New Padlocks Fitted

 

Finally the new padlocks with a key replacing the old combination locks have been fitted to the outer timber gates and the inner metal gate on the allotment. 

It has to be said that the four digit combination locks proved to be a real pain in the arse, even the allotment officer spend 15minutes trying to get out of the allotment on a recent visit, not nice when its raining. 

The slider didn't like the water and getting wet and it became hard to adjust the combination and get all four digits lined up to enable you to get in or out. The figures on the tumblers weathered really badly and were getting hard to see. 

If you have an allotment, whatever you do, don't agree to going to combination locks, been there, done that, and never want to repeat it again!   

Infrastructure 2024 to 2025

 

Above is Avalon's (Plot 1 & 1A) layout for 2024, ignoring what was supposed to be planted in what bed it basically shows the bed layout and locations of Daleks etc. 

Below is what I'm aiming to achieve by March 2025

Below is what I'm aiming to achieve by March 2025. The tumbling and non uniform Daleks are to be replaced with standard green door less Daleks and more are to be added to the line of Daleks along the path between plots 1 & 1A and plot 2.

A Blueberry and Goji Berry area is to be added to the rear of the corner Climbing Frame Greenhouse. I'm also considering where to locate 3 new pixie grape plants, either down on the allotment or at home.  

Beds 12,13,14, 16 and 17 are to be formed from just above ground level framed 2.4m x 0.8m beds to 1.2m x 0.8m Raised beds approx. 400mm high at either end with a new path between.

I have been working on doing this at bed 16 in the last couple of months. 

I'm also considering moving the external potting bench behind the plot 1 greenhouse out against the wall by the potting shed and replacing the 1.8m x 1.2m (6ft x 4ft) greenhouse with a 1.8m x 2.4m (6ft x 8ft) entry level greenhouse with the door onto the main path from plot 1 to plot 1A. 

More Onions Harvested

Sunday morning on the allotment, only myself and John on the site today. Woodchip pile once again steaming on arrival, but it must have warmed up more than yesterday as it had stopped, when I came past it on my way home for lunch.

More onion bed weed clearing and onion harvesting and then trimming and cleaning before placing in potting shed to dry out. My little robin was not as interested in what I was doing today I heard him but didn't see him.

I harvested a last load in the container on the far right that still need trimming and cleaning before I came home, at least they will be out of the rain and will dry off.

I took the two square flower buckets full of woodchips out of the wheel barrow that was half full with water following the recent rain. Dig out between the main path and timber bed frame on plot 1A with my Kent and Stowe long handled trowel placing the soil on the paving slab at the end of the path between beds and filled the newly excavated mini trench with fresh woodchip.

Onion Harvesting

It was cooler this morning on the allotment, however the woodchip pile was nicely generating heat and letting off steam as I arrived and walked past it on the way in and it was still at it at 1:30 pm when I finally went home for lunch.

Debris Netting removed from the onion beds on plot 1 and two tugs of weeds pulled out and Red Baron Onions harvested.

I can't get down on my knees so I have to bed double to work the beds at ground level which is why I'm in the process of putting in raised beds.

I used the kneeling stool to lean on as I was harvesting the onions and weeding. Everything takes more time and effort that it used too before getting cancer and the associated arthritis last year.

I will not grow a single variety of onions again, I have been disappointed with the lack of growth of the onions some that were not much larger than the sets that went in have been dumped in with the weeds.

I do think the slugs and snails really hit the onion leaves and growth this year, and that could be a reason for the smaller diameter bulbs.

Those onion bulbs that are worth keeping had their roots twisted off or trimmed and the bulbs were wiped clean of mud with a cloth.

I had brought out the shower chair and was sitting just outside the plot 1 shed looking at the onion bed and watching one of my robins who came right to my feet to look at what I was dropping on the patio slabs. As always I talked to him telling him I'm not going to hurt him and encouraging him to get into the bed and find what he could to eat.

As always by time you get your phone and gloves off the little buggers have lost interest and you don't get a photo. He is there in the photo of the bed but can you find him?

It would have been easier for you to spot him if he was still looking at me and showing his red breast, but I'm glad that he trusts me enough to turn his back on me.

I take more rest periods when working the allotment these days and I'm gradually building up my stamina up. Trimming and cleaning the onions could be done sitting and just enjoying being out on the plot with the birdsong and my little companion.

Once cleaned I ended up putting the onions in the potting shed in some potato chitting trays to dry out a little before giving them to my daughter Emma. They my be small this year but they smell strong and will dry faster in the potting shed than the onion drying rack on the side of the shed.

