Thank you to everyone that came along to our Open Day on Saturday. Despite the initial downpour just before we were about to open, we had a successful day with two new tenancies agreed at Clothall Road and several visitors wanting to look around both sites.
We’ve had a few enquiries about getting an allotment over the last week and we are pleased to announce that we are now fully tenanted at our North Road site and have a waiting list in operation on that site.
If you’ve been thinking about getting an allotment, we still have 1 full plot and 2 half plots at Clothall Road (14/05/19).
Now that our sites are almost full we have imposed a notional boundary of approx. a 5 mile radius around Baldock for accepting new allotment tenants so that we can give priority to Baldock residents. Click here for more information about getting an allotment.
Spring is here with warmer days, lighter evenings and daffodils and tulips blooming. April can be a busy month with seeds to sow and jobs to do around the plot. The lighter evenings also help as there is more time to work in our gardens or plots! April is also a good time to cut the grass and weed regularly and plant perennials for the summer months.
If your daffodils or tulips have finished flowering, now is the perfect time to deadhead the old flowers. This is important so all the energy can go in to the bulb to produce good flowers next year. You should also allow for the stems and leaves to die back naturally. Once the foliage has died back naturally, you can lift it and store it dry and plant it again in the autumn. Of course, if you would prefer, you can leave them in the ground. I plan to lift mine to make more space to grow other crops.
Now is a good time to plant out second earlies, salad and main crop potatoes. Some seed companies suggested waiting to plant main crop as there is no rush to plant them out. You can dig a trench 6 inches deep and place the seed potatoes inside the trench about 12 inches apart and 3 ft between the rows. Main crop potatoes should be spaced at least 18 inches apart to ensure larger potatoes. Or why not try the no dig method? To do this use a dibber to make a 6 inch hole and drop the seed potato into the hole. Click here to find out more information about no dig potatoes. Potatoes are hungry plants and it’s best to plant in well-rotted manure or compost. It might be a good idea to add fish blood and bone, which can be found at our members’ shop for £0.70 a kg. Click here for more information on the fertilisers we sell in the members’ shop and how to use them.
Potatoes
Sweet peas can be planted out in the middle of April. Sweet peas like rich soil, so it’s a good idea to plant in rotted manure or compost and provide them with support to get them off to a good start and you will be rewarded with many flowers.
Sweet peas about to be planted out.
Now is a great time to harvest the first of asparagus. We’ve had some cold nights, especially at North Road allotment site and its important to protect the asparaus spears by covering it with a fleece. If you want to plant asparagus, April is the last month you can do this. Dig a V shape trench about 8 inches deep and 30cm wide. Create a mound of compost about 7 inches high along the bottom of the trench for the crowns to rest upon. Cover the roots with soil and press firmly and water well. April is the time to harvest spring cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli, kale and any remaining leeks you have.
Grass paths or lawns will need to be mowed this month. Resist the temptation to cut quite low, like you would in the summer. It’s much better to mow the lawn quite high to even the grass and when the weather warms up next month, you can cut lower. This will result in a greener and healthier lawn.
Now is a good time to prune cherry and plum trees as they’re growing. You should do this once the leaf buds have opened. Click here to find out how to prune plum trees. Click here to find out how to prune cherry trees.
You should also harden off young plants before planting them outside. Bring the plants outside in the day when it’s warm outside and bring it back in again at night. This will allow young plants to slowly accustom to lower temperatures. Alternatively, cold frames and cloches can be used by opening them in the day and closing them at night.
Seedlings
Now is a good time to plant flowers such as lilies, gladioli and dahlias. Make sure you have good drainage, especially if you’re putting the bulbs in pots or containers because they may rot. Bulbs are usually planted down three times their height and one bulb apart, but it’s best to check the instructions your bulbs came with. Make sure you plant in compost or well-rotted manure. Why not stagger your planting to enjoy blooms all summer?
April is a good time to get ahead and start your seeds. I’ve already sown courgettes and pumpkins indoors and chard and spinach outdoors. See a list of seeds you can sow this month. Click here to have a look at the sowing and harvest chart.
Sow indoors
Cucumbers
Courgettes
French beans
Marrows
Melons
Runner beans
Squash
Pumpkins
Tomatoes
Sow outdoors:
Beetroot
Chard
Carrots
Lettuce
Leeks
Radish
Peas
Turnip
Spinach
Click here to see a full list of seeds you can sow this month.
