Page 20 - ALG Issue 1 2025

ON THE
KINGS PLOT
Late August to Early November 2024
By Andrew Tokely, Horticultural Director for Kings Seeds
although the outdoor crop has been slightly later to mature, so the last fruits harvested were still green and placed in trays with
a ripe banana to help ripen. Every year
I grow some cut flowers on the plot; chrysanthemums, statice, Sweet Williams, dahlias and sunflowers. I had success in the show with my dahlias, sunflowers and chrysanthemums, and have been picking regularly each week through the summer with many bunches to enjoy indoors or pass on to neighbours.
Autumn is now upon us and the plot has been tidied up, old crops cleared and composted. Canes have been tied up
and stored for next year. Cleared ground has had a quick hoe to knock down any weeds so it is as clean as can be at this time of year ready for winter preparation. At the end of October, I had two loads of mushroom compost delivered and tipped on a tarpaulin at the end of my plot.This
Harvesting through August and September continued well, and I must say, despite the later start this spring due to the weather, on the whole crops have performed
well. My sweetcorn matured and were harvested and enjoyed by the family this year, and not by the local badger, who has kindly stopped visiting the site this year, thank goodness.
In early September, we had the Capel St Mary Allotment Society village show.There were some good entries this year spread across a lot of classes. I was lucky enough to win 22 firsts, 5 seconds and 3 thirds.This helped me win the trophies for most points in the ‘Vegetable classes’, ‘Best Vegetable Collection’,‘Best exhibit of vegetables in show’ with my large Globo Onions, best exhibit of Roses,‘The RHS Banksian Medal’ for most prize money and the cups for ‘Best kept Allotment and Polytunnel plot’ won earlier in the year. Congratulations should
go to all exhibitors and the committee for putting on another excellent show.
Runner beans and French beans have cropped very well this year. I have been very impressed by Dwarf French Bean Stanley, which cropped for several weeks and with successional sowings continued up until the end of September. My main variety of Runner bean I grow is Benchmaster that cropped exceptionally well.This year I made a late sowing of Runner Bean Moonlight and Firestorm in the first week of July. Sowing this late can be a gamble depending on the weather, but this year was a success and I picked the last beans from these plants on the 12th October.
Tomatoes both in the polytunnel and outdoors have cropped well this year,
20 | Issue 1 2025 | Allotment and Leisure Gardener
“Don’t forget, if sowing early seeds under glass, to try our New Peat Free Seed sowing compost”