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Wellington Fields Allotments - Hixon.

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Wellington Field Allotments Hixon

Gardening Tips
By Mrs FM
Hartley.

Unusual & Old
Fashioned Fruit
Trees.

Unusual
Vegetables,
Herbs & Other
Edible Plants.

Environmental Issues And Going Green.

Books By
Alan J Hartley

Thinking About The Future.

We haven’t had our Autumn Plant Sale yet, but already I am thinking about what I can grow for the Spring Sale and even beyond. In their growing season, many ordinary Garden Plants will grow from divisions to saleable Plants in a matter of weeks, but others, like Trees, take much longer. Even Fruit Bushes like Black Currants and Gooseberries, which root easily enough, will take a year, or more, to develop from a rooted Cutting into a decent little Fruit Bush that someone might buy. I wanted to put in some Cuttings weeks ago, but had to delay until we got some cooler, wetter weather that wouldn’t just burn them up before they could root. Gooseberry and Currant Cuttings are easily done as “Hard Wood Cuttings,” anyway, so after they have dropped their leaves in the Autumn is the right time for them. It will probably be next Autumn though before they make decent Plants, but the Strawberry Runners that I recently took from a friends Plot, will be ready for the Spring, if not before. Autumn is a good time to Plant most types of Fruit, whether it is a Tree, Bush or smaller plant such as a Strawberry. This was one reason that we decided to have a Sale just before Autumn really set in and all the leaves dropped, although some Trees have gone into an early “Shut Down,” this year and shed their Leaves early to conserve water. Hopefully, Buds will have formed, and the Trees will shoot again as normal when Spring comes next year.

Indeed, one little Elderberry Tree that I have in a pot, has some lovely, fat, bright green Buds, showing on it now. I did take some Twisted Willow cuttings a week, or two ago, but as those went into water to root, the weather shouldn’t be a problem. Some cuttings like Willows will root in just water, but most cuttings will simply rot.
I usually do some Fig Cuttings about now as well so was quite excited to see some green shoots with, what were obviously Fig Leaves, coming up in my Hügelkultur Bed. The Hügelkultur Bed and ordinary English Compost Heap next to it, were meant to be an experiment in an alternative way of growing things like Squash and Courgettes. The idea was that the Heaps would retain moisture and be full of goodness to feed the hungry plants. Both Heaps failed miserably as first Rats dug into them, Rats love piles of old wood and Compost, and then the Blackbirds started avidly digging in them for Worms and Insects as everywhere else was too dry. Between them the poor little Plants just couldn’t get going, and to cap it all, a Hedgehog decided to take up residence for a while, so he was digging everywhere! I had seen Rat holes appearing all round the base of the Heaps, so I knew they were there, but the first hint that a Hedgehog was present was when I heard a snuffling coming from inside the Heap while I was digging around it one day. Then, later, I saw some Hedgehog Poo on an adjacent path. I knew what it was straight away as it was very black and looked as though it had been squeezed out of a tube! It was smaller than, and not at all like Cat, or Dog Poo. I couldn’t really complain though as we should be encouraging wildlife and I felt that the Hedgehog residency was a bit of a Feather in my Cap and he did discourage the Rats who disappeared! Anyway, back to the Figs – When I had made the Hügelkultur Bed I had buried a lot of Tree Prunings including pieces from my various Fig Trees. I am always telling Plot Holders how easily they root and was unexpectedly proved right with all the little Fig Shoots coming up in my heap. When I actually dug into the Heap, I unearthed a number of Branches with roots starting to develop, but I had to trim them quite a lot to get useable pieces that I could Pot Up. Having said that I potted about 10 pieces plus a few more odd pieces that may develop shoots later, after rooting better, in the coming Winter.

After the total failure of the two Compost Heaps/Beds I have decided to dig out the remains of both. The remains of the Branches, that I built the Hügelkultur Bed on, should come out fairly easily as they are only in the loose Compost and then I am going to use them to make a “Dead Hedge.” I will need a lot more branches so will add the late Summer and Autumn Prunings from my various Trees - further adding to it throughout the Winter as I cut more back and maybe scrounge some branches from other Plot Holders as they cut back their trees. We are not really supposed to have Hedges on our Plots so I think I will only make it fairly low level and not very long, but it should provide a bit more of a Wind break for some parts of my plot. I will need a number of Upright Posts of some sort to provide the Framework and for this I might use some old Posts that have been cut down and are now too short to support my Espalier fruit Trees. Hopefully, I will also have some more suitable lengths of Hazel that I can use, from the Tree in my Garden at Home. The Uprights need to be either hammered in, or dug firmly, into the ground and ideally the better branches are then woven between them to make a firm and tidy edge to the Hedge. Next, you infill the centre with whatever bits of branches and twigs that you have. Even Leaves can be added as infill. Over time, the filling will gradually weather, compost down and drop in height so you will be able to keep adding more to the Dead Hedge as time goes by.
I did intend to make a Dead Hedge some time ago after seeing a couple of them made in a Spinney by the Team at the Charity where I used to Volunteer, but for whatever reason I have never done it myself. Dead Hedges are supposed to encourage lots of Wildlife from all manner of Creepy Crawlies including Beetles to over-wintering Insect Pupae and even small animals like Toads, Mice and my little Hedgehog. Basically, they provide shelter and a home that encourages predators of all sorts who then naturally prevent some of the build-up of pests that you can get on a wildlife free, Allotment Site. Obviously, the Dead Hedge would be far more effective if I were to put a small Pond of some sort nearby, but we do have Water Tanks all over the Site and I recently found a lovely big Green Frog where I was watering my “for sale,” Pots of Plants! He had hatched, developed and grown up somewhere nearby and he was a whopper! I guess it hasn’t just been the dry weather and heat keeping the Slugs and Snails at bay on my Allotment this year!

