Post Christmas Parcels Arrive

Well these have arrived over the last couple of days

Apex Rotary Soil Sieve Compost Sieve Mesh Riddle from Germany

I have now received the main component parts for my first grow station, Just recalled I have a nice lump of timber in the back of the shed on one of the allotments that will do the base and timber batten for the framework, so I need to recover that next dry visit.

Tomato Selection - The Final Cut

OK  in the last post I had managed to get a short list of 42 from 75 in my tomato seed bank that I would like to grow, the next step is to reduce by half-ish and create a three year growing cycle from the tomato seed bank.  

Stage 1 - remove the >>>> = Grow Every Year from the list

01 Beefsteak
02 Gardeners Delight - Sow By 2015 - Sow By 2016
03 Crimson Crush F3
04 Kibitz - Saved 2016
05 Money Maker
06 One Hundreds and Thousands - Saved 2014 - Saved 2016
07 Outdoor Girl - Saved 2015 - Saved 2016
08 Stupicke Poini Rane - Saved 2016 - Sow By 2017

Stage 2 - Remove those with no date of the oldest Grow By dates for growing this year 2017

01 Blaby Special - Saved 2014
02 Camp Joy - No Date
03 Cherry Falls F1- No Date
04 Delicious - No Date
05 Ferline F1 Hybrid
06 German Lunchbox - No Date
07 Heinz Soup - Saved 2011
08 Indian Bush - No Date
09 Kenilworth King George - No Date
10 Mini Plum - TESCO  - Saved 2014 - get new seed 
11 Minibel - Sow By 2014
12 Nector Rose - Saved 2014
13 Piccolo - Saved 2011
14 Rapunzel F1
15 Purple Russian Plum - Sow By 2014
16 Red Robin - Saved 2015 <<<<< My contribution to Grapevine Seed Circle
17 Sub Artic Plenty - No Dates
18 Sunset Red Horizon - Saved 2014
19 Super Roma - No Dates
20 Sweet Pea Currant - Sow By 2014
21 Tiny Tim - Sow By 2013   <<<<< My contribution to Grapevine Seed Circle

Red Robin & Tiny Tim will become Numbers 9 & 10 on my annual grow list.
Stage 3 - Those that Remain to be added to the 2018 Grow List

01 Alicante - Sow by 2017
02 Amish Mayberry - Saved 2013 - Saved 2016
03 Latah Bush - Saved 2015
04 Marvel Stripes - Saved 2015
05 Peace Vine - Saved 2015
06 Plum Roma - Saved 2015
07 Pomodore Ciliegla - Sow By 2015
08 Rainbow Blend F1 Hybrid - Sow By 2015
09 Red Cherry - Sow By 2015
10 Red Fox Cherry - Saved 2015
11 Sandpipe - Saved 2016 - Saved 2015
12 Sweet Aperitif - Sow By 2017
13 Terenzo F1 Hybrid - Sow By 2015 - Sow By 2017
14 Tomatoberry Garden F1
15 Tumbler - Sow By 2014
16 Tumbling Tom Red - Sow By 2014 - Saved 2016

Stage 4 - 5 of those listed below need to be moved to up to the 2018 list above, a couple cut as I don't grow many blacks & yellows and those left behind will become the 2019 Grow List

01 Arnyalma - Grapevine 2016
02 Berkeley Tie-Dye - Grapevine 2016
03 Black Cherry Tomato - Grapevine 2016
04 Black Icicle - Grapevine 2016
05 Black Russian - Grapevine 2016
06 Black Sea Man - Grapevine 2016
07 Blush - Grapevine 2016
08 Brown Sugar - Grapevine 2016
09 Cream Sausage - Grapevine 2016
10 Chiapis Wild - Grapevine 2016
11 Dark Galaxy - Grapevine 2016
12 German Queen - Grapevine 2016
13 Green Zebra - Grapevine 2016
14 Gold Rush Currant - Grapevine 2016
15 Harbinger - Sow By 2015 - Grapevine 2016
16 Jack Hawkins - Grapevine 2016
17 Legend - Grapevine 2016
18 Mrs Rucks - Grapevine 2016
19 Mountain Princess - Grapevine 2016
20 Otto's Papa - Grapevine 2016

21 Red Buffalo Horn - Grapevine 2016

22 Red Zebra - Grapevine 2016  - Saved 2014

23 Rio Grande - Grapevine 2016

24 Rosella - Grapevine 2016

25 Speckled Roman - Grapevine 2016

26 Summer Cider - Grapevine 2016

27 Vesennij Mieurinsky - Grapevine 2016
28 Yellow Perfection - Grapevine 2016

I think I'm nearly there...... Until I get the seed parcel from the Grapevine next year that is!

