Positive Potato Progress!

Aside from the usual bad weather, Britain's May Day Bank Holiday 2010 will be remembered (by myself at least) as the days my potatoes starting showing. A few weeks after the chitted tubers went into the ground, tight clusters of leaves are breaking their way through the soil and showing that life on the London Vegetable Garden allotment is very much underway.

The picture at the top of the page may look rather resplendent; however the truth is that these plants are still very small – I include a picture of my hand for scale!



Anyway, it really was great to see progress, especially considering the carrots are looking, well, non-existent! I need to prepare the bed more thoroughly, but this is another topic for another post – I digress! You may recall that I purchased some potato growing bags several weeks back. Well, I filled 2 of those this Bank Holiday Monday, both of which are in close proximity to my sprouting potato plants, so it will be interesting to compare results.

I filled these bags up with approximately 15cm of compost (which I had purchased beforehand), placed 3 chitted tubers in each (Juliette, 'main crop' variety), and covered loosely with around 10cm of soil. I gave these a good water and now wait to see if they'll shoot up as quickly as my 'Rocket' early crop!

Eat what we grow? Or grow what we eat?

Potatoes, tomatoes, lettuces, carrots – any allotment will undoubtedly be crammed full of crisp, tasty staples such as these, their flavours and freshness unparalleled in comparison to standard supermarket fare. But so many gardeners (and I include myself in this statement) often fail to realise that allotments, balconies and patios – any viable growing space – can all be used to grow food that we actually consume regularly.

Now you may be forgiven for thinking that I am stating the obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many gardeners simply grow the 'accepted allotment arsenal' of potatoes, carrots et al. Sure, I have had great success with runner beans on the balcony and am growing them again this year, but how often do I actually eat runner beans? Literally only once or twice a year. Admitting this stark fact to myself, I have resolved to unearth some truly unique recipes for my 'standard allotment fare' this summer, but am also re-examining the process of what I plant.

After perusing Nigel Slater's excellent 'Tender' cook book (a genuinely fantastic Christmas present), my girlfriend cooked a wonderful artichoke stew the other week, which I would most definitely like to eat again! With this truly mouth-watering recipe fresh in my mind, and upon seeing the discounted packet of artichoke in the Garden Shop at Kew Gardens, I decided that I should use my allotment as a means of producing food to eat and attempting to plant things that I regularly eat or would regularly like to eat – rather than eating things that I regularly plant.

For the artichokes, I purchased a packet of 5 Jerusalem Artichokes Fuseau for £1.24. These like well-prepared soil and need to be planted 15cm deep and 60cm apart. I dug a trench next to my potatoes and set about getting them planted, as you can see below.



In addition to this artichoke activity, I also planted some onions, which once again, were a reduced offer at Kew Gardens. I paid £0.74 for 50 Onion Centurion F1 bulbs (although didn't use all 50) and planted these 3cm deep in lines 12cm apart, using canes and string to guide me:




Don't get me wrong; I'm still all for 'standard allotment fare' and look forward to exploring unusual runner bean recipes and so-forth. However I have finally dispelled the mindset that I am eating what I grow – I am now growing what I eat, which already, feels a much more time-honoured and purposeful exercise.

A Windy Bank Holiday...

A more detailed Bank Holiday blog will follow shortly, but for now, here's a minute of video showcasing the state of a windswept London Vegetable Garden allotment!

'Cane & Able' - Preparations for a Biblical Crop of Runners!

Whilst last summer's balcony efforts did not afford me the title of 'self-sufficient urban bald Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall-type' – not by a long way – they did result in some impressive feats of urban vegetable gardening. One of the few 'runaway' successes (if you'll permit the pun) was indeed the humble runner bean – a much misunderstood and undervalued vegetable.

Anyway, inspired by last season's success with this hardy vegetable (click here to see 2009's balcony crop!), I had planned to set up some canes and plant some runner beans on the allotment. This resolution was cemented when a quick scan through this month's Gardeners' World magazine unearthed the fact that now is a great time to plant runner bean seeds directly into the soil.

I set off to the allotment once again this Sunday, having picked up a packet of 10 x 6' canes from Robert Dyas for £4.99. Now last year, space was obviously a determining factor for me, however this year I have the opportunity to do things a little better! Whereas I had two pots with empty bottoms that sat on a grow bag last year and condensed canes, this time I intend to construct a good sized row, which will allow plenty of room for growth – and also allow air to circulate around the plants efficiently.

As you can see from the pictures below, I settled on a row that was 4 canes each side, joined across the top by another cane and supported at one end by a further cane. My years watching Blue Peter as a child were evidently not wasted, as before long I had managed to knock together a decent looking and relatively rigid cane structure – voila!


Now, one of the paramount basics of gardening, including vegetable gardening, is not to disturb the roots of plants when transplanting from pots to the ground. Whilst planting directly outside holds its own hazards (birds, squirrels, frost etc.), one of the huge benefits of planting directly is that the plants will grow and establish their roots in-situ, without being disturbed at any time in their lives.

Anyway, following the recommendations of Gardeners' World, I planted 2 (and occasionally 3) seeds around the base of each pole. This method allows for one of the seeds not growing properly – you're left with a back-up – and also affords you the chance to select the strongest looking plant if both do indeed germinate.

I simply made a 4cm hole using my finger, pushed the seeds in and covered up with soil, as so:

The runner beans I am using this year are organic 'Enorma' runner beans, 'Phaseolus Coccineus', from the Duchy Originals seed range. In my, albeit limited, experience, these seeds start growing very quickly, although last time they germinated under cling film on a warm windowsill in my old flat. Regardless, I hope that I have some quick progress with these hardy vegetable plants – and some progress to report soon!

