LL's Gardening Diary

[lancashire lass]

Last night the temperature dropped quite low (for summer!) and there was a distinctive chill first thing this morning. As the forecast in the next few days is for cooler (and wetter) weather, I think I'll make a point of closing doors and vents on the greenhouse and polytunnel at night. Certainly felt autumnal this morning, brrrrrr - hope summer comes back soon!

Nothing particularly special today, just the routine of visiting the greenhouses and polytunnels and tapping / knocking the plants to dislodge pollen on the chilli flowers. Most in the big greenhouse are flowering but still a few stubborn ones like the Nepalese Bell (must be their genes as they kept growing taller and didn't flower in 2013 either) The superhots in the polytunnel are just starting to gear up - a few have already been flowering for a week or so such as the Dorset Zinger, Dorset Naga and Bhut Red but now a rash more are on the verge including the habaneros such as the Chocolate habanero, Paper Lantern and Fruit Burst as well as Lucy and ...

ta da - the Carolina Reaper: a reminder that it is the world's hottest chilli variety on record - interestingly an

original crossbreed between a ghost pepper (the former world record holder) and a red habanero

The ones in the polytunnel are way ahead of those in the glass greenhouse which surprised me as the greenhouse is brighter and warmer than the polytunnel. The Carolina Reaper in the polytunnel is becoming monstrous whereas the ones in the greenhouse still impressively taller than the others in there, are definitely shorter than plants in the polytunnel. I had read up about growing peppers in countries like Israel that they use shading which increases yields (apparently even the colour of the shading can determine yields too) Maybe this is the same effect?

Black Hungarian is doing well:



As is the Alma Paprika - I have to confess that I thought the plant would be bigger with fruits like a medium sized sweet pepper, so I'm curious to see what size they will eventually become.



On my weather forecast soap box, once again it is forecast to rain on Sunday (that makes it 3 Sundays in a row! ) Someone up there doesn't respect my day of rest is on a Saturday not a Sunday LOL. I was hoping to plant the surplus outdoor chillies on the plot (to fill a bed or 2) and in planters at home this weekend. I also need to get the chilli plants in the planned experiment sorted so that it will be easier to apply the supplements - basically I want to make sure there is a "control" and an "experimental" plant, photograph them together for a pre-experiment comparison (hopefully both about the same size would be nice) and then hopefully see a difference with a photograph at the end of the season after the experiment.

The experiment I have planned is to see if I can make fruits "hotter" by feeding them with specific (perfectly edible and safe) supplements. In my earlier post announcing the experiment, I had done a lot of online searching for scientific research papers on the subject and was quite excited by the results - especially as many of the "chilli head" websites (people who like to grow extremely hot chillies and / or eat them) made no mention of similar methods. I have since come across a couple of sites hinting that the reason the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T proved to be a world record in 2011 was due to a particularly feeding method. There is a hint that this is actually very similar to what I have planned so not quite so "revolutionary" after all, but interesting to know that I appear to be on the right track (and maybe suggest that the more serious chilli growers are keeping their secrets close to their chest). I had hoped to make my effort a little more scientific if I can. However, I have been a little ambitious in planning several experiments to determine if one single thing increased the heat level in fruits or whether a combination was necessary, but unfortunately I might not be able to get them all tested. So the plan has been slimmed down to one experiment with multiple supplements all indicated in scientific research papers as increasing capsaicin levels (this is the chemical synthesised by chillies that causes the burning sensation)

Unless summer comes back (and ideally an Indian Summer in autumn), I don't think any chilli fruits experiment or not, are going to have any heat in them this year. Definitely a cool year so far.

[lancashire lass]

The Sunday weather forecast of rain was not going away so despite my usual day of rest, I went down to the plot after I had tended to the chickens and done the big shop (big, as in filling up the shelves after a frugal fortnight before pay day LOL)

I got to the allotment site for just before 10.00am and my first task was to set to with the weedkiller on the horsetail. Surprisingly, there were signs that the dose from the weekend before had been working - much of the weeds in the sprayed area were paler, but the best results were the browning of the horsetail leaves. This time I had got a full box of sachets with the weedkiller containing diquat, AND, a new pump sprayer (one of those 2 litre ones with the up and down handle to pump air into the bottle) I concentrated on the footpaths around the front of the plot and gave the butternut/garlic bed a good dose too. I also sprayed around the blueberry bush bed and spot sprayed the horsetail pushing through the weed suppressant membrane and the bindweed that was spreading everywhere.

I had brought along a pack of ryegrass seeds and raked it into the bed prepared last Sunday. I'm not happy about leaving beds completely empty - apart from inviting weed seeds to start germinating, it would make the plot look like it is not being cultivated and the "allotment police" would be on my case - so a green manure would not only keep the nutrients intact in the soil but hopefully add compostable material when dug into the soil later.

The bed next to it was the least weedy of the lot so I got stuck in breaking up the mounds from growing garlic and levelling it off after taking out the few weeds trying to grow. By 1.00pm, I packed up and went home.