The Grapevine 2017 Tomato Seed Circle can be found here

Tomato Seed Selection 2017

And now the pain begins I need to select 28 out of 75 varieties that I have in my seed boxes to grow in 2017. How do I get to the magical number of 28, there will be 22 flower buckets worth in the back garden, there will be three for the Grapevine and other seed circles that will be isolated in the greenhouses on the Allotments and the Space Saver Greenhouse at home, and two varieties grown in the ground on the two allotment plots and one variety at my eldest daughters.  

I'm not counting any space from the Mill Green Grow House and the Extension to the Little Shed on Mill Green Allotment in the equation at the moment which could hold another 12 varieties, giving me a maximum of 40 plants   

>>>> = Grown Every Year
>>> = Selected for growing in 2017

01 >>> Alicante - Sow by 2017
02 >>> Amish Mayberry - Saved 2013 - Saved 2016
Arnyalma - Grapevine 2016
03 >>>> Beefsteak
Berkeley Tie-Dye - Grapevine 2016
04 >>> Blaby Special - Saved 2014
Black Cherry Tomato - Grapevine 2016
Black Icicle - Grapevine 2016
Black Russian - Grapevine 2016
Black Sea Man - Grapevine 2016
Blush - Grapevine 2016
Brown Sugar - Grapevine 2016
05 >>> Camp Joy - No Date
06 >>> Cherry Falls F1- No Date
Cream Sausage - Grapevine 2016
07 >>>> Crimson Crush F3
Chiapis Wild - Grapevine 2016
Dark Galaxy - Grapevine 2016
08 >>> Delicious - No Date
09 >>> Ferline F1 Hybrid
10 >>>> Gardeners Delight - Sow By 2015 - Sow By 2016
Garden Pearl <<<<<< The only Tomato I will never grow again
11 >>> German Lunchbox - No Date
German Queen - Grapevine 2016
Green Zebra - Grapevine 2016
Gold Rush Currant - Grapevine 2016
Harbinger - Sow By 2015 - Grapevine 2016
12 >>> Heinz Soup - Saved 2011
13 >>> Indian Bush - No Date
Jack Hawkins - Grapevine 2016
14 >>> Kenilworth King George - No Date
15 >>>> Kibitz - Saved 2016
16 >>> Latah Bush - Saved 2015
Legend - Grapevine 2016
17 >>> Marvel Stripes - Saved 2015
18 >>> Mini Plum - TESCO  - Saved 2014 - get new seed
19 >>> Minibel - Sow By 2014
20 >>> Money Maker
Mrs Rucks - Grapevine 2016
Mountain Princess - Grapevine 2016
21 >>> Nector Rose - Saved 2014
22 >>>> One Hundreds and Thousands - Saved 2014 - Saved 2016
Otto's Papa - Grapevine 2016
23 >>>> Outdoor Girl - Saved 2015 - Saved 2016
24 >>> Peace Vine - Saved 2015
25 >>> Piccolo - Saved 2011
26 >>> Plum Roma - Saved 2015
27 >>> Pomodore Ciliegla - Sow By 2015
28 >>> Purple Russian Plum - Sow By 2014
29 >>> Rainbow Blend F1 Hybrid - Sow By 2015
Red Buffalo Horn - Grapevine 2016
30 >>> Red Cherry - Sow By 2015
31 >>> Red Fox Cherry - Saved 2015
32 >>> Red Robin - Saved 2015
Red Zebra - Grapevine 2016  - Saved 2014
33 >>> Rapunzel F1
Rio Grande - Grapevine 2016
Rosella - Grapevine 2016
Unknown Black with a working title of Schwarse Weinreich - Saved by Nellie-m
Sandpipe - Saved 2016 - Saved 2015
Speckled Roman - Grapevine 2016
34 >>>> Stupicke Poini Rane - Saved 2016 - Sow By 2017
35 >>> Sub Artic Plenty - No Dates
Summer Cider - Grapevine 2016
36 >>> Sunset Red Horizon - Saved 2014
37 >>> Super Roma - No Dates
Sweet Aperitif - Sow By 2017
38 >>> Sweet Pea Currant - Sow By 2014
39 >>> Terenzo F1 Hybrid - Sow By 2015 - Sow By 2017
40 >>> Tiny Tim - Sow By 2013   <<<<< Seed Circle
41 >>> Tomatoberry Garden F1
42 >>> Tumbler - Sow By 2014
Tumbling Tom Red - Sow By 2014 - Saved 2016
Vesennij Mieurinsky - Grapevine 2016
Yellow Perfection - Grapevine 2016

