Winter Solstice 2024

Today is the Winter solstice 2024 in Northern Hemisphere including the UK and will be at 15:56 GMT, from today we will see our days become longer as we have more extended periods of daylight, which is a good thing as I hate the dark mornings and evenings of Winter.

The solstice also marks the first day of Winter, of course, and as well as becoming longer, temperatures will also start to drop. They are already warning of snow during Christmas week in the UK. 

Now is the time that a lot of Allotment holders look forward to the Spring we are looking at seed catalogues we have and those that will come just after Christmas, planning what they are going to do and grow on their allotments. Me I've been planning that since the start of Autumn and I still have a way to go and some decisions to make, especially re a possible polytunnel or more smaller raised beds.

Updating Notice Board & Last Red Raspberry Bed

2C overnight and ice on the cars this morning rising to 5C.

The ice melted with the sun on the car for a little while, so I decided to pop down for a swift visit to put the guidance re the expectations of New Tenants added to the top row of the notice board along with the an updated notice re using the Drop Off & Pick Up area / car park

Bottom row information re the new tougher Inspection process and the different types of notices being served for 2025. 

All plot holders now know knows what to expect in 2025.

Then I spent just over an hour cutting back the Raspberry Canes and getting it ready to start pulling out all the bindweed roots that have been traveling round and round the framed bed.

I still need to sort out the bindweed and canes on the path behind the bed, but next visit should see the bed finally weeded and mulched. Then I can deal with the paths between the Raspberry beds.

View of the last Raspberry bed to be weeded and mulched ready for 2025. The roofing battens need to be unscrewed from this bed. 

Marshalls Garden Little Book of Seeds Vol V 2025

 

One of the rewards for being an Allotment and Gardening Blogger is that one acknowledged as being Gardening Press, and as such we get press releases and early copies of catalogues, brochures and seeds to trial, in addition to the annual invites to the Gardening Press Event in London each year. 

I have to say the 2025 version of the Little Book Of Seeds is as informative as usual, but for 2025 Marshalls have a few new initiatives they are implementing. 

They are introducing The Enhanced Collection that encompasses some tried and tested favourite varieties of vegetable seeds that most of us have enjoyed growing but with improvements to make grown crops eve more successful. 

These improvements or as they say in their Little Book Of Seeds, Benefits include improved yields, greater disease resistance, improved flavour, improved vigour and strength and much more. I'm not sure what the much more are apart from marketing terms, but I will take the identifiable benefits as they are always useful to have. 

There is a symbol throughout the catalogue and an example of four varieties on page 6, and the four seed packs sent to me to trial from The Enhanced Collection are shown in the photo at the top of this article. The link above takes you to where you can find out more about the contents of this collection and what seeds you might want to try next year. 

Inside the front page there is a notification that for 2025 Marshalls are introducing a new lower P&P rate of just £1.95 for `seed only' orders.

On Page 3 no naked pin-up, but an offer to add a seed wheel of your choice that normally retails at £4.99 that can be added to a any order for just £1 using code WHEEL when ordering online. I have two version of this wheel for vegetables of different diameters and ages in my potting shed on the allotment.

Between pages 34 & 35 is a Seed Sowing Calendar of what seeds to plant each month that is really useful for new allotment owners, and it's a common question on many Facebook gardening groups.  

I will be looking at the catalogue and producing a post about all the new varieties for 2025 in early January.

I will be posting more about the Little Book Of Seeds in the coming days, especially if its raining and I cant get down to the allotment.       

Japanese Knotweed Plot Cleared

I was about to close the timber gates to the allotment when I arrived today and two idverde wagons turned up to clear the overgrown plot that has been treated for Japanese Knotweed this year.  

Once again a plot holder who lives in the block of flats behind the allotment has left his car on the allotments drop off and pick up area. He was nowhere to be seen on the plot, and thus should not have left his car on the allotment, and I suspect it's likely to have been there overnight.  

I informed this individual that he should not be doing this a couple of weeks ago when idverde came to do some rubbish clearance that the council appointed contractor never completed. I pointed out to him that if his car got damaged he would not be covered and that there was no over night parking. 

I also warned him that, if the council needed his car moved to complete their works and he was not available to move the car out of the way they would be within their right to have it towed away, and he would have to pay for its recovery. 

It appears some people never learn.  

The Hawthorne has been hacked back and the corner of plot 9 has been exposed and it would appear that the resident who lives behind that allotment has decided its a good place to dump all the plastic toys his children have outgrown 

Also the mesh fencing has been taken down that was behind the Hawthorn that was completing the security fencing to the allotment.

I have taken the decision to cut back all the spring raspberries because there is so much bindweed in the bed that has circled around and around and smothered the raspberries this year. The canes will not be going to waste or being burnt this year they are being cut up to provide filling materials for the bottom of the new raised beds. 

More Work On The Raspberry Beds

 

Another couple of hours on the allotment today finishing off the mulching of the third raspberry bed, and start to remove the last bed of canes. It's taking time, but its a job worth doing.

