Page 20 - ALG Issue 4 2020

on the...
Kings plot
from June to early September 2020
Allotment life this year has certainly been challenging in more ways
than one, and I’m not talking about COVID-19. I am talking about the very hot weather we have had so early in
the season and continuing for many months, making plant establishment for some more difficult, and the struggle that some plotholders have had to get crops to perform to their best ability. Luckily though, on the whole,
I am happy with my plot this year and the crops that have been produced despite the hot weather and long dry spells. I mainly put this down to good preparation in the autumn.
Only the other day I was asked if Kings Seeds were seeking vegetables to put up with the hotter summers and lack
of rainfall. Well I am sure this is one of the things that many vegetable plant breeders will be looking into, but new varieties do not happen overnight, many take 10-20 years before they come to market and who’s to know that growing conditions and weather patterns won’t again be different to now. I believe the vegetables we are currently growing can cope very well with the hotter weather we have experienced over the past few years provided they are given the best possible start. On my own plot, this starts in the autumn, adding plenty of organic matter to my soil and digging
it in, and completing this by New Year’s Day if possible. This helps retain the winter rainfall, ready for next spring’s crops. Those plotholders, that wait and turn over plots in the spring, release all that stored moisture and wonder why the soil dries out so quickly on their plots.
When I sow seeds, I water the base
of the seed drill first and cover the seeds with dry soil, again trapping
the moisture where they need it, so I get good germination. If plotholders constantly water over head with a rose
on their watering can before the seeds come up, all they do is cap the soil
and make germination more difficult and patchier. When planting out pot raised plants, they are given 1-2 really good drenches, so they are puddled in. You only have to look at my Brussels sprouts over a meter tall and cabbages as big as footballs; these have not had any water except for a good soaking
at planting and what has come from the heavens, which is not much this year. Running a hoe through the soil regularly, especially after a shower
will create a dry mulch, again trapping moisture around the crops. The only crops that need good watering are those like runner and French Beans that need moisture to help them climb and produce quality beans, but again these are given a really good soak not an odd splash. On a 4-metre double row of runner beans, I often put 10-12 gallons of water per night if a very hot day. This has kept them producing since July and now in early September they are producing a second flush of flowers for hopefully a later picking. A mulch around their roots if available will also help trap moisture.
With good preparation I believe you
can get excellent crops most years including this one. Normally on our
site we have a judging for best kept allotment, and judging takes place 3 times a year in May, June and July. Because of COVID-19 restrictions the committee decided it would still judge the plots but only once, but didn’t announce when, which I think is a good idea then plot holders are encouraged to keep plots tidy all the year not just judging day. So, one evening in July, the judge suddenly appeared and walked around the site with our chairman as a guide and pointed and judged the many plots. In early August the results were announced and the Best Kept allotment for 2020 was mine. I was very pleased
...new varieties do not happen overnight, many take 10- 20 years before they come to market...
after coming 2nd last year and making this the third time I have won this accolade in four years. It was even more pleasing this year as many of my fellow plotholders have had more time than me as I have been working all the way through this pandemic, fulfilling Kings Seeds customer orders, whereas others have been furloughed or are retired. I must say my weekends and odd hour in the evenings have been a welcome relief and have certainly paid off. The trophy presentations and crates of beer that we win, will be done at our annual site work-in during October. As I write, my plot is still producing well, potatoes have been lifted along with onions and have been stored for winter. As mentioned, the brassicas in my cage including the swede and Sprouting broccoli look good, and the Savoy Cabbages are starting to fill out for later in the year.
One crop I have been very impressed with this year is Climbing Bean Cobra; this has been outstanding, producing
20 Allotment and Leisure Gardener