allotment notebook

Friday, 26 September 2014

Best autumn-fruiting raspberries.

The three best autumn-fruiting raspberries are:
Sugana - an exciting variety that not only crops from August to October but, if you leave the canes unpruned it will fruit again in June the following year. And it tastes great.
Erika - almost too good for jam (I did say almost) and perfect when eaten straight off the bush.
Himbotop - a Swiss variety, so should be pretty good in colder areas. Incidentally, the best raspberries I’ve ever tasted are those grown on the west coast of Scotland. I think the rain makes the fruit plumper.

Friday, 19 September 2014

October.

Soil Association : October:

Sowing

If you sowed onion seeds last month, these can be thinned, but take care not to disturb the remaining seedlings. Corn salad and dwarf early peas can be sown in a warm, sheltered border. Sow winter lettuces and other winter salad crops, like lamb’s lettuce: you may need cloches to protect these over the winter. Also, it’s the last chance to plant out cabbage seedlings this month: any plants not set out now should be left in the nursery bed over the winter.

As your plots are cleared you should also sow a green manure such as clover or rye grass to cover ground until next spring. Green manures will help prevent weeds establishing, and once dug into the ground the following spring they help return nutrients to the soil, helping the fertility of your plot.

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August.

Soil Association : August:

Sowing

If you have time, start sowing crops for harvesting later this year and early next year:

Spring cabbages

Cauliflowers
Endives
Autumn and winter lettuces
Onions
Radishes
Shallots
Winter spinach
Turnips

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Edmondsham House.

Down to Earth (From Salisbury Journal):

OTHER people’s allotments and gardens are a constant source of inspiration and ideas. I was fortunate enough to visit the gardens of Edmondsham House, near Cranborne and chat to head gardener Andrew Haynes last week for a feature to be published in September’s Wiltshire Society magazine.

And I walked away with inspiration in trugfulls.

The kitchen garden, part of the walled garden, has been managed organically since 1984 when Andrew became head gardener.

Runner beans are grown on coppiced hazel arches, comfrey is grown to provide liquid feed for hungry vegetables throughout the growing season, as no chemical fertilisers or pesticides are ever used.

Andrew uses the ‘no-dig’ method of cultivating the soil, which helps prevent weed seeds being brought to the surface. Mulches are used helping to conserve moisture and soil structure.

Rows of borage have been planted alongside the beans to attract pollinators but the plant's bright blue star shaped flowers are also striking features. I have grown borage in this way but always been late in staking and they have flopped horribly, but Andrew has created a small fence to act as support and to tie them into.

The bright orange heads of calendula have been deliberately planted with the purple sprouting broccoli to keep cabbage root fly at bay.

Calendula self seed freely, the plants first appearing in spring and can be transplanted easily to whatever part of the plot is needed for the simple to grow companion plant.

Aside from the kitchen garden, the walled garden has some quite beautiful herbaceous borders, planted to be of interest for a long season.

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No dig growing.

No dig growing | www.charlesdowding.co.uk:

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How to Create a No Dig Garden.

How to Create a No Dig Garden: 12 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow:

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Урожай. 2014.

Morris Minor 1000 Traveller.
Александр Арнольд Константин (18 ноября 1906 - 2 октября 1988), английский конструктор и дизайнер автомобилей греческого происхождения.
Сын греческого коммерсанта, Иссигонис эмигрировал в Англию в 1922, спасаясь от греко-турецкой войны. Получил техническое образование, в 1936 поступил в компанию "Моррис Моторс ". Здесь он разработал оригинальную модель "Моррис Майнор" (Morris Minor), автомобиль "чисто британского" имиджа: не роскошный, но надежный, легкий в управлении, поворотливый, что особенно ценно для переполненных тесных улиц больших городов. Morris Minor стал первым полностью английским автомобилем, перешагнувшим миллионный рубеж продаж. Модель выпускалась с 1948 - 1971.
Он же в 1959 создал модель "Мини" (Mini).
- Машина - не моя! К сожалению.

Monarda 'Squaw'.
Monarda, народные названия пчелиный бальзам, бергамот.
Род назван Карлом Линнеем в честь испанского ботаника и врача Николаса Монардеса (1493—1588), который в 1574 году издал книгу, в которой описывал новые растения, найденные в Америке.
Цветы бывают красные, розовые, и фиолетовые.
Из него получают ароматное эфирное масло. Люблю.