Terry Walton still has lots to do on his plot
...sweetening soil, pruning cherries and tidying the raspberry patch
The last calendar month is here and December’s not one of my favourite months. The days are still getting shorter and the few hours of daylight that are available are usually dingy and unappealing.
The shortage of daylight hours is no excuse to stay away from the allotment, though, because there’s always something that needs doing on your plot. An added bonus is if you look carefully, you may spot life returning to the bare earth, even at this time of year. The autumn-sown onions have sent up little green shoots and there’s a tip or two of garlic breaking up the barren ground. These are earlier than expected, but a consequence of the changing climate that gardeners are going to have to get used to.
Let’s hope for some low temperatures to restore dormancy to the garden, and all plants can benefit from this opportunity to rest. The rhubarb crowns love the frost on their buds as this creates energy at their deep roots, which is stored and ready to explode into magnificent, delicious stalks when the lure of spring calls. The pesky annual weeds, which have thrived in the mild winters, will then be no more and hopefully a few pests and diseases will perish, too. Green manures will have finally been checked in their growth cycle and send all the nutrients back to their roots to enhance the fertility of the soil.
The autumn-fruiting raspberries seemed to go on fruiting forever, but finally they’ve given their all. The long stems which produce the fruit will be cut off to ground level as thanks for giving all that fruit. Below the surface of the soil, the new shoots are being formed, and when spring warmth comes along they’ll emerge and supply next year’s crop. Once cut back, the bed can be weeded and the soil loosened before a liberal coat of well-rotted manure is applied. If all has gone to plan, then next year’s crop will be a bountiful one!
My crop rotation plan for next season is pinned up in my shed to help me to remember what will be planted where. But despite the plan being on paper, I prefer to mark out segregated planting areas with old canes to visualise the areas for each group of crops. This also helps me later in the year to treat those areas with the crop’s appropriate growing needs. l Last week’s picture of Terry was of him harvesting kale, not parsnips.