Allotment update Mar-2012

Here's a pictorial roundup of the allotment at the end of March 2012.

The onions and two rows of garlic have been weeded and those onions grown from seed have been thinned out and repositioned. So far ahead, it should be a bumper crop this year.

Apart from the giant strawberry plants from Mark & Colette, still nothing in the other back bed. Barry's vines all now have new support poles and wires in expectation of this being the best grape year yet.

The herb bed is starting to wake up.

More wild flower seeds have been planted in front of the rock wall. The netting is to protect from the flippin' chickens, who never miss the opportunity for a meal.

The pond water is nice and clear, with irises and lilies starting to grow again. Unfortunately the blanket weed is still alive and kicking and can't be moved at present because of the tadpoles... yes tadpoles! You can just see a few black dots. Unfortunately not from my first brood of froglets of last year since frogs take three years reach sexual maturity. This batch came from a ditch running along the top of the allotment site.

Looks like I've at last cracked the secret of growing lush and abundant rhubarb since the rhubarb patch really has taken off.

After last year's late frost disaster there's great hope for it being a bumper year for the fruit trees. All are budding heavily... here's the Victoria plum tree.

The hazel twigs from Jude are also budding well and should form a great hedge.

Peas and lettuce growing in the greenhouse.

Various tomato seedlings growing under cover.

Likewise sunflower and kale seeds, and a single pot of cucumber seedlings to test if it's OK to bring the rest from the study windowsill at home.

Inside the shed there's various flower cuttings growing as well as some beans. Notice the loads of lists put up by my apprentice and wife, Linda, to 'organise' me.

Front of shed and strawberries in pots.

Linda's cold frame salad vegetables coming on, with my collection of lettuce (yes, more lettuce) resting across.

The front flower bed also coming to life.

Peas and sweet peas, with a row of broad beans yet to put in an appearance.

May have overdone it on the spuds front since all of this area, a major part of one of the best beds we have, is all early and main crop potatoes.

The remaining leeks from last year border an area with parsnips, more leeks and.... yes, you've guessed it, even more lettuce!

The final main bed, awaiting tomatoes, squash, pumpkins and spinach. More fruit trees budding, these being (from the left) golden plum and greengage.

 

Dandelion wine easy recipe

With lots of dandelions flowering from Spring right through to late Summer, why not try a light but easy to make white wine? The recipe is shown below... no chemicals used, just natural ingredients other than Milton baby liquid to sterilise equipment. Why not try out some of the other Allotment Heaven easy recipes?

I make this wine for several reasons. Dandelions get a bad press... yes, they're technically a weed, but they act as a beneficial companion plant, bringing up nutrients with their long tap root to benefit shallower rooted plants, they attract pollinating insects and help surrounding fruit ripen by releasing ethylene. They're one of the earliest flowering plants and freely available in abundance. A good Spring wine to make.

Another reason is the difficulty of finding wine in shops without the 'contains sulphites' message hidden away on the back label. Sulphites can cause allergies and headaches. Hence no chemicals are used in this recipe.

The instructions below make one UK imperial gallon of wine, which means about six bottles. It's much easier if you make a few gallons at once... the demijohns are cheaper if you buy several off eBay and it's easier to bottle without disturbing the sediment. Just multiply the ingredients according to how many gallons.

The cost of equipment is pretty low... under £20 if you acquire the wine bottles by saving from bought white wine. Thereafter your only cost is for sugar, oranges, some wine yeast and a little Milton liquid... so having made the initial investment in equipment, typically you're enjoying rather nice wine with no sulphite content for well under 50p a bottle! Why wouldn't you want to do it?

Equipment needed

• One 5 gallon plastic fermentation barrel with lid
• Something for stirring the contents
• Milton baby sterilising liquid
• Long clear plastic tubing (available from DIY stores)
• Funnel
• A 1 gallon demijohn (cheaper if you buy several off eBay)
• Rubber bung with airlock
• 6 wine bottles (ideally clear glass)

Ingredients needed

• 2 quarts dandelion petals (pick much more flowers to give you enough petals, best to pick on a sunny day when the flowers are fully opened and avoid areas frequented by dogs)
• 3 lbs granulated sugar
• 4 oranges
• 1 gallon water
• Yeast and nutrient

