Sunday night, february, music, (M.Ward album withdrawn from record library and yours for 60p) red wine, last years seed packets... Sharpen the pencil, clean the rubber, its plot plan time! Crop rotation is a much conflicting area. Everyone disagrees on the plant types (legumes, roots, alliums, etc) the amount of years to rotate and even the order... science, no... Guesswork just gets more founded over time (i.e experience) Still who wants to grow four equal amounts of ech crop... As with everything, plan a little, but only so you can chamge tack! Due to canny Sept purchasing in pounstretcher all seeds got: just need spuds, onions and garlic!
Whilst the winter weather has taken its toll on the beds, inside the new (donated through the fence from the golf course) plastic composter there's been plenty of action, due to the thermal qualities helping the bacteria to turn over. For the first time in six years of growing i can say i have actually made compost (being sure that it was something else six moths ago). Previously i have never remembered if that layer of black crumbly soil was there when i started the pile in between the palettes three years ago!
So the rhubarb crowns got their annual smothering...
January and the new year is of course the time to review last year and look forward and make new plans. As the years pass and allotmenteers get older, we refine our favourite varieties, and perhaps become set in our ways. Regular readers will know that I set myself a challenge each year to grow something new, to keep me learning and staying young! And after two years of trying celeriac, i'm admitting that maybe the damp east edinburrgh climate just doesn't haar-ve the warmth required to bulk up the tubers. Pulled the roots last week and they've not even grown to the size of a golf ball!
Not so with the leeks. For five years i've grown the same variety: MUsselburgh, and finally i've cracked the secret of a good leek - the seeds need to be planted ina container with a good four inches of sandy loam rather than in modules as the roots need loads of room to establish strong seedlings. Although some former denizens of the royal burgh remain oblivious, these leeks as the name suggests, seem ideally suited to the local climate, and last weekends haul was a good start to the year, quickly made into leek and tattie soup. This year, i'm looking to build such local loyalties: Ailsa Craig onions, Pentland Javelin spuds, Musselburgh leeks: traditional scottish allotment fare. You can keep your Pixie's, your Red Rookies and your Picasso's this year I'm looking back to go forward!
And the challenge:well this year it time to reclaim that much maligned veg, the cauliflower. Hell, it would achievement enough to grow sometime that shape, but i'm sure fresh cauliflower would be deliciously crisp! And the variety?, you're asking: North Forelander sounds suitably intrepid to me!
Good luck to all in your gardening exploits for 2011- be brave!!
Love in the Laundrette
Two of a kind, we have so much in common
I thought, as I cycled past her on the Common
Our bags were stuffed with soiled belongings
Was she lonely too? Filled with untold longings?
I could write a tune, a poem or a play for her
Knowing that soon I would make a play for her
Although our eyes had met only moments ago
Once inside, I decided to give it a go
Cried: 'Let's put our clothes into the same wash!'
The look of horror told me that it wouldn't wash
'Let's save time and money. Share our washing powder.'
But she turned her back and snapped, 'Take a powder.'
She needed her own machine. To run her own cycle.
So I unloaded, and lonely, rode home on my cycle.
Roger McGough
Otherwise turning the compost; transporting the nitrogen heavy, lemon smelling fruit and veg scraps from home through the streets of restalrig, risking earning myself a nickname of stinky johnny from the kids by the vennel, to mix with the crops.. Six months from now!!
Have to dash: the blog has now gone live... And colski's here at the gate to share a brew and celebrate thedons cuffing the hibbees by 4 goals to 1! Might even get him to guest blog! Another first for the warm shoots!
A nice sunny afternoon, potting on and admiring the views!
Time to have another getting at the tomatoes right - I don't think i have the attention or finesse required for them - much happier planting out the summer cabbage and lettuce!
