Allotment update….

Last week the kale was removed and the bed dug over despite the rain!

This week it was all systems go.  The demonstration bed this year holds different varieties of peas and 4 of the varieties were planted out today – Progress no 9, Karina, Carouby de Mausanne and Suttons Harbinger, a heritage variety from Garden Organic.  Mice do love pea – and bean-  seeds so  sowing direct is pretty chancy; growing on in pots gives complete germination. They were watered in and netted against the pigeons and rabbits.

Succession sowing makes the most of the growing season and gives later crops so we sowed another 3 rows of carrots  -  Heritage variety Manchester Table, Amsterdam Forcing and Long Red  Surrey - and more  beetroot – Pablo and Bolthardy.

The last of the new varieties of strawberries arrived last week and we started planting them out today.  They are pricey but we should get a good crop of berries this year.

Spraying the gooseberries and redcurrants against the sawfly caterpillars has been a success.  We used a spray recommended for organic use by the Royal Horticultural Society  called Bug Clear based on pyrethum and it has worked.  The plants will need to be checked regularly because there are several generations of the caterpillars over the summer but we only found a few today so the affected areas were sprayed again.  Last year we used soapy water but it didn’t work and we ended up with the bushes stripped of their leaves. We also picked them off by hand but it is very time consuming and needs to be done every 2/3 days to catch the caterpillars as they hatch out.

We have had the last picking of purple sprouting broccoli and removed the plants.  Normally these plants are out by the end of April but the cold weather gave an extended season.  Unfortunately there is a very poor crop on the asparagus this year with most of the plants showing  no growth and seeming to be dead.  There was a good showing of ferns last year but perhaps the previous bad winters put the plants under too much stress.

Jobs for next week include planting out the peas and leeks.

The sun is shining…..

What a strange weather pattern 2012 has brought us so far.  A relatively mild winter and what seemed to be an early spring.  But we were fooled and it turned cold, dull and wet for far too long.  A week ago it was bitterly cold and gardens and allotments (for many if not all of us) were saturated.  Then came Sunday, and Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday………..

Here’s hoping for a sunny Gardening Scotland!   Don’t forget to visit the Caley stand and check out the display on the Royal Parks and Gardens to mark the Jubilee.  It is only a week away.

 

INCH NURSERY (Edinburgh) SUMMER PLANT SALE

SATURDAY 12TH & 19TH MAY   9AM-1PM

Good range of bedding plants, excellent quality and  reasonably priced.  The income helps to to support the Council nursery.  The entrance to the nursery is on the Old Dalkeith Road, right hand side coming from Cameron Toll.  Just drive in, plenty of parking

Might be useful to take your own bags, if you can

The Caley auricula

The photo shows George Anderson’s plant of the auricula  bred by Derek Parsons for the society’s bicentenary in 2009. It was at the spring show but not fully out then..

It has also  been on the SRGC website where it has attracted considerable interest

Alchemilla mollis again!

As you will know by now I am not a fan of Alchemilla mollis.  I know it has it uses – but preferably not in my garden!  Clearly it has yet to become a nuisance in the Explorers Garden at Pitlochry.

Caley Allotment joins the blog

May is a very busy time on the allotment.The last of the potatoes have been planted: 3 rows of Lady Balfour in the willow patch, 1 row of Record in the 30 minute a week bed, single rows of Valor, Mayan Gold and Lady Balfour in the standard rotation bed and 1 tuber of Mayan Gold in the square metre bed.

The last of the onion sets have also been planted – a red onion called Red Baron – 1 row in the 30 minute bed and 2 rows in the onion bed. Green Windsor broad beans grown on in pots have also been put into the 30 minute bed as well as a row of the pea Carouby de Mausanne.

The green manure demonstration bed was sown with different types of green manures from last year. This time it has been planted with Tares, Agricultural Mustard, Annual Rye Grass, Buckwheat and Thomson & Morgan green manure mix and covered with netting against the wildlife.

The kale plants are now flowering so they will be coming out soon and the bed will be prepared for a demonstration of pea varieties. There is still a good crop on the purple sprouting broccoli. The beetroot and purple top Milan turnips sown a couple of weeks ago have come through and still no sign of the carrots.  All the apple blossom is out. The autumn raspberries which were cut back to knee height are carrying a good show of flowers so it looks as if we should get a double crop off these canes.

The brassicas – cabbages for the summer and the winter kale and broccoli – have been sown in pots and are ready for transplanting. There is still a lot of direct sowing to be done to give succession cropping. The tender veg – French beans, courgettes, marrow, runner beans – have already been sown in pots and will be kept indoors for some weeks yet. It is generally the middle of June before the danger of frost has passed.

A lot of things going on!

Bargain plug plants

If you use a lot of bedding plants Pentland Plants have a cash and carry on Fridays starting at 9 am – early arrival recommended to get the best choice-some broken trays but also some full ones eg 350 Begonia semperflorens for £10 last week- I think there is a minimum spend of £25.  The fun comes when you have to pot them all on – it is definitely on tomorrow but will soon finish for the spring – it starts again in the autumn.