Method

1. Sterilise the fermentation barrel and lid using the milton liquid.
2. Pluck the dandelion petals from the flowers and place in fermentation barrel.
3. Add 4 pints of boiling water and mix.
4. Place lid on barrel and leave for two days.
5. Add a further 4 pints of boiling water to bring up to one gallon.
6. Add the orange zest and juice, avoid getting any of the white pith included.
7. Add the sugar and mix well until all the sugar has dissolved.
8. Once cool add the yeast and nutrient.
9. Put the lid on the barrel and leave in a warm place to ferment
10. After a few hours you'll notice something starting to happen... there'll be froth on the surface as the yeast starts to ferment, turning the sugar into alcohol. Stir the contents twice a day.
11. It will take a couple of weeks or so for the fermentation to finish. Don't worry if it takes longer... it's a natural process and not a science. Once completed transfer the liquid to the demijohn using the plastic tubing and funnel. Make sure all the equipment has been sterilised with Milton liquid.
12. Avoiding disturbing any sediment, place the fermentation barrel at a higher level than the demijohn (e.g. put the barrel on a table and the demijohn on the floor), put one end of the plastic tubing in the barrel, and having placed the funnel in the neck of the demijohn give the other end of the tubing a strong suck to pull some of the wine up and over the edge of the barrel. Quickly remove your mouth and put the tube end into the funnel. The wine should start to drain.
13. Avoid transferring any sediment if you can. Once all the clear liquid is in the demijohn top up with water to bring to a gallon (if you're only making one gallon). Seal with the rubber bung and airlock, having put a small amount of diluted Milton liquid in the airlock.
14. You can now store the wine somewhere cool and frost free. At first the fermentation may start up again and you'll see bubbles going through the airlock. Gradually the wine will clear.
15. Once fully clear repeat the draining process, this time from demijohn to sterilised wine bottle. Put a stopper in each bottle and store.
16. The wine will be ready to drink after being bottle for six months, but much improves with age after twelve months.

Note: If you do decide to make several gallons at once, filling the demijohns can be a bit tricky since, once the first is full, you have to put your thumb over the tube end and use the other fingers of that same hand to transfer the funnel to the next demijohn, then removing your thumb to let the flow continue into the second demijohn. Where's your other hand? Holding the other end of the tube in the fermentation barrel without disturbing the sediment of course! It's a good idea to position the demijohns close up against each other.

The Apprentice

Yes, it's heart racing, palms sweating, get that whisky bottle out time... the new 2012 series of The Apprentice started last night and my Wednesday evenings are now booked up for the next three months.

I really hate reality shows. Cheap, grotesque TV milked for all it's worth with multiple offshoot programmes 'analysing' the contestants chances, the results etc etc. Big Brother contestants generally needed therapy before they were picked to appear. The build up for The X Factor judges is unreal. And I'm still trying to erase from memory the image of Ann Widdecombe being hauled by block and tackle around the dancefloor on Strictly Come Dancing.

So what is it about The Apprentice that grabs me so? I accept strictly speaking it is a reality show, but for once the contestants are using their natural skills for a long term purpose. They've already proposed a business opportunity attractive enough to interest Sir Alan Sugar and his £250,000 investment. Over the next few weeks each has got to try and convince him they're the one he should work with because of their innate business and entrepreneurial skills and general nous.

So the 2012 series started with the usual descriptions of the remarkable qualities of each candidate... in their own opinions of course. How about 'I truly am the reflection of perfection', or 'My personality and character is once seen never forgotten'. A bit of intimidation from Sir Alan, a rough division in teams between girls and boys and they were off on the first task, to buy blank merchandise to print on and sell.

The boy's team got off to a great start when no one wanted their neck in the noose as the first team leader. They proceeded to produce a poor product of poor quality at an extortionate price to sell to tourists. Would you buy a small canvas bag with a picture of a London bus on the front for £15?

The girls team on the other hand had a really attractive motif of animals for their children's T shirts and bibs hand drawn by one of the team. Quality was great and they were selling like hot cakes. Off went half the team to sell more at London Zoo, where they wandered round together, three of them bitching about the grabbing of sales by the fourth. Might have been a good idea to split up and quadruple sales effectiveness.

