Sunday Tidy Up

A Big Thank you to my Daughter Emma and her Husband Andy for once again visiting the allotment on a very hot and sunny day and for clearing the comfrey plot that had grown so tall it had fallen over and was covering the path. All chopped up and added to each of the Daleks. Emma had me on a video call so I could watch her work and answer her questions. Once it's safe we are going out for a slap up meal as a thank you for all their help. 

That looks so much better than it did 

Andy taking a sack of weeds to the car photo from plot 1A looking down to plot 1

Flower bed next to the temporary leaf cage cleared and covered 

From Plot 1 looking up Plot 1 

I have many squash sown in the Space Saver Greenhouse that will be going down to give some harvest this year. 

City Jungle Trellis & Sweet Potatoes

Gigantomo Tomato and Trellis added to the Bio Green City Jungle, it took quite some time to fill up the water reservoir but the level indicator in the front left corner is so useful showing you the progress and when you are going to need to top up the water. I'm going to put a cucumber plant either side of the planter so they can grow up the trellis.   

The Treasure Island Sweet Potato collection arrived today from Thompson & Morgan and there were in excellent condition unlike a number of plug plants that fellow gardeners on Facebook have been sharing recently. I think people forget that Saturday deliveries have been stopped in most areas because of a reduction in staff and a backlog of mail. During these times they need to give Thompson & Morgan a little latitude.  

The patio garden is not looking bad considering that SWMBO informed me I was not allowed to turn the patio into a substitute allotment plot whilst we are shielding her and I can't get to my plot. 

It was really useful that I had the Quadgrow, Elho Tomato Panter, Bio Green Maxitom & Bio Green City Jungle at home and had not taken them to the allotment before self isolating & lockdown started #IsolatedGardeners 

I have a long article and review of the Quadgrow planned, It was near completion when I had a hard disk failure so I'm having to re create it for posting next month, so keep an eye out or use this link to find all information re the Quadgrow  

The timber decking tiles really need replacing unfortunately they no longer sell the diagonal ones and I have already replaced those that were at the end of their life with the parallel to edge in the middle that are at least the same size on plan.

Eight flower buckets of first early spuds are doing well on the left and the rest of the flower buckets have two dwarf or mini. micro tomatoes in them apart from the two buckets in front of the broken fencing trellis which will have cucumbers planted in them.  

Tomatoes

The tomatoes have all now been re potted into the square flower buckets. The two square flower buckets without tomatoes will have cucumbers planted in them. The first yellow flowers were seen today on the Maskoika plants.  

All the remaining mini and micro tomatoes have now been moved up from vending machine cups into pots and now occupy the top shelf of the Space Saver Greenhouse. A few extras are now on the garden furniture table as I could not turn them into compost.  

Cucumbers & Squash

Six of each type of Winter squash sown today. I had forgotten that I had these until I saw Sean James Cameron's video today. They are ideal to be planted and allowed to take over parts of my allotment this year.

The mini toms on the top shelf of the Space Saver Greenhouse are ready for potting on into larger pots, a job for tomorrow me thinks as I can't spend too much time on my legs yet, but the leg is getting better really slowly.  

Cucumber Esmarald: - Well that was fast and 100% Germination, give them a couple of weeks and they will be ready for transplanting in the back garden. 

Is Your Plot Cultivated ?

This above illustration was drawn for Punch in the 1950s. In those days, men did wear smart clothes even in factories, often with a waistcoat and pocket watch. It was mainly men on allotments (certainly in the North or England) as women ruled the home, and man still took his role as hunter gatherer seriously and Dig for Victory and growing your own food was still very much on the public's mind following the WWII and the rationing that went on for many years after.

Society has changed a lot since then, there are more women, and young families taking up allotments. Those in flats with no garden will sometimes set aside an area for their children to play in whilst they are growing vegetables in a growing area and flowers else where, treating the allotment as a garden. Most allotments will allow BBQ but many have restrictions re having fires these days. 

Then there are those plot holders that want to create wild flower habitats, not really in the ethos of growing vegetables, and difficult to do properly without it just looking like an overgrown weedy mess that will anger serious vegetable growers that are neighbours.  

Small ponds are quite popular, however one needs to consider ensuring that animals and small children can extract themselves from the water should they fall in. Tadpoles frogs & Toads are normally the aim as they help with slug & snail control as long as one isn't using blue pellets of death. Then people forget that ponds attract mosquitoes and other biting insects so ponds are a double edged sword.  

During the lockdown there has been more pressure placed on councils and managing companies with regards waiting lists for allotments which is a good thing. Also as people on lockdown were technically allowed to exercise and visit their allotments and could not work combined with the dry weather, we have seen many plot holders who only just manage to scrape through inspections get on top of their allotments and have them more organised and weed free than we have ever seen before. 

There are a few like myself who are vulnerable or carers of vulnerable people that have had to self isolate before lockdown and will have to continue to reduce the risk after lockdown. I'm luck in that my sister in law is watering what I managed to get in before lockdown and my daughter is keeping the weeds down and putting in the infrastructure of beds and paths for me on my new plot.

 Many Associations nation wide have taken the decision to cancel plot inspections, seed swaps, association trips and annual judging competitions together with Committee meetings and Annual General Meetings

It would appear that because of the Coronavirus that site inspections in the London Borough of Sutton are not likely to take place this year as there is little way of knowing how many at risk plot holders are isolating for the full 12 weeks and beyond.

So no arguments this year about what the definition of Cultivated actually means it would appear. 

  

Tomato Planters & Tomatoes in Buckets

So the larger plants like Gigantimo, Rapunzel & Crimson Crush are in the Tomato Planters 

And the smaller Mini, Micro, Mini Dwarf tomatoes are being allocated flower buckets. The smaller varieties are still in the Space Saver Greenhouse and they will be potted up into the pots and saucers that will become free as the tomatoes in the photo above get transplanted into their final locations.  

Lidl Tomato Planter

I was going to buy one of these to see how it stacked up with the other Tomato Pot complete with watering reservoir but the Coronavirus and long queues put the cob wash on that.  This product look uncannily like the Bio Green Maxitom Jumbo, but I'm not going to find out this year. Perhaps I will be lucky and pick one up next year   

Bio Green Maxitom Plant Tower

The Bio Green Maxitom  Plant Tower comes in a cardboard box measuring just 250mm x 260mm x 85mm deep. 

The innovative, space saving design of the Maxitom means that out of this box you end up with a 16 litre planter container measuring 255mm x 255mm on plan and 250mm high with the bottom 60mm forming a 2 litre watering reservoir and a sturdy built in support tower structure that makes the final construction 1.5m high. 

All the component parts are neatly stored in the base of the reservoir

The four walls of the planter quickly click into place and are then ready to be located on the reservoir base 

The base to the planter which is the top of the reservoir can now be put in place ensuring that the slot for watering lines up with the one in the side wall. 

Now the small elbow can be sild into place using the restraints provided on the side wall. 

This elbow holds the soil back and provides the way of getting the water into the reservoir 

All that now remains is to fill the planter with compost, here I used an empty plot to give me the right sized and shaped hole before transplanting the tomato into it's final growing location. 

All that now remains is to construct the Tower and install the legs into the sockets provided in the corner of the planter, which takes no time at all. Nearly forgot add 2 litres of water to the reservoir.

The plant tower "Maxitom" is the ideal plant support for your tomatoes. This complete set requires little space and is ideal for use in small areas: on the terrace, the balcony or in the garden.

The innovative, space saving design of the Maxitom is a great way of maximising your tomato harvest, enabling you to grow up to four plants for every metre – making it particularly good for gardens where space is at a premium.

The reseviour ensures a uniform supply of water to the plants from below, which prevents the dreaded tomato end rot.

The four levels of the tomato tower are individually mountable. Just adjust them to the growth of your plants. The stable, weather-resistant construction gives the plants the necessary support they require and is, at the same time, an eye-catcher.

The planter is available in two different colours Terracotta/Orange and Anthracite/Black which look Grey to me!

Probably due to the Carona Virus and peoples need to grow vegitables in their back gardens, but at the time of using this product and undertaking this review,  the Maxitom is out of stock.

Suttons are selling these as something called a "Tomato Success Kit" for £19.99 each or 3 x Kits for £49.97 which is a saving of £10 or 16%. 

The Small Print. I have not been paid to review this product, I'm not on commission and I was simply provided with the product to trial and review. 

elho Green Basics Tomato Pot

Elho are a Dutch family business formed in the mid 60’s, who are extremely environmentally aware, and they are enormously proud of the giant wind turbines sitting in their back garden, ensuring that their pots are produced with 100% pure wind energy.

That same back garden is home to 2 million bees. Not that they can make pots, but they realise how important Bees are to the worlds environment and to us as well.

In 2019 the company used 5,600,000 kilos of recycled plastic to produce designer pots. They always aim for more:70%  of all the materials used to be recycled plastic. The products are designed and made in Tilburg Holland:

The pots are made to last and will provide enjoyment for years to come, and when finally they are at the end of their life they are fully recyclable.

