Page 20 - ALG Issue 2 2022

on the...
Kings plot
December 2021 to Mid–February 2022
Well, another year has finished, and we now look forward to the forthcoming gardening year. December and January were surprisingly dry months here in East Anglia. This was helpful in getting the last of the winter digging finished in good time. I must admit some
days in January with the drying winds and warm days you could have been fooled that spring had already arrived as the soil would have broken down beautifully.
I wasn’t tempted outside and the only sowings I have made are under glass. These were my exhibition onions Globo on Christmas Eve; these are up nicely and have been pricked out into modular trays. A good friend of mine raised some Leek Pips (rooted mini leeks that have sprouted from a seed head) and these are growing on in the greenhouse in 7cm square pots, and are already 20- 30cm tall, full of root and ready to pot on again. These will give some nice early show leeks.
In early February, I sowed some peppers in the heated propagator. I like
to sow these early as they can take a while to germinate and get moving, plus the earlier you sow the earlier you will have fruits to harvest.
The shallots, planted outside in the plot in late October, are shooting very nicely along with the autumn onion sets. It will be interesting to see how the shallots develop by being planted out much earlier this year. I have planted a few spare shallots into modular trays as a backup to fill any gaps that don’t appear or that the dreaded crows pull out of the ground.
I have been pulling some superb Eskimo Carrots from a sowing made last June and these should last me until March. All the time they have been protected by an enviromesh cloche and kept in good condition with only minimal carrot fly damage, and certainly a crop worth growing each year.
On the allotment site, we have access to a polytunnel, so in early February I sowed a window box with radish seed and a large pot with some carrots for
20 Allotment and Leisure Gardener
Luckily, I escaped any major damage from storms
hopefully an early harvest. I am tempted in March to sow a few French beans
in pots in the tunnel for an early crop; these should be out of the way before I need the room for my tomatoes.
I have sorted my seed order and my seed potatoes are laid out in trays to start chitting under the benches in my greenhouse so they have light and are frost free, which will encourage some nice short green shoots (chits) to appear.
Dudley, I still have a few savoy cabbages to Eustice, harvest, and the purple sprouting
and Franklin
broccoli is producing a good crop of spears to harvest each week, which is ideal as this is one of my wife’s favourite vegetables.
Luckily, I escaped any major damage from storms Dudley, Eustice, and Franklin, that followed each other over