Waiting Lists & Vacant Plots

 

Updated figures from Jane our idverde allotment officer, for the London Borough of Sutton as of 27th September 2024. 

The vacant allotments include those that are being given up by existing plot holders at the end of the month, and have had the good manners to let Jane know in advance that they will not be paying the rents that become due on the 1st October. 

There will be many that will never inform idverde that they don't want to continue to renting an allotment which will mean a possible delay of 3 months before the plot can be shown to someone on the top of the waiting list.  

The 2024/25 invoices are being sent out next week. The waiting list was updated today and the figures as always are a current snap shot in time. Plots are being shown and tenanted and being given up all year round, some plot holders will be  terminated over the next three months for non payment of rent. 

Currently there are 1302 people on the waiting list and 137 plots waiting to be seen by those on top of the waiting lists, and re-tenanted. 

There will be many that will not pay their invoices on receipt and will need chasing, they get one chasing reminder invoice sent via the post and if they have not paid within 28 days of the reminder being sent. They then sent a letter informing them  that they have been terminated as the plot holder. 

With some 1165 people on the waiting list plot holders cannot drag out paying for their plots as they have done in the past.  

In My Seed Box for 2025 - Swede

 

OK I admit when I think of swede it takes me back to my childhood as my Mum used to cook roast dinners all the time and swede was part of our staple diet, however since growing up and getting married it's not something that the wife was particularly fond off, so I haven't eaten it for some years. 

Chatting with my sister-in-law Pauline who also had a plot on the same allotment site, until she moved away last year.  She has not had much luck growing swede in the past. 

I have a vague recollection of my old Mum boiling it, mashing it and adding butter, but I may be wrong!

Swede Best of All - Seeds To Suit  - Approx 50 Seeds - 29p 

This traditional variety is a popular choice, producing mildly flavoured sized purple topped roots 

Sow        Mid-May to Jun

Harvest  July - December

• Sow directly in the ground from middle of May through to July
• Sow thinly 12.5mm (1/2") deep in drills 300mm (12") apart in finely tilled soil
• When seedlings are large enough to handle thi to 150mm apart, they do not transplant well 
• Keep well -watered and weed free 
• Protect from birds 

In My Seed Box For 2025 - Index

New Seed Catalogues

 

It's that time of the year when the Autumn Catalogues appear and some companies have even released their 2025 Seeds, Plants & Equipment Catalogues for 2025.

Request a Suttons Seed Catalogue or Download 

Request a Dobies Autumn Catalogue or Download 

Request the Organic Gardening Catalogue 

In My Seed Box For 2025 - Tree Spinach

  

In 2023 I was planning to try Chenopodiumgiganteum (Tree Spinach) from Mr Fothergill’s Item Code:39203 £2.99 for Approx. 1000 seeds. 

Due to fighting cancer it didn't happen, I was planning to make the magic happen in 2024, but my reduced mobility and the wacky weather combined with the attacks by slugs and snails, it didn't happen. So 2025 will be the year I try growing tree spinach. 

Tree spinach has eye-catching bright magenta with almost sparkly growing tips. Spinach plants can grow up to 2m tall, hence the name Tree spinach.

This vigorous plant can be harvested as a cut and come again leaf from 25cm tall. Easy to grow, adds columns of height and colour to the veg garden.

It has intense, almost glittery, brilliant pink baby leaves which look dazzling in a mixed leaf salad. Best picked when tender and very young, for use in salads or as a spinach substitute. It is fantastic melted in butter and keeps its magenta when cooked. Once it's tall, it does become a lot coarser.

Chenopodium giganteum self-seeds prolifically, so keep harvesting the plants before they flower, or whip them out to feed to chickens or put on the compost before they run to seed.

Here is an article about Chenopodium giganteum (Tree Spinach) from Alys Fowler: Tree spinach | Gardens | The Guardian, that I did find informative

Now I did go looking for YouTube videos about Tree Spinach but what I found was not the variety Mr Fothergill’s is selling and Alys Flower has written about, that variety Tree Spinach (Chaya) cannot be eaten raw as salad and needs cooking for 20 minutes as there are traces of Cyanide in the leaves! 

I thought they may be different varieties and wrote to Mr Fothergill's Marketing Services manager to ensure I was correct? 

Hi Alan

These are two very different type of Tree Spinach. Our tree spinach Chenopodium giganteum (the one Alys Fowler also mentions) is completely different from Chaya- Mexican Tree Spinach Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (or Mayan Spinach). So, while the latter requires care in preparation, the former is completely safe.