All visible bindweed removed a layer of coffee grounds sprinkled and two wheel barrow loads of mulch worthy woodchip added to the bed. I had to tip the wheel barrow sideways to fill the bed 

Photo after the second barrow load of wood chip tipped into the bed and before raking it level. more coffee grounds added the the top of the woodchip on the right half of the bed.

The state of play when I left to go home for lunch, I will let the levels of woodchip settle and consolidate with the rain we are due and top them up to the top again in the next couple of week.

The Spring Raspberry bed is going to be cut back completely as I need to get the bindweed roots out and the raspberries can recover.

I did find a pocket of dry good quality path worthy woodchip in the pile and removed that into buckets ready to do the paths in between the raspberry beds on a future visit.

It has to be said those thermal gloves I got off ebay are the dogs undercarriage they kept my hands so warm and toasty and were not overly expensive.

Cleaning The Notice Board & Mulching Raspberry Beds

Another couple of hours on the plot again today, cleaning the notice board ready for the new information about the site inspections for 2025 that I could not print this morning for some reason. Research found that HP Printers are not as good as they used to be and its a common problem with the model I bought.

Continued clearing weeds from raspberry beds, cutting up raspberry canes and bringing mulch worthy wood chip and topping up one bed and filling another.

Removing bind weed roots from paths between the raspberry beds.

My robin made an appearance and hopped all around me and then pointed out that the seed I have been putting in the hanging picnic table had gone, so I filled it up again for him.

Chat with a plot neighbour only three of us on the allotment today,

Right Bed topped up with more mulch worthy wood chips. Middle bed the remaining half was weeded, given a layer of coffee grounds and then topped up with mulch worthy woodchip. I will let it consolidate and shrink then top it up again.

Thermal gardening gloves came today, looking forward to testing them next visit.

Feeding Worms, Clearing Raspberry Beds, Laying Paths

The level in the hot bin has dropped once more

The worms were active and visible this morning

I dragged the debris back from the metal  gate and woodchipped the mud path from the metal gate and compacted it back a few feet to reduce the amount of slippery mud we need to walk over to get to the gate. 

Barrow loads of mulch worthy woodchips for the Raspberry beds, and more path worthy added in front of the gate and compacted with the rake using it as a tamper. 

Clearing the middle raspberry bed of weeds. Stack of canes on the buckets on the right that were all cut up later in the morning.

Cut up the Raspberry canes and lay coffee grounds to half the middle bed

Quite a time was spent cutting up the raspberry canes, to go into the next raised bed.

A little more weeding and the rest of the bed can be mulched next visit , then the one behind can be cleared and mulched. Its going to take time and effort but my robin keeps me company and brings a smile to my face every time I see him. 

Jackie Salad Spuds from Organic Gardening

2kg of Jacky Salad Spuds which are new for 2025 were kindly sent to me to trial from Organic Gardening. They arrived yesterday and were taken to the allotment potting shed today.

• One of the Next Generation of Late Blight resistant varieties
• High number of stems and salad tubers
• Vigorous and disease-resistant without compromising flavour

They were put in their insulated mushroom tray chitting stations. Nice looking and size for seed potatoes 23 in one bag and 21 in the other as there were 3 larger spuds in that bag.

44 spuds in all with 4 per bucket that's 11 buckets of salad spuds for next year.

RIP British Farming

"Keir Starmer must listen to farmers and step back from the brink and do what is right and best for our great country."

Tractors are expected to travel into the capital today from across the country, including Exmoor, Shropshire, Somerset and the home counties.

The vehicles will line up on Whitehall from 10am. There will be speeches at noon and a slow drive around central London from about 12.45pm.

Why Turn Raised Beds 15 &16 Around ?

If you have been following my development plans for my allotment you would have seen that my objective was to turn the 2.4m x 1.2m framed beds into two number 1.2m x 0.8m raised beds either end with a path in between, because of my mobility issues following my cancer treatment. 

Modified layout replacing the three beds to the right of the Square Foot Garden beds with a 2m x 4m polytunnel  

What became obvious when looking into the minimum width between pallet fenced paths was that a standard wheel barrow required tolerance between the pallets in order to navigate the path as the wheel barrow is 620mm which is wider than the 600mm path without any obstructions and that works. 

It hit me that my plan for raised beds with my current 600mm wide paths just was not going to work thus the two beds 15 & 16 will be turned by 90 degrees and placed end to end such that the paths can be increased in width to 800mm either side to allow travel around the raised beds with a wheel barrow.

Buying Organic Garden Fertilizers the Right Way

 

Another informative video on YouTube by Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Garden) which I thought worth sharing on here.

