gyo | Baldock Allotment Association

August 17, 2020

Successful Newcomers August 2020!

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:

July 9, 2020July 9, 2020

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

June 19, 2020

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)

November 13, 2019February 22, 2020

Availability of onion sets, shallots, garlic and flowering bulbs

There is still time to get your onion sets, shallots and flowering bulbs before the shop closes at the end of the season (24 Nov). Many gardening websites suggest that November is the perfect time to plant garlic and tulip bulbs, so why not come to the members’ shop this Sunday (10am – 12pm) and get some planting done before the weather changes.

It’s always nice to see things growing over the winter and it makes the plot look nice when the weather is so poor and there is little else growing.

As you can see from the table below, we have very limited stock of some varieties. If these are your favourites, then please come to the members’ shop this Sunday before they are sold out. We also have a handful of elephant garlic cloves left.
The members’ shop will now only be open on 17 November and 24 November before closing for the winter at 12pm on 24 Nov.

October 22, 2019

Organic Growing

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)

September 24, 2019March 31, 2020

Autumn Onion Sets

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) :

Radar
Shakespeare
Tornado

Shallots (80p per 250g) :

Golden Gourmet
Red Sun

Garlic (70p per head)

Thermidrome White
Carousel Pink

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.

September 13, 2019March 31, 2020

BALGA Open Day 2019

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

August 8, 2019December 17, 2020

Best Kept Allotment 2019 Winners

The final round of judging for this year’s Best Kept Allotment competition took place in mid July; a difficult task for this year’s independent judges, especially for the Best Newcomer award which was a closely fought contest. We’ve had some new tenants on both sites in the last year who have made supreme efforts, not only in clearing their plots but also in the planting they have done.

The winner of this year’s Best Newcomer is Andy Cawley at Clothall Road and he will be awarded the Frank Conway Cup at the AGM in January together with a voucher for the members’ shop of £10.

The standard of plots being judged for the Best Kept Allotment was high as usual with Pete Thompson aka Tommo being judged the best plot at North Road and John Johnson the best plot at Clothall Road. As he scored the most points, John was judged to be the best plot overall and he will be awarded the Basil Bryant Cup at the AGM. Both site winners will each receive a £25 voucher for the members’ shop

Congratulations to the winners and all those shortlisted in what has been a bit of a stop/start year.

Joanna

July 1, 2019February 22, 2020

Plant Christmas Potatoes

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.

June 28, 2019June 28, 2019

Blightwatch

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.