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Field Allotments at Amerton
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By Mrs FM
Hartley.
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& Old
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Alan J Hartley
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Rain Rain
Go Away…..July
We wanted rain at the beginning
of June after a prolonged dry spell, but then it never seemed to stop
until July. Potato farmers started panicking because of all the water
that was lying on the fields and the Strawberries didn’t look as though
they would be ready for Wimbledon. The one benefit was that it made
things grow that had just been sitting there, but the downside was of
course that the weeds grew quicker than the vegetables, so, it was a
nightmare trying to stay on top of weeding. In addition, with all the
wet, most people couldn’t get on to their plots to do any weeding when
the sun did shine, because the ground was too soft and muddy! However,
as a lot of my growing space is now in raised beds, I was fortunate and
with the woodchip paths in between the beds they meant I had no need to
walk on the soil. I simply worked from the dry paths! They are a real
bonus in the wet!
My excellent Broad Bean crop, consisting of some 5 bucketsful of beans,
was picked at the end of June and as usual, had little, or no signs of
the black aphid pest that eats the tender tips making the plants sticky
with sap and unpleasant to handle. The plants were put in at the back
end of last Autumn and this made the crop a little earlier making it
ready just before the end of June, while it was still wet and before the
weather warmed up enough for the Aphids to become a problem. A young
friend of mine put hers in a little after mine, but grew them in an open
poly-tunnel. Again hers were ready early and she picked hers with no
problems.
After harvesting my Broad Beans I wasted no time in planting a new crop
in the patch where the beans came out. I had already put in one tripod
of the Heritage variety of purple Pea Beans elsewhere, but decided to
put in another. I shouldn’t really have put them in there though,
because both crops are Beans, one after the other, and that is asking
for trouble! You should never plant two crops the same in the same patch
without something different in between. I also put in a few Tomatoes. A
little late admittedly, but as they are of the small fruiting type they
should grow and ripen quickly.
It won’t be long before the first of my Potatoes come out and here again
I will replant with more crops. With that in mind I have sown some more
seed of Turnips and Beetroot in plug trays to grow on so that they will
be ready when the time comes. I have also got some little Kale and Leek
seedlings growing on that will go in as well.
My Garlic has been a failure with the bulbs rotting in the ground. I
guess that they became diseased with one of the several pests that
trouble the Onion family. I may not be able to plant any Onions there
again at any time in the future as some infections remain in the soil
for years.
This year I put upturned buckets over my Asparagus again to “Blanche,”
it, and give me the extra special “White,” Asparagus that French people
are said to love. This was very successful with an abundant picking of
fat, juicy stems.
Every winter I seem to lose the odd plant which I put down to winter
wet, however after a dry winter and spring I don’t think I have lost any
plants this time and the harvest has been particularly good. In the past
I have replaced lost plants with the extra thick “Colossal,” Variety
that gives truly remarkable stems. Unfortunately this season, I let a
few of the stems get a bit long before cutting. Really asparagus should
be checked every day, or at least every other day as it grows so fast
during the growing season. If the stems are allowed to get very long
though, you can peel them, with a potato peeler, to remove the tough
outer layer so that you can make use of them and they taste just the
same as the more tender tips. It is a little fiddly and obviously you
can only do it for the thickest stems.
As June came and went I stopped picking Asparagus and left the frothy
green fronds to grow and re-energise the plants for next season in the
same way as you would for bulbs, or Rhubarb, with their leaves. There is
still a little space in the bed though, so I have planted another couple
of seedlings that I started off back in the Spring that had been meant
for work.
Another early crop that did well was the Globe Artichokes, perhaps
because of the recent wet. After last years poor crop I seem to have had
a bumper harvest this time with far too many Globes to eat myself, so I
have been making friends with my new neighbours!
Before the dry spell ended, the dry Spring made the young Chard that I
planted go straight to seed, although I did cut them down in the hopes
of them shooting again, which they will quite often do.
Every year in June we have what is commonly called “The June Drop,”
which is when Apple trees, and some other fruit trees, will drop excess
young fruit. Often these are damaged fruit, or small, misshapen fruit,
but others will not be. It always seems to be a lot of fallen fruit, but
even after this shedding of fruit there is usually too many young fruit
left on the tree and you will need to “Thin,” their numbers leaving no
more than two fruit together on each small branch. Obviously you try to
leave the best fruit to grow on and this act of reducing their numbers
will result in bigger fruit. Thinning needs to be done with Apples,
Pears, Quinces and even Grape vines need the number of their bunches of
grapes reduced, however, you do not need to do it with Cherries, Figs,
Medlars, or Crab Apples. The “June Drop,” should not be confused with
Stone Fruit like Cherries and Plums dropping their young fruit because
of a shortage of Lime in the soil needed to form the “Stones,” in their
fruit.
After the fruit have been “Thinned,” it may well be necessary to trim
some of the branches with a bit of delicate pruning. Apples can
certainly be shaped up and Grape vines always put on masses of rampant
growth that needs to be cut back, but be careful not to cut off shoots
with fruit on! Indeed, this time of year is also the best time to prune
all “Stoned,” fruit such as Cherries and Plums as well as Pears, because
if you prune them when they are dormant in the winter it can make them
susceptible to various diseases like Silver Leaf and Peach Leaf Curl.
July is perhaps the busiest month of the year on the Allotment with many
early crops either ready for harvest, or in need of tidying up after
being harvested. Later crops need attention as well, because not only
they are growing fast, but so are the weeds and everything needs
constant weeding. At least the weather is generally better which allows
the keen Allotmenteer to spend more time on their plot. After July is
over though, things start to get easier and less frantic – unless we
have a prolonged dry spell necessitating in regular watering!
 
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