Normal Service Resumed

So after what feels like forever, I managed to get down onto the allotment when it's dry-ish, there had been some morning dew and everything was damp, but at least it was not raining buckets.

First things first, I topped up the compost Daleks 2 & 3 with kitchen scraps and dead flowers, then added a layer of leafs from last years collection as Browns. I removed nearly all the sweetcorn stalks from beds 5 & 6 and chopped them up placing them in the new Dalek at the end of plot 1 also reducing last years leaf collection as I need to clear the weed membrane.



I then set upon making two more bread tray saw horses and then started moving the 2.4m cut timbers further back down the plot with the intention of clearing the interface between plot 1 and 1A, hopefully to get the flower beds in before the spring bulbs grow too much and have to just put in anywhere. 

Lots of scraps of rotting wood left by the previous tenant gave been holding down the weed membrane and as we can have fires up until the end of March 2019, I set about collecting and cutting them into incinerator bin size and placing them inside the incinerator so that they can dry out ready to be burnt. The two flower buckets of dried hawthorn cuttings also got tipped into the incinerators. I stacked larger lengths of timber on a pallet and John ask if I wanted him to burn it for me as he has a large oil drum and loves a burn up to make the ash for use as fertiliser. If someone is going to help me get rid of rotten wood I'm not going to stop them. 

There were five of us on the site during the morning some stayed longer than others who were either there to drop off composing material or pick up the last of their vegetables. catching up with each others lifes, with hopes of having had a good Christmases and Happy New Year wishes were exchanged. We are very lucky that apart from one individual who appears to rub at least half of the plot holders on the site up the wrong way, we have a really nice crowd of plot holders on Mill Green. 

John has not had any luck contacting our woodchip supplier so it looks like we need to find another source for the woodchips.     

Saving Tomato Seeds

Sieve & Paper Towel - To save a small quantity of seeds for your own use

Remove seeds from the fruit and rinse in a sieve under cold running water, rubbing them against the sieve to remove the gel coating. Spread them on a paper towel or piece of kitchen paper and leave to dry. Fold up the paper, label it, and in the spring pop the paper with the seeds attached on to moist compost in a seed tray to start your plants. I have drawn boxes the size of the seed packet and have placed the seeds on the kitchen paper before then cut up once dry, but prefer the Fermentation Method

Fermentation Method - To save a larger quantity of seeds

Squeeze the pulp from ripe tomatoes into a suitable container (e.g. a large yoghurt pot or KFC Gravy or Beans container). You can also process ripe fruits into a food processor with an equal quantity of water until you have a pulpy mass. The seeds are hard and will not be damaged.

Put the container into a warm place to ferment. It may smell bad but it is good for the seeds. Fermentation removes compounds that inhibit germination and it also destroys seed-borne diseases. You are merely duplicating what happens in nature. 

After three or four days, when the container is topped with a mass of mould, add plenty of water and stir vigorously. Good seeds will settle to the bottom, so you can tip the rotting mass away. Rinse and repeat until only good, clean seeds remain. Strain the water off and place them on a clean plate or piece of glass or KP Nut or Gravy plastic lid (they will stick to paper). Stir once or twice a day to promote even drying and prevent clumps of seeds forming. Dry the seeds quickly to prevent them germinating, but avoid direct sunlight or an oven. A cool, gentle breeze is best I place mine on top of the fridge next to an air brick. 

As I save for my own seed bank but also for seed circles I use 55mmx55mm zip bags and make up labels to go into the bags using Microsoft Word and a table template. 

Tomato seeds will last in storage for about six years, depending on the variety, they will last longer if stored in a dry cool place. The size zip lock bags that I use lend themselves to being stored in what are basically deep business card plastic boxes 

My Tomato seed collection or Tomato seed bank is now well over a 100 varieties and grows with each passing year. I enjoy trying out different varieties and types of tomatoes, as a family we consume a great deal of tomatoes and its always sad when we have to return to shop bought during the winter months.

Tomato Seedmas Arrives

Grow Your Own Magazine Grapevine Forum Seed Circle package arrives 

1. Scarlet - Violet Jasper - Tiny Tim - Hahms Gelbe
2. VC - Livingstons Favourite - Homosa 
3. Thelma - Polish Linguisa, and just 2 or 3 seeds of Nectar Rose 
4.JJ- Zlatava & moskowsi ultra skorospelyi & Lukullus
5. MarkP - True Black Brandy Wine - Okeron Yellow 
6. SP - German Red Strawberry 
7. Norfolk Grey - Black Vernissage Giallo D'inverno 
8. Trip - Black Russian 
9. Bramble - Stupice - salisaw cafe - 
10. Ms T - La Carotina Tomato Orange -  Peacevine 
11. Cads - Micro Tom - Repunzel - Balconi Red - Red Robin
12. Paulie - Angelle, Principe Borghese 
13. farendwoman - Black Triefle, Black Cherry 

In addition to the seed circle tomatoes, I've received some from the Tomatoes from the  Virtual Seed Parcel that need growing and fresh seeds saved and returned to the Bank next year. 

Nicos - Petit Moneau (Red Currant Tomato

Scarlet - Cyrils Choice

Scarlet - Roughwood Golden Plum

Scarlet - Kenilworth King George

Unknown - First In Field

Rosie Pumpkin - White Cherry Tomato

Rosie Pumpkin - Raspberry Oxheart Tomato

Unknown - Latah Red Tomato

Chilli Grower - Red Alert

Seasprout - Alaskan Fancy

Unknown - Egyptian

Nellie-m - Lukullus

Unknown - Black & Brown Bore Tomato

Café Seeds - Sallisaw café 

Unknown - Stupice (Cold Tolerant)

Having now found links to the details about the tomatoes, I'm going to get the seed labels ready for those that I don't have seed labels for already and perhaps even the paper labels ready for when I save the seeds next year for returning to the seed bank and next years seed circle. 

