Life on The Weald - January 2025

Life at The Weald - January 2025

and  a few distractions

There were wild winds on New Year's Eve so we didn't venture down to the beach with our 12 grapes and bottle of fizz but stayed indoors in the warm and dry, watching the London fireworks on TV!

1 January

New Year's Day was another wet and windy one, not suitable for gardening.

2 January

By contrast, Thursday was a bright, dry but cold sunny day but, as the last day for our New Year visitors, was spent in the warm at home.

2 January - at home in the warm!

3 January

With visitors gone, it was time to see what damage the gales had done. Apart from damage to one of the polycarbonate panels on the half-finished greenhouse, the plot had fared well.

It was a cold, frosty morning, with ice on the tools that I had inadvertently left out!

I carried on clearing the area near the raspberries and the adjacent raised bed, where there had been a lot of encroachment of bindweed and couhcgrass (as well as spreading raspberries) and laid down cardboard.  I also put some cardboard trays filled with a mixture of leaves and worm compost in the raised bed that had been cleared of raspberries.

3 January - Area cleared of invaders!

The peas and beans planted out a few days earlier had survived the frost.

3 January - Meteor peas

3 January - Broad beans

4 January

I cleared the middle area next to our eastern boundary with plot 246.  There was some bindweed and brambles spreading but it was mostly annual weeds.  I will be laying some cardboard soon and spreading some compost and manure and this will be the site for my climbing beans. The northern end of the boundary, by the plum trees is completely engulfed by brambles, couch grass and bindweed as well as several suckers from the plum trees. 

We have blackcurrant bushes on our side of the boundary and our neighbour, Louise, had planted some Rosemary on her side, 

4 January - our eastern boundary

I returned to the area where tromboncinos had been grown last year, near the redcurrants at the front (the southern end) of the plot.  I was recently given a Yacón (Mexican ground pear) and thought this would be a good place to plant it; (currently it is dormant in a pot in the shed).   There should also be enough space to plant my Achocha, if I manage to get the seeds to germinate!  Removing the bindweed was quite a task and it has spread to the redcurrants.  The redcurrants are very old and woody and are not cropping as well as in the past.  They have been in situ for 8 years and came with us from London, where they had been for several years, so they are probably in need of replacing.  I'll give them another season and then consider what to do.

4 January - bindweed roots

4 January - a site for the Yacón 

7 January

I continued the job of clearing bindweed and couch grass near the raspberries on the western boundary but also had to dig out raspberry roots that had spread to nearby beds.  Some of the spreading raspberries were 2ft deep which makes a mockery of my "no dig"!

7 January - digging out unwanted raspberries

7 January and more digging

7 January - and more bindweed roots!

There was some good news.  The elephant garlic and the Meteor peas were surviving the cold bout of weather and afew of the directly sown peas were emerging.

7 January - Elephant garlic

7 January - directly sown Meteor peas

The real garlic was looking good too.

Solent Wight

1st planting of Eden Rose

Kingsland Wight

2nd planting Eden Rose

9 January

The weather turned much colder with a slight snowfall in Hove (unlike Scotland, the North and the West country, where there were real blizzards).  The snow didn't settle in our garden and not much on the allotment but what did froze with the accompanying sleet and subsequent sub-zero temperature. We are hoping that the sudden cold spell may reduce some of the pests.

9 January - remains of snow on the plot

The red onions had suffered from the cold but the peas and broad beans seemed OK.

9 January - red onions

9 January - Meteor peas

9 January - Broad beans

9 January - the herb wheelbarrow

9 January - frozen footpath

9 January - rhubarb appearing through the ice

An allotment colleague, Kate, took this photo of the snow on Hove beach

9 January - Hove beach

10 January

Friday was the coldest January night for 15 years. The lowest temperature in the UK was recorded in Scotland at -22.3C, with temperatures of -15C across northern and central England.  In Hove the temperature was around -5C.

In the warmth at home, my Oyster King  mushroom kit was bearing fruit.

10 January - Oyster King mushrooms

It was a sad day for the allotment.  One of the best loved plotholders, Peter Gorbach, had died before Christmas and today was his funeral.  I had known Peter before we became fellow allotmenteers through political activities. Born into a Jewish family in America, and experiencing severe anti-semitism growing up and with family members who perished in the holocaust, but he was aware of the great injustice done to the Palestinian people and was a passionate anti-Zionist and fought racism all his life.