[lancashire lass]

As Sunday was forecast rain later in the morning, I decided to pay an early visit to the plot. Saturday's visit was really about getting the weedkiller down and dried before the rains arrived, but the visit on Sunday was about clearing the beds near the shed. I arrived just after 7.30am.

The rhubarb had got so big it had pushed the little fence over and broke it. With very little rain over spring and summer this year, the soil was parched and a lot of the rhubarb leaves were dying off. I intended to clear most of the big tatty leaves but by the time I'd finished, one or two rhubarb had none at all. I'm sure they'll be fine - when the Timperley Early used to be in a big pot at home, often it would run out of water in midsummer as the compost got superdry and almost died but always recovered. Unfortunately there were a couple of ripened seed heads which scattered everywhere as I was clearing ... I think I'll be having a new weed on my plot next year if they all germinate.

The asparagus were all twigs and definite signs of asparagus beetle damage at work. I pulled all the dead material out and cleared some weeds out of the bed but I could do with going round with the weedkiller to attack the more persistent ones (I couldn't get the dock and dandelion out successfully without breaking the roots so will dose them instead) To be honest, I always said that if the asparagus did not perform this year I would clear the bed and grow something else instead.

Next task was to tackle the last 2 beds along the communal foot path - one of them used to have the swede, the other used to have broccoli and calabrese. Despite the bags of chicken poop and bedding dug in last year, the soil was rock hard - even the weeds were struggling to grow! I had already treated the dock and some other deep rooted weed in one bed with weedkiller on the Saturday, so when breaking up the soil, I tried to avoid them so that the weedkiller would carry on working. I seemed to be on a mission to get it down quickly as the early morning sunshine disappeared and was being replaced by menacing dark clouds. I had brought along a bag of soiled chicken bedding and poop and scattered it on one of the beds. I think I'll need to add many more as I intend using one of these beds to grow garlic this year so want it to be fertile and in good condition.

During one of my breaks sitting in the car, I was pondering how I should try to get the plot back up to scratch. The beds nearest the plum tree and apple tree were not only riddled with horsetail, but were always a problem in terms of water (too dry from the trees in summer, too wet in winter as it seemed to be a natural drainage) and the soil condition was poor. Crops never did well there, so I ought to consider trying something else especially as those beds were always seen to be uncultivated ... I wondered about creating a bank of compost bins backed up to the trees / communal footpath, with maybe a smaller bed in front. Of course, there was still the problem of the horsetail .... but maybe put down plastic As for the pond bed, I really was not succeeding in getting on top of the horsetail there and someone had suggested planting a couple of fruit trees and covering the bed with plastic. That could work as the soil was not nice with all the subsoil dumped there from the pond hole dug by the previous tenants. Some ideas worth pursuing providing I do not get a rude eviction letter this year.

I had brought along another pack of (green manure) ryegrass seeds and decided to rake them into the cleared bed from Saturday. I was about to pack up and go but decided to harvest the potatoes from the rows which had clearly died back - I could have left them but the longer they are in the ground, the greater the risk of wireworm and slug damage. I started to lift up the Shetland Black - loads of potatoes (easily 50 or so) but none much bigger than a 10p piece There's nothing I hate more than little potatoes in the kitchen. And worse - as I suspected, they are a dark colour and very difficult to distinguish from the colour of the soil so I imagine there'll be many rogue potatoes next year.

I turned my attention to the row of Vivaldi potatoes (not treated with dried blood) The soil was dry but much easier for lifting the potatoes. A small crop, most of them were small like the Shetland Black but fewer, with some nice sized tubers amongst them. And very few blemishes - they looked like new potatoes .... which ended up in my supper last night. As I lifted them out, I pushed the soil over the ridge of the still green potatoes and earthed them up - this will protect any potatoes near the surface from greening up and becoming unusable.

Considering I thought I was only going to be at the plot for a couple of hours if that, I had done more than could have been expected. I packed up at 10.30am and left the site just as the first drops of rain were falling. So not a bad weekend's work at all.

[lancashire lass]

The weather this past week has been somewhat cool if not downright autumnal with temperatures really dropping in the early hours of Friday morning - the thermometer outside the chicken coop was reading 6oC where it is sheltered so I imagine it was a lot lower than that at the allotment

However, we have had some decent amounts of rain too and Saturday night was a good downpour for the garden. Too late for some of my potatoes already falling over but might just be okay for the last of the bulbing up onions.

Early on Sunday morning, somehow I hurt my back - all I was doing was bending down to pick something up and I felt something go scrunch in my back ... I suspect it is a pulled muscle rather than skeletal but can still be uncomfortable. I wasn't intending on doing anything strenuous at the allotment anyway as I had just one thing I intended to get done even if it was the only thing I did!