Winter Solstice

Winter solstice 2018 in Northern Hemisphere will be at 22:23 on

Friday

,

21 December

All times are in United Kingdom Time.

GYO Grapevine Seed Circle

It's that time of year again when Seedmas comes. Seedmas is basically a seed circle and  is arranged by one of the Moderators on the Grow Your Own Magazine Grapevine forum. 

Basically those interested save seeds and then package them and submit them to the organiser sending their contribution in using a sturdy envelope with a return label and a Large first class stamp.    

1. Scarlet - Violet Jasper - Tiny Tim - Hahms Gelbe
2. VC - Livingstons Favourite - Homosa 
3. Thelma - Polish Linguisa, and just 2 or 3 seeds of Nectar Rose 
4.JJ- Zlatava & moskowsi ultra skorospelyi 
5. MarkP - True Black Brandy Wine - Okeron Yellow 
6. SP - German Red Strawberry 
7. Norfolk Grey - Black Vernissage Giallo D'inverno 
8. Trip - Black Russian 
9. Bramble - Stupice - salisaw cafe - 
10. Ms T - La Carotina Tomato Orange -  Peacevine 
11. Cads - Micro Tom - Repunzel - Balconi Red - Red Robin
12. Paulie - Angelle, Principe Borghese 
13. farendwoman - Black Triefle, Black Cherry 

Thanks to various seed circles I have contributed too I now have nearly 100 different varieties of tomato seeds in my Seed Bank and I grow 25 or more different varieties of tomatoes each year.  

Coir Pallets - Yes Please

What a great way of saving trees, using waste products that are basically Coir and can be used by growers as mulch. It would save me buying Coir blocks 

Nothing Like it Was Supposed To Be!

Well I did it again, I looked at the weather forecast three to four days in advance and built myself up for a nice sunny day 

What's Sunday Going To Be Like?

It's been a few weeks since I have been able to get on with anything down on the allotment so today I thought that I would look to see what the likelihood is of me getting down there this Sunday is, and at the moment it's looking promising. 

Saturday is a mixture of Sunny intervals and light cloud with only a 19% chance of rain, so hopefully by Sunday things may have dried out a little down on the plot.

My plan is to clear the interface between plot 1A and Plot 1 so that I can get the flower beds in and I may even get some of the timber for the raised beds painted if they have dried out enough on Saturday. 

I know it's counting chickens, but this time of year coming up to the shortest day and December normally being one of the wettest months of the year one has to dream and plot to get done, what you can, when windows of opportunity open up for you.    

World Soil Day

World Soil Day: 5 December 2018. The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), in 2002, adopted a resolution proposing the 5th of December as World Soil Day to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to human wellbeing.

Planning and Reviewing December in Previous Years

Reviewing the diary over the last five years for December 

There is not a whole lot of growing that happens in December, its normally blustery, cold, rainy, and overcast. It's the only time of the year with no sowing programme, though some enthusiasts and trophy hunters will ignore convention. I can't shut my plot down completely because there is too much tidying and maintenance to do on plot 1A and I have infrastructure works to undertake on plot 1 

2012 - My First December and third month of owning an allotment was mainly spent cutting down the weeds and exposing what lay underneath and discovering all manor or debris to dispose off. There was a lot of burning of weeds in the two incinerators 

2013 - Mainly clearing up the plot, Growing and cut and drop green manure, installing an infrastructure of paths and beds. Harvesting Sprouts 

2014 - Mainly clearing up the plot, Growing and cut and drop green manure, installing an infrastructure of paths and beds. Harvesting Sprouts 

2015 - Mainly clearing up the 2nd plot on Spencer Road, Growing and cut and drop green manure, installing an infrastructure of paths and beds. Harvesting Sprouts, carrots and parsnips  

2016 - Two plots on two different allotment sites Mill Green and Spencer Road, Installing infrastructure, collecting leafs, Walking Onions in greenhouse, harvesting sprouts, manure and leafs on beds, making planting membrane sheets, High winds blow over Keith's shed. Shed Break-ins and meeting the police on Spencer Road.
            

2017 - Family health matters mean very little achieved on the plot. Leaf collection and sprout harvest.  

Below is the to do list in no particular order and catching up with what actually happened in November and what has slipped. 

Mill Green - Plot 1

• As much infrastructure works as the weather will allow - Subject 
• Water Butts - Fix taps 
• Guttering to Shed - TBD
• Extension to shed - rear - built minor modification required   
• Cut Roof Joists to bed sizes - Ongoing
• Make Bread Tray Saw Horses - Done
• Paint Joist cut to bed sizes - Ongoing 
• Lay the paving for the greenhouse - TBD 
• Erect the greenhouse - Timbers Cut for base need to be treated  
• Tidy Up the Allotment - Ongoing and looking better all the time
• Remove Hawthorne bushes from the wall - TBD
• Install Kerb Edging all around the plot - TBD
• Stockpile Timber ready for burning  - Ongoing
• Install Flower Beds - TBD   
• Plant Spring Bulbs - TBD

Mill Green - Plot 1A

• Weeding - Never ending job   
• Clear the greenhouse - To Be Done 
• Rhubarb Bed to be created - clearance of weeds in current location and move when ready
• Tidy Up the Allotment - Ongoing and looking better all the time 
• Clear area behind the Greenhouse - TBD
• Clear Seating Area - TBD
• Plant Raspberries - TBD

Home

• Planning
• Catalogue Seeds 

Reminders

• Purchase vent opener for new greenhouse.- Not Yet

To Do List DEC December Apple - plant trees December Apple - prune trees