Page 21 - ALG Issue 1 2023

reasonably clean for the autumn, and all the plot grass edges were re-done where they had become out of shape or overgrown during the end of the summer.
Autumn crops are looking ok. I will have plenty of parsnips to lift, carrots Eskimo from the June sowing are looking just the right size to harvest for the festive season and throughout autumn into the New Year. Savoy cabbages look good; this year I am growing Cordesa F1, along with cabbage Marabel F1; this is the new hybrid January King type.
It looks good and tastes the same as that old favourite that we sadly can no longer purchase for the catalogue, but Marabel, in my opinion, is just as good if not better with improved vigour and disease resistance.
The sprouting broccoli are nice size plants to withstand the winter and start producing next spring, and I have enough leeks left to make some leek and potato soup with the stored main crop of Setanta potatoes that cropped incredibly well despite the dry summer.
The only autumn vegetable that is on the small size but still ok are the Brussels sprouts; these probably suffered a little from lack of water
during the summer, resulting in smaller than normal buttons.
At the end of October, I had two deliveries of mushroom compost from the local farm in the village. Because of the location of my allotment, the only way they can tip me a load is over the fence from the car park onto the grass tractor path near my plot. So, I always get it tipped on a large tarpaulin which keeps the grass clean and makes it easier for me to shovel up.
Once delivered I set about moving from the heaps on a very mild Saturday morning; blimey, I soon got a sweat on, moving over 80 barrowloads from the heap. Once moved, in the next few days this was spread out over the soil ready for when I want to start winter digging. Some was also used to mulch the rhubarb crowns that had already died down for the winter.
The polytunnel has been tied up and the old growbags and any pots of compost from home that had summer bedding in have now been tipped out and spread on the plot where next year’s root crops are going to grow.
November has already bought us more rain than we had all summer, so the soil
Don’t forget if any NAS member has a seed problem and needs some free advice, the team at Kings Seeds are always at the end of a phone to help.
is nicely moist and in ideal condition for digging. This will soon start and I hope to have this all finished by the New Year, weather permitting. I neatly dug a piece of ground I find so pleasing on the eye and is one of those jobs that the sooner I can complete, the more time I will have to sit back and relax and plan next year’s crops.
2022, despite the long hot summer and very dry weather, turned out to still be a good growing season on the Kings Plot and produced many prize-winning and flavoursome crops. Let’s hope 2023 is just as good, if not better for us all. Wishing you all a happy and successful gardening year. Don’t forget if any NAS member has a seed problem and needs some free advice, the team at Kings Seeds are always at the end of a phone to help.
Happy Gardening!
Andrew Tokely, Horticultural Director for Kings Seeds
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 21