On Saturday 6 April, we had a working party at our North Road allotment site. It was great to see such a good turnout of members giving up their spare time. Some of the volunteers were responsible for clearing up the site by strimming the grass paths and removing weeds to make the site look tidier. We also cleared up the front of the allotment site by removing rotted wood and weeds from the raised beds.
A ramshackle old shed was taken down and another team of volunteers cleared the resulting area of bramble and other rubbish. A well-rotted-down compost area in one corner was then taken apart and spread over the ground to create a new fertile area for the tenant to grow on. The tenant was very pleased and grateful to the working party for giving her extra growing space.
Another old shed was taken down and removed from another part of the site. A lot of rubbish was removed and the contents either burnt, recycled or disposed of.
A third team worked on a plot where there was a large elder tree trunk that needed removing. It took the whole team to carry it to the bonfire! It was a job well done though and will make this plot more attractive to potential new tenants.
A big thank you to everyone that helped with the working party. These working parties are essential to keep maintenance costs for our sites as low as possible. The more work we can do ourselves, the better!
Finally, winter is beginning to recede, we can now begin to sow seeds and plant outdoors. However, we must take in to consideration the weather we had last year. With the freezing temperatures and snow from the Beast from the East! Traditionally, March is a good time to plant out your first early potatoes that have been chitting away. It’s best to do this at the end of the month but check the ground is not too wet and take in to consideration anything Mother Nature has in store for us.
Chitting potatoes!
If you have bought some onions and shallots from the members’ shop, now is a good time to plant them out. Make sure that you cover them with netting to protect your onions and shallots from the birds. I have learnt the hard way! They love to pull them out of the ground! If the ground is too wet, it might be better to plant onions or shallots in small pots or seed trays with multi-purpose compost in a greenhouse or in a cold frame to get them started.
If you have not bought your onions or shallots sets yet, we still have some in stock that you can buy any Sunday 10am-12pm at the members’ shop. Click here to find out more information on our current stock.
If you have over wintering brassicas, it’s a good time to give them a feed of sulphate of ammonia. Sulphate of ammonia is a fast-acting nitrogen fertiliser which encourages leafy growth. This is particularly useful for the brassica family as well as lettuce, spinach, rhubarb, leeks and onions. I added one handful (45g) per square metre, mixed it in to the soil and watered it.
Sulphate of ammonia is available in the members’ shop for £0.80 per kg.
Seedlings can get quite leggy if there is not enough light at this time of the year. It’s good practice to wait until mid-March to start sowing your seeds, unless you have a grow light.
In March, you can sow the following seeds outdoors:
Broad beans and peas (available in the members’ shop)
Cabbages, sprouting broccoli, cauliflower and calabrese
Leeks, onions and spring onions
Lettuces and spinach
Parsnips
Sow undercover:
Beetroot and radishes
Carrots and turnips
Cucumbers
Lettuces, oriental leaves, rocket, salad leaves
Sow indoors
Aubergines
Chillies
Tomatoes
Cauliflower Aubergine
March is a good time to prune your roses. Roses can be pruned quite hard to promote vigorous growth. You can find some good advice on how to prune your roses here. Once you have pruned your roses, give them a feed with rose fertiliser to give them a head start. We sell rose fertiliser in the shop, click here to see more information.
After a successful few weeks of trading, we have sold out of some varieties and we have limited stock with some of our first early potatoes. It’s not too late to buy your potatoes, onions or shallots. Order your potatoes as soon as you can to avoid disappointment, as some varieties are nearly sold out.
We have sold out of Golden Gourmet shallots, but we still have plenty of Red Sun shallots. Why don’t you try Red Sun shallots instead because they have a tasty distinctive flavour with red skin and will store for months.
We have sold out of Desiree and Setanta is a good alternative to Desiree because it’s blight resistant, high yielding, has good drought tolerance and they’re ideal for roasting and mashing.
It’s not too late if you have not bought your seed potatoes. The shop is open every Sunday 10am-12pm or click here to take advantage of our pre-order form. Click here to see a full list of available potatoes and more information about each variety.
Potato Weekend has proved very successful, with some varieties already sold out. We had an increase of members using the pre-order/click and collect service this year and this has been very successful because members’ orders were ready on arrival! Thank you to all of our members who took advantage of this and supported us on Potato Weekend.
