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Getting Ready.
Apart from weeding out the last
of the rubbish and tidying up, I finally got round to preparing my Bean
Bed that will be used for Runner Beans, Climbing Borlotti Beans and
Dwarf French Beans.
According to best Gardening Tradition, Runner Beans should be planted
over a Trench part filled with things like old Newspapers, Vegetable
Peelings, part rotted Compost, or Carpet Cleaner Sweepings. Although, it
is perhaps not a good idea to use the Fluff from your Carpet Cleaner
these days as it will no doubt have a high percentage of Plastic Fibres
from the modern Carpets that are rarely made from pure Wool anymore. All
of these fibrous materials will help to retain Moisture in the Ground
around the Roots of the Runner Bean Plants. In fact, as all Beans like
moist ground, I took it a stage further when preparing my Bed and
removed the top few inches of soil over the whole Bed before spreading a
thick layer from my Compost Heap and then carefully raking the soil back
over. I dug out one half at a time, turning the soil from one side of
the bed to the other and back again to do the second half. Several
inches of part rotted compost went into the Layer and as the soil level
in the Bed needed topping up anyway, it was a doubly good exercise doing
two jobs at once. The Dwarf French Beans will be planted in a Block, but
of course the Climbers will be in narrow rows, however, there was no
point in just putting the layer of Compost where things were to be
planted because the whole bed will be improved from the exercise for
following crops in future years.
In a few weeks, after the soil has settled in the Bed a bit, I will put
my Bean Canes up ready for planting at about the beginning of May, after
all risk of frosts have finished. As usual, I will be using Soft, or
Natural String to tie up the Canes so that I can easily Compost the dead
Plants at the end of the Season without having to fish out bits of
Plastic from the tangled mass.
The Mature side of my Compost Heap was as full as it has ever been, so I
had some Compost left over that I used as a mulch to top up some other
beds that needed it. I did save a few Buckets of it though to go into
the bottom of the 3 Growing Bags that I was given at Christmas. This
will save tremendously on the amount of bought compost that I would
otherwise need to fill them as they are quite big. I imagine that each
Growing Bag would need a whole bag, or more of Compost to fill them. The
top, planting layer of Compost in them, will though, just be a
Proprietary, branded type, to give the Plants the best start possible
and to prevent Weed Seeds from germinating in the Bags.
Of course while topping up my various Beds I came across several
retaining Pegs, that hold the edging Boards in place, which had rotted
and broken off, so they were replaced. Also while going round my plots
and checking on things, I found a few ties had rotted and broken away on
my Fruit Trees so they too were dealt with. When the Trees burst into
Leaf, as Spring comes, it will be difficult for me to see what I am
doing so it is another little job that is best done in the Winter. The
frequent winds that we tend to get more of in Winter, rather than
Summer, also mean that they need checking more regularly.
Perhaps I left it a bit late, as the Rhubarb was already showing signs
of “Breaking,” with big, fat, pink Buds swelling, but I decided to dig
up and move all of my plants to make room for 2 young Loquat, or Chinese
Peach, that I had been growing on, in large Pots, on my Yard at Home.
They can be a bit delicate as young plants and are not the hardiest of
plants anyway, so I had kept them there, where it was a little bit more
sheltered, away from the worst of the Winter, while they were very
small. Because they are susceptible to cold weather, their fruit, if
they have any, often drops in the UK, although they Flower easily enough
and produce highly scented, white masses of Blossom. You do need 2
plants to enable pollination of their Winter flowers, so again with not
many Pollinators about late in the year, a Crop is unlikely. If you do
get fruit though, it may be worthwhile covering the plants at night with
some Horticultural Fleece to keep off the worst of the cold air. My
Mother had a lovely Loquat for years on the corner of her Garage that
used to produce some lovely flowers that filled the air with a heady
scent, each year, but we never had any fruit. The Loquat is an Evergreen
with large, Laurel, or Viburnum like leaves, so as my 2 little plants
grow they will eventually provide a wind break and some shelter for my
slightly tender Olive, small Strawberry Tree, (Arbutus Unedo) and my
Acca, or Feijoa Selowiana, commonly known as the Pineapple Guava.
Elsewhere on my Allotment I have been giving some attention to my
remaining vegetables. My Leeks were quite late going in last year and
were still very small going into the winter, but I had hoped for a mild
Winter that would have let them catch up a bit. They have grown and
thickened out a little, but I will leave them for a while longer to see
if they develop further. As long as they don’t actually go to seed they
will keep growing, because unlike most vegetables they don’t mind cold
weather.
Parsnips are of course another vegetable that comes into their own at
this time of year and when I sowed my Parsnip seeds last Spring I forgot
to thin them out. Normally this isn’t a problem as they can be a bit
erratic in their germination and you often get spaces if you sow them
too thinly. However, they came up particularly well last year and grew
into many little bunches. Having dug a few out now though, they don’t
seem to have done too badly and I guess I will be sowing some more Seed
in a week, or two, as they need a long growing season. Some varieties
are earlier than others though and need to go in about now, (in
February) whereas others can be sown a little later because they are
quicker to maturity. The tops on my Parsnips died down and disappeared
with winter a while ago, but have now started shooting again and they
will go woody and to seed, if left too long, so I need to harvest the
rest of them.
The Japanese, or Autumn sowing Onion Sets are shooting well in another
bed on my Plot after not getting off to a great start. They just sat in
the ground with the birds continually pulling them out until they really
got some roots on to hold them in. They should harvest a few weeks
earlier than Sets planted in early Spring. I am not sure when the
Seedlings, that I sowed on my Kitchen Windowsill, a week or two ago,
will mature, but I have just Pricked them out into Modules to grow on
for a bit before planting out in the Spring.
It will still be too cold for most things to burst into growth for a
while yet, but some things are already starting into growth apart from
the Daffodils, Crocuses, etc. The pots of Alstromoeria divisions that I
made before Winter have little green shoots on them. I have already
given a few pots away to enthusiastic Plot Holders, but there are plenty
left for our intended Plant Sale Fundraiser.
My old Chrysanthemum Stools, that have been in my Greenhouse all Winter,
are also starting to throw out new shoots, so, hopefully, it won’t be
long before I can take some cuttings to root for more plants. They root
easily enough as long as you don’t let them get too wet because they
will rot.
It is still early for most Seeds as well, but this year I am sowing some
annual flower seeds to grow on for cut flowers and maybe also to use to
fill in one or two gaps in my garden although I don’t usually bother. If
you buy things like Rudbeckia, Aster, Scabious and Helianthius in
particular, you may well pay several pounds for each pot even though
they are only annuals. From seed they only cost coppers each and the
extra plants will go for our plant sale. Looking at the packets I found
that Asters and Lobelia can be sown quite early along with vegetables
such as Rhubarb, (which was one of the first to come up that I have
already sown) Curly Parsley, Cape Gooseberry, Asparagus and Aubergines.
Most people don’t think about growing Rhubarb from Seed and it does take
a while to develop, but where you want a number of plants it is cheap
and simple. The Aubergines go in early because they need a long growing
time, but they do need quite a bit of warmth though to keep them going.
In fact even though you can sow some seeds early in the season, while it
is still cold, they will need protection from the frost until Spring
comes and it warms up outside with no more cold nights.
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