The horsetail on my plot has just taken over - I've never seen it this bad and amazed just how much it has spread. A couple of weeks ago I treated the footpaths near the track side and I was pleased how well the Resolva weedkiller worked - seems the magic ingredient (which is also in the more expensive Kurtail) is Diquat dibromide. Not something that should be sprayed on the vegetable beds as it does not degrade so readily but needs must I'm afraid. To give you an idea of how bad, the "pond" bed directly in front of the shed is all horsetail and so tall that you can barely see the pallet near the grey containers, with another bad patch just beyond the apple tree (top left of the yucca plant)



I'm impressed with the speed it knocks the horsetail down but whether it keeps it down is another matter - the weedkiller also had glyphosate which is a systemic weedkiller (that is, taken up by the plant to permanently kill the weed) so I'm hoping the combination has worked:



The "butternut/garlic 2015 bed" also treated:



You can see my dwarf french bean / green manure are germinating in the foreground, and the squashes in the squash bed starting to take off. And yes there are some fruits set despite my late sowing:



The onions are also doing better than expected for a late planting (even by my standard) amongst the ... yes you guessed it, more horestail:



Potatoes hanging in there (Charlottes - the row on the left are just starting to die back while the row on the right treated with dried blood looking fine):



I arrived at the plot for just after 8.00am and set to with spraying weedkiller on the footpaths. A little spot dose on the still green stuff (or fresh growth) on the treated beds already done, and concentrating on the communal footpaths and inbetween the raised beds especially the blueberry bed (I was most upset to find that horsetail just punches straight up through the weed suppressant membrane ) where bindweed is also spreading. In fact, my neighbour's plot is riddled with field bindweed (looks like a mini morning glory with little pink flowers - much more difficult to get rid of than the bigger hedge bindweed with the big white flowers) Great, just what I need.

Believe it or not but it took me most of the morning with the stupid 2L hand sprayer AND worst of all, I didn't get it all finished. I would have liked to have got it done but maybe next week it won't seem so daunting and I can just treat those areas that keep re-appearing. The plan is to keep knocking it back (hopefully it uses up root stores to keep trying to grow so weakens it) and then this autumn I hope to put thick plastic down as a permanent barrier like I first did when I got the plot. I finished at 1.30pm and went home.

[sandy]

LL our neighbours planted a cucumber in our greenhouse which looks suspicously like courgettes to me, one has grown huge and know it looks like a marrow
Who better to ask

[lancashire lass]

LL our neighbours planted a cucumber in our greenhouse which looks suspicously like courgettes to me, one has grown huge and know it looks like a marrow
Who better to ask

LOL - a photo tells a thousand words - maybe in the veggie section where more people are likely to see and comment

I usually look forward to the school holidays when the volume of traffic to and from work is much reduced giving me more time to potter around in the greenhouse and garden first thing in a morning, but no sooner had the tram and road widening roadworks finished in Nottingham, they then close a major road funnelling the traffic down the very route I need to take take and it's even worse than during term time. As it happens, I've abandoned my route altogether in a morning and now go via the motorway which is half the time it usually takes, but unfortunately is twice the distance and uses more fuel. The other downside is that I do need to set off early so my morning routine has had to be slimmed down to essential.

That means the chilli project is at risk of being a disaster. Twice this week I've had to do some emergency watering but only enough time to keep things alive for another day with a quick splash of water, and the pollinating and foliar spraying has been intermittent at best so I'm not too surprised that fruit set has been poor so far. This morning I was able to get up early and give everything a thorough drenching with feed and foliar spray after going round to check the plants and pollinate the flowers. Most are now well into flowering with lots of blossom so not a complete disaster. The annuums (culinary type) are fruiting well, except for the Spagetti (a long thin cayenne type) - I'm supposed to be having a friendly competition with a colleague about growing the longest fruit but I don't even have one developing LOL. The plants doing well are the ones growing on the patio, most likely because they are getting pollinated by the wind and insects .... hmmmm, it might be an idea to move one of the Spagetti plants onto the patio ....

I noticed this morning the Beaver Dam fruits are starting to ripen - a distinctive red patch attracted my attention amongst the greenery. These are early maturing but I think the cooler summer this year has made them "later" than expected. Still, a good sign that all is not lost yet

[lancashire lass]

Temperatures this week has been at a steady 18-20oC but on Saturday it soared to 24oC here in Nottingham - okay, hardly a heatwave but the increased humidity did make it feel warmer. I made an extra special effort to water the chillies with a basic feed and a little magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) in the spray bottle for a foliar feed while going round giving all the flowering plants a little shake and jiggle to knock the pollen about. Whether it was due to some extra water or the time to carefully inspect the plants, but there were in fact fruits developing on most so panic over. In fact, quite a few of the annuums are starting to ripen not just the Beaver Dam.

Sunday started off muggy before the day had even begun - the girls decided to wake up early so I was out with their fresh veggies just in time to see the most amazing red skies before sunrise. "Red skies in the morning, shepherds warning" ... I didn't want it to rain today as I still had lots more weedkiller to put down on the plot, and the forecast was for some rain on Monday. As it turned out, Sunday was warm and muggy up to 24oC again, with hot sunshine and clouds.

