Page 36 - ALG Issue 4 2020

readers articles
Still learning!
I am 69, I have gardened since the age of 3, and I am still learning!
I have an allotment in South Marston, near Swindon, Wiltshire which is
full of wonderful veg. I’ve also got a greenhouse at home full of wonderful veg!
I thought I would write about how I have grown them, protected them, and preserved the excess.
CABBAGES
It has been the usual annual battle to prevent slugs/snails/butterflies getting to them, so the regime is:
• Grow them in a veg mesh frame to protect from white butterflies and grow more than you need – at least one determined enemy will get through!
• Seedlings: Surround young plants with pipe rings, smeared with a mix of salt/Vaseline.
• As they grow bigger, cut off the lower leaves so they won’t form a bridge for snails/slugs over the pipe ring.
• When they mature into nice supermarket quality, be quick to pick the best before more enemies move in. Leave the already munched ones as sacrifice.
• Either eat freshly cooked or cut up into shreds, poke into small, sealable bags (portion-sized) then freeze.
SWEET POTATOES
I’ve never grown them before, but in a deep container in the greenhouse
heatwave, they have thrived and blossomed (pretty flowers!). I await harvest time later – exciting stuff!
DWARF BEANS
The sweet potatoes didn’t seem to take up much room in the deep container
in the greenhouse, so I filled in the space with dwarf beans. Had to cut off the triffid-like growth of tendrils of the sweet potatoes and discovered a big harvest of beans!
PS: I had a couple of dwarf bean plants spare, so I planted them at the allotment between the rows of sweet corn. 14 beans pods on one plant!
RED PEPPERS
Last year, I saved a big sweet red pepper from Sainsburys, left it in the greenhouse till spring, then extracted the seeds and planted them thinking that they won’t really grow but every single blessed seed did! I picked the best plants and they loved the heatwave in the greenhouse, and I have lots of fruit forming nicely.
In the past I’ve saved the small hot peppers the same way, frozen them, then grated them when required for any stew requiring a bit of a ‘kick’.
TOMATOES
I am not ever so keen on tomatoes unless they are disguised in a
sauce. However, I tried a fresh little yellow one last year; it was thin- skinned, sweet, and juicy. Put one in the greenhouse, extracted seed in spring,
I had a couple of dwarf bean plants spare, so I planted them
at the allotment between the rows of sweet corn. 14 beans pods on one plant!
grew loads, am now eating them like sweets!
STORING FRESH VEG IN FRIDGE
Wrap in a damp tea towel – this keeps carrots, beans, etc. fresh for days, sometimes weeks!
KEEPING PLANTS DAMP
Put newspaper in a tray, water it, and place potted plants on it. You can use gravel, soil etc. but the newspaper is lightweight.
NO SMELL COMFREY FERTILISER
I’ve only seen methods for making “smelly” comfrey fertiliser. Mine isn’t. I just shove freshly cut comfrey leaves/ stalks into an old water butt that’s
got scrunched up chicken wire in the bottom (to help prevent blocking the tap at the bottom). It doesn’t need any water – it just turns to liquid on its own and NO SMELL. Dilute it – I think the recommended ratio is 1:10 but I probably do it less unless my plants demand more!
Heather Bishop
Containerwise
Long-life
Propagation Trays
Buy once – use for years. The ultimate in recycling.
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36 Allotment and Leisure Gardener