Fine weather, growing veg & allotmenteering

I hate to do it, but to quote The Sun – phew, what a scorcher! The weather this week has been fabulous - if you like warm, sunny days out of keeping in April that is. I guess we'll have to pay for it later on in the year - snow in June?
It has meant I've spent a lot of time away from my computer over the last few days and spent it in the garden & on the allotment - topping up the tan. Which also means I've caught up and got ahead of jobs.
I've sown my tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, courgettes and squashes. I've also sown lots of salad and brassica seeds in modules to transplant out later. I find this far better than sowing seed direct into the ground - especially for plants on the allotment, as it gives them a better start in life so they make stronger plants.
I'm also growing lots of grafted plants this year, as I had such great results last year - especially with the aubergines as they were my best ever.
The allotment is looking very pristine - thoroughly weeded and the grass paths mown. Yesterday, I planted the early potatoes - 'Charlotte' is the one I always choose. And I've been picking and eating asparagus, purple sprouting broccoli, kale and leeks like they're about to become extinct.

In my 'spare' time(!) I've been creating a vegetable growing course for MyGardenSchool.com  If you're interested and want to sign up to learn how to grow veg to perfection then visit the MyGardenSchool website.

Veg & allotment plotting - and other writing

Wow, what a busy week. Can't complain though - it keeps me off the streets, and off my soaking wet allotment. The life of a freelancer is fraught with job juggling, being pulled in all directions and trying to remember exactly who you spoke to and about what.

Following the successful writing for the RHS Allotment Handbook (which looks like it's either going to be available at the end of February/early March), the publisher, Mitchell Beazley, has now commissioned me to write the RHS Allotment Journal. They only want 40,000 words and they only want the copy in four weeks' time! Typer's cramp here I come - pass me the Red Bull and Pro-Plus. The book is meant to be ready for sale in October, hence the short lead/writing time.

Talking of veg plotting, the lovely Veg Plotting is organising a get-together for all gardening bloggers at Malvern Flower Show in May. Great idea, but sadly I'm going to be 'performing' at Grand Designs Live at London Excel so probably won't be able to make it.

I've finished testing the electric propagators for Garden News - you'll have to buy a copy of the February 16 issue to find out which one I thought was the best. Now I've got secateurs and fleeces turning up by the dozen and coming out of my ears for the next two articles. The curtains in my street are twitching regularly as yet another delivery van turns up with yet another parcel.

And now Garden Bargains want me to write articles for their online magazine, which is available from the website every fortnight.

It's just a good thing that it's so cold and miserable outside - or I might start going stir crazy. But if it's this mad in spring...

Now, pass me another keyboard.

Twitchy fingers

Yesterday's trip to Chelmsford to guest on Ken Crowther's gardening programme on BBC Essex, revealed a nation (well, a county) desperate to get gardening. Good news that gardening is still alive & kicking in this cold spell. Possibly, bad news that we tried to curtail people's impatient, itchy, twitchy fingers to get started. Basically, for most jobs it's too early, so stay indoors and browse the seed catalogues and get your orders in. Oh, that's such a gardening cliche for this time of year.

Strangely, we had a lot of questions about pruning. A lot of people have noticed snow damage or plants growing out of control and we gave them the OK to get cutting back, but not drastic hacking as cold weather could cause further damage. Quite a few people wanted to prune cherries and other Prunus species - this is definitely a no-no as bacterial canker can get into the cuts and cause extreme damage - even death. Even more strangely, I didn't use this opportunity to promote my book on pruning. But I did use it to promote my new series of product review features in Garden News; the March Tried & Tested is on secateurs! We even had a question on how to use fleece and again I managed to surreptitiously (or not) promote the February's Buyer's Guide on fleece!

We also had a lot of questions on fruit, veg and grow your own. Not strangely, I did use this opportunity to promote my new book, the RHS Allotment Handbook, which is on sale in February. Oh, I'm such a self-promoting tart! Well, no-one else is going to do it for me.

Other questions included aphids on honeysuckle (even in this weather?), propagating chrysanthemums, flower buds dropping off orchids, clivias and amaryllis not flowering and growing lavender indoors.

Anyway, we had a good time and had a bit of a laugh with the listeners, which, after all, is what it's all about.

I'm a good author...