Potato Weekend 2019
Potato Weekend 2019
After successful trading over Potato Weekend, we have sold out of Abbot, Desiree, Charlotte, Rocket and Foremost. Setanta is a good alternative to Desiree because it’s blight resistant, high yielding, has good drought tolerance and they’re ideal for roasting and mashing. We still have the following varieties available loose at £1 per kg:
First Early Potatoes
Arran Pilot
Casablanca
Colleen
Foremost
Lady Christl
Swift
Second Early Potatoes
Kestrel (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Wilja
Main Crop Potatoes
Cara (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Maris Piper (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Nicola
Picasso (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Setanta (available in a pre-packed 2.5kg bag)
Vales Sovereign
It’s not too late if you have not bought your seed potatoes. The shop is open every Sunday 10am-12pm. Click here to see a full list of available potatoes and more information about each variety.
As the start of the new growing season approaches, we thought we’d start a new monthly round up of jobs you can do on your plot; starting with suggestions from some of the seed companies.
Whilst it is always tempting to sow seeds because the seed packet tells you to, local knowledge and keeping an eye on what Mother Nature has in store, are much better barometers for knowing what to do and when.
We’ll start this month with Marshalls Seeds’ monthly update, which you can read here. Do bear in mind all the seeds companies are giving us advice…but also trying to sell us their products! However, you can usually pick up some useful tips…and a recipe or two!
Kings Seeds’ blog post for February includes several flower-based jobs including getting your dahlias ready for re-growing if you dug them up over the winter. While Thompson & Morgan’s post is nicely split into the various categories of gardening, including jobs for your fruit garden.
If you’re looking for a useful website with lots of monthly tips and recipes, you can’t go wrong with Allotments & Gardens. See their list of jobs for February here.
Most will agree though, that veg plants like chillies, peppers and tomatoes can be started now. All these need a good amount of heat to help the seeds germinate, so a warm room or heated propagator is what’s needed. I’m about to get mine started as soon as I’ve warmed up my seed compost which has been stored outside. However, I’ve also been lucky enough to overwinter a pepper plant which is already flowering and producing fruit!
Overwintered banana pepper
Whatever you are sowing, most companies recommend you sow your seeds in a seed compost rather than multi-purpose and we have two types in stock in the members’ shop – Clover Seed Compost and Levingtons F2 Seed Compost.
The traditional curtain raiser to our trading season is Compost Sunday when our members’ shop is open for members to stock up on composts and kick start their growing year.
This year we have several new composts for you, including a fully peat-free compost in response to requests from members.
The full list of what is available below.
2019 Compost stock
Members will note we have two types of seed compost for this year. Kings Seeds recommend growers use seed compost in their seed trays because the fertiliser in multi-purpose compost can kill seeds.
We also have a small number of Jack’s Magic left over from last year’s stock.
BALGA are delighted to announce we’ve managed to secure grant funding to replace the allotment signs at both sites.
You can read more here. [Link removed at NHDC January 2021]
The grant money will be used to purchase new noticeboards which are used for BALGA members and members of the public alike, as well as updating the old NHDC noticeboards to reflect the fact that the sites are self-managed.
BALGA would like to thank both the Baldock and District Committee of NHDC and Cllr Michael Muir for their continued support.
Sadly it is a fact of life that allotments all over the country are easy targets for both vandalism and theft because of the nature and location of allotment sites and often the summer months are the more likely time when such attacks occur due to the long light evenings. Security has been improved at our North Road site since last summer, not only with the addition of a higher (padlocked) gate at the main entrance but also with the repairs to the rear fencing on the site, including the addition of barbed wire.
There are two schools of thought on how best to keep any property you keep on your plot safe and secure.
Of course, not keeping any tools or items of value, particularly power tools, on your allotment is the most secure way of ensuring they are safe. If kept at your home address they are covered by your home insurance. Unfortunately, your home insurance cover does not extend to covering your tools on your allotment. If you do keep tools on your allotment, it is always a good idea to get them marked with your postcode; tool marking is something the local police offer at various events throughout the year, including our Open Day during National Allotments Week.
The first school of thought, if you have a shed on your plot, is to not lock it with a padlock thereby hoping less damage will be done to the shed if someone is trying to break in. However, that may also encourage trespassers to get in anyway.
The second school of thought is to secure your shed with a padlock or other lockable device. This may well protect the contents of your shed more but may result in more damage being done if a break in is attempted.
The golden rule in all cases of crime on allotments, be it criminal damage, theft or just nuisance damage, is to report it to the police. Without these crimes being reported, the police are unaware there is a problem. If they are aware of repeated attacks or damage, they can increase patrols in an allotment area.
Any cases of vandalism or theft can be reported by telephoning the police on the non-emergency number 101. They can also be reported online via the Herts Police website here.
