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January on the Allotment

Some great guidance from Sarah Dennis from the Facebook group Allotment Holders Growing Together

January is probably the coldest period of the winter and coming on top of the floods and heavy rains of just before Christmas it is well worth taking the time to look over the allotment and prioritise the jobs for the month. Top of the list has to be clean up the plot and dispose of all of the damaged and rotten crops. Don’t worry too much about soil preparations for now just concentrate on clearing the way for a February blitz; weather permitting of course. Most of the overwintering vegetables will have suffered under the wet conditions make a list, visit the site shed or garden centres and get in what replacement seeds or bulbs you will need for your immediate needs.

Harvesting

Brussels sprouts, cabbages, leeks and parsnips, if they haven't been damaged by flood water. Check on any vegetables in store and discard any that have gone mouldy or rotten.

Sowing and planting

Patience is the watchword. The days are still too short and cold even think of sowing seeds either outdoors or in the open. A few sowings of onions, lettuce, peas, broad beans, radish and early carrots can be made under protection towards the end of the month. The January sun can push temperatures quite high so give a little air to the transplanted lettuce plants on warm days closing down early in the afternoon.

General

Protect overwintering vegetables under cloches or fleece. don’t forget to ventilate and allow plenty of fresh air to get in on sunny days. Under the protection winter sunshine temperatures can get as high as on a hot summer’s day.

Pack some straw or fleece around celery to protect it from any damaging frosts but remove it on sunny days to let the plants breathe.

Draw the soil up around the stalks of cabbages and winter cauliflowers to just under the first set of leaves. Check over Brussels sprouts and sprouting broccoli and support them with a strong stake to prevent them from being blown over in high winds.

Take advantage of days when the soil is frozen hard to barrow and stack manure and compost close to where it will be dug in later on. Don’t walk on the soil as it begins to thaw it will be wet and sticky.

If you have any plants or seedlings ticking over in a cold greenhouse cover them with several layers of newspaper on frosty nights but remove it on warm days.

Cloches

Dig up rhubarb roots and divide them leaving the sections on the surface of the soil for a few days to let them be frosted prior to forcing. Cover any crowns in the soil that have been set aside for forcing with an upturned bucket or flower pot and cover the drainage holes to shut out the light. With luck you will be harvesting pale pink sticks by late February.

Check on any fruit and vegetables in store and remove any that are diseased or soft.

Towards the end of the month when the weather and soil conditions allow plant out soft fruit bushes. Spray all fruit trees and bushes with a garlic winter wash on a fine day; do not spray in frosty conditions. It won’t hurt to hold the job over to next month.

Seed potatoes will available from the end of the month. Order your seed potatoes and collect seed trays or wooden tomato trays ready to chit them in. On days when you can’t work on the plot clean the shed, greenhouse, tools and linseed oil any wooden handles. Check that the watering can and buckets don’t leak and that the wheelbarrow doesn’t have a flat wheel.

Greenhouse Loft Conversion

My daughters & Son-in-law made the magic happen for me this afternoon, and gave me a window of opportunity to visit the allotment and trial fit the Dormer Window for the greenhouse before I sort out the fan locations and finally assemble it (Once I have found my Glue Gun of course).

As you will have seen from previous post the automatic vent opener broke and was open all the time even in minus C temperatures and then one corner of the frame split at the bolt connection and then finally the wind took 3 sides of the panel frame and the panel for a fly halfway up plot 1A

View for the dormer cheek, the roof at the moment cantilevers over the front of the dormer which will provide some cover to the two openings. I may use a fixed louvre cover to the fans depending what I can form directly using the Twinwall Polycarbonate sheeting. 

Here are the photo's of the structure held together with some gaffer tape in place, for the trial fit. To basically make sure I took the dimension correctly and what I have cut from the sheet will work.

Proposed Locations for the two fans.

Solar Fans from ebay £8.29 with Free P&P 

Possible Fixed Louvre Vent to the fans.