During my shop on Saturday, Asda was selling off their end of season gardening stuff and I picked up a box of 12 sachets of Resolva 24 for £6 - normally a 6 pack costs about £9 so I was quite chuffed with my purchase. Resolva contains Diquat dibromide which kills off the horsetail which I mentioned before would be handy on footpaths but not so good on the beds as it does not break down so readily. For that, I had gone online and had got a kg of ammonium sulphamate which is not an approved weedkiller (due to costs of registering rather than any toxicity issues - ammonium sulphamate breaks down in the soil into ammonium sulphate which is a fertilizer) but it is sold as a compost activator. I know ammonium sulphamate works on horsetail having used it in the past (the original ingredient in a product since taken off the market used for killing off tree stumps) However, I did find that it effectively killed off top growth leaving some roots viable but hopefully I had a cunning plan this time.

I got to the allotment for 9.00am with a bag of poop and bedding which I scattered over the old swede bed. Ideally I would have liked to dig it in but the ground is so dry that the spade would not break up the clods but if we do get rain, hopefully the mulch on top will keep the soil moist enough for my next visit to turn it over.

My next task was to lift up the onions - all had flopped over and some had even dried off. A mixed bunch but the best ones were the ones which I had used a little dried blood fertilizer. I'm really sold on this product now having seen the results with the potatoes and now the onions. As for the dreaded white rot, 95% + were free of it except for the very ends of each row ... curious. When planting the sets I had placed a layer of (commercial) top soil along the top of each mound with some diatomaceous earth so that the bulb would be resting on a sandy soil rather than clay but I had more sets than enough space so had squeezed the last ones in where there had been none of the extra stuff added. I might start applying this procedure in future for all my alliums now. And to prove it, the last 8 sets which I had no room to fit in the bed I had stuck on a spare bit of ground where I had dug some compost in - all 8 had signs of white rot but thankfully not too extensive so rescuable to use but also no spores.

As soon as I lifted the onions, time for the weedkiller treatment - my cunning plan was to use the ammonium sulphamate to treat the horsetail, but with added glyphosate which is a systemic weedkiller. Hopefully the combined herbicides would work more effectively. Meanwhile, last week's treatment had a mixed result - paths which I thought I had treated had partial die-back whereas other areas were completely dead. I spot treated all the new growth on treated areas then worked my way up to the shed. This took the rest of the morning and was a slow process due to black flies - tiny little things which seemed to swarm around me. Before going to the allotment I had sprayed Jungle Formula on my legs and arms where I am prone to being bitten by biting insects and mosquitoes but it didn't seem to make the slightest bit of difference with these little flies. I've been plagued by insects before but not these black flies and I've no idea where they came from - they didn't bite but obviously something was attracting them, whether it was body heat, sweat or CO2. Very annoying - I had to take refuge in the car and they followed me LOL. By late morning the swarms seemed to ease off but it was still frustrating.

While treating the blueberry bed I could see the Mayan Gold potatoes were wilting. Unlike the Charlottes which were in full blown die-back, the leaves on the Mayan Gold were still green. I decided to give the potatoes a good drenching of water and also the sweet corn, winter squash and the french bean green manure. The second row of Vivaldi was also dying back so I think they are ready for digging up but I'd like to do that when I am on annual leave (August bank holiday) though I will keep an eye on the weather in the meantime - if it turns very wet, they'll need to come up earlier before the slugs make a meal of them. As for the sweetcorn - the flowering heads and silks were appearing The plants are barely 2 feet tall so quite small really but they are healthy and green - I observed that the plants treated with mycorrhizal fungi were just slightly shorter than the non-treated, and not that many plants had produced flowering heads yet. This seems to tie in with my observations with the chilli plants - treated plants seem to delay flowering than non-treated. It's probably because the non-treated are more likely to be stressed due to reduced nutrients + water so triggers the flowering stage to produce seed for the next generation. Well, that's my theory anyway.

By 2.00pm I finished for the day but had not finished with the weedkiller treatment. I have yet to treat the pond bed and the footpath that runs alongside it so hopefully I'll do that next weekend all being well. I wish I had taken my camera because despite not doing much in the way of digging in the past 2 weeks, the plot does look a lot more tidier than before just by killing off the horsetail. It's made such a big difference. The beans in the front bed are all germinated now and growing well. Most of the winter squash are flowering and I spied at least 4 fruits without trying although I noticed a couple of plants that have not done much yet and one fatality (I planted it as a last minute seedling so was not expecting much anyway so no great loss) Unfortunately my rye grass green manure has not germinated - I can only think that the seed had lost viability during storage as I did buy it a couple of years ago, or perhaps it has been too warm and dry? As for the Crimson Crush tomato, the second truss of flowers are only just appearing but one of the earlier tomatoes is now starting to ripen. Crimson Crush is heralded as being blight free but difficult to judge while we are experiencing such dry weather - so far I'm not too impressed with its productivity. Still, I might try to save a few cuttings and attempt to keep the plants going over winter (not something I've done before but is supposed to be similar to overwintering chillies) and see what happens next year. Saving seed would not be the same as these are supposed to be F1 hybrid plants. Meanwhile the leaves on the potato plants had plumped up - the soil really must be very dry so before leaving the site, I gave them another watering in the hope this will keep them going long enough until next weekend.