Well, that's according to book publisher Mitchell Beazley, who are publishing the Allotment Handbook for the RHS and for which I've written the section on vegetables.
But it's not necessarily because I write well - it's because my deadline is tomorrow and I sent all the copy last Friday! Now there's one advantage of not having a proper job and lots of time to fill.
Let's hope when they get round to reading the copy whot I writ they'll still have the same opinion. I guess the ultimate test will be how many copies the book actually sells. For those who are desperate for another veg/allotment book you'll have to wait until March 2010 to get your hands on it.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life

Well, actually that was yesterday! But having so much to do, I didn't get round to blogging. Same old, same old...
Because the plan to help write the RHS book on allotments looks like it's going ahead and the publisher, Mitchell Beazley, wants to take pictures on the allotment, I thought I'd better give it a spruce up. Although it's looking pretty good, there are some areas that need titivating.
So, I had a quick weed through, tied in and sideshooted the tomatoes and planted out some more peppers, courgettes and aubergines that didn't make it into the plots at home. A bit late I know, but I'm hoping for an Indian Summer and a later crop.
I also sowed a late crop of runner and French beans.
Then I harvested the garlic.
But most of the time was spent harvesting fruit: apricots - probably around 250 of the golden jewels - redcurrants, blueberries, gooseberries and raspberries.
The thing about a lot of fruit is that it's all ready to harvest in one go and, if you get a bumper crop, what do you do with it all? Simple, head to the Hodge fruit factory.
The evening was spent making raspberry and apricot jam, bottling stewed apricots, making apricot and blueberry crumble, redcurrant meringue etc., etc... The pantry, freezer and fridge are now packed to the gunnels with fruity delights.

More work on the horizon. I received confirmation that I'll be doing some telly work over the coming weeks - guesting on Garden Bargains on the Ideal World shopping channel. If you want to see me in action, then tune in between 11am and 1pm on July 19, 26 and August 2. I've got a couple of Tuesday evening slots too. Eat your heart out Richard Jackson!

The end of an era

Friday was my last day with the RHS and this weekend is the first to put the new life plan into operation.
Sadly, I think it's all gone to pot already.
First, I wanted to enjoy watching The Ashes: well, the England team have ruined that by not turning up and by playing total rubbish.
Second, I wanted some time off working to enjoy working/playing in the garden and on the allotment: well, I've been asked to judge the Garden News Gardener of the Year competition (I did that for six years while I was the Gardening Editor of the title and loved it) later this month and to write a book on allotment gardening by - yes, you've guessed, the RHS!
Anyone else out there want to help ruin my summer by piling on the work?!?

Sowing the seeds of success

Well hopefully. Although I've got to say it's a slow start - probably not warm enough for seeds to germinate properly and, as a result, not much is showing in the veg plot at home. Of all the things I've sown so far only the radish and broad beans are doing anything.

But onwards and upwards. With so much to do in the garden - and keeping true to my word (so far), not spending as much time as usual in front of the computer screen - I decided to take a day off work today. I also needed to recharge the batteries as the RHS website is going through a major overhaul and it's exhausting.

I spent a few hours on the allotment, doing some more weeding and tidying up. I also planted out a Coronet family apple tree, which came courtesy of Springfield Nurseries in Ireland. This joins the other two Coronets, which fruited magnificently last year.

Because things aren't germinating at home I've decided to give sowing on the allotment a miss at the moment. But at least the onions, garlic and shallots are making a breakthrough. And the potatoes are chitting nicely at home waiting to be planted out, probably - to keep things traditional - at Easter.

Instead we've decided to sow things in pots and modules here and then transplant them into the allotment later. So, there's three trays of leek 'Jaune de Poitou' (a lovely early yellow variety), one each of beetroot 'Burpees Golden Globe' and kale 'Nero di Toscana' and another follow-on crop of broad bean 'The Sutton'.

I've also put in a few more rows of salad crops outside at home - it must be warm enough now surely (but I've covered them with fleece just in case!) including carrot 'Early Nantes 2', radish 'Zlata' (a golden-yellow variety), cos lettuce and red-veined sorrel.

And I decided to sow a Westland Horticulture Instant Planter in the greenhouse with more cos lettuce (should grow quicker than outside), rocket and some salad leaves from the new collection from Lakeland.

But all good things must come to an end - I've now got to get ready to give a talk to a local(ish) gardening club. It's one I've never been to before, but they sound a friendly bunch and I always enjoy giving talks.

Spring on the allotment

True to my word, Sunday was spent on the allotment. Although we've had a slow start and didn't go there for weeks for one reason or another, I'm amazed at how good it looks. Hardly any weeds, and what there were came out really easily.

The main reason for going was to (finally) plant out the garlic, shallots and onion sets - both red and white.

We'd also been given a couple of blackcurrant 'Big Ben' bushes by Suttons and these needed planting out. This spectacular new blackcurrant has huge fruit - double the size of other varieties - and is very high yielding too. The fruits are produced early in the season and are sweet and juicy. Plants show good resistance to mildew and leaf spot.

After a spot of weeding and tidying up we'd more or less finished for the day - apart from harvesting a whole load of leeks, a load of cut daffs and some pretty unspectacular celeriac. They may have looked unspectacular but they have made some really delicious cream of celeriac soup.

It was interesting to see who and how the other plots had changed. The plot run by the school kids had disappeared and the gravel and raised beds were replaced with a standard plot. The greenhouse a few plots down had been completely de-glazed - apparently by the lovely youth of the area! New people had started two plots up from us - Clare picked them a bunch of daffs as a welcome present. But there was one standard - Bruce the site guardian - and his cultivator. His plots are the most cultivated anywhere, but he loves to rotovate other plots too if you let him. He can never understand why we say no. But we can never understand why he likes rotovating couch grass!

