Bringing home the squash, harvesting and clearing away for winter, the last apples

It was time to pick all the squashes at the allotment:  13 in total, though possibly I missed one or two;  I picked two from the chicken yard which in addition to the squash vines, is overflowing with nettles so I didn't investigate very closely.  That big green one is certainly a monster!  The yellowy/creamy one is the next biggest in size, but doesn't feel as heavy as the third biggest one (orange).  I offered to lend my biggest one to my coworker for her Guess the Weight contest but she was already given one by someone else.  My largest is larger than that one! but smaller than The Big One in my estimation.

Too much to carry!  The son wheeled this very heavy burden home (four blocks away), September 2026

It's a little earlier than I usually pick squashes, but the leaves had mostly died back and I was worried they'd go moldy on the vines if I left them.  It's happened to me before.  They easily snapped off the vines without cutting, so I know they were ripe enough.  There are still two self-sown squashes growing in the kitchen garden with green leaves and vines--I'll pick them later on.  In the meantime, the allotment ones are on a mat in my living room to cure;  they'll either remain there for winter storage, or possibly move to the windowsill for display purposes.  I expect to eat them over the next six months.

After pulling the squash vines, I then cleared away almost all the zucs aka courgettes and have been forking over that large bed for grass and bindweed roots.  It was newly sheet mulched in the spring and I plan on getting some new garlic into half of it and remulching the whole thing with more wood chips.  After I've at least done one full pass with the garden fork for unwanted roots, that is--it's pretty grassy.  Can you see my compost heap at the middle right of the photo below?  It's in front of that gray shed and behind a white box (it looks like a big pile of vines);  I should try turning it to get it to break down quicker.

Cleared away the courgettes and squash;  still working on the grass, September 2026

Still so many cucumbers!  I've missed a couple too, now going orange;  these will be saved for seed.  Actually this variety, Marketmore, is still good when a little overripe, though it needs peeling and deseeding by that point.  I'm still picking a few at home (the earlier sown vines), and a few pickling cucumbers too.

The last of the apples came off my two trees at home:  Laxton Fortune and Sparta.  Only a few Sparta apples this year, and unfortunately quite a lot of fruit dropped off both trees.  Still, we got several large baskets worth and what is left will keep for a few weeks more.  I've made a couple of apple crumbles, the son made himself a jug of juice, and we've all been trying to eat our apple a day. 

Harvest time, planting time, getting a handle on the grass, delicious gooseberries

All systems go!  I've gone from picking a little here and there, to all things at once:  lettuce, cabbage, mange tout peas, broad beans and onions (just harvested all of these), beets, new potatoes, gooseberries, raspberries, currants, cherries.

In addition to harvesting all of the above (mostly at the allotment), I'm still in the last stages of planting out.  I've finally put in all the last cucumbers, split between home and the allotment;  same deal with the pak choi.  My patio table, full of trays since spring (I kept transplanting out and then refilling the trays) at last has empty spaces.  I'm not quite done sowing seeds:  I'll do a batch of Chinese cabbage and at least one more of lettuce and maybe beets;  and a little later on hopefully some spring cabbages and possibly onions to overwinter.  I'm also planning on direct sowing some radishes and turnips later in the season too.

The whole family helped clear away the broad beans in order to replant the bed with leeks, all three trays waiting patiently since March.  Though it was a hot morning, we got it done (mostly me actually--the husband's leg isn't quite better, the daughter's only six, and the son was dragging his heels):  we pulled all the plants, stripped the pods off, forked the bed lightly to remove any weeds and grass roots, then mulched heavily with wood chips.  My composters are full to bursting. 

Actually, this bed has had two more crops since I grew potatoes there last summer:  Chinese cabbage in autumn/winter and broad beans this spring.  So this is the third time I've sifted out grass roots and actually there were a lot fewer this time--it was teeming with them after the potatoes came out last July.  There were some clumps of grass growing amongst the broad beans, but it wasn't completely swamped and the soil was fairly soft under its light mulch of wood chips--I last topped it up when I sowed the broad beans in February.  I spread a much thicker mulch on top this time.

I'm still doing weed maintenance on my wood chip mulch, little by little:  just loosening roots out with a fork (almost exclusively bindweed and couch grass, no other weeds).  However the newest sheet mulched bed is sprouting grass and it's not yet soft enough underneath to simply loosen it out.  Instead I've been topping up with more wood chips, but until it really composts down below, it may have to stay grassy.  Unlike the broad bean bed, which had no existing growth when I deeply mulched with wood chips, here I'd laid down cardboard sheets over some very vigorous grass/weeds and mulched on top of this.  