The elho green basics tomato pot, is ideal for starting your own big city, small garden vegetable growing adventure and the product is aimed at Patio or Balcony gardening where the owner wants something that looks stylish and well designed and manufactured and is environmentally friendly. 

The self-watering and pots with water reservoirs, have become very trendy in the last few years, as they keeps your thirsty plants healthy and thriving especially if you are away from home for a few days. 

The Elho garden pot comes with a handy rack that allows your tomato plant to grow wild and free wherever you place it.

This outdoor plant pot can also be used for growing other veggies, the rack would be ideal for cucumbers. 

The 10 litre Pot has a diameter of 335mm and a height of 850mm with the rack and was launched in the UK in 2019. Elho pots and planters are widely stocked at all good garden centres, retailers and available online. The current RRP for the elho green basics tomato pot is £25.99

The small Print:- I have not been paid to wrote this article, simply supplied with the product to review.  

Sowing & Potting On

I'm going living room crazy, whilst sitting on the settee with my leg up is helping me recover all be it very slowly from the cellulitis, I have to do something and today after some pain killers it was sowing six Cucumber Esmarald  and eight Waltham Butternut squash seeds. The Cucumbers will be grown here at home up the trellis fencing broken by the storms and the butternut squash will go down to the allotment via my Daughter & Son-In-law.   

The Bio Green Arctic 100 that I put up a few weeks ago moved (as all good blowaways do) despite two 10Litre Buckets of compost and a paving slab in the bottom and as I have no way of putting some ring bolts and strapping in place I decided to dismantle and pack up the Pop up Greenhouse. 

The Quadgrow was to be used this year in the Greenhouse on the allotment, I even had the self watering mechanism that attached to a water butt, and it was going to make looking after the tomatoes on the plot so easy. 

A full In depth unboxing & review will be forthcoming soon but for the moment I bought a couple of 25mm grummets for peanuts off ebay and have disconnected the two so that I can use them separately and move them if required as the patio door is going to be replaced in the next 4 - 6 weeks.  which is another reason I wanted the Bio Green Arctic 100 out of the way.    

Rotkappchen (Red Riding Hood)

TOMATO DWARF ROTKAPPCHEN

TOMATO DWARF ROTKAPPCHEN. A compact dwarf variety, perfect for the balcony, baskets or any smaller spaces.  Also known as “Red Riding Hood”.  The bush plants will reach no more than 550mm in height and produce a good crop of 50 Gram red fruits of excellent flavour. Determinate.

Cultivation Advice TOMATO DWARF ROTKAPPCHEN

• Sow in spring 1/16 inch deep in fine seed grade compost.
• Germination takes around 6-14 days at 65-75F. (18 - 24C)
• Transplant the seedlings when large enough to handle into 3 inch pots.
• Grow on under cooler conditions and when about 4 inches tall,
• plant to thier final container or basket in the greenhouse
• or gradually acclimatise them to outdoor conditions in a warm and sunny spot in and keep well watered.
• Container fruit plants will benefiit from regular feeding.

I purchased my seeds from Premier Seeds Direct

As always I use a vending machine cup fill of soil to make the profile for the tomato plant that is about to be potted up into a larger pot.

The I squeeze the vending machine cup and pull it off revealing the nice root system and pop it into the hole formed in the larger pot, firm in place and top the pot up with compost. A nice water that has been standing in the sun and is warm so as not to shock the roots and let them adjust to their new home.

These two Rotkappchen were potted up from vending machine cups on the 19th May with many other tomatoes and in a few days time will get a Seaweed Feed for good measure.

Cutting Weed Membrane

Another Dalek For The Army

Andy sent me a message that he had seen another free Dalek like the others that I have and like on the allotment and that he was picking it up for me. They have weeded from the new beds to the path kerb edging and have put the new Dalek in place, added weed membrane and woodchips. The plot is getting neater and neater.  

These two Daleks have apples in and are making acidic compost for the Raspberries, but it appears they have not composed down enough to be moved quite yet. 

I have told Andy & Emma that I will deal with them when I'm back on my feet and once again working the plot. 

What I didn't realise until they facetimed me is that Wally had removed the Hawthorne trees from along the wall, he is a star that was a job I really was not looking forward too, and I need to take him some cans of beer when I can get back down to the plot to thank him. 

Meanwhile back at home Kelly has been cutting the grass for me as I have not been able and I can afford to get any insect bites in my leg for the cellulitis to work on at the moment. She is a great daughter who suffers really bad with hay fever, but still helped out her old Dad in his hour of need. 

The small blow away greenhouse has had it's day and has been finally scrapped. 

Now that the frost should be over I need to get the two rows of flower buckets from 5 - 11 sown with vegitables.