Spring resolutions under way

My new spring resolution - spend more time gardening not thinking about it, is working a treat. Yesterday I spent most of the day in the garden or doing things connected with gardening. Although, the spanking the Red Devils took from the Scousers did split up the day and make me sit indoors enduring torture - plus the texts from Liverpool supporting friends.

Most of the gardening time was spent making a start on getting the veg garden up and running.
The garden frame has been sitting on the raised beds all winter, so the soil was lovely and warm and welcoming for some early crops. So an early row of rocket, a row of beetroot 'Detroit' and one of lettuce 'Stoke' (a variety from the Heritage Seed Library) have joined the broad beans sowed last week.

Outside I put in a row of salad onion 'White Lisbon', Continental salad mix, radish 'Amethyst', celtuce and carrot 'Egmont Gold' (another from the Heritage Seed Library) plus some 'Early Purple Sprouting' broccoli in a seed bed.

I'm also testing a new product - the Seedbed Roll from The Master Herbalist. The company produces a couple of different types and I've used the English Summer Salad - a mix of lettuce and salad leaves. This is a professional way of growing veg that is meant to produce better and faster germination, stronger growth and needs less water and no chemical controls. The seed comes pre-sown on a biodegradable paper mat that is covered in a clear layer of compostable film that conserves moisture and warmth and acts like a propagator. It'll be interesting to see how it performs.

Finally, Clare and I set up our exotic veg seed sowing production line - filling pots, firming compost, writing labels, sowing seeds, covering with vermiculite and watering. We've sown our first batch of indoor tomatoes, aubergines, sweet and chilli peppers, basil and courgettes. Last year we sowed too much too early and all in one go - this year we're doing things more carefully and steadily to prevent the seedling mountain we suffered last year.

Well, The Archers omnibus has just finished, the sun is shining and it's a proper spring day out there, so we're off to the allotment. Twice in quick succession - the allotment won't know what hit it! But there's lots to do and we've got onions, shallots and garlic to plant as well as some new fruit trees and bushes.

Stir crazy

At least I think I might be going that way. What with an excess of work, excesses of weather and the fact that the EU decimal 100-hour day hasn't yet been introduced, I haven't had much/any/enough time in the garden recently.

Last weekend I managed a couple of hours - much of which was spent dealing with/tidying up the ivy-covered tree stump that came down in the snow; luckily it hadn't done much damage - apart from bending the frame of the lean-to greenhouse a tad. The lawn had its first cut of 2009 too, after nearly killing myself with the annual raking and scarifying. I even managed to sow a couple of rows and a couple of trays of broad beans, including an old heirloom variety called 'Martock'; don't know it, never grown it, but who cares!

Today was definitely - "right, I'm going to the allotment whatever happens" day; bad choice really. Apart from the fact that it was blowing a gale, it started raining/sleeting/hailing/snowing and was just flippin' cold. Never mind, I got quite a bit of tidying up done and even dug over quite a lot of it too. Message to self: must spend more time there this year; message from self: then don't take on lots of other/new projects as well.

Now, if only the clocks would go forward and that 100-hour day was introduced...!

A damn good catch up

Because we’ve been away the last couple of weekends and haven’t managed to spend much time on the garden or the allotment, jobs were beginning to pile up – and both my girlfriend Clare and I were beginning to get just a tad twitchy about the situation. So this weekend we were going to get on with things whatever the weather. Perhaps a touch too much bravado considering the forecast!
Luckily, we had both outdoor jobs and indoor ones – seed sowing and sorting out the greenhouse. So we had plenty of time to get on with the indoor jobs as we spent the weekend dodging heavy showers, thunderstorms, hail and sleet – all in all, a nice mixed bag!
We more-or-less finished planting up the front garden, just a few plants we’re waiting for from Beth Chatto to finish it. And, of course, the heavy downpours meant everything got watered in naturally.
When tidying up a number of pots I received a nasty shock. One of the lilies had its first unwelcome visitors – lily beetle – six to be precise. Thankfully, I managed to carefully pick them all off without any escaping and put them to the sword – or more correctly the foot; they do make a satisfying crunch! This is much earlier than previous years, so I need to keep a careful eye on them from now on.
On Sunday we decided to risk a few hours at the allotment – there were the seed potatoes and garlic to put out of their misery, languishing at home desperate for some soil to get their feet into. What started off as a really nice morning, soon deteriorated into a day of heavy showers. Luckily, we can get the car onto the allotment, so we dodged the rain in the car, looking at a road map and wondering where in Norfolk we could go for a weekend away; once all the main gardening jobs had been done, of course!
By 7 o’clock Sunday evening we’d finished, thoroughly damp to say the least, but pleased that we’d more-or-less caught up with ourselves. We celebrated with a nice bottle of rosé.