VEGGIE TALK – SEPTEMBER 2021

Lots of us had blight this year, we recommend tomatoes: Mountain Magic, early, late blight resistant (Mine had none) also Crimson Crush and Crimson Blush.  Potatoes e.g. Sarpo, please look for blight resistant strains.

WATER CONSERVATION – MARCH 2021

Save labour, save waste, save trouble…

The summers of both 2013 and 2014 were unusually wet, and if you’ve only recently got your allotment you may not realise how hard a typical dry Kentish summer can be. Droughts are more common than floods, and a drought can mean no rain at all for over 2 months. In such circumstances even the most water-conscious gardener will need to use the watering can, as hosepipe bans are not that uncommon.

However watering everything isn’t actually good gardening, so you can save yourself a lot of hard work by following our experts’ tips

Avoid watering unnecessarily:

• Only water plants which need it. Carrots don’t need water, and onions need it only when they are young; later it will cause rotting. Courgettes, on the other hand, are very thirsty plants, as are runner beans.
• Don’t assume that because the surface looks dry, watering is needed. Take a spade and dig a couple of inches down. If the soil there is moist, there will be no need to water most things.
• Watch the weather forecast. Nothing is more galling – and wasteful – than to spend the evening watering only for a summer storm to soak everything overnight.

Make the best use of the water you do put on:

• Water in the evening, so it has a chance to soak in overnight rather than just evaporating off in the sun. (the exception is leeks, which are best watered in the morning to avoid problems with rust.
• Put water directly onto the roots. Soak the area immediately round the stem of the plant, don’t spread it over the soil surface. Instead of giving water little and often, soak well about once a week. The exception is newly emerged seedlings and transplanted stuff, which can’t be allowed to dry out.
• Use a watering can not a hose. Recent changes in rules mean hoses are not allowed anyway, but using a hose, it is hard to gauge how much water you’ve given. If you have physical problems carrying lots of cans, use the hose to fill a butt or dip-tank on your plot. To gain an idea of how little water a hose will actually deliver in a given period, fill a can from the hose – see how long it takes for a hose to fill a gallon can and you’ll have an idea how little water you were actually putting on in a given time using the hose.

Collect rainwater whenever possible.

While Kent is a dry area with as little as 26ins of rain some years, it makes sense to collect what you can. Not only can you cut down on the amount of drinking water which is used, rainwater is better for many plants.

Any water butt you fit should have a lid. This will help cut down on mosquitos and will save the danger of wildlife or pets drowning. It will keep out falling leaves and help keep the water sweet and clean.

Fit guttering to sheds, and polytunnels.

Learn clever tricks:

• When sowing seed, water the drill before the seed goes in. Don’t water on the surface – that can cause a caked layer which baby leaves find hard to break through.
• Prepare a trench for thirsty plants like courgettes or runner beans. Bury a layer of home-made compost about 6ins (15cm) down where it will hold water like a sponge. See ‘How to improve your soil’
• Use water-retaining-gel crystals (the kind that are sold for hanging baskets) when preparing the soil for seeds or plants. While there is an obvious benefit in using them for soft fruit bushes, you may be surprised to learn how useful they are for other crops like lettuce. Controlled experiments show they extend the time between waterings by 5 – 7 times – that’s watering once or twice a week instead of every day. Although the initial expense may be off-putting, the crystals stay in the soil making your plot more water-retentive for season after season.
• Make sure squash, courgettes and runner beans get water right where they need it by sinking an old flower pot next to the stem at planting time, or down the middle of your row of beans. You can then pour water into these and none will be lost by evaporation. This will also encourage deep-rooting, which surface watering discourages.
• Use mulches where you can. Mulches are suitable for permanent plants like fruit bushes, and long-term crops like runner beans. Make sure the soil is thoroughly wet before mulching, and add a high-nitrate fertiliser to the soil surface, as mulches tned to strip the soil of nitrates as they are broken down by soil bacteria. Grass clippings make a good mulch (but not if you’ve recently used a “feed and weed” lawn dressing). Bark is not a good mulch for allotments. Home-made compost is good but you will need to promptly hoe out any weeds that germinate.

