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New Possibilities.
Now Winter has arrived and things have slowed down a bit on the
Allotments, it is perhaps time to think about what to grow next year.
One thing that I tried as a bit of an experiment which proved successful
was growing a couple of Yacon plants in Potato Bags on my Yard at home.
Last year I tried, but, I forgot about them when we had an early and
hard frost, forecast. Naturally, the Bags froze solid and the Tubers
were spoilt. This year I remembered to harvest them a bit earlier in the
Winter and I found that they had done alright. The tubers had developed
quite well and were a worthwhile size to eat. I think that they got
watered a bit better when we had a dry spell this year and some of the
late Summer was much wetter as well and this helped them to develop.
Unlike Potatoes, where you can put 3 plants in one Bag Pot, you can only
get one Yacon root per Bag, but both of mine produced quite a cluster of
Tubers. Obviously, there were a lot less individually than you would get
from 3 Potato Plants, but weight for weight, I guess there wasn’t that
much difference and they were certainly worthwhile growing in the Bags,
so this is something I may do again.
Another thing I am going to try for next Season is Onion Seeds. It will
soon be time to Sow them and for several years I have thought about
growing Onions from Seed instead of buying Sets each year as they are
getting more and more expensive. A couple of times I have been able to
get small bags of “Sets,” at the end of the planting time that have been
reduced in price, but this is a bit “Hit and Miss,” and up until now I
haven’t done very well with my attempts at doing them from Seed. So,
this year, I am going to follow the Sowing instructions on the Packet
“To the Letter,” and I am going to use fresh Seed. Quite often you can
get worthwhile results using old Seed from part packets, saved from
previous years, but you should always get better results using new Seed.
Indeed, Parsnips, that will go in soon, are notorious for not
germinating from old Packets and there are one, or two other vegetables
including Onions that are best from fresh Seed. To keep any Seeds
though, they need to be dry and most need to be kept in cool conditions,
until sowing, such as the bottom of a Fridge. I keep mine in Paper Bags
inside a Metal Tin in the Salad Box of my Fridge. This stops
condensation from spoiling them. However, keeping them in a Tin in an
outdoor Shed that freezes, may result in the Seeds going into deep
dormancy and make them harder to germinate. (Of course, some Seeds, such
as many Native Trees, actually need to be treated like this, a process
called Stratification.) Most Seeds should germinate quite well after
being kept in an ordinary Fridge like this for several years, but
success will dimmish with many as years go by. However, Runner Beans may
still do well after 10 years and it is said that a 2,000 years old Date
Palm Seed was successfully germinated some years ago.
If you have some old seeds and want to know if they are likely to
germinate there is a simple test that you can perform that is fairly
accurate. All you need to do is to tip your batch of Seeds into a
shallow bowl of clean water. Any seeds that are still floating after a
few minutes will almost certainly not germinate, but those that sink are
likely to be viable and will probably germinate given the right
conditions.
Not only is it important to keep Seeds in the right conditions to give
them a better chance of germination, but the same can be said of Tubers.
I am of course thinking mainly of Potato Tubers. You do need to keep
them dry and cool to stop them shooting before they are wanted, but you
also need to stop “Creepy Crawlies,” from getting into them. I have
found from experience that if you plant Tubers that you have saved from
the previous Seasons crop, and they already have one or two Grubs in
them, those Grubs will happily multiply and eat into your new Crop as
they develop. People always talk about using freshly bought Tubers to
prevent Disease, but I think that the Pest problem is just as important
and if you carefully select your own Tubers when saving and planting
them to make sure that they are free from Pests and look healthy, that
will go a long way to creating a healthy Crop. I know some years I have
planted, old, saved Tubers and nearly every new Potato has had Grubs in
it. Last year I made the effort to plant only perfect little Tubers of
“Pink Fir Apple,” that I had kept, and I dug up the best crop I have
ever had.
Indeed, it will not
be many weeks before you can start to “Chit,” your Potatoes in readiness
to re-plant, especially with some of the “First Early” types, although,
I think “Pink Fir Apple,” is a “Main Crop.”
Staying with the unusual, but on a slightly different note, couple of
years ago I planted a Strawberry Tree, or Arbutus Unedo on my Allotment.
They are called a “Tree,”, but are really only a large bush. However,
they will eventually grow to some 8 – 10 feet, or more and will
eventually get too big for my Allotment with its 2 metre height rule.
