

Pepper (Chilli) Margi Gras

Pepper (Chilli) Odyssey

Soya Bean Fiskeby