10 January - Peter's coffin at the crematorium

The funeral was a secular one at the crematorium up on the Downs.  It was a bitterly cold day when I parked in the cemetery for the walk to the Crematorium chapel.

10 January - Brighton (The Downs) Cemetery

10 January - Brighton (The Downs) Cemetery

16 January

The earliest sown broad beans had suffered some battering from the winds, so I put in some stakes and strings to try to protect them from further buffeting. The later sown ones, which were not so tall, seemed to have fared better.

17 January

I planted out the remaining broad beans that had been sown in pots at home.

17 January - broad beans

19 January

The morning was cold but dry and we had some help from Luke who had volunteered to collect some manure for us - 4 wheelbarrows full!  We also brought the chainsaw with us and whilst I was muckspreading and Sylvi was repairing the greenhouse, Luke set to with the chainsaw removing an unwanted plum tree to allow some southern light into the greenhouse.

19 January - manure spread near Western boundary

19 January - manure spread near Eastern boundary

19 January - manure spread near potato patch

20 January

I bought a few Biztro shallots from the shop and planted these.  Previously, whilst clearing the bed that had been invaded by raspberries, I discovered some shallots that had been planted last year but had come to nothing and been left in the ground. Rather than chucking them, I separated the bulbs and re-planted these, next to the Biztro, hoping they might produce in a new environment, free of raspberries, bindweed and couchgrass, and which I am determined to keep as weed free as possible!

21 January

I harvested the first of the Oyster King mushrooms - which were delicious.

21 January - Oyster King mushrooms

22 January

The garden was looking a bit neglected and I decided to sacrifice some of the lawn to enlarge a flower bed where Sylvi would like to grow Dahlias.  I also took the opportunity to lift and divide some of the primulas before replanting and also planted out some Hellebores that had been pot-grown.

22 January Primulas & Hellebores  in their new home

25 January

The previous few days had seen more strong winds so I visited the plot to see what damage had been done.  We had escaped quite lightly!  The skylight was missing from the greenhouse, however, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

25 January - missing skylight

My mistake was that I was looking on the ground!  One of my near neighbours, Joseph, spotted it higher up, in the trees and brambles by the fence at the back of the plot.  Some wind!

25 January - skylight in the brambles

26 January 

There had been more gales overnight but, despite the wind this morning, Sylvi fixed the skylight in the greenhouse.  It was miserable weather and we didn't want to stay long but on leaving the plot we discovered there had been a delivery of woodchip, so we braved the weather for a little longer and filled a few sacks which we put in the boot of the car and left.

27 - 28 January

The wind and rain continued.

29 January

It was dry but cold, with a maximum temperature of 5C. I had a meeting on site with someone from Whitehawk Allotment anda representative of Brighton and Hove  Food Partnership to discuss the possible siting of a communal food waste compostor at The Weald, which is being considered by the Weald Committee. After the meeting I managed to deposit my woodchip which had been in the car for three days but then retreated as there was more  heavy rain that afternoon.

At home there was one more Oyster  mushroom to be picked, but the rest had come to little.

29 January - a lone Oyster King mushroom

30 January

It was a dry sunny day, so I took the opportunity of putting some canes and strings around the later sown broad beans, hoping that this might give them some protection from future wnds as they grow taller.

At home I cooked the last of the butternut squash - I had seen a "hasselback" baked recipe with Brie cheese, so decided to give ot a try.

30 January - Hasselback squash from start.....

......to finish

31 January

The Meteor peas had begun to germinate, almost 25% success so far!

It had been a mixed month.  The brief very cold spell was welcome but we had also experienced some unseasonally warm days and very wet weather with strong winds.  We are hoping February will be more consistent.

John Austin

Hove, January 2025

 Life on The Weald - December 2024

- and several distractions

There's always work to be done in December, preparing the ground for the following spring, but very few days that are conducive to outdoor activity!   Autumn was a little late this year but towards to end of November and early December there was a plentiful supply of leaves to be collected.  These can be added to a leaf compost pile, which may take two to three years to produce leaf mold, mainly by fungal breakdown.  

