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IN GENERAL
It's arrived - August - the
month of plenty!
We should all, by now, be
in the middle of our annual glut. You know the one I'm talking
about, where you vow (under your breath) not to plant so many damned courgette plants next year -
well that may not be the case this season - in our neck of the
woods at least - WHAT AN ABYSMAL YEAR!
I started vegetable gardening way back in
1976. By now that's a LONG time ago. In fact it's nearly forty
years. This is the worst year I've yet experienced for vegetable
growing - by a long shot. Especially the early part of the year.
Sure you have bad years and you have good
years the rest fall somewhere in between. This year stands
out like a sore thumb. It started off too dry in March. Then it
went too cold & wet & we could do nothing for most of April, which
also brought snow. May followed with a drought and hideous
cold dry scorching winds at the beginning then it went cold &
wet again. June
was a total wash-out as was most of July, with annual monthly
levels of rain falling in ONE day on about three occasions! We
had three full blown floods in four weeks - not nice!
Hardly anything has germinated properly.
Not only has this year been a total
disaster for me, but all of the other allotment
growers on our site have experienced similar problems.
Seeds refusing to germinate, others dying off after germinating,
some growing weakly - just not a very good season I fear! I
almost gave up on the peas. