Category: Tips and Advice

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Kings’ Seeds 2022

Thank you to those who have submitted their Kings’ Seed order. We have already received a number of orders, but there is still a little time to get your order in. Remember, the Kings’ seed order deadline is 23 October to receive your 7.5% discount on prices. The Kings’ Seed catalogue offers you a wider choice of varieties at prices 40% cheaper than you will probably find elsewhere. You can submit your order at the BALGA Members’ Shop this Sunday, 10 am – 12 pm. Order just eight packets to save enough to pay for your membership of BALGA. The Association itself benefitted by about £200 from last season’s orders. So why not make an order not only to buy seeds at considerably lower prices but also to help your Association?We’ve had quite a few new members and tenants recently. So if you would like to take advantage of the Kings’ Seeds Scheme, collect a Kings’ Seeds catalogue on any Sunday at the Members’ Shop from 10 am -12 pm until the end of November. However, late orders will not benefit from the 7.5% discount.

We asked several tenants to try the Kings’ Seeds online ordering system. We will collect their feedback and let the Committee and Kings’ Seeds know. If it is successful, then we will give all members the opportunity to order their seeds online.

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Giant Pumpkin

This giant pumpkin was grown by Fred at the North Road allotment site. It weighed a whopping 606 pounds and required a team to move it around Baldock. Although you would need a lot of space, perhaps we can all have a go of growing gigantic vegetables.

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Baldock Ecofest 2021

 

On Saturday 30 October from 10am to 3pm, Baldock will have its first Ecofest where people attending can chat with local experts about reducing food waste, growing your own, upcycling and crafting and recycling and composting.

This event will be on the High Street with a variety of stalls booked.  BALGA will be there to promote growing your own vegetables, herbs and fruit, answering questions and giving advice on the subject to those attending.

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Blight Warning July 2021

Blight warning

With the very wet and humid conditions of the past few weeks, the almost inevitable potato blight has struck very early on both sites. Potato leaves will discolour and stalks will die back in a matter of days with a distinctive odour about them. If the foliage is not quickly removed down to the ground level on those plants affected, the blight can spread to the underground tubers, which then become unusable.  All affected foliage that has been removed should not be composted or placed in the brown bin, but instead burnt or put into general waste bins. Tomato plants can be similarly affected and should be pulled up and disposed of in the same way. Spores that cause the blight can remain in the soil or compost for a year or so. It is thus better to avoid planting potatoes and tomatoes next year in the ground that has been so affected this year.

There are now several varieties of blight resistant potatoes and tomatoes available, which are usually clearly labelled as such and which you may care to think about growing next year. Blight seems to be becoming more prevalent each year, but not usually this early in the season.  Only once before have I known it this early in 40 years of allotment gardening although most years now it often presents itself by late August or September when most of the growing has been done and crops can be harvested successfully.

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Christmas Potatoes 2021

I know it’s a little too early to think about Christmas but if you fancy serving new potatoes up with your Christmas dinner, now is a good time to plant seed potatoes. There is no need to chit the seed potatoes because they will grow rapidly in the warm soil. They will be ready from September/October but you can leave them in the ground until Christmas Day. Make sure you earth up in October after the first frosts to protect them from any further hard frosts. I tried it for the last couple of years with great success and I know Mick (Chairman) does it each year. It’s a great way to enjoy fresh potatoes on Christmas Day!

We have plenty of Markies available. Markies is a great variety for making chips with a yellow skin and flesh.

Chitting Potatoes!

Seed potatoes are currently half price at £0.50 per kg. You may have pulled up onions and garlic and this a great way to fill the empty space. So why not come to the members’ shop this Sunday (10am-12pm) to take advantage of the half price seed potatoes?

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Watering your Allotment Plot

Watering helps to keep our plants alive but not necessarily to thrive as they would with decent rains. Water use on both sites has increased considerably but I remind of you on some steps that can help ‘stem the flow’.

