Page 39 - Garden News

TERRY WALTON

Tales from the

ALLOTMENT

Star of BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show and author. His plot sits in the Rhondda Valley

It’s all go out

on the plot…

Digging in the green manure
reveals an unexpected surprise!

here’s a gallop going on to get that What amazes me is
overgrown green manure back into how I missed them
T the soil. Due to its spurt of growth over in the previous two
the warm autumn it’ll take longer than diggings. Also, when
normal to break down before it improves the digging the crop
soil, and needs to be buried with haste. with a fork and
My neighbouring allotmenteer is well on carefully working
with the task and I’ve only just started away from the
tackling my green oasis. While digging in the haulm I inevitably
green manure I’ve had an unexpected bonus. stick the prongs
Most of the areas where it was sown were last through the biggest
year’s potato ground. I lifted the potatoes and and best potato – so The race is
forked through the ground before sowing the how did I miss them on to dig in
green manure seeds. I dug in the ‘grass’ with with the spade when green manure Photos: Terry Walton
my spade and brought to the surface some they were unseen? Jobs to do now
rather nice, clean potato tubers. They’re oval Still, it was a great
and fresh and without a blemish. Some are treat to take home these potatoes and tasty
even big enough to make baked potatoes! they were too! This has helped eke out my O Firm in any spring cabbage that may
have been loosened.
dwindling supplies. It was also a great
incentive to keep me digging in the hope of O Check forced rhubarb under drum.
increasing the stash! O Continue to harvest winter
My tasty potato In the greenhouse one of my tubs of vegetables as required.
windfall!
carrots has been used up. This drum doesn’t
stay empty long and has been refilled with
13cm (5in) of manure and the manure are emerging through the surface.
covered with the same amount of compost. I still have a stock of onions and sacks of
Into this compost are pushed five tubers of potatoes in my frost-free cool shed. These
‘Rocket’ early potatoes and a further 10cm need checking again to ensure they’re still in
(4in) of compost added. I water lightly with good condition. Some onions in the moist
tepid water and this drum is placed under conditions may start to rot so I remove them
the staging and wrapped in bubble wrap to from the bunch and use. The potatoes may
keep it warm. I’ll leave it alone for about four start to send out shoots so remove these
weeks, then check whether any green shoots shoots and they’re still perfectly good to use.

Preparing for super sweet peas

The greenhouse is being well Some gardeners rub sweet pea soon as you notice the li le Preparing the
used and it’s time to start my husks with fine sandpaper or white tails, plant them in threes ground for
sweet peas on their long nick it with a knife to assist with in root-trainers and keep in a spring sweet
journey. Plastic coin bags from germination but I find my way cool greenhouse. Sowing my pea planting
the bank are perfect to start off means they don’t need that sweet pea seeds springs me into
these sowings. Each bag is half treatment. The bags are put into action to prepare the area where
filled with moist compost and a half seed tray and stored in the later they’ll be planted out. The
Next week: Liming
each variety tipped into each computer room, where it’s warm green manure’s been dug in and
bag. The bags are then topped enough to germinate. I check the surface covered with a
up with moist compost and a after a week to see if any white liberal coating of well-ro ed
name label slipped in. roots appear from the seed. As horse manure. the brassica plot

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