 Hope this helps.

It did help to put my mind at ease, so remember if you find YouTube videos about Tree Spinach it's more than likely going to be the Chaya variety.   

Cultivation

Grow in any well-drained fertile soil, in a sunny or semi-shaded position. In the ideal growing conditions, they can grow quite rapidly and may require staking if they become too tall

Propagation

Sow indoors in early spring or sow direct in early summer, once the soil has warmed up

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Patio and container plants

Pruning

Harvest the leaves as required, to keep the plant compact and cropping well

Pests

Generally, pest-free

Diseases

Generally disease-free

In My Seed Box For 2025 - Index

Tree Surgeon "Would You Like Some Woodchips?"

With all the rain and flooding caused by the mega-storm that has been dumping an Months worth of rain in a day over the weekend & Monday and knowing that Mill Green was flooded and two cars stranded on Sunday and still not moved Monday I have not been down to the allotment. John showed me photos of his plot that had 75mm - 100mm of water in places, he dug some drainage channels into the vacant Japanese's Knotweed plot to help spread the load.

My local tree surgeon rang to ask if we needed topping up with woodchip as he was working near to our allotment site and had a full lorry load. It had stopped raining and was bright so I went to the allotment mid afternoon to meet him there and open the gate and let him in to unload.

We were getting to the end of the good path quality woodchip pile, and whilst waiting for the tree surgeon to arrive I filled two wheel barrow loads and five square flower buckets worth of woodchip.

Then I set about laying new woodchips on one of the paths between beds up on plot 1A.

I'm really happy with how the potting shed is looking now the wood stain has dried. I'm just hoping for a few dry days above 10C so I can finish off the first coat to those areas I have not managed to paint yet.

The plot name and number sign has really weathered over the last 18 months, but when I painted the shed I made sure I gave the sign a good first coat especially on the end grain where the varnish used had weathered badly. I like the weathered patina look that the sign has around the edges and hopefully the V33 will maintain that look and not let the sign weather too much more.

The temporary panel under the sign needs replacing, but that will also allow access to paint around the window frame and flashings.

In My Seed Box for 2025 - Cucumbers

  

In the past I have grown a number of different cucumbers but the ones I keep coming back to and grow each year are Burpless Tasty Green and Esmarald. In 2018 I was introduced to Esmarald from Mr Fothergills as John had started off a load of cucumbers and was looking to distribute the love, by giving his babies to anyone on the plot that was happy to give them room rather than compost them. 

I have to say Esmarald out grew Burpless Tasty Greens but I was not able to get hold of the seeds again from Mr Fothergills, so I was very happy that I saved seeds and have continued to do so. Cucumber seeds can last 10 - 15 years if stored correctly and in 2023 I did a mass saving of seeds, read post here.

Burpless Tasty Green have been  grown annually and in 2021 Swing F1 which was a cucumber with a nice girth only four slices needed per sandwich one in each quadrant of the bread, and quite a nice taste and texture. 

Cucumbers were originally found in India around 4000 years ago, and they have since become the fourth most widely cultivated vegetable in the world. Cucumbers found their way to England during the 14th century, but were not at all popular, they did become more widely eaten from the 17th century.

The species grown for food are Cucumis sativus (cucumber) and Cucumis anguria (West Indian gherkin). In the UK, cucumbers are generally grown to maturity in a greenhouse or polytunnel, although ridge cucumbers and some varieties of gherkin are a little hardier and can be planted outside when danger of frost has passed. All of my cucumbers have been grown out on the allotment plot, as space in the greenhouses is valuable. 

The plan in 2024 was to grow 5 different varieties of cucumbers and to fill the Climbing Frame Greenhouse on the plot (shown above), with alternative rows of cucumbers and French Climbing Beans. The slugs and snail had other ideas and although starting off all the cucumbers in the potting shed, the slugs and snails ate the lot and I fought to finally get one cucumber plant to grow past the ravenous gastropods.    

Burpless Tasty Green (self Saved) - grown in 2024 and slugs and snail wiped them out

Party Time F1 - Mr Fothergills - grown in 2024 and slugs and snail wiped them out thus no harvest or review.

Suprina F1 - D.T.Brown - grown in 2024 and slugs and snail wiped them out thus no harvest or review.

Passandra F1 - Organic Gardening - grown in 2024 and slugs and snail wiped them out thus no harvest or review.

Lunch Box F1 - 10 Seeds - £4.99  - D.T.Brown - Packed Year Ending Sep/2024

5 seeds sown in 2024, slugs and snails ate the lot, thus no harvest or review.

