Gardening Blog

Allotment Diary

September 23, 2008: late summer sun and tranquillity on the plot

Terry Walton

What a difference a week makes. Summer has returned and our little allotment hillside is basking in that early autumn hazy sunshine. The nights are cool and the sun is rising later, but what a beautiful sight it makes as it glistens on the early morning dew. A million diamonds shimmer to herald the dawn of another super day

It is such a shame that most of the crops have finished their duty and have been consigned to the ever growing compost heap. But those winter crops that remain are making the most of the gentle warmth of the sun's rays and are locking all this sunlight into their growth to enhance their flavours. I cannot wait to savour those first parsnips.

While cleaning up the last of the summer debris at the bottom of the plot my eye is caught by the silently falling golden raindrops. Yes, the trees are starting to shed those leaves and soon those brown, gold and yellow leaves will cascade in torrents from the sky carpeting the ground with those autumn hues.

To many this is an additional chore, but to the gardening faithful like me this is manna from heaven and a great soil enhancer. I gather these leaves and those of many of my neighbours and corral them in a wire netting enclosure. This stops them fluttering away all over the place in the whirling autumn winds. These will slowly decompose into a light, rich, brown soil improver and will deliver all their nutrients to next year's harvest. Be a little selective with your leaves and only use the softer types, as the course, larger leaves take an age to break down.

Nothing goes to waste in my world!

Now is the time to go prospecting for the gardeners' 'gold'...yes, that is well-rotted horse manure. This is spread liberally over those areas where you will grow next year's potatoes, peas and beans.

But beware: even this simple commodity is under threat. There are scare stories of some stables using hay which has been treated with herbicides to kill off certain weeds. This apparently remains active even after digestion by the horse and carries over into the soil. This has a devastating effect on our precious crops and wipes them out silently. Hopefully my manure source does not use this type of hay.

We never seem to learn the lessons of the past and leave nature alone. I was a gardener in the 1960s when along came lindane and DDT. This was seen as a saviour of our crops and would eliminate all those nasty pests that attacked them. It also eliminated all our allies and was totally indiscriminate. But guess what happened? This lethal cocktail was polluting the environment and building up a chemical timebomb in our soil.

Man always wants to interfere with the laws of nature and play god. Unfortunately this often leads to many catastrophic consequences and has a lasting detriment to the environment. When will we leave nature to its own devices and work in harmony with her for the good of mankind?

There I have that off my chest now and I can put away my soapbox and return to the tranquillity of my plot. There all is at one with nature and everything is in order.

More from Terry Walton
More on growing your own
My Life On A Hillside Allotment
The Hillside Allotment by Terry Walton

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

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Reader comments

Hi Bob, Swedes are a member of the cabbage family and are usually very easy to grow.The ground needs plenty of lime and not be recently manured. Sow the seeds striaght into the ground in mid May.Thin them out to eventually six inches apart. These will grow on for use in the autumn and winter. A feed of liquid seaweed extract will give them a boost in July and August but do not feed after that or they will make too much leaf and not put their energy into the swollen root.Watch out for caterpillars during the summer as they soon chew off all the leaves.

Posted by: Terry Walton | 12/11/2008 15:49:07

 

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