Avoid problems caused by ill-advised use of water!

• Over-watering can kill plants (peppers are particularly vulnerable). Fungal diseases thrive in waterlogged soil.
• Splashing foliage with water also encourages fungal disease. You can use a ‘foliar feed’ with seaweed extract which helps keep plants healthy (Seaweed Extract is available from the Trading Store) But in general, keep water off foliage. Don’t spray plants with a hose. and don’t use a sprinkler on your watering can except for very small seedlings.
• Careless watering destroys soil structure, especially on clay soils where a pale smooth ‘pan’ easily forms. Water evaporates quickly from this surface and much of your water is wasted. On free-draining soil, too much water robs the soil of nutrients.

Help your soil to conserve moisture!

• Use a hoe all through summer to fluff up the soil surface. This helps keep water round the roots where it is needed. It also keeps weeds right down!
• Add as much organic matter as you can, it will hold water like a sponge. Home-made compost, spent compost from hanging baskets, manure, mushroom compost – use whatever you can get.
• Winter-dig clay soil to break it up. Clay is good at holding onto water but not when it is compacted and has all the air squashed out of it!.

Water costs money!

Last, but not least, remember all the water supplied to the allotments is mains water, metered and paid for. The cost of supplying water is the single largest cost to the local authority in running the allotments. Wasting water isn’t just immoral, stupid and bad for the planet, it contributes to the size of your allotment rent! As water costs rise, the council is forced to look again at the way it charges for allotments. So fit a water-butt to that shed and help keep unnecessary costs down.

VEGGIE TALK – MARCH 2020

Smiths Nursery have veg plants in stock.

Apparently if you save a few of your dug up early potatoes, they can be planted in September to grow new potatoes for Christmas.

VEGGIE TALK – JANUARY 2020

Time to prune fruit trees, cut at a slant above an outward facing bud. Plum/cherry should be pruned in summer. Use grease/bands to stop coddling moth.

Time to chit seed potatoes in a light frost- free place. Blue slug pellets kill wildlife – best to use organic slug pellets.

VEGGIE TALK – SEPTEMBER 2019

Blight on tomatoes at Rosedale and potatoes at Bull Meadow.

VEGGIE TALK – MAY 2019

Rhubarb going to flower due to stress! Cut out flower stalk.

Plant seeds now: Lettuce, carrot, parsnip, cabbage etc. Beetroot like the ground to be 50 degrees. Be aware that a cold snap could affect tender plants – they may need to be covered.

Which Magazine : Do not use Levington Seed Compost – poor nutrition value, although Levington Original Multi buy is okay. Les recommends Clover Compost from Chadwell Allotment Association £3.75. Comfrey is good for compost bins/plant food.

VEGGIE TALK – APRIL 2019

Store seeds in fridge so that when sowed, the soil is warmer than the seeds to help them to germinate.

Plant seed potatoes. Leave 2-3 eyes for larger potatoes, more eyes will yield more, smaller potatoes.

VEGGIE TALK – JANUARY 2019

Kiwi fruit does well on allotments, Martin grows bucket fulls of them that he sells on the stalls. 

Martin to be asked about dates for stalls at the garden centre this year.

Sales of produce from RR site to start around end of June and dates notified to immediate locality. Also, try to arrange Open Day earlier so that this can be advertised on Facebook. Date to be confirmed at next meeting.

VEGGIE TALK – JANUARY 2019

Tomato “MOUNTAIN MAGIC: resistant to cracking on vine, highly resistant to early blight, fully resistant to British strains of late blight and verticillium and fusarium wilt.

Now is the time to plant bare rooted fruit bushes. Seeds can be soaked overnight in water to encourage germination.

VEGGIE TALK – NOVEMBER 2018

Still time to plant broad beans, garlic, some varieties of peas

Cover leeks with Enviromesh in March to protect them from Allium Fly.