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What do I do with gooseberries?  One year I made jam--then gave it away as we are a mostly no-sugar family.  This year I experimented with making sugarless gooseberry fool using sweetener (we prefer a stevia/erythritol blend), only I may have gone a little overboard with the whipped cream.  As I sampled it after folding it all together, it reminded me of ice cream, so of course I immediately popped the whole tub in the freezer.  It turned out great!  A little sour, well balanced by the creaminess.  It was literally just gooseberry puree (cooked, cooled, then put through a food mill), a spoonful of sweetener, and a lot of whipped cream.  Delightful.

Writing a plan and following it

I wrote a growing plan in 2024, to optimize my vegetable harvest;  it was a fairly simple one, with a list of what I wanted my main crops to be (and for the production crops, how many of them), with the following columns:  

Allotment Production crops Broad beans: 150 Snap peas: 350 Squash: 40 Tomatoes: 20 Beets: 150 Corn: 50 Climbing beans: 100	Garden Priority crops Kohlrabi Cabbage Salad cucumber Purple sprouting broccoli Strawberries Cauliflower Parsnips Lettuce Zucchini
Successional/Late Season Pak choi Fennel Chicory Kale Radish Turnip Lettuce	Pots and Planters Chilis Cherry tomatoes Pickling cucumbers Aubergine

I followed this plan pretty closely:  while my numbers weren't exactly on--I think only 20 squash plants survived that year for instance--it really bumped up my overall harvest, making 2024 a record year for me.  I referred to this plan while buying seeds and ticked items off the list as I planted them out.  A few things got crossed off the list for failing to grow;  these were replaced with something from the Successional/Late Season column.

In 2025, I expanded on this plan, doubling the number of both the Allotment Production and Successional/Late Season crops.  Some of these had simply been in different columns in the 2024 plan but many were newly added, such as Brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions, carrots and Chinese cabbage.

Writing a plan (in my own personal notes until now) kept me on track and I believe has made a big difference in my total output.  The newest plan (not shown) was so ambitious this year that I don't plan on expanding it at all for 2026:  it was a lot of work--maybe too much.  However, I while I won't add to it, I also probably won't subtract anything either:  I'll try to follow the same plan as it stands, with minor adjustments, focused mainly on the placement of plants (i.e. from one column to another).  If I add a vegetable, it will replace a different one--for example I won't be growing runner beans in 2026, but climbing beans instead.

I'm still harvesting and documenting for this year so I don't have any conclusive data on whether I'm on track to beat 2024's totals--but I suspect so!  I won't find out if all that work I did paid off, until I add them all up in January.

Succession sowing and planting

I did it:  at the allotment I cleared the last of the new potatoes and the snap pea vines.  The potatoes are in paper sacks in my cupboard and the vines are spread in the sun at the allotment to finish drying any pods for next year's seed.  If you recall, I'd planted the potatoes in no-dig fashion.  The result:  kind of small yield but not too bad.  Some plants were more productive than others but on average each plant grew about two meals worth, I would say.  Most I could just pull up carefully and sift through the mulch for potatoes (though a few needed to be dug up).  I would probably grow them this way again, at least with new potatoes.

The potato bed had been heavily sheet mulched in winter and renewed again in spring;  however it was still crisscrossed with couch grass runners, despite only a few blades of grass growing in with the potatoes.  I did my best to pull out what I could find as I prepared and sowed the bed with beet seed, but I already know it'll be covered in grass by the time the beets are sprouting.  I raked most of the mulch onto the tomato bed next to it.

The pea bed wasn't as bad with runners as the potato bed though I did have to pull out quite a lot of weeds in the unmulched bits where the vines had grown.  I sowed this smaller bed half turnips and half winter radishes.  Both beds have insect mesh on them;  the beets won't need it once they have grown a few leaves, but the turnips and radishes will, being susceptible to cabbage white butterflies as well as pigeons.

My small bed of daikon radishes (at home) is sprouting up under its little net curtain.  I've pricked out one last tray of kohlrabi--though they're not looking as robust as the ones I sowed in spring--and two trays of fennel.  Also potted on the spring cauliflowers;  these will hopefully transplant out in the kitchen garden after the cucumbers and zucchini are finished.  What's more, I sowed a pinch of pak choi into a pot which are just starting to come up.  These will have to transplant into the kitchen garden because they are known slug candy (though the slug population at home is starting to grow since my ducks aren't allowed on the veg beds just yet);  the kohlrabi and fennel may go up to the allotment when big enough to transplant.

