OUR ALLOTMENT - Life on the Weald January 2019

OUR ALLOTMENT - Life on the Weald January 2019

The weather in January has not been helpful!  Apart from heavy rain, we also experienced one of the coldest spells on record.

We have ventured to the plot a few times - mostly to feed the worms and pick some cavolo nero and kale which is still producing.  The cavolo nero is about to flower, so we are on our last pickings but it has been a useful and very productive crop - cut and come again!

We have also been lifting leeks as and when we need them and they should last us well into February.

There is a large hole to be filled where we removed the Cardoon and then we need to clear that area for the potatoes.

The Cardoon is no more!

 I have continued the crop rotation plan and will be planting potatoes where the brassicas were last year; courgettes, cucumbers and beans where the potatoes were; and leeks and brassicas where the beans and courgettes were.

Some of the raised beds have already been planted with broad beans, onions, shallots and garlic and the others will be used for more broad beans, peas and beetroot.

The worms had been very active over Christmas and New Year and have produced some wonderful nitrogen rich compost which we have begun to add to the empty raised beds.

Contents of wormery spread on raised bed

We will leave the worms to continue their good work ready for planting out from March onwards.

Towards the end of last year we added a layer of bark and tree prunings where the rhubarb is and by early January it was showing through.  I will add another mulch of well rotted compost.

Despite the adverse weather, there are other signs of life - the onions are doing well but the weeds are also beginning to grow, so some hand-weeding will be needed next month.

Onions - 9 January

 The broad beans sown in November are looking healthy and I just need to sow a few more to fill the odd gap and prepare a bed to sow some more.

Broad beans - January

John Austin

Hove, January 2019