  • Ideally water early morning or late evening
  • Concentrate on crops that really need water – those newly sown or planted and top up when needed.
  • Mulch around plants to help prevent evaporation
  • Dig a hole a spade’s width and depth, fill with manure or other organic matter, place a little soil on top and water well before planting out tomatoes, courgettes etc., similarly a trench for beans etc., leaving a shallow depression around plants to keep the water where it is needed.
  • Overwatering can be counterproductive. Plants can become lazy spreading their roots near the surface where watering supplies them rather down to find moisture to make a stronger root system and plant.
  • When watering is necessary, better to give a soaking once a week rather than a dribble each day.

Mick (Chairman)

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Successful Onions!

In the past, I had not been successful with onions or leeks because of the allium leaf miner. The adult flies appear from March to April and September to October and will feed on the leaves of your allium plants before laying her eggs. It attacks all members of the allium family. You can tell the female fly has fed on your leaves because you will see lines of white dots on the leaves on your alliums. The eggs will hatch and become larvae (small maggots) that will tunnel in the foliage, stems and bulbs of the allium plant exposing the plant to diseases and rotting.

So at the end of last year I thought I would protect my plants using insect mesh to stop the allium fly laying eggs on my allium plants. Back in October last year Monty Don on Gardeners’ World said to try planting onion sets in modules in the greenhouse as it will give the onions a head start and avoid cold and wet weather. I knew the allium fly would be unable to access the onions in the greenhouse over winter so I gave it a try.

In April, when the soil had warmed up, I decided to plant the onion plants out. I knew the allium fly could lay her eggs in April so I covered it with insect mesh (which is available at the BALGA Members’ shop).

Finally, it was a success! Have a look at the picture below:

Remember, there is no chemical available that will stop the allium leaf miner so it is best to use insect mesh in March-April and September-October. Perhaps you can try starting your onions in modules this year? It could give you a head start to the season next year and harvest onions early than usual!

Miles

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Watering your Plot

Who would have thought after such a wet winter that we would now be so desperate for rain? Watering helps to keep our plants alive but not necessarily to thrive as they would with decent rains. Water use on both sites has obviously increased considerably but I remind of you on some steps that can help ‘stem the flow’.

  • Ideally water early morning or late evening
  • Concentrate on crops that really need water – those newly sown or planted and top up when needed.
  • Mulch around plants to help prevent evaporation
  • Dig a hole a spade’s width and depth, fill with manure or other organic matter, place a little soil on top and water well before planting out tomatoes, courgettes etc., similarly a trench for beans etc., leaving a shallow depression around plants to keep the water where it is needed.
  • Overwatering can be counterproductive. Plants can become lazy spreading their roots near the surface where watering supplies them rather down to find moisture to make a stronger root system and plant.
  • When watering is necessary, better to give a soaking once a week rather than a dribble each day.

Mick (Chairman)

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Daffodils at North Road Allotment Site

In December, we told you that we took the few remaining daffodils bulbs left unsold at the members’ shop and planted them around the notice board and in the raised beds at our North Road Site.

They have flowered and they have certainly brightened the site up.  Have a look at some of the pictures below.

If you have daffodils on your allotment or garden, please allow them to grow until they die back. This is allows them to store energy and nutrients back into the bulb for next year’s flower. Once they have finished flowering, you can remove the flowering stem from the base to avoid diseases.

 

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Peat Free Compost

We all know that global warming is widely reported to be a growing threat to our planted, with several contributing causes identified. Amongst these is our continued use of peat as a growing medium in our horticulture, with the result that we are all being urged to use less of it or indeed eliminate its use altogether, with some institutions already doing so from next year.

BALGA now stocks two recommended types of peat free compost, the quality of which has improved considerably. Typically peat free is made from a combination of constituents in varying proportions-primarily composted green material, composted bark and wood chips and coir (the latter a bi product from coir) and loam, to which appropriate nutrients and PH control are added. Some use other alternative materials.

Of the two we stock, one is out suppliers Gro-well’s own brand, produced for them by Levingtons, and contains just bark, wood chips and coir composted and graded to a fine tilth that can be used for seed sowing. It has received good reports and costs £6.00 for a 60l bag. The other, under well known Clover brand, also contains some green material making it a little courser, but still popular and costs £4.00 for 40l. At 10p per litre for either, the cost is 20% to 25% more than peat based equivalents. So you have the choice peat based or peat free.

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