And oh yes, last week I succumbed to buying plants I just don't know what has happened this year but my seed sowing has been so haphazard that I never got round to sowing the brassicas - I kept meaning to sow some for the winter crops but it didn't happen. I regularly get e-mails from the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) which includes some sales from Mr Fothergills with free postage so decided to go for the winter greens collection:

Broccoli Extra Early Rudolph A high quality variety which produces large spears with deep purple heads over a long season. One of the earliest to crop, it is at its most delicious from November onwards.

Cabbage Tundra F1 AGM The standard for winter cabbages, crisp and tasty with dense heads, this hardy savoy, white ballhead cross will take frost and pretty much all that winter has to offer.

Cauliflower Amsterdam F1 We have found this excellent variety to have good cold tolerance and strong growth, providing tasty caulis for the kitchen from early autumn to late spring.

Kale Reflex F1 A new strain, which is tastier and more succulent than many older varieties, Reflex F1 is a 'must have' winter veg because it can be picked as required from October through to February.

Delivery should be next week so I'll need to prepare a couple of beds (if the rye grass doesn't germinate, there'll be 2 ready made LOL) - in the meantime, when they arrive I'll simply plant them in pots until I'm ready to plant out as they will also need netted cages to keep the pigeons out.

[lancashire lass]

Saturday is normally my "day of rest" which actually means being a total couch potato and having a tv catch up. But it was rudely interrupted with a knock on the door and there was the postman delivering my brassica plants I had ordered from Mr Fothergills through the RHS I'm so glad they came on a Saturday but I was expecting them to be delivered after the 18th August which was the original despatch date. The plug plants were fine though a bit on the pale side suggesting that they had been packed up several days earlier. My plan always was to pot them up and grow them on the patio until I was ready to plant out after the August bank holiday weekend when I will be on my 3 week annual leave. I left them indoors overnight to recover, then put them outside under fleece (to keep the cabbage white butterfly off as well as a bit of shade from strong sunlight until they recover) I forgot about the slug pellets which I quickly remedied this morning!

Later on Saturday, another knock on the door - I've never been this popular before. It was a neighbour from the bottom of the garden (his garden runs perpendicular to the houses on my street up to the road) He knew I had chickens and as he had got rid of his, wondered if I was interested in some bedding and straw. I took the stuff off him but to be honest, I'm a little wary of using it for my girls as I don't know how it was stored and may be infested with mites - but nothing wrong with using it for the allotment to rot down so not wasted.

Sunday 16th August 2015

I decided to give both chicken runs and coops a thorough cleaning so filled up 2 bags of soiled bedding and poop to add to the full bag filled during the week. After changing their water and topping up the feeders, I got on with watering the chillies in the greenhouses and polytunnels. About 85% are flowering and setting fruit with about another 10% producing lots of flower buds but there are a few stubborn ones that just seem happy to be growing. Of those, I'd say the majority are the mycorrhiza fungal treated - the plants look healthy but not much use to me if the treatment delays flowering as the clock is ticking with the first expected frosts in about 6-8 weeks (round about the 15th October give or take a week depending on whether we have an Indian summer or a cold autumn)

Some fruits are ripening - this one is Cascabella:



Beaver Dam:



Unfortunately my photo of the ripened Scotch Bonnet was out of focus. I took some photos of other flowers and fruit set developing.

Purple Jalepeno flower and fruit developing:





Compared to Black Hungarian flower and fruit:





At long last, the Spaghetti (cayenne) has fruited - this is the longest so far .... I hope it grows longer otherwise my bid in the friendly competition will be a non-starter LOL:



And (drum roll) - Carolina Reaper (it even looks evil):



Caloro - supposedly a sweet mild-medium chilli:





Alma Paprika - one is just starting to ripen:



I should have written down the names as I can't remember which ones these are For now, a couple more photos which I will try to identify the next time:





After a good watering and foliar spray, I was down to the allotment for 10.30am loaded with the poop and another batch of weedkiller. The stuff I've been using has been very effective but I'll have to be on my guard and spot spray anything that pops up. On Thursday night and Friday, we had some decent rain (thankfully none of the destructive thunderstorms and floods other people had endured), so the ground had been nicely watered. Doesn't look like it in this photo, but under the top soil it was damp:



You can see the dwarf french beans to the left are doing well - I'll be digging the plants in as a green manure in a few short weeks and will leave them to rot down over winter. The squashes are doing fine as are the sweetcorn. The Charlotte potatoes (can just be seen beyond what was the big garlic bed) are dying back but the Inca Belle and Mayan Gold are just clinging on but I imagine will soon die back soon.