Trying to find room for it all!

The blackbird cheepies left the nest yesterday! This is them five days previously, April 2025

Our run of good weather has lasted even longer than I could imagine--my rain barrels are almost completely dry and I've even had to water at the allotment (just the newly seeded planters/beds and onion transplants--the established plants are fine).  Maybe I've even got a tan??

Over the weekend the son and I prepared a new bed for kohlrabi and beets;  the kohlrabi are for transplant and the beets for direct sowing.  This is a bed I sheet mulched earlier in the spring but we've been spreading some fine compost over the top and raking it;  I've been waiting for some rain to sow and transplant (the kohlrabi seedlings are really really ready!).  It's supposed to rain today, finally. 

I also shoveled out some good compost from the chicken yard at home and spread it around one bed in the kitchen garden;  this will be for cucumbers and courgettes hopefully next month.  I also raked a light top dressing onto the next bed for cabbages, lettuce and spring onions, also ready to transplant (has it rained yet?).

Now looking at my beds at the allotment, I have a slight problem:  where am I going to put everything?  Almost all my beds are already in use;  I have only one bed and the chicken yard unplanted now.  True, I should be able to clear away the purple sprouting broccoli by May, giving me another bed (kind of small though).  And in June or July both the garlic and broad beans should be finished.  But I'll need a big space for squash and sweetcorn by June at the latest, along with several other things (climbing beans, pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, etc). 

It perhaps didn't help that I made a tactical decision to cover over the very grassy bed at the very back of the plot with old carpet and tarp, to stay in place until next year.  I admit this bed didn't grow much last year--I got some beets out of it at least, though it wasn't used to its full potential.  To try and get some kind of harvest from it I've moved my big pots and planters back there--despite it being a pain to water--so at least something is growing there.  It doesn't free up much room from where the planters used to be but I'll try to plant up their old space too.

Planning for 2025

Wintertime gardening--I'm still not quite in active gardening mode.  Just a little bit of harvest once a week or so (leeks, radishes and swede this week).  I'm really enjoying having some fresh veg regularly;  most winters it's all run out by now, bar a small leek or two.  I credit this foresight to actually writing down a garden plan last winter.  I guess it's time to write the next one, though as the first was fairly successful I don't anticipate making any major changes.

I originally divided my available space into six major sections at the allotment, plus another two in the kitchen garden at home (a much smaller space).  I decided which crops I would focus on for these sections, going for bulk rather than variety.  The allotment:  tomatoes, beets, squash/corn (interplanted), beans, leeks, pickling cucumbers.  Home:  zucchini/salad cucumber (interplanted), brassicas (mainly kohlrabi, with cabbage and pak choi).  

I also allowed for succession planting, starting certain seeds later in the year to follow on;  for instance lettuce, pak choi and spring cauliflowers to follow the two beds in the kitchen garden.  I also put later sowings of radishes, turnips, beets to follow on from broad beans and snap peas.  This way, I was able to pad out my harvest totals, and keep the beds in production rather than going back to weeds.

This year the slight deviation will be to grow some potatoes.  We are a low carb family so I don't grow potatoes very often--every few years is plenty.  However, I'm ready to buy a small bag of seed potatoes for this spring, probably to grow in my big containers at the allotment.  I'll also try sowing all my beets directly this year (the first bed in the spring were all transplants), hopefully to increase my yields even more.  Other than maybe a few fine tweakings, my plan is ready to go.

Revisiting the Vegetable Challenge?

Last Christmas, supermarkets had a special on certain vegetables, much cheaper than usual;  this has happened for a few years in a row and we knew to stock up.  So for about four days, we went in and bought around 10 kg of various fresh veg;  we froze some, dehydrated some, and kept the rest for fresh eating.  It was mostly carrots, parsnips and swede, but a few kgs each of potatoes, cabbage and Brussels sprouts too.  So obviously, 10 kg a day for four days was about 40 kg in less than a week.  We were in production mode for several weeks afterward, keeping the dehydrator and freezer trays going.

