Gardening Blog
Allotment Diary
January 27, 2009: four seasons in one week
This week Terry Walton's precious plants have to do battle with an awful lot of weather, plus top tips for cloches
Last week's weather must have inspired Vivaldi to write his famous music for the four seasons. On our Welsh hillside we had the April showers of spring, a couple of days of pleasant sunshine reminiscent of early summer and early autumn, and two days of some snow and deep penetrating frosts just to remind us that winter was still in charge.
I am very glad that I am not a plant, having to endure all these variations in one short period of a week. We are lucky; we can retire to the steady warmth of our homes while they have to take it all in their stride - and we think we are the tough, adaptable ones!
Towards the end of January of previous winters the buds on my prominent, large gooseberry bush were swelling and waiting to burst forward at this early part of the season. This year they have more sense and are still tightly closed. This hard winter has given the fruit bushes a time of dormancy and a long, earned rest. They will now explode into leaf at the correct time and with the sap rising send forth many flowering blossoms. Send in the bees and a very fruitful summer should follow. That is what the text books say, but we shall wait and hope.
With January not far from expiring, it is time to plan and think of those early sowings and find ways to help cheat a little on nature. Many people cover areas of their ground with black sheeting or old carpet to warm the soil a few degrees. This does the job fine but when removed the temperature will again fall. The best way to get a little warm patch of soil is a number of cloches. Polythene was always the favoured covering for these cloches but I find this ‘sweats’ and eventually the ground beneath dries out. It is real hassle to remove this to keep watering the early sowings housed there. I find by far the best material for covering these cloches is fleece or - for those of you with a bigger budget - enviromesh.
This allows the area to breathe and any gentle rain that falls passes through. This is the perfect environment for early sowings of carrots, lettuce and cabbage. It protects them from the wilds of the elements and maintains the soil at a few degrees warmer than the surroundings.
Last week I was asked to give a talk to an allotment society in Sheffield. I arrived early afternoon and was met by their chairman who whisked me off to their allotment site. It was a very cold day with plenty of ice around. On arrival at the allotments there were a number of allotmenteers tending their plots despite the coldness of the day. They had great pride and joy in showing me their plots which were totally different from the plots on my allotment. This is the nature of this hobby which is so diverse and varies from allotment to allotment. However the same objectives are the same wherever you go and that is to grow fresh, wholesome food to grace your table.
The minute you entered those gates it was like being on your own site. The conversations were about the same topics. What do you do about slugs? Why are these plants not doing so well?
I had only been there a few minutes and I was already one of their own and it was as if we had been lifelong buddies.
Such is the way allotments are where ever you roam. They are friendly, welcoming with no secrets and, dare I say it, down to earth.
They are a true reflection of a happy, helpful, contented society. Oh why can't all things in life be as simple as that?
More from Terry Walton
More on allotments
My Life On A Hillside Allotment
Terry Walton is a regular contributor to The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and has written a book called My Life on a Hillside Allotment, published by Bantam Press. The book is available from Amazon.
Reader comments
Hi David, growing sweet potatoes on open ground in this country is not very successful. You need a polytunnel or a greenhouse. Only specialisded potato growers offer seed but they can be grown from rooted cuttings. You can try some from a store but make sure they are disease free. Good luck with this spirited venture. Let me know how you get along.
Posted by: terry walton | 03/02/2009 20:10:16