So let the selection start, I think it's going to take some time. I will review the packs and select the oldest seeds first and perhaps some of those will be added to the three for the seed circle.

Mill Green Allotment - Crimson Crush F3

Mill Green Greenhouse - ???

Mill Green Grow House - If it can be reconstructed in time 6 Varieties

Mill Green Little Shed Extension - 6 varieties

Spencer Road Allotment -

Spencer Road Greenhouse - If erected in time

Back Garden Space Saver Greenhouse -

Back Garden - 22 Varieties.

The Grow Station Commeth

I've been thinking about heated propagators for some time, then Big Mallly on the grapevine forum showed us his latest build. LED Growlight Mk1.....Total cost approx £10.   

Now I could have bought the materials and made one like the big guys but in the end I decided to buy a 225 LED 14W Grow Panel Red Blue Hydroponic Light Board Grow Tent LED hanger for £9.99 including delivery and save myself the bother.

I also bought a 500mm x 500mm Horticultural Heat Mat Propagator to build a grow station in my external brick shed mounted on top of the small freezer that holds the allotment produce. 

SWMBO only allows my little Ikea Greenhouse in the kitchen behind the patio door, I'll not get away with window cill set up as she has too many ornaments on them. 

I just need to find a home for the lawnmower that lived on top of the freezer, which means clearing out the other two sheds as they are full to the doors with useful rubbish.

My plan is to make a timber table with large door stops as feet, I built one like that for my old printer to give me storage space under about 25 years ago, and the feet are in one of the sheds that need clearing somewhere. Bet I can't find them and end up buying more!  This will stop any significant heat getting to the top of the freezer.

Photos will follow when I have made the space and the component parts have arrived. I may include a light box to reflect the light in towards the plants.

I just may be able to get some tomatoes off to a flying start this year, and get an early batch going.

Planning & Reviewing Previous Years

It's the holiday season, very cold and wet and the time for planning for this year and reviewing the previous years. I have created a new page under the banner called Sowing & Planting Plan. This is in addition to the Plans for Mill Green Plot 1A and  Plans for Spencer Road Plot 23B pages that have plans showing there layouts with what's going in each bed  this year and a list of what varieties are being grown.  

The Sowing & Planting Plan Page is a schedule of things to do and when based on guidance from Garden Focused based on the last frost date for Sutton Surrey of the last week in April. I selected what I'm going to grow and have copied the schedule produced from the web site and pasted on the Sowing & Planting Plan Page,

I'm in the process if tweaking the schedule based on experience and added lines like adding a fortnightly reminder for Spring Onions after the initial one in March produced by the web site. I'm also adding plot specific tasks that need to be completed like the preparation of the beds for the Asparagus and the erection of the greenhouse.

Reviewing the diary over the last four years for January

2013 - Planning, Infrastructure Works, Lea Cages, Bed Edging, Paving off Freecycle. Burning Debris

2014 - Bean Trench, Infrastructure Works, Potato Chitting, Digital Thermometer from Lidl

2015 - Onions from Seed (first year) Clearing Brassica Beds & Composting, Prepping Beds with Manure, Coir Blocks from Poundland.

2016 - Snow, Infrastructure, Base for the shed on Spencer Road.  

So much depend on the weather in January, but the objectives for January 2017 are in many ways similar to those in January for the last four years, so here is the to do list in no particular order.

Spencer Road

• As much infrastructure works as the weather will allow 
• Raise the paving for the greenhouse
• Weed the area and create Beds 6 & 8 for the onions
• Make another 2.4m x 1.2m Onion Planting Membrane
• Tidy Up Mill Green Allotment
• Make Walking Onion raised bed frames.

Mill Green

• Tidy Up the Allotment
• Clear The Greenhouse
• Hoop Cages and Netting for Onions from Mill Green to Spencer Road
• Drain and Move Nettle Water Butt to Spencer Road
• Install hoop eyes and training wires for trees  

Home

• Clear the crap out of the sheds
• Find a new home for lawn mover
• Set up growing station in the brick shed

Reminders

• Already stocked up with coir for 2017, but I will need to replenish for 2018
• I have another green house so will want a few more of Digital Thermometer from Lidl
• Check condition of saved seed potatoes in the shed after heavy frost
• Purchase vent opener for new greenhouse.

Walking Onions Planting Membrane

As I was up early I took the opportunity of cutting out the 42 holes in the two sheets of 1.2m x 0.6m walking onion planting membrane sheets. That's another job ticked off the list of things I can do for the allotment without being on the allotment.

Now I just need to get the raised bed frames built and I'm thinking that to stop the wind and the foxes knocking them down as they grow their apple-sized top set of papery bulbs at the top of a 3ft hollow leaf stalks, I will put a tile batten in each corner of the bed and fence it off, or make removable panels for weeding watering and generally making bed maintenance easy. 

  

Winter Boots & Meeting New Plot Holder

Wally the chap I met on the plot a couple of weeks ago has decided to take on a half plot and I met him on site this morning so that he could have a final look before he submits, his paperwork.

His daughters applied for the plot for him, as he is retired and they want to keep him active and productive and are looking forward to consuming the produce he grows.

Whilst there I carried on with the cutting up of the pop bottle greenhouse frames that were dumped back on my plot by the guy who was given an notice to quit after having a neighbouring plot for two years and doing nothing with it over than covering with a tarp and then all manor of crap.

New thermal winter boots I picked up from Aldi for £14.99 kept my feet nice and toasty throughout the visit to the plot.

Happy Seedmas

Seedmas follows Christmas, its that time of year when the seed circles start sending out the seeds that the members of the circles have sent to the organiser. The way it normally works is that you send your seeds in using an envelope usually padded, with a label with your address on and a 1st Class Large postage stamp for the seeds to come back to you once everyone has submitted their contribution.

Today I received one envelope with contents from two circles off the Grow Your Own Grapevine forum Tomato and the Pea & Bean Circles and the contents were:

Tomatoes - 29 varieties to add to my ever growing collection, most packs have a minimum of 8 seeds in them 

Arnyalma
Berkeley Tie-Dye
Black Cherry Tomato
Black Icicle
Black Russian
Black Sea Man 
Blush
Brown Sugar
Cream Sausage
Chiapis Wild
Dark Galaxy
German Queen
Green Zebra
Gold Rush Currant
Harbinger
Jack Hawkins
Legend
Mrs Rucks
Mountain Princess
Otto's Papa
Red Buffalo Horn
Red Zebra
Rio Grande
Rosella
Unknown Black with a working title of Schwarse Weinreich - Saved by Nellie-m
Summer Cider
Speckled Roman
Vesennij Mieurinsky
Yellow Perfection

My contribution to the tomato seed circle was Amish Mayberry , Tumbling Tom Red, 100s & 1000s

Here is an interesting link re the Health Benefits Of Tomatoes

Beans -  13 Beans my contribution was Scarlet Emperor  

Blue Beans
Brejo CFB
Cara la Virgen de la Bañeza León
Cherokee Trail of Tears
Crimson Flowered Broad Bean
Hinrichs Riesen Dwarf French Bean
Kew Blue
Major Cook's Climbing French Bean
Mangetout Winterkefe
Nun's Belly Button Bush Beans
Ryder's Blue CoCo CFB
Starley Red Peas (Dwarf French Bean)
Vermont Cranberry Bush Bean

Also today swept up another sack of leafs in the front garden and cut/ melted another two 2.4 x 1.2m Blank Bed Sheets and 2.4m x 0.8m path membranes whilst the sun was on the garden table and it was warmish and not windy.

Also made a timber seed sowing rule using stripwood 900mm long 44.5mm wide and 4mm thick with 10mm dia. holes at 25mm centres. Shame they don't sell that section of timber longer and I could have made it just under a bed width. I may make another so I have one on each plot. 
  

Working for the Allotment not on it

Working for the allotment rather than on it today. After a freezing night, with the car covered in ice at 10:00 pm last night and the terracotta pot heater used to try and keep the frost and ice at bay in the spacesaver greenhouse, the sun come out this morning and it was actually became quite nice and warm once the sun was shining on the patio table.

