Allotment plots in Baldock
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.
At this time of year, we would usually announce the results of the Best Kept Allotment Competition but because of COVID-19 it hasn’t been possible to judge the plots. It is a shame that the competition didn’t go ahead this year because, as you may have seen around both sites, plots are looking at their best!
We’ve had a few new tenants since May last year and they have made an excellent amount of progress. It just goes to show what can be achieved in a small amount of time. One member said “we live in a small flat and no outdoor space of our own therefore it was refreshing to go to the allotment during lockdown.”
Another tenant said “there is no such thing as too much manure and Ace of Herts” and you can see their plot below:
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
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’.
Mick (Chairman)
I started to garden organically when I had my first plot in 1972. I was inspired by buying a copy of the book ‘Grow your Own Fruit and Vegetables’ by Laurence D Hills. Laurence was the founder of The Henry Doubleday Research Institute, which is now known as Garden Organic.
The great advantage of organic growing to me is that I know there are no herbicide or pesticide residues in the food I grow. I do, of course get bug and fungus attacks, but by and large nature sorts these out with a little help. I grow comfrey and use this to make a liquid feed. This is the only fertiliser I use for tomatoes etc. I do use chicken manure pellets, as well as horse manure and homemade compost. If I have serious bug infestation, I use garlic spray, click here to find out more.
Generally, I do not use fungicide. I used to use Bordeaux Mixture, but that is no longer accepted as organic, except by French wine growers! My only exception is when potting up and planting out courgette and squash plants, as they are susceptible to damping off, a fungus issue. However, my solution is just to water well with fresh tap water, which has just enough chlorine in it to kill the fungus.
There is plenty more information as well as tips and advice on organic gardening on the Garden Organic website.
I also belong to the Heritage Seed Library, part of Garden Organic, and have been saving seeds for many years. Some seeds, like peas and tomatoes are easy to save because they do not cross. Others, like squashes cross readily, so you are never sure what will grow from saved seed. I always have surplus tomato seeds, so if any BALGA member wants to try a heritage variety, click here to send me an email.
Phil Charsley (General Secretary)
Summer may be winding down and we may be enjoying bountiful harvests, but now is the time to start thinking of the next growing season and this means the planting of autumn onion and shallot sets and garlic.
The members’ shop took delivery of the autumn sets a couple of weeks ago and this year we have available:
Onion sets (60p per 200g) :
Shallots (80p per 250g) :
Garlic (70p per head)
You can also sow broad beans in the autumn and Broad Bean Aquadulce is the ideal variety for growing over the winter months. There are packs of 200g for £1 available in the shop.
This year we are also trialing the sale of assorted narcissus and tulip bulbs. The narcissus are available for 90p per 500g and there are five varieties of tulip available; the price for these being £2 for 10 bulbs.
The members’ shop is open every Sunday until the end of November.
Thank you to everyone who came to our Open Day at Tapps Garden Centre on 17 August. It was good to see so many members coming along again.
A good number of seed catalogues were handed out to members. Taking advantage of buying seeds in the Kings Seeds’ catalogue is a great way for members to save money on their seed purchases for next year. If you haven’t got your catalogue yet, you can pick one up every Sunday morning during September and October at the members’ shop in Football Close.
Click here for more information on national seed scheme from King Seeds.
We also had a couple of people seeking plots and their names have been added to the waiting list. We had a number of displays showing our work this year and a possible expansion on North Road allotment site. With the increasing demand for allotments and waiting list, we will be exploring this possible expansion.
Once again, thank you to everyone that came to our Open Day. If you have any ideas for next year, please email publicity@balga-online.co.uk
If you fancy serving new potatoes up with your Christmas dinner, now is a good time to plant seed potatoes, and even more so as our remaining seed potato stock is now half price at only 50p per kilo!
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 last year with great success and I know Mick (Chairman) does it each year. It’s a great way to enjoy fresh potatoes on Christmas day!
Why not try a blight resistant variety such as Setanta. It is blight resistant, high yielding, has good drought tolerance and is ideal for roasting and mashing. The table below shows our available varieties.
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.
Did you know you can register with a website called Blightwatch and it will send you alerts when weather conditions increase the chance of blight on your crops? You can choose up to ten postcode areas to cover the surrounding areas and registration is free.
BALGA received an email alert this morning advising that a Hutton Period Alert was affecting a nearby postcode. Visit the Blightwatch website for more information.
After a successful start to the trading year, we only have a limited amount of seed potatoes left in stock now with many varieties having already sold out. In order to clear the remaining stock we have halved the price of the seed potatoes in the members’ shop down to 50p per Kg.
There’s still time (just) to get your seed potatoes, onions and shallots planted out so why not come to the members’ shop this Sunday (10am-12pm) to take advantage of the half price seed potatoes?
We’ve also reduced the price of the remaining onion sets by 50%, down to 20p per 200g.
If you’ve just taken on an allotment, now is a good time to prepare an area and plant some seed potatoes. It’s a good way to break up the soil AND enjoy a harvest this summer.
The members’ shop is open every Sunday 10am-12pm. Click here [Link removed] to see a full list of potatoes as well as more information about each variety.