During one spell of hot Weather, I had problems with the Gas Rings on my Cooker at Home, so, I decided that for a few days at least, one simple solution was to “Cook,” more Salads. I am not normally a big fan of Salads, although I normally have a salad Sandwich for my Tea most days, so I started to try and think creatively over different ways of preparing Salads. Like a lot of things this year, my Fig Harvest had come early and was very good, so I looked up how to use Figs in a Salad. One recipe that came up over and over again, involved simply slicing up fresh Figs, (of which I had plenty!) and mixing them with a chopped, but ripe Avocado, some chopped up Cheese and some Salad Leaves. The mix seemed a little unusual but worked well and was quite tasty on a very hot day! Sometimes I use Figs chopped up in a fruit salad, but on this occasion, I followed my Salad with a fig and custard flan with homemade Chocolate Sauce and some Ice Cream, so I don’t always just eat them fresh but do sometimes cook with them. One Plot Holder said that she was going to try “Drying,” some Figs, but I don’t know that I will try that as a friend gave me a Packet of Dried Figs for Christmas and although they were OK, I prefer to snack on Nuts.

About this time, we had what is rapidly becoming our Annual BBQ on our Allotments and I decided to provide some Fresh Figs as a Desert to follow the Burgers and Sausages. The Morning of the BBQ I managed to pick about 40 fresh Figs from my two Trees. I was unsure how Plot Holders would receive them and some were a bit reluctant at first until one or two tried them and exclaimed how wonderful they were. They were certainly a healthier option than a piece of Carrot Cake! Some of the TV Doctors keep saying that we should adopt a “more healthy Mediterranean type Diet.” I think a few meals occasionally containing fresh Figs certainly goes some way to doing that!
Although the Figs did well, many other things like Potatoes have struggled a bit. The Earlies were a bit small and Ok, but the later ones really were not very good at all and other things like Runner Beans just couldn’t cope and were rubbery unless they were watered very regularly. Even the normally towering stems of my Jerusalem Artichokes are merely half their usual height with no Tubers to speak of at all. My Crosne doesn’t seem to have fared much better and I have started watering the Mashua, on which the leaves were shrivelling up, as well as my Cucamelon, Yacon and Oca. They are all Plants of warmer climates, but it seems that even they can’t stand the excessive dry weather that we have had this Summer and they need watering occasionally just like everything else.

Autumn is just about upon us now and Plot Holders will start taking in what Crops they have and most will clear their Plots of all vegetation then will either cover them with Membranes or Horse Manure, to supress the Weeds over Winter. Most will then more, or less, abandon their Plots altogether for the Winter. However, a lot is being said on TV that this type of Summer is possibly going to become the “Norm,” as the Seasons go by and Global Warming really starts to bite. If this is the case, we as Plot Holders, are going to have to start doing things differently because there is only so much watering that you can do, and, if Water use becomes restricted in future Seasons, that may not even be an option. It may be a radical thought, but it struck me that one thing we can do is grow more Winter/Spring Veg during the wetter, winter months.
You can always use Cloches to provide a little protection for the worst of the weather, although winters also seem to be getting milder with less hard Frosts. Some people already grow over wintering Broad Beans that harvest a few weeks earlier than, Spring plantings and that may avoid summer drought problems. Mine certainly did this year. Other Plot holders said their later plantings were a waste of time whereas mine was pretty good albeit the Beans were a little smaller than usual. Leeks, Sea Kale and Welsh Bunching Onions are other things that can be harvested in early Spring before it gets too dry and hot. A lot of People already grow New Potatoes for Xmas, so perhaps existing varieties can be grown even more in later winter, with a bit of protection. I know low light levels govern the growing season for a lot of plants, but I guess varieties can be found that will grow through the Winter months. Other things that people already grow that will harvest early in Spring are Asparagus and Globe Artichokes, as well as Brussels Sprouts and Leeks. Spring Cabbage is something else that can be planted in the wetter months of Autumn to harvest in, “As it says – Spring.” There are other Brassicas though as well as one or two Winter hardy Lettuce, Spinach, Carrots and Over Wintering Onions that can all go in and will harvest a bit earlier than Spring Plantings will, although, if we have a late warm, dry spell in the Autumn, they may need a little help with watering to start them off. On the flip side, perhaps we should be growing only a limited range of things through the Summer months. For instance, Squash, Pumpkins and Courgettes benefit from watering, but do like the heat and take up a lot of space that might have otherwise been taken up by rows and rows of smaller but thirsty vegetables. This idea of more winter growing might not be much use to Farmers, some of whom already grow all year round now anyway to maximise their yields, but we can certainly do it on our Allotments!