‘Love apples’ are tantalising Terry Walton!
Romance is alive on the allotment as I’m sowing ‘love apples’!
It’s time to flex those rested muscles and get that spade moving again! The green manure has disappeared and much of that green grass has broken down into the soil to release its stored winter nutrients. Doesn’t it feel great after an hour of exercise? The heart beats a little faster and a glow comes into the cheeks. All this just after Valentine’s Day – just like being in love!
The level of activity on the plots also increases, as spades and forks stir the latent soil from its winter slumber. Digging is a great time to let the mind wander. I think back to centuries ago when allotments first came in to being. Landowners in the country were losing their workers to the lure of the urban life. They came up with a cunning plan to lease land to their workers to grow their own food, thus tying them to the countryside.
This appealed to the primeval instincts of man to be as one with the land and nature, and grow their own food. It slowed the move from the countryside and the first allotments were created. The industrial revolution continued but many still clung to that need for the countryside and the freedoms of rural life.
With love in the air, it’s time to sow the ‘ love apple’, more commonly known as the tomato! For me there’s a wide choice – my trusted favourite is ‘Shirley’, and then ‘Crimson Crush’, which is blight resistant. As for bush types, Rob Smith has persuaded me to try ‘Heinz 1370’ which is a very heavy cropper, but I’m also still sticking with my long-time favourite ‘ Gardener’s Delight’ and a cherry plum variety that I grew successfully last year, called ‘Montello’.
All of these seeds are sown in 9cm (3.5in) pots of good compost and sprinkled lightly on the surface, then covered with 6mm (¼ in) of sieved compost. They’re watered lightly with a spray of tepid water and placed in a seed tray. This tray is covered with a clear plastic lid and popped into our airing cupboard for two days. Don’t leave them to emerge or they go ‘leggy’. This treatment brings the compost up to a warm temperature all round and aids germination. This tray is then kept in a warm place until the seedlings emerge.