4 December

I filled a coulple of compost bins with just leaves, which I will leave for at least a year, but have added lots to the normal compost bins and also spread some, mixed with other organic matter, as a mulch, leaving worms and nature to take over.  I have spread some on a layer of cardboard where the potatoes will be planted in March.

4 December - A layer of leaves and other organic matter

I also took the opportunity to lift a few more Jerusalem artichokes.

4 December - Jerusalem atrichokes

6 December 

There was the first sign of elephant garlic, planted last month, just peeping through the layer of Strulch (straw mulch) which had been spread for protection from frost and to deter predators.

6 December - first sighting of elephant garlic

8 December

My eldest son, Damien, and his partner, Sharon, had been staying for the weekend - I offered them a choice of squash to take home. They chose the Turk's turban.

8 December - Turks Turban

There was a party to celebrate the Winter Solstice at the Blatchington Windmill organised by the Brighton and Hove Organic Gardening Group (BHOGG)  which we took Damien and Sharon to.  There was a gardening/horticultural quiz and the team we joined managed to win and Sharon had the privilege of smashing the Gingerbread House made by one of the members.  The house was fully glazed, with windows made from melted down Fox's glacier mints.

8 December - Gingerbread house, demolished

8 December - Sharon having a smashing time

10 December

I removed the fleece from broad beans and peas. 

10 December - fleece covering newly sown broad beans

The beans were doing well and forcing the fleece up but there were only a few signs of the Meteor Peas.  Later, I wondered if I had made a mistake removing the fleece as there were very heavy winds that night.

11 December

A quick visit showed the extent of the damage from the previous night's storm force winds.  Chairs, tables and anything freestanding had been blown around; the door was off the greenhouse and the skylight had been blown off.

11 December - greenhouse; goodbye skylight

11 December - greenhouse and surrounding chaos

I tried to straighten the fruit cage (housing the brassicas) which was now at a jaunty angle.   

Despite the heavy winds, the broad beans, where I had lifted the fleece, seemed to have survived well.

11 December - broad beans after the storm

I had gathered several more sacks full of leaves and I had collected a number of cardboard vegetable/fruit trays from the community food project.  I filled these with a mixture of leaves, coffee grounds and compost from the wormeries and laid them on bare ground leaving them for nature to do its job in continuing the composting process. As the cardboard breaks down, I will flatten the sides but in the meantime the sides stop the leaves blowing about.

17 December

Tuesday saw the welcome delivery of some fresh woodchip and I manged to get a few sacks full before it all disappeared.

17 December - a welcome delivery of woodchip

18 December

There were more heavy winds during the night which caused further havoc to the shed and greenhouse.

18 December - the wind damage

19 December

Having tidied up around the shed and greenhouse I used some of the woodchip to create pathways between the raised beds....

18 December - laying the woodchip

18 December - laying the woodchip

...and I used some of the woodchip to renovate the main footpath.

This was my last visit before Christmas.

29 December

We had a house full of visitors over Christmas but there was a brief opportunity to get to the plot before the New Year guests arrived.  The weather over Christmas had been unbelievably mild with temperartures in the mid-teens.

In the garden I had a few broad beans and Meteor peas which I had sown in modules so I thought I would plant these out.

29 December - broad beans

29 December - peas

It was a damp and misty morning.

29 December from the plot looking east

29 December from the plot looking west

I planted out the seedlings.  Only a couple of the directly sown Meteor peas  were showing, so I presumed the others had either rotted in the wet weather or been eaten by mice.  I will need to sow some more in modules to fill the gaps and have a succession of produce.

29 December - Meteor peas

29 December - broad beans

30 December

There was one final visit to the allotment in 2024 - a sad occasion.

One of my political allies and friend and fellow allotmenteer had died recently.  He was very active on the site, extremely knowledgeable and always willing to share that knowledge and also his produce.  He was always willing to lend his tools too and gave a lot of help to new arrivals.  At very short notice, a number of plotholders gathered together on his plot to share memories.

30 December - a gathering in memory of Peter Gorbach

31 December

New Year's Eve was a day to stay indoors but we did brave the weather to take my son, Damien, and partner, Sharon, out to Rottingdean.  After sheltering from the wind in Kipling Garden....

31 December - Kipling Garden

... we made a brief trip to the seafront, but were glad to get back home to see in the New Year.  

John Austin

Hove, December 2024