As always, the scenes in the board room were classic. Members of both teams were extremely supportive until the result was known... the boys team surprisingly trounced the girls with a profit of about £800 compared to £200. Jubilation for the boys as they headed off to get legless on art themed cocktails laid on by Sir Alan. Sudden lack of mutual support in the girls team as it dawned on them they were fighting for their lives and one of them would be sacked.

Self style 'blond assassin' Katie appeared a cert for the sack, having done nothing at all during the task and putting up a poor defence for herself. But defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory by Bilyana. She's a risk analyst in the City of London, but clearly wasn't able to assess the risk of continually taking when it was Sir Alan's turn.

As always, Sir Alan was a master at putting the contestants in their place and building the tension. Can't wait 'til next week when they've got to invent a new household gadget and pitch it to some of the UK's leading retailers.

Companion planting

Below is a simple vegetable companion planting guide explaining why some plants help each other and others have the opposite effect. You can also download the document by clicking Allotment Heaven Companion Planting Guide. Read on below the images for more information on companion planting.

History

Although there's evidence of companion planting being used for over a millennium in different regions of the world, for most vegetable growers it's the Three Sisters technique of native American Indians originating before the 15th century that most comes to mind. Corn planted would provide a trellis for beans, the beans in return fixing nitrogen in the soil. The addition of squash would complete the trio, which by covering the ground suppressed weeds and retained moisture in the ground.

Benefits

What are the major benefits one plant can give to another? It's one or more of the following...

• Increasing nutrients,

• Helping with pest control, or

• Increasing the chances of pollination

Toilet trouble

If you're a regular reader of this blog (thankyou! thankyou!) you'll know only too well I tend to get into scrapes on a regular basis. Whether it's going over the bike handles while trying to video my way home from the allotment, or nearly getting mobbed playing Santa to the playschool kids, fate often has devious plans for me.

This incident happened some years ago, and in my happy go lucky fashion I didn't think much of it afterwards, nor the consequences that could have arisen. With the passage of time I break into a sweat whenever I ponder how I got myself into the fix.

It all started quite innocently. I was working for the RAC and attending a meeting at the iconic RAC Control Centre overlooking the M6 motorway near Birmingham. I think I'd been there once before, so wasn't particularly familiar with the building. We broke for lunch and I popped off to the gents.

This may be too much detail for some readers, so skip this paragraph if you want. Still with me? Well, the big secret (OK, not that earth shattering I admit) is I always go into a cubicle. Find standing against one of the urinals a bit primaeval, lined up with several other blokes, dongles out. Inevitably a mental blockage arises and I'm still straining whilst all around finish and the next shift lines up. They must wonder what I'm at. Real hassle when attending an England match at Wembley, when there's hundreds of men rushing to go at half time, never enough urinals to cope, and I'm blocking one of them.

Anyway (and if you skipped the previous paragraph, Welcome back!), I was the only one in the toilets and stood there in my cubicle all at peace with the world. After a few seconds I heard the access door open and people come in. A bit puzzling because their voices were at quite a high pitch.

In fact they sounded like women.

In fact they were women!

With thoughts flying through my head at a rate of knots it dawned on me I hadn't been paying attention and had accidentally come into the ladies toilets. I was now imprisoned in a cubicle surrounded by unsuspecting women. What if they realised I was there? Quickly I sat down and raised legs so there was no under-door evidence to be spied.

After a few minutes they finished and exited. Or so I thought. Was there still someone there, quietly powdering their nose or whatever ladies do quietly in their toilets? Waited a while, still no sound.

Decided I'd make a break for it. But what if, just as I was about to reach the access door, more women came in? I'd be caught like a rabbit in the glare of a car's oncoming headlights. Equally bad, as I came out of the toilets would anyone be passing in the busy corridor outside?

Of course there was no choice. I had to make a dash for it and hope for the best. And fate, as she thankfully always has done up to now when she's been mischievous, smiled on me and sorted things out. I got out safely and no one knew any the better. At least I think that was the case... I've suddenly realised after all these years maybe the word went around and I was secretly known forever after as the beast of the RAC loos! Certainly might have lost my job if I wasn't heard with a sympathetic HR ear.

Oh well, on to the next mishap! Wonder what it'll be.

Vegetable planting calendar

Been using my own vegetable planting guide for some years. It shows when to make multiple sowings... each is indicated by a sequential number. Images of the two page calendar are shown below. You can also access a printable version by clicking Vegetable Planting Calendar. Hope you find the calendar useful.