But here's the thing:  we still have nearly all the dehydrated carrots, parsnips and swede in the cupboard.  It's not that it's inconvenient to use;  on the contrary, it's so easy to just tip some into a stew (and we eat plenty of stew!), curry, stir fry, whatever.  And I haven't forgotten it's there either--it's just that this year I've had so much fresh veg from the garden, my dehydrated veg hasn't been needed.

In past years I've done a no-buy vegetable challenge for several months at a time, eating only veg we grew ourselves, were given/traded, or otherwise got for free.  The longest we officially went without eating bought vegetables was seven months (however, I did buy some veg at the six month mark, which officially broke that challenge).  This is something for myself, setting and keeping my own rules;  I stopped doing it after Brexit because of food security worries (luckily unfounded, at least so far).

So this year yet again, no official challenge, yet we really have gone nearly all year without buying much veg;  the only vegetables I've put on the list are onions, something I still haven't succeeded with yet--and one weekly carrot for the small daughter's lunchbox (somehow I didn't buy carrot seed until too late for this spring).  

We really could have gone without these two, although I would have missed onions, as I use them every day (I'm trying again next year).  My freezer is a third full of garden/allotment veg (the other two thirds are meat and berries); I have two shelves in my cupboard full of dried, pickled and preserved fruit and veg;  and my fridge is half full of jars of fermented vegetables/kimchi.  Not to mention the fresh veg still standing, waiting for harvest at both the allotment and garden.

Will I restart the Challenge next year?  Can I officially go the whole year?  I'm not sure!  But maybe 2025 will be the year to try.

Year round fresh veg?

 

I finally took the net off my cabbages, October 2024

I went up to the allotment after work on a rainy day last week and was not expecting to see my allotment neighbor (or anyone in fact);  we exchanged hellos and I expressed my surprise.  He remarked that he's there every afternoon (I'd been going in the morning) and hardly ever sees anyone now it's the end of October.

Where is everybody?  We can grow year round in our climate, and I certainly do.  It's true I'm not visiting the allotment every day any more, maybe twice a week, but I notice that many people have few or no winter crops growing.  Not like me!  At my allotment I have a bed each of turnips and radishes, two beds of beets, one of leeks, and one of purple sprouting broccoli (for spring harvest).  I also have a bed of garlic newly planted and not yet sprouted (for a summer harvest).

And at home I have Savoy cabbage, pak choi, radishes, komatsuna (another brassica), fennel, lettuce, and cauliflower (for spring harvest).

(Also at the allotment I'm still harvesting cherry and plum tomatoes;  I won't clear these away until a) they're done, or b) we have a frost.  If they go before mid-November I might get broad beans sown in their place.)

It takes planning to grow over winter however so I should really cut my fellow growers some slack.  Because I wrote out a plan for both garden and allotment early in spring, this is probably the most I've ever gotten in on time before;  seeds had to be sown in summer or even spring for some varieties.  It's not something I did much of when I only gardened at home (not enough space, also not enough experience), and I'm not growing to my full potential at the allotment either.  However, I'm learning and hopefully improving every year.  Along with my preserved summer harvest, I look forward to eating some fresh winter veg.

Finished yet?

Little cucumber plants with even littler zuc between, July 2024

Pretty much every seedling in trays and pots has now been planted out, barring one small tray of late sown beets.  I've only just planted out the Savoy cabbages--not as many as I'd hoped--and the second batch of lettuce at home, leaving me just about half a bed unplanted.  Although it should have been all cabbages, never fear, I still have a plan for this:  the pak choi (broadcast into a large pot and just newly sprouting) and daikon radish (to be sown directly) can go in this small space. 

Houseplants having summer vacation (I put the rest out later on: aloes and spider plants), July 2024

Up at the allotment I've newly sheet mulched over the spent broad beans bed, with the son and husband's help.  I've put down one last sowing of beets, and like the bed next to it, have completely enclosed it in insect mesh including burying all the edges.  This is in the hopes of excluding slugs and bugs long enough for the beets to sprout and grow a bit.  

I've also planted out the very newly sprouted cucumber seedlings (four in total) in containers to replace ones lost to slugs.  Not only did I take the precautions described in my previous post, I even took a tub of vaseline with me and smeared the rim of the pots with it to be doubly cautious.

