Terry Walton welcomes new faces to the plot and sorts out the strawberries
Our happy band of allotmenteers has grown, unlike Jeff's runner beans!
The strawberries have ended their cropping season, which is usually in line with the end of Wimbledon. Not so this year as most things have been postponed, along with all my favourite garden shows.
Still, life is continuing to improve and let’s hope that it soon returns to normal. The straw supporting these plants can be consigned to the compost heap and it’s off with the leaves. This will allow them to rest and make new growth for next year. Don’t forget, if you need new plants don’t take off the ‘runners’ as a li le offspring will develop at the end of them. Fill a small pot with compost and direct these li le plantlets into the pot, which you can sink in the ground. Then you’ll have a nice li le plant to start off your new strawberry bed.
The waiting list for plots is diminishing as new people are contacted for a couple of plots that have become vacant. There are two new people who have joined our happy band of allotmenteers. Taking on a plot needs a li le rolling up of the sleeves and some graft to get it into shape, and it’s always a good sign of how keen a gardener someone wants to be when they look at this overgrown plot and still want to tackle it. So, hours after taking on the plot they’re back with the family and ge ing stuck in to the clearing up. I’m sure these two newcomers will be very welcome, and I don’t think it’ll be long before they take home some fresh produce, even though it may not have come from their own fair hands! But not all allotmenteers are happy. Jeff has been rather worried about his runner beans! He’s tried all manner of fertilisers to put colour in their leaves and drive them up the
Strawberry cu ings set in the ground in a pot
For perfect plants at perfect prices go to www.gardennewsshop.co.uk canes. All of this to no avail. It appears that the manure he filled his trench with was fresh and full of straw. This then removes all the nutrients from the soil to aid its decomposition and leaves the beans short of food. So, a lesson to be learned from not using well-ro ed manure!
But he’ll not go short of beans as many of us have more than enough to meet our needs. Even seasoned gardeners make mistakes and, unfortunately, such setbacks are difficult to recover from. My father was my mentor when I learned my gardening skills, and he always said you learn more from your mistakes than your successes! So true.