Sow By 2025

Hopeline F1                     - 5 Seeds - £3.99 - Dobies - Sow by 7/2025

Emilie F1                          - 6 Seeds - £2.99 - Dobies - Sow By 2025

Peticue                             - 3 Seds - Free - Which Gardening - Sow By 2025 

Sow By 2026

Burpless Tasty Green F1 - 10 Seeds - £1.50^ - wilko - Sow by 7/2026

^ Bought in the 50% sale for 75p

Lunch Box F1                   - 10 Seeds - £4.89   - Mr Fothergill's - Sow By 2026

5 Seeds sown in 2024 

Sow By 2027

New in 2024 Lunch Box F1 - 10 Seeds - £4.99  - D.T.Brown - Packed Year Ending Sep/2024

5 seeds sown in 2024, slugs and snails ate the lot, thus no harvest or review. 

New in 2024 Party Time F1 - 6 Seeds - £3.99 - Dobies - Packed for year End 2024 

Kyuri Japanese  - 10 Seeds - Free from garden press event  - Sow by 7/2026

New in 2025 Quick Snack F1 - 4 Seeds - £4.99  - Suttons - Packed Year Ending 2024

 

Sow By 2031 - 2036

Marketmore - 10 Seeds - Speedy Seeds - wilko - Sow by 2024 on packet. 

 

Sow By 2033 - 2038

Burpless Tasty Green F1 - Numerous seeds, self saved 2023 

Cucumbers I have grown in the past include: - 

Burpless Tasty Green 

Esmarald 

Hopeline F1

Marketmore

Mini Muncher F1 

Passandra F1

Socrates F1

Swing F1    

Suprina F1

In My Seed Box For 2025 - Index

Kent & Stowe Capability Trowel

I have over they years gathered a load of different shaped and styles of trowels by different manufactures but the Kent & Stowe Capability Trowel is my and my daughters go too trowel and I always think of it as a wide fat English (Kent) Hori Hori Gardening Knife.

I've ended up with two Capability Trowels as that way daughter and I both have our first choice of trowel on the allotment and she bought one for her home use.

It has the Robust Hammer to anchor post and canes, contoured FSC certified ash wood handle for a comfortable grip with leather hanging strap, a pointed tip for easy soil penetration and a serrated edge for severing roots and opening compost bags. Plus it's made of stainless steel for supreme rust resistance and minimal soil adhesion and it has an engraved depth gauge for accurate planting.

As with all Kent and Stowe gardening tools you can see that they have been made by craftsmen and are built to last and the Capability Trowel comes with a 20 year guarantee.

Congratulations to The Kent & Stowe Capability Trowel winning @theenglishgardenmagazine Best All Round Trowel of 2024!

With multiple uses around the garden, this trowel really does deserve a spot in every gardener's shed!

Head over to The English Garden, and have a read of the Best All Round Trowels of 2024: https://www.theenglishgarden.co.uk/.../the-best-garden.../

#gardening #gardentools #kentandstowe #extraordinarytools #gardenadvice #handtrowel #capabilitytrowel

In My Seed Box For 2025 - Index

 

To find the information for a particular variety of vegetable being grown for 2025 use the index below. Hyperlinks will be added over the next three months as I catalogue the seeds I already have; and add to the list those I have either bought or new varieties that have been sent to me by seed suppliers including:-

Dobies, D.T.Brown, Marshalls, Mr Fothergill's , Organic Gardening Catalogue, Seeds To Suit, Suttons, Thompson & Morgan to trial and blog about. 

So far three of the companies listed above are sending me 28 packs of seeds for new varieties of vegetables that have been added to their catalogues for 2025 to trial and blog about.

I also have three new patio or balcony grapevines coming to trial.  

There are posts on this blog re all the seeds and products I have received to trial since 2015 from all of the above companies, after manvslug.uk and I were recognised as gardening press and invited to the annual gardening press event in London  

Vegetables & Fruits 

Aubergine Beans Beetroot Blueberry Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Spring Greens Carrots Cauliflower Celeriac Celery Chard Courgette Cucumber Gherkin Goji Berry Grapevine Red Green Manure Herbs Kale Leeks Lettuce Luffa Marrow Onion from Seed Onion Sets Pak Choi Parsnip Pepper Potatoes Pumpkin Radish Raspberry Salsify Shallots Spinach Spring Onions Squash Strawberries Sweetcorn Swede Tomatoes Tree Spinach Turnips Water Melon