Self-seeded in my veg patch, July 2024

But I'm not finished yet.  I'm done with the spring and summer sowing/planting, but now I'm moving on to autumn and winter.  Luckily in my climate I can have veg growing year round;  while it's somewhat limited in winter, if I want anything growing then I have to get it going now--in fact the window of opportunity is gone for some things already:  Brussels sprouts for instance (I decided against them this year but may try again next).  My other long season crops are in now:  leeks, cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli.  Now it's time to start daikon radish, turnip and fennel, along with regular sowings of pak choi and lettuce.  And later on it'll be cauliflower and spring cabbage too.  No rest for me yet--winter's coming, and that's when I'll rest.

Not done yet (with seeds)

 So happy we've had a full week of 14C and above temps;  my seedlings have finally been able to grow a bit.  I've planted out the first tray of snap peas at the allotment, and the first tray of beet seedlings too.  I have many more peas coming up (though still a little small to transplant), and the next tray of beets just emerging (and to keep up the succession, another tray has been sown).  I will try to keep the beets going this way:  as soon as I plant out a tray, immediately resow with more seed.

Snap peas sprouting, May 2024

A few older packets of seed I just broadcast into larger pots, hoping a few would sprout;  it seems that the purple sprouting broccoli wasn't as old as I thought, as pretty much all of it looks to be growing.  Not so much for a packet of cabbage, however, though I a do have kale, parsley (I think) and French marigolds too.

An old packet of seed: "maybe a couple will sprout!" May 2024

Under my insect mesh at home, the kohlrabi is getting on, and I interplanted the cauliflower with lettuce.  The cauliflower seems to have stalled in the cold spring, but the lettuces look better, though I've seen the wood pigeons skulking around them (they are under wire, but not completely peck-proof).  

I've also got a few directly-sown Savoy cabbages coming up nearby, but I plan on growing a couple transplants of these too as the other (older) packet of cabbages didn't sprout.  One of my garden goals is to grow my own kimchi this year, which means I need some cabbage (yes, technically not Savoy, but I couldn't find any Napa cabbage seed).

And in my situation with the pots (i.e. 100+ pots is not enough), I've been getting creative.  I got another 18 out of a pot exchange bin at a garden center--we only stopped on the way past as the daughter was desperate for the toilet:  a lucky find.  And I've told the family not to throw out any small plastic pots from the refrigerator when they're empty (the husband goes through a lot of cream with his coffee);  at least five have been repurposed so far.  I went on a seed spree over the weekend, and any I had emptied got filled again.  And I'm not done yet.

Thinking big this year

After my hopes of 150 broad bean plants, I ended up with about half actually sprouting;  of the 40 or so that went into the paper tubes, only one emerged.  And I finally gave up on the remaining 30ish small pots too, resowing them with snap peas over the weekend.  The broad beans I transplanted at the allotment look good and are growing well.  The woolly sowing method (a wad of fluffed up sheep's wool in the bottom of each pot, a seed on top, a bit of potting soil to cover), ensured little to no transplant shock.

Now instead of a stack of eight trays of little pots of broad beans, I have eight trays of snap peas;  the first tray has begun to come up (sown 31 March) and I'll start transplanting them out when I can see a little root at the bottom of the pots.  It's still been cold, not really getting past 10C during the day.  I thought broad beans and snap peas would grow regardless, but the broad beans were incredibly slow to sprout, and the snap peas aren't much better.  Hopefully I get more than 50% sprout rate (though 50% is much preferable to the 30% I sometimes get).

I do want the snap peas to hurry up so I can start on the climbing beans next.  Same woolly sowing method as the other two.  Up until this year I thought I had more than enough trays and pots, but actually I don't!  100+ small pots is insufficient to my needs this year:  this year I'm thinking big.  On my garden plan (the first time I've ever really written one), I've got the ideal number of each type of plant I want to grow.  For instance, 150 broad bean and 350 snap pea plants (which is how many seeds I bought).  20 tomato plants--I sowed more seed than this to be sure I'd get 20 good ones--100 climbing bean plants, 50 corn plants, 40 squash plants (none of these sown yet).  I didn't take into account my stock of pots and trays.

At the allotment, March 2024

The son and I have been gradually sheet mulching at the allotment, one weekend at a time.  When are we not gradually sheet mulching, though?  Except in the height of summer, we're always at it.  Winter is the best time for it, but early spring works too.  I've got several large pieces of old carpet I've collected over time which I've laid down on our paths, and this weekend I moved some to the very front of the allotment next to the gravel road.  This is more of a long-term grass control than the sheet mulch, but obviously can't be planted--unlike the sheet mulch.  Instead I'm collecting all my planters and large containers for that front carpeted area this year.  Maybe next year I'll shift it all to a new area and use this area for more sheet mulch and planting.