A Comprehensive Guide to Buying Bagged Garden Soils (Save Money, What's in Them, Costs, DIY Recipes) 0:00 Same Basic Ingredients & Intro 1:19 You Don't Need 'Specialized' Fertilizers 1:41 What Does N, P, & K Stand For? 2:28 Here's How to Figure Out Cost Per Pound of Fertilizer 3:23 Don't Be Fooled By Marketing, Packaging, or Gimmicks 4:02 You Don't Need Plant Specific Fertilizers - 1 Bag is Just Fine! 4:54 How to Pick JUST ONE Type of Fertilizer for the Whole Garden 6:40 How Does Organic Granular Fertilizer Work? 7:51 You Still Need Compost & It's Below a 1-1-1 N, P, K 8:18 Understanding the N, P, K Ratios & Keeping it Simple 12:29 Basic Bagged Fertilizer Ingredients - Mostly the Same 14:38 Organic Fertilizers are Mostly Manure & Animal Parts 15:47 What is Bone Meal - Do I Need to Buy It? 17:20 What is Blood Meal - Do I Need to Buy It? 19:08 How to Use Granular Fertilizer in the Garden 21:48 A Quick Tip on Buying Fertilizer at a Discount

Looking Closer at Polytunnels

 

Looking at the Crocodile Trading website at the PT0008 - 4 Arched 25mm Galvanised Frame with full Ground Bar Kit web page and the photo of the bracing I noticed a couple of things.

1. The horizontal (longitudinal) brace is fitted to the outside of the framework. This I knew had to be wrong as I know that they sell tape that goes over the framework to stop the heat affecting the cover. 

2. That the diagonal brace is fitted on the inside at the bottom and on the outside of the upright members at the top. 

So I downloaded the four page Assembly Guide from their web site for the PT0008 shown below.  

. 

You will notice that the advice to "Fit all horizontal and diagonal bars on the INSIDE of the tunnel arch" is repeated on each page of the Assembly Guide. 

This really begs the question, why did Crocodile Trading not erect the framework as their own instructions and why show an image on their web site that is contradictory to the advice in the Assembly Guide? 

Bracing consists of only two diagonal bars one for each row of frames. I have contacted Crocodile because as a structural engineer I will want to place the bracing in opposite directions in the same line either end so they act in compression and tension depending on the direction of the wind.

So I will be requiring to buy two additional 6 and 6A members to install as shown above in a red dashed line.

Greenhouse V Polytunnel

 

With the wet weather and no internet connection for over a week I have been toying around with the idea and cost of getting a larger greenhouse to replace the two high entry ones on each plot or a polytunnel to place over the three beds to the right of SFG1 rather than just replacing the framed beds with smaller raised beds. 

I'm considering the 4m x 2m (13' x 7' approx) Pro+ Green Poly Tunnel from Crocodile Trading.

PT0008 - 4 Arched 25mm Galvanised Frame with full Ground Bar Kit, increased added bracing, rip stop cover, front metal hinged door & rear zippered roll up door.

The additional bracing consists of only two diagonal bars one for each row of frames. I have contacted Crocodile because as a structural engineer I will want to place the bracing in opposite directions in the same line either end so they act in compression and tension depending on the direction of the wind. 

They didn't have the additional braces at the moment but said they would have them next year.  

I have been reading a lot about how people have reinforced their polytunnels and installed them to survive longer and have joint a Facebook group called Polytunnel Growers UK and have been reading what people have done to offer more stability. 

My plan is to install a timber base with 600x600 raise beds in the corners and mid point on the length and to use my existing Quadgrows in between and buy another one for the end with the zip door. This should assist in resisting uplift and and lateral movement. 

More Tidying Up The Raspberry Beds

 

Todays visit to the allotment involved the unscrewing of the timber post that actually made it impossible to get the wheel barrow down between the beds and a few of the post had failed, from the three mid and late raspberry beds.  

With my mobility issues it took time and was a painful but satisfying once they were removed. Problem is in my head I'm still 23 and fit where the reality is I'm 66 and not in the greatest of shape anymore.  

I need to find a better way of constructing a cage to keep the raspberries contained, paths clear and raspberries harvestable for next year. It's a shame I could not find an old building where they were removing the old galvanised steel metal conduits or pipes to repurpose. 

One the bed was clear, and more raspberry canes cut up, I gave the first bed a dressing of coffee grounds and a layer of mulch worthy black woodchips off the pile in the car park. 

Last dry day for a while as we have storm Darragh on its way this weekend with 80 - 90 mph winds, rain and snow hitting the UK. 

Tidying Up The Raspberry Beds

 

A very cold morning to visit the allotment but it has to be done, little and often and I will make headway because before I know it spring will be here and I have a lot of  infrastructure work to get completed before next years growing season and the weeds start coming. 

Bamboo canes removed from the timber posts on all the raspberry beds and the cut canes removed and cut up ready to go in the bottom of the next raised bed that gets constructed.  

Harvesting More Java Potatoes

 

Todays visit to the allotment was to harvest some more Java maincrop potatoes, indications of a good harvest was good on emptying the contents of the bucket into the 800mm x 800mm plastic tray that I placed on the raised bed to make harvesting easier. 

Harvest from this single bucket was nearly as much as I had from the last two buckets. You really don't know how many spuds you are going to get until you empty the buckets.

What I have found is that there is always one or two seriously large potatoes in every bucket. Gloves laid on the compost for scale. having covered the buckets with one of the trays I'm emptying them into, the soil is dry and the spud come out without too much soil stuck too them. 

Brushing the soil off the potatoes with a 50mm (2") paint brush and stacking them in a tray to dry out in the air before they were taken home and shared with my sister.