New beginnings...

My new plot (25B) is further up the hill, has sheds and ready-made raised beds. It's been neglected for the past couple of years but only really needs a good tidying up and the odd repair here and there. A fence needs to be put up between my neighbour and myself as well as sorting out secure access for both of us.

Sheds and raised beds

The concrete shed at the end will be transformed into a cold greenhouse

Looking east towards Rombalds Moor 

End of an era

Following a rough 2017 for me healthwise, the opportunity arose for me to move plots. This is a rare occurrence and I'm thankful for the Committee to allow me to swap my large plot for a slightly smaller but better one.

Some things on my old plot (10A) I will be leaving such as the asparagus, raspberries and compost bins. The battered shed and remains of the tumbled down one will need to be dismantled and put in a skip as they are beyond salvage. My fruit bushes, bean support, barrels and coldframe will be moved to the new plot once I have the key and secured the front fence.

The old plot, ready for a final tidy before handing it back.

Potatoes

This post explains some of the terminology concerned with growing potatoes – such as “First Early”, “Second Early”, etc and provides advice on when to plant as well as sowing-to-harvesting times.

Potato types

Most types of potato fall into one of three main categories related to their harvesting times. No prizes for guessing that a “First Early” type is normally harvested before a “Second Early” type! The term “Maincrop” also gives us a clue that this type is the one with the biggest expected yields.

First Early potatoes are the classic “New Potato” types. They are the first to be planted and mature very quickly (typically 10 weeks). Gardeners often vie with one another to produce them as early as possible in the year. This type is often harvested when the tubers are very small, at which stage their flesh will be light and insubstantial and their skins so thin that they can be rubbed off with the fingers. The expected yields are small – maybe 500g per seed-tuber. Examples include "Sharpe's Express", "Rocket" and "Belle de Fontenay".

Second Early potatoes are often (though not necessarily) planted at the same time as the First Earlies, but take longer to mature (typically 13 – 14 weeks). The tubers they produce are usually a bit bigger and firmer than the First Early types, but still tender. A typical yield would be 700 – 800g per seed-tuber. Examples include "Charlotte", "Kestrel" and "Nadine".

Maincrops (sometimes sub-divided into “Early Maincrop” and “Late Maincrop” types) are usually planted later than the early varieties and take longer to grow (typically 20 weeks or more), which means they are harvested in late Summer or early Autumn. Their big advantages are that they produce much heavier and bulkier yields, and the tubers will normally remain in good condition for many months if stored properly. The flesh of Maincrop potatoes is often a lot more substantial and more filling than the other types. Grown in a container, a typical yield would be approx. 1.5 – 2kgs per seed-tuber. Examples include "King Edward", "Desiree" and "Sarpo Mira".

Flesh types

The flesh type of potatoes can differ markedly from variety to variety – some are “waxy” (with close-textured, smooth flesh), and some are “floury” (with flesh that goes soft, crumbles or breaks up when cooked).

When choosing which varieties to grow you should think about how you like potatoes cooked: floury potatoes are good for mashing and for baking to make beautiful fluffy Jacket Potatoes, but they often disintegrate when boiled. A firmer, waxier, variety is best for boiling or for making chips / French fries. When buying your seed potatoes always enquire about this – a reputable supplier should be able to tell you what you need to know.

Once you get past the novice stage, you will probably also want to think about the size, shape and colour of the potatoes you grow. Will they be large, medium or small? Will they be round, or oval or long? Will they be white, yellow, creamy – or even red, black or multi-coloured? Coloured potatoes are quite trendy, but personally I’m not a great fan of them. I find that the colour usually fades on cooking and ends up a dirty, unappetising grey! (There are exceptions of course, such as “Blue Danube”, which retains its colour well).

Planting times

The decision on when to plant potatoes depends a lot on your local weather. Potato foliage is very susceptible to frost damage, and because of this it is inadvisable to plant too early unless you can provide some suitable protection. My suburban garden in Fleet, Hampshire, is about 30 miles south of London, and the climate here is relatively mild, but even so our last frost of the year is usually in mid-May.

Each year I plant my potatoes in late March or early April, but with protection as described below. In a city, the temperatures are often higher than out in the suburbs or countryside and you will therefore be able to plant earlier. I’m lucky enough to have some small plastic greenhouses which are each just the right size to accommodate four of the pots in which I grow my potatoes. 
If you don’t have anything like that, another option is to cover your plants with a couple of layers of horticultural fleece when frost is forecast. In an emergency you can also achieve (for a short space of time) much the same effect with some pages of newspaper, weighed-down with bricks or something similar.