Lovely leeks, Mar 2024

The only thing really growing at the allotment is the garlic bed, planted out last autumn.  It looks good, growing strongly.  I have a few last spindly leeks and the rhubarb is just sprouting up;  we've eaten both of these within the last week.  I'm ready to get planting but it's still a little cold for most seeds.  Need to wait a bit longer.

I did start 160+ broad bean seeds in toilet paper tubes and individual small pots back in the middle of February but I've yet to see them emerge;  they are still stacked up on my patio table.  These will be the first to plant out just as soon as they show me some leaves.  Hopefully they aren't just going moldy...

The last of 2023's (so sweet) parsnips waiting for dinner, Mar 2024

 

I have sketched out a plan for growing at the allotment this year (in pencil, subject to erasure), focusing on just a few main production crops including broad beans and snap peas, corn, squash, tomatoes, leeks and beets.  Then I will also hopefully get my lettuce and pickling cucumbers in planters and maybe I will get climbing beans in the ground somewhere as well (if not, I'll grow them at home in the kitchen garden).  

I haven't sketched a garden plan as such, but I'm also limiting varieties to just a few, mainly cabbage, kohl rabi, zuc and parsnip;  and then following on with late season/successional crops:  radish, fennel, pak choy.  I can't grow these at the allotment because of pest pressure, but the ducks have sorted that out for me at home.

Starting off the new season

At the weekend the whole family went up to the allotment for a bit of sheet mulching, the first visit there since the end of December.  Not much had changed, other than the garlic sprouts being marginally taller.  We had to track down a couple of composter lids which had blown away (one near, one a bit far) and get the roof back on the chicken house--luckily all chickens are safe at home though their roof here needed a quick fix recently too.  I brought home three leeks;  there are about three still growing, my total for this season.  

Also at the weekend I got down my boxes of seeds and went through all the packets, throwing out some very old seed and organizing the rest by which month I will sow it:  I have little dividers marked Jan-June.  I also threshed the few dried bean pods I'd saved in the summer for seed--when I have a lot of bean or pea pods I put them in a cloth bag and whack it with a stick like a pinata, but there were only a few dozen so I just broke them open by hand;  I'll look forward to sowing these in April.

I have several packets of seed to sow indoors this month: tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, chilis, eggplant; and broad beans outdoors.  In the past I usually pre-sprout the broad beans in a small plastic bag of damp compost in my garage;  once most of them have a little white root sprout, I sow them in the ground.  While pre-sprouting is more successful than just direct sowing them straight from the packet, it's still hit and miss--mice/birds/slugs/whatever seem to get a lot of them anyway.  I'm going to individually sow them in pots and toilet paper tubes this year using my waste wool method in the hopes I have better success.  It's more work to have to transplant 150-ish starts but if that means I get 150 plants, that's worth it.

We gave the chicken tractor a quick tune up (it needed a little bit of waterproofing material on the roof ridge), and after more chicken wrangling than seemed strictly necessary, it's up and running.  My veg patch at home needs some serious scratching and pecking, so half of the flock is hard at work while the other half (the newest rescues) are looking on longingly from their yard--it really only fits four chickens at most.  I still don't know which is preferable to a chicken:  the very small tractor which gets fresh ground every day, or the much larger yard which gets muddier every day (though we also raked in a pile of garden debris at the weekend so it's not quite as muddy now).  In one they have enough space to walk about five paces one way and three the other, but like I mentioned it has fresh plants/grass/weeds/bugs every day;  the other they can run laps and flap up to different levels if they like, but it's a mudbath this time of year.

Crunch time again

Squashes, etc, May 2023

So many things to do!  It's nearly summer--and after a cold spring, the past week or so has actually felt like summer--and I need to get it all done.

The son and I have been sheet mulching and transplanting at the allotment;  the grass there is nearly waist high in places, thick and lush.  I've given up trying to dig it out, so sheet mulch is the way;  though the grass still manages to come back every year, at least it's knocked back long enough to grow other stuff.  It's mostly cardboard topped with used stable bedding, obtained from the on-site stables;  I have used my precious own-made compost in little pockets just for the transplants themselves.  

Nearly all the summer crops are in now, though I am still keeping up a succession of beets, lettuce and kohl rabi in trays for continuous planting out.  And I've just made a start on sowing seed for winter veg too (mainly brassicas), which will continue through early summer. 