Has anyone else had any good or bad experiences with runner beans? Does my cane structure get the approval of the veteran vegetable growers amongst you? Leave your comments here, on the London Vegetable Garden Facebook page, or even at the London Gardeners' Network!

Peaty Perils...

Whilst the allocation of an allotment (what fantastic alliteration so early on in this post!) remedied one problem – that of having no space – it transpires that the Great Outdoors presents its very own set of difficulties.

I made a trip up to the allotment this weekend, only to discover that my raised beds had made some rather unwelcome bedfellows. This rear bed, next to the stream, is underneath a large tree (see shade issue referred to in the previous post) that is now haemorrhaging seeds faster than David Cameron is shedding popularity – certainly no mean feat. But politics aside, you can see I have a new problem to deal with, illustrated beautifully by the following picture:

Incidentally, if anyone is able to identify the type of seed (and even tree) from these pictures, I'd be most grateful – and very impressed!

Anyway; I digress. I set to, picking up these seeds by hand, as I didn't want to use the fine rake and risk upsetting the tiny, shallow-planted carrot seeds that have only been in the soil for a week.

After a laborious 20 minutes or so, the patch was clear, although my hands were covered in more pollen than a drone of bees. Although both the patch (and my yellow hands) were easily cleared up in a matter of minutes, this example has gone to show that gardening in the Great Outdoors is a whole different ball game to pottering about on a balcony.

I'm thinking of investing in some sort of fine-mesh cover to put over this bed whilst the tree continues shedding its seeds, although after clearing up the patch, it seems that the soil is lumpy, crumbly and nowhere near fine enough to accommodate such tiny, fragile seeds as carrots.

Am I being too precious? Are seeds designed to grow in hardy outdoor conditions like this, or should I start again using much finer soil or compost? Leave a comment here - or why not write on the London Vegetable Garden's official Facebook wall?

Carrots by the Stream!

In addition to planting potatoes, Sunday's visit to the London Vegetable Garden allotment included the planting of some carrots.

If you followed me last year, you'll remember that I didn't have much success with growing carrots, namely because they like to grow downwards, which is problematic when one is only growing in shallow pots! But I also learnt that you need to plant carrots thinly if you are to achieve any real success.

The first variety I planted was the small, sweet 'Royal Chartenay Red' variety, which came as part of my free seed packet, courtesy of the BBC's 'Dig In' campaign. According to the packet, these sweet baby carrots will be ready to pull up in 12 weeks, which means we'll expect vegetables in July, so watch this space!

The second type of carrot I planted was another early-cropping variety, 'Daucus Carota Early Nantes 2'. These can apparently be planted from late winter through to summer, so I'm hoping that they are a hardy variety for an amateur urban gardener like myself.

Now, these carrots prefer cool conditions, so I have planted these in one of my 3 raised beds, which are located in some shade next to the stream:

I have planted 4 small rows of carrots (2 rows of each variety) in rows approximately 1 metre long. These rows have about 12cms between each row and the carrot seeds have been planted thinly. Once the shoots start showing, I can thin these where I have been too liberal with my planting!

So there we go – the second seeds are in the ground. Last year, my balcony afforded me plenty of room to grow seeds in pots on the warm balcony windowsill – a 'luxury' I can't employ this year. Nevertheless, I plan to see how I can overcome this obstacle and of course, I am now officially waiting to receive my window box garden plants from Cornwall. Watch this space!

Here we go Again!

Firstly, welcome to the very first London Vegetable Garden blog post from Richmond! It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, due to a hectic move and sporadic internet access; however I now have a few spare moments in which to update you all with gardening goings-on.

This Sunday, my girlfriend and I went up to the new allotment and spent a few hours acclimatising to our new environment. The fantastic weather made this trip splendid in itself, however the amazing ham sandwiches packed by @lucaluxes topped it off, as well as coming in handy after an hour or so of digging!

We have a decent patch of land, which seasoned vegetable gardeners may find rather limited, although after the confines of a balcony, it's a veritable orchard!
Anyway, we set about digging the soil using spades and forks, breaking up huge clods of earth and preparing the soil for planting. It's no easy work and I can fully appreciate why gardeners are so fit – we were already getting blisters when I stopped to take this snap:

Anyway, this weekend, we focused on planting our potatoes, of which I had earlier talked about chitting. Well, after the move, it transpired that the potatoes had 'chitted' on their own accord, as you can see from this photo:

Whilst I purchased potato growing bags, which I plan to employ for my main crop, I decided to plant my 'first earlies' in the freshly dug earth. Now, having only honed my limited gardening skills on a balcony, it goes without saying that I've never attempted to grow potatoes before. One of the benefits of being on an allotment is that you have instant access to aplenty of like-minded, knowledgeable and extremely friendly gardeners, all of whom were eager to offer advice to me.

I was advised to raise 'ridges', with a small channel in between, as you can see in the photo below:

The seed potatoes are then planted in this channel, approximately 9” apart, and covered with around 5” of soil.

As the plants grow, the purpose of the ridges becomes apparent, as (strangely enough) one has to cover the plants over with soil! Although this seems to contravene common logic (it's growing – it wants to come up!), potato plants produce a higher yield if covered in more soil – it encourages more growth and helps the forming potatoes to grow more effectively.

So there we have it – the first vegetables of my first ever allotment are in! This event was made even more exciting by the fact that I am attempting to grow potatoes, which is completely new to me. They are due to crop around June or July, so we'll wait and see what happens. As soon as shoots appear, we'll get it on the London Vegetable Garden blog!