It's Getting CHILLY!

First of all we welcome new members Elias, Mary and Lorna who take their plots just at the right time of year to get ready for planting in spring.

It is around this time of year that some allotment sites get ready to close up for winter.  We stay open all year round for those few hardy individuals (ourselves included) who wish to brave the cold and wet to get some jobs done on the plot. Saying that there are lots of things to do on a plot over winter. We  clear, dig, manure and compost and cover those areas to prevent the rain and wind leaching the goodness out of the soil. It is amazing what the worms achieve under cover in taking the manure and compost down through the soil when everything else comes to a standstill.

Raised beds always need attention and it is during winter that bits and pieces of woodwork are sensible to get done like building a bigger compost bin, another raised bed, a support structure for raspberries or  blackberries, repairing a shed. Greenhouses need cleaning and weeding (not the best job in the world) and a bit of insulation if the intention is to grow in them over winter.

Sweet peas, cuttings of herbs and perennials and next year’s broccoli plants always need a bit of love and care in the greenhouse and we find it is good for the soul to see a few bits growing during a time of year when everything looks bleak.

Sowing in November - Sweet peas and broad beans. Sweet peas from an autumn sowing are always stronger and more sturdy plants than those that are spring sown. I like to think we get more flowers from them and certainly they flower earlier than their spring sown counterparts. Don’t forget to plant garlic. Autumn planted garlic always produces a bigger end result and it needs to go in before December to make a difference.

Already planted and basking in our cold greenhouse  – calabrese for early planting in March and the first broccoli to cut in May / June.  We sow Belstar because it is the only one that seems to survive overwinter with a bit of protection. We have some winter cauli’s as small plants ready to plant out in March. These are a trial as they should have gone in the ground in October or earlier. Let’s see whether they produce anything in spring.  

Growing undercover now – mixed salad leaves (a trial to see how long they will survive the cold and short days) and winter lettuce in window boxes and plant pots. We still have some chilli plants struggling away in the hope that they might ripen. Think we may be settling for green chillis from now on. Couple of chilli plants have made it home to be overwintered for an earlier and bigger crop next summer. We did this last year for the first time and we did indeed get earlier and bigger crops from the already established plants. It's worth a try on a coolish windowsill with reduced watering and feeding.

Cuttings of semi ripe woody perennials and herbs such as thyme and rosemary always seem to do well over winter in the greenhouse. We always plant more than needed to allow for the inevitable losses.

Where does the time go? Thankfully it seems in winter, in terms of allotment gardening – very quickly. Sitting on our laurels in early  November thinking that there is ages to get things done as we put our mental list together, we always find that January is upon us before we know it and we haven’t done a quarter of what we intended to do and then it’s March and time to start planting.

Better get on with those jobs then ..................................