Spring cabbages not quite ready, May 2023

 Other jobs include keeping the new transplants well watered until they are well established, and tying/supporting growth such as for beans and tomatoes.  Speaking of well established, my previous experiments with using waste wool as a planting medium seem to be working very well!  Every transplant growing in wool has simply kept growing, no transplant shock at all, compared to those not grown in wool.  The root balls even seem more robust, with thicker roots and more roots altogether.  

Let's keep going, at get it all done.  Maybe this will be the year for me!

The first seeds of the year

It's not till March that I get the main bulk of my seeds started but that doesn't stop me getting a few things going in February.  This month I've begun with:

Broad beans and snap peas.  These get chucked into a plastic bag with a handful of wet soil/compost, and placed in my unheated garage to sprout in situ.  I prefer to pre-sprout them before I sow them in the ground, to give them a better chance of actually coming up (and I do them in the garage so I don't have to acclimatize them to cold temps like I would if I'd done them in the house).  Direct sown, mine usually never even appear.  Mice?  Slugs?  Both, no doubt.  I started 150 broad beans and 200 snap peas last week.  When they are sown, I'll pre-sprout one more batch.

Onions.  Today I broadcast a small handful (maybe 100 seeds) onto a small tray on my kitchen windowsill, to be pricked out individually once they pop up.  I don't have a good track record with onions.  The only year I got a decent harvest was the year the rest of my garden drowned (that was one soggy summer).  So I presume they need a bit more water than I usually provide, but to be honest I'm probably not going to water them any more than usual this year either.  We'll see how it goes;  they'll be planted out into well-manured soil at the allotment, at least.

Tomatoes.  In the past I've sown tomatoes a bit later, but last year I sowed them early and was much happier with the resulting harvest.  These I did today and they are next to the onion tray on my windowsill, both wrapped in plastic bags to keep a little more warmth in.  Unlike the onions however, they'll be potted on once or twice after pricking out, and not planted out until May.  I have cherry toms, salad toms (a variety I've been saving myself for years), and plum toms from a free packet--I mean, why not?  Maybe this will be the year of the tomato.

Hibernating

It's getting lighter in the afternoons, after a very dark midwinter.  We get very little winter sun most of the time;  even if it's clear (unusual), the sun rises late and sets early.  It's still definitely too dark, but at least we've at the point where it's starting to feel like there will be spring sometime in the future.

We had a prolonged cold snap in December--almost two weeks without a thaw;  we're coming out of another one now, though this one has only been one week.  I like to have a sustained frost in the garden, to set back the slugs and bugs;  if we don't have one I know it'll be a bumper year for them (and a bad year for me).  Thankfully no snow (yet).

On the other hand, a frost means no real work for me in the garden.  I have been thinking about starting some onion seeds (indoors) and maybe the first batch of broad beans;  I need some potting soil.  I've done a little bit of pruning, and have been gradually working on the new batch of firewood:  cutting it to stove lengths and splitting a few pieces too.  However I'm still in hibernation mode, probably for another month at least.

In summer, but looking to winter 2022

Achocha--it self seeded (from a self seeded plant last year!) August 2022

It pays to start planning two seasons ahead when growing your own food.  To some exent, I do this (but I'm still not great at it).  Right now, late summer, I've started some more lettuce seed, along with spring cabbage and cauliflower seed.  I hope to get a few more things going for autumn/winter growing, like chard and mizuna.

But my main planning was done back in spring, when I sowed and planted the main crops, some of which I have been busy preserving for winter;  I froze a few little bits earlier this summer but am on to the main harvest now.  Nearly all the beets and kohl rabi have been cooked and frozen, and I'm starting to dehydrate the first of the regular tomatoes (we're eating the cherry toms fresh);  I'm also dehydrating figs.  I hope to preserve apples and plums soon, and if I'm lucky I'll get some corn (it went out late and is a long-season variety to boot).

I also sowed and planted the main winter crops already:  the cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts.  These all have some degree of growth, though all have been set back by those pesky caterpillars.  Next year I'll have to plan ahead (again) and try to rig up some butterfly netting.  I should buy some later this year--I've got a few small lengths, but I'll see if I can get a big piece.

Planting out the kitchen garden

Tomatoes and rows marked for seeds, May 2022

These beds were last seen in April, having been cleared away by the chickens in their tractor;  I then had at them with a rake and hoe to get them ready for transplanting.