Sweetcorn Quick Crop - I don't know if they are meant to be this short or whether it is due to the dry weather, but at least they are producing pollen heads and cob silks:





The Crimson Crush tomatoes are ripening (not the biggest haul I've had from plants but at least they are blight free):





and some of the squashes and pumpkins growing - I think this is Tonda Padana:



This is Blue Hungarian:



No idea what this is, possibly one of the pumpkins:



After the photo session, it was down to business and back to weedkiller treatments. Most of the earlier sprayings have been kept weed free, but last week's treatment was a bit hit and miss plus a few new horsetail shoots coming up - this was to be expected as the weedkiller seems to scorch the top growth quickly but most likely the roots are still viable and will try to grow quickly. I managed to treat the pond bed and the footpath alongside it and spot sprayed the rest of the plot. Then I emptied the bags of bedding and poop onto one of the 2 beds recently cleared. I was going to use these 2 beds for growing garlic but I've been giving this some thought and have decided to use the big squash bed instead - last winter I put loads of compostable material down and kept it under black plastic so should be well rotted. As I planted the squashes through the plastic, it will also be relatively weed free so once the fruits are gathered and plants cleared, the bed will just need digging over. As I've been growing only winter squashes on that bed, there should be no soil pests or diseases associated with alliums so makes a lot of sense to use it. Also, I thought it was time to give the bed a rest from squashes as part of a crop rotation plan of sorts.

I packed up and left at 1.30pm with my haul of ... one tomato

[lancashire lass]

I should have written down the names as I can't remember which ones these are For now, a couple more photos which I will try to identify the next time:

I tried to retrace my steps this morning while doing the daily pollinating and spraying and unfortunately I cannot remember one of them, but this little fellow is definitely the Dorset Zinger.

[lancashire lass]

Actually, not a lot to report - when the temperature and humidity started to rise this weekend, I found myself taking refuge indoors instead. I did give all the chilli plants in the greenhouses and polytunnel a thorough watering both on Friday morning and again Sunday morning in anticipation of the forecast 26-28oC for the weekend, with also a fair amount of spray to increase humidity. However, I did notice a couple of plants seem to have scorched leaves ... unlike the heat wave damage on tender new leaves at the end of June which grew wrinkly, these are brown patches ... if I didn't know better, I'd be thinking blight I'll be keeping a close eye on them and see what happens, maybe I ought to nip the leaves off sooner rather than later just in case.

Fruit-wise, most of the chilli plants have dozens developing while still producing loads of flowers, but there are still a few non-starters that seem unwilling to appear productive. It's now starting to get "late" with just a few weeks off to the first frosts and dropping temperatures when things will slow down quickly.

My only other task was to visit the plot on Sunday and take 2 bags of chicken poop and bedding (with a few courgettes minus the seeds where the girls have pecked them out and left the rest) After spending quite a bit of time sorting out the chillies, it was well after 10.30am by the time I got to the allotment. I didn't intend doing much other than drop off the poop and harvest the ripening tomatoes as it was already well into the 20s oC and feeling warm and sticky. Incredulously, despite a thunderstorm late on Saturday afternoon with heavy downpours, the plot was bone dry and some plants were wilting ... more rain was forecast on Sunday and the rest of the week so I decided not to water - I hope I don't regret that decision.

I took the poop down to the old swede bed opposite the blackcurrant bushes - I'm thinking of having this bed for potatoes next year so want to make sure it has got lots of compost material in it to rot down over winter. Well, that's the plan anyway but the soil is still heavy clay although it is one of the beds with the fewest horsetail, plus I've never grown potatoes in it so should be "potato pest" free.

With the forecast of rain, I hadn't intended to spray any weedkiller but .... I kept seeing the odd bit of greenery amongst the last horsetail treatments which I just had to spot spray. I had used up the last of the diquat formula last week and had started to use the ammonium sulphamate with some glyphosate instead - the result on the pond bed was every bit as good as diquat, with the added bonus that ammonium sulphamate will break down into ammonium sulphate (which is ... a fertilizer) I made up 2 lots of spray and went round the foot paths and the patch under the apple tree - it really was just a spot spray treatment rather than spraying whole patches. I could have done with giving the pond bed another spray where I had missed some but time was moving on and with the expected rain later, thought I'd leave it.

This was my last weekend before the August bank holiday weekend and my annual leave. For the past 2 years I have spent the bulk of my annual leave building chicken runs and coops but this year I just have to concentrate on the plot and garden. I haven't had any eviction notice from the allotment (yet) so I think it is fairly safe to carry on. Lots to do so rather than list them, I'll just report them in my diary as I go along. Same goes for the garden ...

[lancashire lass]

Not a good start to my gardening plans when the weather forecast was rain, rain, rain for the August bank holiday for the midlands. Well, Saturday was lovely but I really was tired after trying to finish jobs off all week before breaking up for my 3 week leave. Sunday's weather suddenly changed to dry so I was off to the plot. I had enough cash to buy some glyphosate and fish, blood and bone from the shop and arrived for 10.00am. Cloudy but surprisingly mild - first task was to start digging up the potatoes.

I started with the Inca Belle non-treated row - a very high yield, easily 30 potatoes per plant but ... most were barely 2 inch long with scores of pea sized ones too. The dried blood treated row had roughly the same yield but the difference was the size - most were about 2 inch as before but some really good sized ones too. These seem to be where the soil was damp so leads to watering issues - unlike other parts of the UK, it has been deceptively dry here and I've not watered enough. However, clearly the dried blood extended the growing period by 2 weeks which allowed the tubers to grow and be bigger.

