Terry Walton sets his tender crops free!
June’s weather has served the crops on my allotment well
The longest day we’ve been waiting for has nigh on passed us by. But have no fear, there are plenty of long days and summer sunshine still to come. June, on reflection, was good to the gardeners on my hillside and there was enough rain and sunshine to boost all of my growing crops. These are now giving up their harvests and my shopping days are over for a while!
The salad crops are growing well and providing tasty meals, but it was annoying to find ‘teeth’ marks on some red radishes. I searched among the foliage and came across a rather large snail. I picked it up and walked up the path to where a neighbouring allotmenteer was busily digging away. With hands cupped, I said to him, ‘I bet you haven’t got one of these!’ He held out his hands and I slipped the large snail nail into his palms. He e threw it down in disgust isgust but at least it wasn’t on my plot to devour evour anymore of my salad crops!
A week or so later than usual some of my most tender and slowcoach crops can be set free. ee. My celeriac called ‘Brilliant’ has battled all ll odds in the greenhouse and a few have succumbed uccumbed to damping off with the variable temperatures emperatures we had after germinating. There here are, however, about 15 good-sized plants lants to go into my ‘odds and sods’ bed. A few h handfuls of blood, fish and bone are raked aked into the surface and these are planted
about 25cm (10in) apart. I now have a long wait until autumn before I harvest them.
My courgettes and marrows are also big enough for the open space. They’re planted in a very rich patch of soil, which was heavily manured in spring. I make a small mound of soil to sit these plants on, so the rain runs off and the flowers at the end of the young crops don’t fill up with water and rot the fruits.
The last to be planted out is tender sweetcorn. These germinated well and I’ve plenty for my use. They’re planted in rich soil, about 30cm (1ft) apart, and in blocks to aid pollination by the wind when the tassels are blowing and the corn is setting. There’s a lot more room around my cold frame now!
Parsnips in drums are flourishing and it’s time to earth these up. When I plant them in the drums there’s a gap left so I can top up as they grow. This keeps the crown deeper in the compost and helps prevent canker.