September 2009 Update
The month of September this year was a very dry one, with little rain and harsh winds. Conditions which turn the soil on our site to nothing more than rock or whipping dust, not really ideal for doing heavy work in but perfect for weeding as the hoe works at its best. The plot needed it too, despite some regular attention, due to the rain the month before the weeds stood as high and strong as we had ever seen, let the clear-up job commence!!!
Well... that would have been the case, apart from one thing which is guaranteed to ruin your enjoyment of an allotment – SHED VANDALISM. There have been problems with this on the site for years now, mainly it seems to be kids just enjoying the fun or wrecking other people’s belongings but it was the first time we had ever personally suffered and so, was quite a shock. We reported it to the council and the police, but we knew there was little we could do but count ourselves lucky that this was the first time we had been a victim.
The locks on our shed luckily had stood firm and not allowed the criminals to gain access, which pleased us greatly. Unfortunately they stood up so well that it meant that we also could not get in, not at least until some family members and more substantial tools could be located. Annoying not only for the inconvenience, but that there was precious little we could do on the plot without any tools. Very frustrating!
Anyway, once that annoyance was out of the way, we moved on to clearing up and making good the old seed beds in readiness for the allotment inspections which usually happen in October.
In the interim we also turned our attention to our tomato glut which were all simultaneously ripening at home. To preserve this harvest we decided to take action this year instead of allowing such large numbers of toms to spoil. To do this we blanched and skinned the fruits, then processed them to create ketchup, ideal for using in pasta sauces or chille con-carne’s and could be preserved in the freezer until called for. As we have discovered over the past few years, its one thing to grow lots of good things to eat, but if you cant make them last, there’s no point at all. As such, this is something we will be focussing on in 2009; to ensure our produce and the effort we put into growing it is not wasted.
One crop definitely making the grade this year was our Carrots, never before had we grown such fine untouched specimens – all those months removing stones from the soil was worth it! Our Swiss Chard officially went berserk, sending a huge ornately twisted flower spike out across the path in the centre of the plot, making a somewhat unusual and attractive display.
Yet this success was short lived, we came to the bulbing onions we harvested which had not fared so well and suffered a lot of top rot due to the heavy pounding of the rain in the earlier months. Unfortunately many of these cold not be saved and even the long period drying we afforded them did not seem to help in any way. This will be our third successive year without good onions, so it might be a case of going back to the drawing board for 2010.
Some animals made their presence known on the plot this month, particularly in the name of caterpillars on our brassicas. The old fashioned method of picking them off and then the application of a Wellington Boot was employed to organically deal with these unwanted pests, which despite the netting still managed to infiltrate the cages. Another little creature who is somewhat more welcome was a Toad we found lurking near to the makeshift pond we created to the side of the shed. This we feel is a great achievement, as the whole purpose of the little pond was to invite more positive wildlife into the area. He may only be a yearling, but he is one significant step in that direction, which we are very happy with.