As I forked and lifted, I was aware that I was breaking the horsetail - the soil was too dry to dig out the roots. As all the potato plants had died back, weedkiller would not affect the potatoes .... I might as well treat the horsetail first and dig up later as clearly I was not going to get all the potatoes up that day. The only downside is the fact it had been so dry and the potatoes had been free of slug damage, whereas the forecast rain would bring them out in droves. A dilemna but the weedkiller had been working well as the dead stuff I had dug out had dead roots too. I think the thought of fewer weeds next year was probably worth the risk.

My policy was to use the ammonium sulphamate mixed with glyphosate on beds (diquat on footpaths) so I made up 2 batches to treat all the potato beds and went round the rest of the plot and spot spray any random green survivors. I'm delighted to say there were not many, and was also effective against bindweed and another spreading weed I have yet to identify. After spreading the chicken bedding and poop on an empty bed, I left the site just after 2.00pm with 2 bags full of potatoes. Pretty things with mottled pink skins, I am looking forward to eating them.

[lancashire lass]

well my gardening plans this month are not doing so well - I've got somewhat house bound on other things ... doing some serious house clearing, not that it looks any tidier. Monday was spent on the car - an annual event before taking it for the service and MOT this morning. I'm just waiting for the dreaded call from the garage and then I can get on with trimming the privet hedge and start painting the fence. The weather forecast for the weekend and next week does not sound too clever. I hope we don't get too much rain or gale force winds although on the other hand, the recent plummeting temperatures won't be good for the winter squashes, tomatoes and chillies. I also still need to plant out the potted winter brassicas that are doing well at the moment under the fleece on the patio.

In my chicken diary entry I mentioned alfalfa. I've been researching more about growing garlic and came across an interesting site which mentioned alfalfa (pellets used as horse feed) for improving soil fertility, used by a garlic farm in the US. As it will soon be time to think about planting garlic, I'm thinking of testing the alfalfa on some. Talking of garlic, I'm tempted to get a couple more different varieties to add to the list but will try to curb impulse buying (but no promises LOL)

The chillies are slowly ripening but the lack of sun and warmth is becoming a problem. I don't need the weatherman to tell me this summer has been cooler than average - I think gardeners (and farmers) already know. Not good for warm loving crops. I noticed trees and brambles are heavy with fruit and berries - a folklore sign for a cold winter. With an El Nino in the Pacific (where it generates more heat and stormy wet weather), historically the western European continent can experience colder winters as it influences a global event. I hope I'm wrong. Although having saying that, a cold winter can help to reduce pest numbers, and some plants like garlic, rhubarb and apple trees do better from a really cold snap. Still, better get myself organised in the coming days and try to get down to the plot and get the empty beds dug over ready for winter.

[lancashire lass]

I finally made it to the plot today - just one thing to do and that was to dig the potatoes up. Well, the weather forecast earlier in the week looked dire but then it was just an overnight rain, clearing by 10 am. So I loaded the car in anticipation only to be caught in a rain shower. At 11 am I tried again and I hadn't even started the car when there was another but I set off anyway.

I started to dig up the remaining row of Vivaldi that had been fertilized with dried blood - if I had been impressed with the effect of dried blood on the Inca Belle, I was wowed with this batch. Despite the dry summer, these were lovely sized potatoes ... I wonder how they would have turned out if they had been watered better? The same with the Charlottes - the treated row that kept growing 2 weeks longer than the non-treated had decent sized (almost baking potato sized) tubers. Despite my reservations, the non-treated Charlottes are still a nice size (I detest small fiddly potatoes in the kitchen)

Twice I got caught in heavy showers - the first time I had just one more plant to dig up when I felt the light spits of rain but by the time I reached shelter it was hammering down. The 2nd time I didn't hesitate and headed for shelter - and just as well as the rain was so intense, water running off the building was like a waterfall, and there was a river flowing down the track. When it eased off and I went to retrieve my fork, there was a loud rumble of thunder. Then the sun broke through.

Debating what to do next, I then decided to dig up the row of Mayan Gold. However, I am disappointed by the size - clearly a watering issue. I had been looking forward to trying them especially as roasties for Christmas. I might be able to use some but I suspect most will not. With the rain, the soil was easier to fork over but surprisingly under the surface was bone dry - in one respect, this probably helped to keep the slug damage to just 2 potatoes. I still need to lift the rest of the Black Shetland but I already know these will be small as well.

The rest of the plot is already looking empty. I harvested a corn cob and decided to taste it raw - definitely ready. I left the rest to pick when it is drier hopefully tomorrow. There were also some ripened tomatoes. In the squash bed, some of the pumpkin fruits were starting to ripen but at least the plants still looked green and growing. I noticed one fruit had managed to set and grow in a pallet between a front and back panel so I used the fork to force one loose. Despite the lateness of planting, the squashes have done well but not all have fruit. And only the earlier flowers were productive as there aren't that many fruit. I think possibly a total of 7 or 8. Planting the plants through the black plastic weed suppressant was one of my better ideas, keeping the fruits off the soil, retaining moisture, keeping the soil warm and more importantly, keeping the weeds from growing. Definitely worth doing again.