Supports at 40 degrees from horizontal will go on top of the flat roof to take the solar panels for the two fans and the external sensor for the internal/external temperature gauge will be mounted through it.

Missing Window!

What with the weather, and then my wifes Lupus flair up, that has not been much time in December to visit the allotment and get things done. All my gardening efforts have gone into cataloging and getting seeds arranged for 2023 and planning what I'm going to grow and where and when I will be sowing & transplanting. Last visit I noticed the automatic vent on the Plot 1 greenhouse was not working, it should not be fully open when it was below zero degrees C. I removed the opener and closed the window placing a broom over it to keep it closed.

I appears that didn't work and on visiting mid day today I found the opening vent had snapped and blown away. It was later found half way up Plot 1A.

The top of the frame is still there and the bolts are still in but the other 3 sides of the framework and the panel has been blown off !

Photo taken to remind me what I'm playing with and what I have to fix the replacement dormer into. Dimensions taken, a sheet of plastic Twinwall brought home and this afternoon the parts for a Dormer to replace with twin fans started to get fabricated. Now I need to find my Ryobi Glue Gun which is on one of my sheds but which one and where is the question?

Temporary Heath Robinson fix to cover the hole in the roof and keep the water out as much as possible.  Temporary fencing rebar hooked over the apex and clamped to the gutter and the broom that didn't hold the window vent in place over December during the winds! Some Clips on the side for good measure.

Ice weighs a lot more than water and it would appear the blow away greenhouse frame could not continue to carry the load over December when everything iced up. I will need to find or build something much stronger to replace it.

This is the corner that needs digging over weeding and the greenhouse climbing frame erecting before the end of March/ April. The Rhubarb has withered and died off due to the icy weather minus temperatures, snow and frost.

View from the main path up the main path of plot 1 which becomes the secondary path on Plot 1A. The Third SFG Bed and Super Dome bed needs to be weeded and installed and the Hawthorn cut back and removed from the corner of the plot this year.

Planning and Reviewing January in Previous Years

Reviewing the diary over the last ten years for January

2013 - Infrastructure works, Laying concrete 43 slab paths and patio area, Collecting Leafs  

 

2014 - Infrastructure works, Plastic edging from the Window Factory, Digital Thermometers from Lidl, dismantle a greenhouse, Bean trench, Chitting Potatoes, Onions from seed  

2015 -  Coir Blocks from Poundland, Onions from Seed, Spacesaver Greenhouse, Chitting Potatoes, Onions from seed. Allotment Winter Tidy Up   

2016 - Infrastructure works base for the Shed on Spencer Road, Sarpo Spuds arrive end of January, and were set chitting

2017 - Infrastructure works, Laying concrete slabs, Base for the patio area on Spencer Road,  Digital Thermometers from Lidls for the additional green house and Grow Station, Tomato Compost & Coir to the plot as soil conditioner

2018 - Infrastructure works covering the plot with weed membrane, Moving infrastructure materials like kerb stones from Spencer Road to Mill Green, Worked out the Tomato Grow List for 2018 after receiving the GYO Seed Circle packs, Overwintering Spring Onion experiment and walking onions in the greenhouse. Updates the Gardeners Guidance publication for idverde & LBS, Beast from the East & Terracotta Pot Heater in the greenhouse.

2019 - Only 8 post last January, Planted up a bed of tulips and daffodils. Reducing the amount of hawthorne along the wall and had a fire in the incinerators, Infrastructure work cutting joists to size and painting them. 

     

2020 - Buying and Sorting seeds, so much rain in December 2019 that the grotto canal was flooded, Davros and the Genesis of the composting Army II, Storm Brendan took Wally's polytunnel for a kite ride over the fence, First two full beds on plot 1 dug weeded and installed, Emma & Andy helped me build 7 raised beds and stack them ready to install during the year. Mentioned in Dispatches by Waltons, Reviewing the BioGreen Firefly, Mentioned in Dispatches by Thompson & Morgan   

2021 - Ground water table high and Carshalton Grotto Canal flowing. Two more beds dug and weeded. Leaf Bin and Arch off Freecycle. Seven more raised bed frames built on the plot. Mentioned in Despatched by both Thompson & Morgan and Waltons. Fire fly review for BioGreen.  Buying and Sorting seeds, Trial of Sweet Potatoes that ended up in a total failure as grown in containers in the back garden due to covid restrictions & Lockdown. 

2022 - New Washing machine V Allotment. -6C Coldest day. Ordered by seedless grapes from Suttons. Andy laid the patio area in front of the plot 1 shed & I made the third Rhubarb bed. Chitting Potatoes in Mushroom trays. I won the Mr Fothergill's New Year's competition. Clip Gloves review. Posts about new Varieties from D.T.Brown and their Spring catalogue.

 

To Do List  

Below is the to do list in no particular order and catching up with what actually happened in December and what has slipped. To be frank with the snow and then ice and rain combined with my wife being really ill, I have not really been able to get down to the allotment plot during December and little or no real headway has been made. 

The plan for January is to get as much infrastructure on Plot 1 in place as possible and get both plots and greenhouses ready for next season, and Build a dormer window for the plot 1 greenhouse with two solar fans. 

Mill Green - Plot 1A

• Re Add additional supporting timbers to the roof of the shed - TBD
• Tidy Up the Allotment - Ongoing but getting so much better 
• Weeding - Complete the weeding of plot 1A
• Greenhouse 1A - Get ready for winter sowings and perhaps some hydroponics

Mill Green - Plot 1

• Beds and Paths - Third Square Foot Gardening and Solar Tent Bed to be formed.   
• Install the kerb edging along the bottom of Plot 1 - TBD over Winter months. 
• Potatoes in Buckets - Harvesting to continue this month as some are re growing! 
• Greenhouse 1 - construct a dormer window with twin solar fans to replace the vent that has been damaged by the defective automatic vent opener.  

Home 

• Planning - Ongoing
• Cut Planting Membrane - Make more full bed blanks
• Space Saver Greenhouse - Clear and Clean then Sow some winter crops.

Happy New Year

 

Wishing all visitors to manVslug.uk a great growing year in 2023 

Aubergine Three Knight Collection

Aubergine Three Knight Collection - Dobies - 9 Seeds - £4.49 has been added to my seed box for 2023 

This champion trio of Aubergine 'Green Knight', 'Violet Knight' and 'White Knight' not only looks fantastic in the greenhouse, but also looks great on the plate and offers a rewarding variety of flavours and textures for all your recipes.

The ‘Knight’ collection bear slender, smooth-skinned fruits in green, white and deep purple which are suitable for both typical Mediterranean dishes as well as Asian cuisine.  Early to mature and high-yielding, fruits are borne on compact, disease-resistant and well-branching plants which are perfect for container-growing in the greenhouse.

Aubergines are becoming increasingly popular with chefs who recognise their versatility in the kitchen – they can be sauteed, grilled, baked or fried and readily soak up flavours, providing a tasty and satisfying substitute for meat in vegetarian and vegan dishes.  Height: 75cm (30”). Spread: 60cm (24”).

Aubergine 'Three Knight Recipe Collection' F1 comprises 9 seeds, 3 of each of the following varieties:

• Aubergine 'Green Knight' F1 - slender, jade-green fruits which are especially useful as an ingredient in Asian stir fries and curries, with firm flesh and a mild-sweet flavour.
• Aubergine 'Violet Knight' F1 - long, banana-like fruits with a smooth, deep purple skin. 
• Aubergine 'White Knight' F1 - Asian-type variety producing creamy-white fruits about 20cm long with thin skins and firm flesh.

Win a Waltons 6ft x 3ft double log store

 

Only 7 Days left click here to enter the competition to win the 6ft x 3ft double log store This fantastic prize includes:

• Waltons 6ft x 3ft Pressure Treated Double Log Store
• Free UK mainland delivery

Waltons favourite blogging stories from December

 

So nice to get a mention and a link in the Waltons favourite blogging stories from December. This post was also mentioned in the December Newsletter from Seeds To Suit their site is worth a visit and their newsletter is worth subscribing to. 

Onion Galacticus Seeds

New to Dobie for 2023 Onion Galacticus Seeds - 100 Seeds - £3.49 and now added to my Onions from Seeds list 

  Easily growing to giant proportions

  Re-selected from a Scottish seed vault

  Great for the show bench or the kitchen

Producing massive bulbs, Onion ‘Galacticus’ is certainly one to draw attention on the show bench. White skinned, perfectly uniform bulbs have mildly flavoured, crisp flesh.  

Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 15cm (6").

I do have plans for Onion Sets but this year I will be trying growing from seeds once again and hoping I have the success I had in 2016 and 2017. .   

Mustard Leaves (Autumn Sowing Mix)

 

A fantastic mix of mustard leaves to keep you cropping all Autumn/Winter

Spicy like rocket when used raw in salads and sandwiches

Mild like spinach when cooked in soups

Mustard Leaves (Autumn Sowing)  - 500 Seeds - £2.49  - Dobies - Sow By 2025

This mix of fiery mustard leaves will spice up salad bowls, sandwiches and stir fries, adding both flavour and colour. Hardy enough to harvest through autumn and winter, this is an easy, space-saving crop which is indispensable for the kitchen garden. Height and Spread: 150mm (6”).

The web site has the above graphic showing it can be grown and harvested all year, the packet however tells a different story! So which one is correct? 

Merry Christmas from the Allotment

 

Facts About Cucumbers

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemicals will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your taps, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the

shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Radish - Winter Watermelon Red Meat

 Winter Watermelon Red Meat - 50 Seeds - 49p Seeds To Suit

New Tomatoes for 2023

Tomato Buffalosun F1 - Suttons - 6 seeds - £4.99 - Cordon - Item Code 100303

Tomato ‘Buffalosun’ has heirloom looks and aroma combined with the benefits of hybrid vigour. This meaty, beefsteak tomato has the typical ribbed shape but is an unusual amber colour with a red blush and an attractive marbled interior which makes for a colourful salad tomato. 

The 4-inch fruit has sweet, tender flesh. A productive tomato with good resistance to late blight. Height: 1.8m (6’). Spread: 50cm (20").

Bite Size - Suttons - 6 Seeds -  £2.99 - Cordon - Item Code 100304

Awarded an RHS AGM for its excellent garden performance, Tomato ‘Bite Size’ is super-sweet and delicious! In fact, it has a higher sugar to acidity ratio than most other cherry varieties. The small cherry tomatoes, each weighing 8-12g, are borne in long trusses. 

This vigorous variety will produce up to 6kg of fruit with regular side-shooting, giving you more than enough tasty tomatoes for your family’s salads, snacks and lunch boxes.

This cordon variety is perfect for containers or planters in the greenhouse or on the patio, but can also be planted in a sunny spot in the garden. Height: 200cm (79"). Spread: 50cm (20").

Tomato Red Pear - Organic Gardening Catalogue - 48 seeds - £3.99 Item Code 780615 - Cordon.

Producing large trusses of sweet, unusual pear-shaped cherry tomatoes, Tomato 'Red Pear' is high-yielding and vigorous variety ideal for either greenhouse or outdoor growing. You won't be able to resist eating the fleshy fruits straight off the plant! Height: 180cm (6ft). Spread: 50cm (20in).

Producing large trusses of sweet, unusual pear-shaped cherry tomatoes, Tomato 'Red Pear' is high-yielding and vigorous variety ideal for either greenhouse or outdoor growing.

Merrygold F1 - Mr Fothergill's - 10 seeds - £2.80 - item Code 32585

The world’s first blight resistant orange fruited variety. Plants are high yielding, producing a mass of brightly, rich orange toms.

Taste is sweet with a slight tangy flavour, making them perfect for summer salads. Indeterminate.

Red Bodyguard F1 - Mr Fothergill's - 10 seeds - £3.35 - Item Code 25462 

Large crops of tasty, fleshy fruit, shows some resistance to blight. Indeterminate (needs support), outdoors or greenhouse. Excellent source of vitamin C and antioxidants.

This tomato gets its name from a book! "The Red Bodyguard: The Amazing Health-promoting Properties of the Tomato" by Ron Levin. Ron's daughter-in-law Sarah Levin contacted us to see if a new tomato might be named in honour of her father-in-law's 90th birthday. It is an indeterminate, early cropping, high yielding, new strain, with some resistance to late blight, which produces medium-sized, juicy fruits.  

(Standard) Paoline F1 - Mr Fothergill's - 10 seeds - £ 4.45 - item Code 39185

Always scoring highly in taste tests, the plants are highly productive and show good resistance to blight. Indeterminate, (needs support) grow outdoors or in a greenhouse.

Rubylicious F1 - Dobies - Cordon - 20 seeds - £2.99  item code 411053 Cordon

This incredible new cherry tomato is the perfect blend of modern disease resistance and good, old fashioned flavour! Tomato 'Rubylicious' boasts superb blight resistance, so your plants won’t be struck down in their prime. What makes this variety so special is its incredible sweetness and rich, tangy flavour. Each truss produces up to 12 orangey-red, cherry tomatoes weighing around 15g per fruit. This indeterminate variety is sure to become a favourite for salads, snacks and lunchboxes!

This cordon variety is perfect for containers or planters in the greenhouse or on the patio, but can also be planted in a sunny spot in the garden. Height: 200cm (79"). Spread: 50cm (20").

Rapunzel F1 - Suttons - Cordon - 6 Seeds - £3.99 Item Code 100305

Best grown in the greenhouse, tomato ‘Rapunzel’ is a new indeterminate variety producing incredibly long, cascading trusses, each loaded with up to 40 glossy red cherry tomatoes! The irresistibly sweet fruits are perfect for snacking straight off the plant. An impressive variety producing huge yields of tomatoes over a long period. Height: 180-200cm (71-79in). Spread: 50cm (20in)

Brandywine Red Beefsteak - Seeds To Suit - 5 Seeds - 59p

An American heirloom beefsteak variety. the large vines produce heavy crops of deep red fruit weighing 200-400g. Sow seeds 2mm deep. 

keep the seeds moist and use a propagator or a warm windowsill. 

Minimum temperature 18 - 20C. 

Days to Germination 6 - 14 days. 

Transplant when seedlings are large enough to handle. 

Plant out when 200mm Acclimatise to cooler conditions if planting outside.

Keep moist and feed with a liquid fertilizer fortnightly when the first fruits appear. 

 

Cherry Yellow Pear Cherry Bell  - Seeds To Suit - 10 Seeds - 49p

A lovely sweet and mild flavoured pear shaped yellow tomatoes. 

A vigorous plant that gives a great crop. Needs pinching out.

Sow seeds 2mm deep. keep the seed compost moist and use a propagator or a warm windowsill.

Minimum temperature 18 - 20C. 

Days to Germination 6 - 14 days. 

Transplant when seedlings are large enough to handle. 

Plant out when 200mm Acclimatise to cooler conditions if planting outside.

Keep moist and feed with a liquid fertilizer fortnightly when the first fruits appear. 

(Plum) Alfresco - Mr Fothergill's - 10 seeds - £ FREE SEED - Item Code 39211

No Photographs as Free Seed and not on their web site yet! A compact bush type, tolerant of variable temperatures and resistant to verticillium and fusarium, ideal for cooler climates. Determinate, (bushy habit) best grown outdoors.