However, they are quite slow growing and after being in for several
years mine is still only about 3 feet tall, so I can happily keep it for
a number of more years before I have to resort to drastic pruning to
reduce its height.
Being slow growing it has been a little wait before I got my first crop
of Strawberries from my Strawberry Tree. The bushes are evergreen with
tough green leaves a bit smaller than a Bay Tree and can also be used in
a Hedge, but unlike a Bay Tree they produce small, white, tubular
Flowers in the Winter months. The Strawberries follow these Flowers and
take a long time to develop. Indeed, it is quite normal to see Fruit
that is ripening from the previous year alongside fresh flowers being
produced.
The exotic looking Strawberries are not the tastiest of Fruit, but do
look a bit different amongst other Fruit with their hues of yellow and
red.
Arbutus can readily be bought from a wide range of sources, but are not
cheap, especially to get one of a decent size, primarily because they
are slow growing. There was one about 6 feet, or more, at my Mother’s
house and there is one as part of a Hedge that is some 8, or 9 feet at a
local Garden Centre, but I hesitate to think how long they have been
planted.
On the subject of unusual Crops there are a few alternate Crops other
than vegetables that can be grown on Allotments.
A little while ago I planted a couple of small clumps of Bamboo on my
Plot that seem to be settling in now. I am hoping that they will bulk
up, and in a few years to come, I will be able to harvest my own Bamboo
Canes for use on my Allotment. Bamboo Canes, like so many other things
are getting very expensive and at times, do go in short supply sometimes
making it difficult to get them just when you want them. It’s not such a
silly idea to grow your own Canes as you might think, because we have an
established clump at the Charity where I work as a Volunteer, and just
before Christmas, I was cutting some of the longer Bamboo Canes so that
the Team members, as they are called, could cut them up into short
lengths to make bug boxes to sell at our Christmas Fayre. There should
be a word of warning that goes with planting Bamboo though and that is
to make sure that the variety that you plant is a Clump forming type and
not one of the more rampant ones that will spread like wildfire. If they
do start spreading, there is one consolation and that is they are fairly
shallow rooted, so it should be relatively easy to dig them out from
where they are not wanted.
Another slightly unusual thing that I have been harvesting is “Hazel
Poles,” both from a small tree in my Garden and a bigger one in my
Brothers Garden. These are great alternatives to Bamboo Canes as thicker
stems can be cut and used where a little more support and strength is
wanted than a Bamboo Cane can give. “Coppicing,” your Hazel Tree is the
way to do this, and all this means is that you cut the main Trunk of the
Tree down, almost to the ground, forcing it to throw out young shoots
from low down. If this is done in late Winter you won’t get “Die Back,”
and the new shoots will appear in the Spring growing rapidly, and
hopefully, straight up. Obviously, you can then cut them whenever they
reach the size that you want. They are great for Runner Bean supports
and I use them a lot in training my Fruit Trees Espalier Style.
Unfortunately, they don’t last as long as Bamboo and will go brittle
after 2, or 3 years, but if you have a ready supply that doesn’t really
matter.
As with growing Bamboo there should be a word of warning to growing
Native Hazel Trees on your Plot. Unless you buy a grafted Tree, on a
Dwarfing Rootstock, a Native Hazel Tree will develop, a large “Stool,”
or base where you cut it, and a large root mass that will take some
effort to dig out if you eventually decide to remove the Tree. I speak
from experience as some year ago I encouraged an enthusiastic Plot
Holder to plant one and after they left the Plot, the Committee felt
that I should be the one to dig it out as I had been largely responsible
for it being planted! I made sure that the next one I planted was a
contorted Hazel on a Dwarfing Rootstock that should stay relatively
small and not grow much more than about 6 feet. The stems of this will
certainly not be of any use as supports, but I know a Flower Arranger
who loves to have a few stems occasionally and the tree does still have
some lovely, edible Nuts that I can harvest every Autumn!
I am still hoping to get some Apios Americana that are sometimes called
a “Ground Nut,” as their small tubers look and eat a bit like nuts. Not
all nuts grow in Trees, because Pea Nuts actually grow in the ground as
well! Another unusual plant that I am still hoping to locate is the
Tuber producing Mashua - Tropaeolum Tuberosum. I hope to be able to get
these plants soon because it will not be long now until things start to
wake up and shoot – especially in the Greenhouse. Chrysanthemums will be
among the first to start into growth and then that really will be a sign
that Spring is coming.
 
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