My Borlotti bean green manure are now flowering. I should start to think about cutting them down and digging in to rot down while the soil is still warm. I plan to grow squashes on this bed next year as I'm hoping to use the big bed to grow the garlic.

I left the site at 3.30 pm feeling happy with my better than expected potato harvest. My next task is to dig over the empty potato beds (and remove any viable bindweed and horsetail roots) and prepare them for the winter brassica plants I bought last month.

[lancashire lass]

As mentioned previously, I decided to harvest the sweetcorn. I haven't been too impressed with this variety Quick Treat F1 - I can cope with dwarf plants, but most only had 1 cob per plant (and some barely that) The average cob size are about 6 inches and thankfully all had well formed kernels and are lovely and sweet. It's possible the combined late sowing and cool summer may have been to blame. I don't know if I would grow again, but considering the seed was free I can't complain LOL

I took a few photos but not sure how to upload with this tablet so will post when I'm back to work. I spotted a few extra winter squashes but still looks like a lean year. I had also taken 4 bags of chicken poop/bedding and spread 2 bags on one bed cleared a month ago (still no signs of the green manure so now assuming the seed is not viable) and the other 2 bags in the bed opposite the pond bed as I want to get loads of stuff dug in as these will be next year's potato beds.

Then it was a case of digging over the empty potato beds to prepare them for the winter cabbages. I could not find any horsetail roots although I did come across some fleshy bindweed roots, and a small handful of potatoes missed the first time. As the beds will be occupied over winter, it should not be a problem. 2 beds cleared and ready, just one more to do. I hope we get a dry day this week so I can get another visit in before I go back to work but not looking promising

[lancashire lass]

As the annual leave was drawing to an end, I realised I had hardly done anything that I had hoped to do while off work. Conclusion - I probably need 6 month break LOL

Anyway, the 3rd week was cool and autumnal with a lot of cloud cover and some very wet days. When the sun came out it was pleasant bar the cold breeze from the north. During a dry day I got stuck in washing the potatoes - now it is highly recommended that you leave them with remnants of soil and make sure they are thoroughly dry before storing but I've been finding this a problem. First, I'm sure the dirt has also been harbouring pests and diseases (like spores and bacteria) and too often one goes bad and like a rotten apple in the fruit bowl, can spread to the others. Then there was the cleaning issue - they would need washing before peeling and that usually means under the cold water tap (which is downright uncomfortably cold in mid-winter - I'm not wasting electricity or gas on washing potatoes in warm water!) This year I have got rid of the fruit boxes that I used to store potatoes in and have opted to try out the brown paper (25kg) potato sacks - at only 60p each new from the allotment shop, I thought I'd see how they work in comparison. And as my harvest is not enormous, I'm convinced washing them won't be too detrimental in storage - might be a different matter if there were 100 kgs of each.



Well, it took a lot longer than I'd really like to admit to considering my harvest this year is not as big as in the past (fewer varieties, some tubers smaller due to weather) I used a little washing up liquid in the bucket of water as this can be insecticidal (like throwing the washing up water over roses to kill off the aphids), then spread them out to dry off - luckily a good breeze helped.

Mayan Gold:



Inca Belle:



Vivaldi



Charlottes



Now, when filling the bags I put the biggest (and best) spuds on the bottom of the bag so it would force me to use up the smaller ones first - I hope this does not mean if something goes wrong, my best ones will not get used LOL.

It was such back breaking work standing about all day washing or lifting up the heavy crate / bags and as the next day Friday was forecast raining I had planned on a lazy day + do my weekly shop. Well, the rain was absent but it was still a much needed rest and I got the shopping out of the way so I could get on with gardening over the weekend.

I took a few more photos - my dwindling sweetcorn harvest, Beaver Dam Peppers and Crimson Crush tomatoes:







On Saturday I decided it was time to start my experiment on the chillies - to feed them with substances (edible and harmless to both plants and people) that would increase the capsaicin levels in fruits to make them hotter. But first I had to sort them out and a good opportunity to pair up a treated with non-treated plants and list exactly what I had. Also to check for fruits and general health of each plant. Some varieties had done exceptionally better than expected like the Spanish and Dorset Naga, but some like the Chocolate Habanero that had been a fairly easy one to grow before was seriously lacking fruit, and there were a couple that didn't even have flowers so a mixed bag. Meanwhile the sun was high and although comfortable outside was a tad hot in the polytunnel. And I still had to feed them with the solutions - I decided to feed the non-treated with a diluted tomato feed and also added this to the experimental ones as well. The experiment relies on there being green fruit to build up the capsaicin levels which should be high by the time the fruits ripen - that's the modified plan. Due to an exceptionally poor summer and still to perfect a quantitative detection method, I have cut down my original experiment to just a control and an experiment (these just happen to also be the mycorrhizal treated plants which I learned from a paper increased capsaicin levels above normal when triggered by a pathogen) rather than a series to find out which combination of substances induced capsaicin production. Maybe next year on a more select few varieties than everything?

Photos of the greenhouses and polytunnels taken a couple of weeks ago: