Page 20 - ALG Issue 4 2021

on the...
Kings plot
June to the end of August 2021
Well, June followed a similar pattern
to earlier in the year with sunshine and showers; that is, until the 9th of July when we had an almighty thunderstorm with over 30mm of rain falling in
less than 30 minutes. Rain is always welcome when growing vegetables, but this was too much in a short period of time. Luckily not too much damage to the crops was done. The heavy rain was followed by hot humid days, resulting
in ideal conditions for blight to rear its ugly head. Blight soon appeared on
one corner of our allotment site, and within days had spread right across. This affected the foliage of my earlies and second early potatoes, so I quickly cut this off. However, the Carolus and Setanta, both main crops, didn’t get
any blight on the foliage and, as I write, are still green. It just shows some of the varieties that have blight resistance are worth growing. The same can be said for tomatoes. Many times before
I have mentioned Tomato Mountain Magic; this is fruiting well outside, as
is Honeymoon and Vesper. All claim to have some blight resistance and have certainly held up well this year, where other varieties on fellow plotholders’ sites have failed, so proves they are definitely worth growing.
Other crops that have performed really well are the summer brassicas and
my Brussels sprouts, which at present stand over 1m tall. I think the wetter days of July have helped these thirsty plants. They are already starting to form small buttons, so I am hoping for a good crop this winter.
Carrots and parsnips have grown really well. I am pulling some lovely bunches of Eskimo carrot, and if the parsnip roots are as long as the tops, I may have trouble getting them out of the ground. At the end of June, I sowed a late row
of Eskimo carrots to follow on, which again should be ready for Christmas. Dwarf French bean Safari and climbing French Bean Cobra have cropped very
well. Cobra is a spectacular variety producing pods from the bottom of plants right up to the top, giving a long picking season. I have a late sown
row of Cobra, sowed 1st July, that are just coming on flower, so will feed me into the autumn, weather permitting. Runner beans have been outstanding;
I started picking some Moonlight sown early May, then my Benchmaster kicked in. I always sow three lots of runner beans from early May to mid-June; this again gives continuity. Unfortunately, you do sometimes get a crossover in the middle with more beans than you can eat. One week I picked 74 pounds of beans – luckily, I have many neighbours who look out to buy any surplus at my gate.
This year I made three sowings of sweetcorn. First, I sowed a new variety, called Amaize, a creamy yellow cob which was delicious. These finished and we started eating Picasso, a decorative variety with red stems and outer cob leaves and delicious bicolour kernels within. The last to harvest will be Goldcrest, which stand over 1.8m tall and have some nice size cobs developing. A real talking point on my plot has been my Globo Onions. These have produced some really nice sized bulbs, with many between 2-3 pounds in weight. These were lifted at the end of August and cleaned up ready to hopefully exhibit at our local Village Show. Onion Sets this year struggled
a little as they got hit by Allium Leaf minor, and I almost considered pulling them up, but instead experimented and trimmed some back and left others alone. Following the wet weather,
they started growing out from this and turned out some nice bulbs to harvest and store. So, I think if this happens again another year, I will treat them in a similar way.
My plot mainly has vegetables, but I do like to have a sprinkling of cut flowers as well. The Sweet Williams were
It won’t be long before crops finish for this year and the big clear- up will start
good this year, as were some later sown Dianthus. The Asters look good and the Chrysanthemums are only
just starting to show colour. The real winner has been the bed of Statice; I have cut bunches from this bed, and they make super cut flowers as well
as can be dried for later displays. Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in the polytunnel are cropping really well, although the sweet peppers are slow to ripen this year, but will hopefully turn in September.
One of the highlights in August wasthe announcement of The Best Kept Allotment on our site in Capel St Mary. We are judged unannounced three times in the year, around the end of May, end of June and end of July. The points are added up and the winners announced ready for prizegiving in September at our Village Show. This year, once again I have been lucky enough to win The Best Kept Allotment, and congratulations also go to Angie Armitage and Sue Whybrow, who came
20 Allotment and Leisure Gardener