Storage considerations

Neither the First Earlies or Second Earlies keep very well, and are seldom stored for later use. They are too delicious anyway – definitely best eaten within days (preferably hours) of harvest. Maincrops, on the other hand, will keep for months if properly stored. If you plan to store potatoes for a long time, here are a few tips:

• Dry the potatoes in the open air (preferably in sunshine) for a few hours, until you are able to rub off most of the soil / compost. Drying also fixes (hardens) the skin which helps with avoiding moisture loss.
• Remove any damaged tubers – eat them or discard them, because they will soon rot
• Put the good tubers into breathable containers, such as paper or hessian/burlap sacks. Plastic will cause the tubers to sweat and therefore potentially to rot
• Store the potatoes in lightproof containers, preferably in a dark place. If light reaches them they will turn green and become toxic
• Store the sacks / containers in a cool but frost-free location, such as a garage or well-insulated shed. If they get too warm, the potatoes will quickly begin to sprout
• Check the stored tubers frequently (maybe once a month?) to see that they are OK.
• Discard any that show signs of rotting.
• Do what you can to protect your potatoes from rodent damage 

Other potato-related terminology

• Haulm - an old-fashioned English word meaning the foliage of the potato plant.
• Chit - a young shoot or sprout on a seed potato, from which the leaves will in due course grow. Sometimes used as a verb – “To chit” means to allow the seed tubers to produce shoots.
• Tuber - the part of the plant that you eat. The part that people call “the potato”. It grows underground, on the roots of the plant.
• Seed tuber - a tuber that has been saved after harvesting, and which when planted will produce another plant – so the equivalent of a seed.
• Earthing-up - progressively covering with soil the emerging shoots of a potato plant as it grows, causing the underground tuber-bearing part of the plant to be taller. Also prevents light reaching the developing tubers and making them turn green (and therefore poisonous).
• Salad potato - normally a First or Second Early type, often with waxy flesh, grown for using cooked and cooled, in a salad.
• Blight - normally refers to Late Blight - a disease of solanaceous plants (such as the potato and tomato) that is caused by a fungus (Phytophthora infestans) and is characterized by decay of stems, leaves, and in the potato also of tubers. The most common and most deadly disease affecting potatoes. There is no known cure, and once the disease strikes it is best to cut off and burn the plant’s foliage. The underground tubers will probably be OK if you act promptly! Some potato varieties have a certain resistance to Blight, especially those developed by the Sarvari trust, whose potatoes are mostly given names including the word “Sarpo” – e.g. “Sarpo Mira”, “Sarpo Axona” etc.
• Scab – a common disease of potatoes, leaving the tubers covered in unsightly but harmless brown lesions or scabs. The incidence of Scab can be decreased by including plentiful organic matter in the growing-medium.
  
  (This article has been taken from http://marksvegplot.blogspot.co.uk)

Bountiful Harvest

As its been so wet recently, the lettuces have succumbed to slugs and snails but the strawberries have kept on coming and coming. Today I spent nearly three hours weeding and then an hour harvesting the fruits on of my labour.

Beetroot (Boltardy and Cylindra)

Blackcurrant (Ben Connan)

Radish (French Breakfast), Spring Onion (Paris Silverskin) and Kohl Rabi (Quickstar)

Rapberry (Malling Admiral)

Strawberriy (Hapil and Sweetheart)

Tayberry (Medana)

Bargains

I popped into Old Bridge Nursery in Ilkley yesterday to see what veg or strawberry plants they might have. As I wandered around, I noticed that their fruit trees and soft fruit bushes were much cheaper than anything I'd been able to find online. Not only were they cheaper but they also had three plants which I needed down at the allotment, Firstly a plum 'Oullins Golden Gage', which was a fairly substantial 2-3 year old tree for only £14.00, a thornless Loganberry 'LY654' and a Tayberrry 'Medana. 'Medana' is a recently developed primocane variety meaning that it fruits on this years canes so maintenance is simple, just a chop down to the ground after fruiting. Simple.

Oullins Golden Gage

More apple blossom

Shallots 'Golden Gourmet' and Onions 'Red Baron'

Heatwave

I had the week off to get the plot into shape for the forthcoming year. The veg bed was dug, weeded and any glass and nails removed. By the end of the week the termperature had risen to 25c which brought all the plants on following the prolonged cold of April.

Raspberries and salad planting

Apple Tree

Blackberry

Gooseberry bushes

Strawberry in flower

 Runner Bean frame                               Asparagus

Spring 2016

I did not do much over Winter 2015, except clear the veg beds of unused Brussel Sprouts, Kale and Scorzonera. With a little help, I erected the sheds and my new neighbour has started to build a short fence between our plots.

The stuff I stored in the second compost heap has now been moved to the sheds and this has freed it up for its original purpose of making compost.

Giant eight and a half foot coldframe

The fruit is coming into growth following the colder than usual Spring

Broad beans and peas to the left and lettuce, beetroot, spring onions and radishes under the cloches

Five types of potato have been planted in bags; King Edward, Manitou, Nicola, Picasso, Pink Gypsy and Pink Fir Apple

Beans ready for drying

Nearly 2lbs of beans ready for drying. The top and bottom left are Borlotto Beans and the bottom right are Runner Beans

Borlotto Bean Harvest

I have picked half of the Borlotto Bean Lingua di fuoco I planted. I'm allowing them to dry before shelling them. The under mature green beans will be be blanched and frozen to be used as a flageolet bean. The mature beans will be dried and used in soups and stews as well as on their own with sausages.

Tongues of Fire and Autumn Raspberries

Borlotto Bean - Lingua di Fuoco

Lingua di Fuoco literally translates as Tongues of Fire. They are in effect a climbing French Bean and can be eaten young in the pod, either raw or cooked. Alternatively they can be shelled and used like a flageolet bean or shelled and dried and used as a haricot bean. Unfortunately the red speckling on the pods disappears when they are cooked.

Autumn Raspberry - Fall Gold

Only three or four ripen at a time but it is only their first year. They taste sweet and there are no pips. Hopefully next year the harvest should be pretty substantial.