So warm in fact that I took the opportunity to cut / weld a 2.4 x 1.2m metre sheet out of the 2m wide roll and then make two 600mm x 1.2m sheets and mark them out for holes at 150mm centres for the walking onion beds.

I sent an email to the local brewery this morning to see if they had any sacks of spent hops they didn't want, and I got a reply more or less by return and arranged to meet the chief brewer at their establishment and pick up some sacks. What a nice guy, took me in and showed me around and then gave me half a point of their Gold larger to try. Next visit I will pick up a few bottles as it was the best I have tasted in a long time as I usually drink bitter these days. 

So a car full of spent hops were dropped off at my plot on Spencer Road and I have notified all our plot holders that we can pick up 8- 10 sacks from the brewery each week.  

Living With The Consequences

Christmas Day Marshalls had 20% off their orders so I bit the bullet and ordered the Chefs choice option in there 2017 catalogue 3 varieties 5 crowns of each pacific 2000, Araine & Millennium plus a free harvesting knife.

Thank you to all the grapes on the Grow Your Own forum for the feedback and discussion

As a direct result I have amended the proposed layout and placed two permanent beds behind the fruit cages and the Daleks.

Click on image to expand

Now the kicker, the asparagus is due for delivery 6th March  + or - 14 days so that's anytime between the 20th February and the 20th March so it looks like I have my work cut out to get bed 14 as weed free as possible and prepared ready.  

I used to be indecisive now I'm just not sure

It's all to do with it being winter and planning the plot and re planning the plot !

Click on the image to view full screen

I had intended to square flower buckets at the end of the paths between beds for things like wildflowers for the bees so four and the others would have other container liking plants in. .

I really love eating asparagus and I have been meaning to get some in especially as you don't take anything in the first year 50% in the second and don't get a full harvest until the third and for the next 20+

So there needs to be permanent beds for it. Looking at my plan above, instead of flower buckets I'm now thinking of inserting 600x600 beds at the end or the paths and using these for everlasting Onions, Asparagus and Rhubarb. 

My question is would one crown in each 600 x 600 bed be OK and would you foresee any future problems with what I am proposing?

Beds 17 & 18 are 600 wide by 1.8m long so I would get 4 crowns in each bed at the recommended 450mm centres 

Now I do have Asparagus seeds but I'm now reading it's better to buy crowns and Marshalls have a Chefs choice option in there 2017 catalogue 3 varieties 5 crowns of each pacific 2000, Araine & Millennium plus a free harvesting knife for £14.99 which looks like a good deal as the knife sells for £6.99

So I'm torn, I can't really see myself having permanent beds in place and importantly weed free in time to buy and plant in March this year.

Do I get the infrastructure and the beds prepared this year and loose another year?

Do I go for the Flower Buckets this year on top of the areas for where the paths will be and have this as a longer term objective? 

Do I grow from seeds and that gives me a year to grow them and plant them next year?

What would you do ? Help me out here !

Grow Your Own Magazine & Gift

After being nominated and selected as the Grow Your Own magazine forum the Grapevine Member of the Month for November, then having a one of my forum feedbacks to questions asked by the magazine Admin team along with three other Grapes had made it into the magazine in the December Issue. I've just found that I also been published in the January Issue.  

In addition a set of 90 degree corner brackets from Indoor Outdoor have been sent to me by the Grow Your Own Admin team as a little thank you for my contribution to the forum.  Their gifts normally take for form of items that have been sent to them to review.

The corner brackets are made from high grade steel and powder coated in either matt black or brown. This makes them robust and it's not going to rust quickly and loose strength.  

They were originally created to be used with Railway Sleepers to create pathway edging however they have also been used for raised beds.  I have another use for them as I'm just about to create a scaffold board base for my greenhouse on the allotment. 

These brackets will allow me to fix the boards at the corners and assist in anchoring the greenhouse against the high winds that we get crossing the allotment, as I don't want my greenhouse to end up like my brother in law shed did in the storms last March now do I. 

Marshalls & Unwins 2017 Seed Catalogues

The NEW 2017 Unwins and Marshalls catalogue will be landing on doorsteps after Christmas, packed with 100s of new and exclusive varieties for 2017.  

But if you cant wait and you want to start planning for the spring and summer ahead

Here is the link for The Marshalls 2017 Catalogue

Here is the link for The Unwins 2017 Catalogue