Kohl rabi (and some cabbages) with cherry and apple trees, May 2022

Half of the beds are set aside for kohl rabi and cabbages--mainly kohl rabi.  These were planted somewhat close together but with enough space to (carefully) hoe between rows.  The cabbages I spaced further apart from each other and in rows, and sowed turnip seed in the gaps between plants.

View from the path to the lawn, May 2022

The other half is devoted to stuff that hasn't been too successful for me at the allotment, namely stuff that needs to be directly sown (not transplanted).  I put down a couple rows of carrot seed, some parsnips (though I've never been able to grow them, so not holding my breath), fennel and swede/rutabaga.  I also transplanted six tomatoes, with various annual herbs seeded between them.

View from the chicken yard, May 2022

All the rows I direct seeded are plainly marked with string so I can easily hoe between rows, which I have been doing every few days.  I'm not hoeing between plants, as I want a few chard/mizuna/other self-seeded veg to still be able to come up too;  I'll hand weed and thin them out as necessary.  I promised myself I would mark the rows this year in order to keep on top of the weeds, unlike last year.

Birds + indoors = sad

I have been pondering the future of my little flock with the prevalence of avian influenza, aka bird flu.  In this country all poultry, both commercial birds and pets, have been required to stay indoors for the past sixteen weeks.  (Apparently that's legally the longest "free range" birds can be confined and still be allowed to be marketed as such;  this designation ran out yesterday.)  

Last winter we had to lock up our birds until around now.  We had to lock them up in the winter of 2016-2017 too.  This winter has been particularly bad for outbreaks, and there are still outbreaks happening;  the housing order still remains, maybe indefinitely.

I have six hens and four ducks.  They have a wooden playhouse that has been converted to a coop, and I've rigged up a very small covered porch for them outside their small door (made from a wire fireplace guard) so they can at least step outside for a breath of fresh air.  I try to bring them fresh greenery/weeds daily, but they aren't happy.  I don't blame them;  I'm not happy about it either.  

And what with the price of layers pellets going up--almost double what we were paying a year ago--and then they aren't even laying much (the ducks not at all), well it seems like a bad deal for everyone involved.  I've kept birds for about ten years now and this is the first time I feel like there's no future in it. 

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Ok so how to make things better within the parameters I've described?  For now I am keeping the birds.  We may let the flock die out (of old age/natural causes) without getting replacements.  I have suggested letting the chickens die out but replacing the ducks (and a flock size of around 4-6).  But whatever we decide, we need to make our current situation better than what it is;  it's been like this too long and is not good enough.

I have to keep the birds under cover;  that is a given.  A fully enclosed chicken tractor is allowed as long as wild birds are completely excluded.  I live on a very small property in a rural village but I have done a chicken tractor before:  I have a small moveable A-frame coop in the back corner of the Perennials section which is still in fairly good condition;  the husband made it out of some pallets, chicken wire and bubble wrap insulation;  the chickens used it at the allotment for a winter before we built them a permanent yard there.  

This is going to be put back to use right away, starting on the veg beds.  It has no floor so they'll be able to scratch and peck the ground and it can be moved daily;  they can even sleep in it.  It has no nest boxes or perches, somewhat of a drawback;  but it is better than being perpetually boxed up indoors.  I'll try to sort something out, but they (the chickens at least) are going in it immediately.

Little and often (I hope)

This past weekend, before it started raining (again) I managed to get outside and harvest a few overwintered carrots, cabbage greens and chard.  I also sowed two seed trays for the kitchen windowsill and even took four cuttings from my yellow raspberry.  I spent 10 min max out back, and did not visit the allotment;  I haven't been there for several weeks now, though the husband has dropped off kitchen scraps for the compost a couple times.  He also took up some old carpet from a neighbor, for long term weed-smothering.  I'm hoping to score some more pieces to cover the front quarter;  if I can find some I'll probably leave them in place for a full year.  We already managed to cover most of our path with some hallway carpets from another neighbor, to be in place long term.

I may have a little more time for gardening in the very near future, after agreeing with my work to reduce my hours by about a third.  Next week is half term (no school for the son and me) and after that my new hours will begin.  I hope to take the daughter up to the allotment for a daily walk before work/childcare starting then, instead of our early mad rush to get to our respective places on time.  I can't see us being extremely productive (she's not quite 2) but little and often is a good mantra for gardening!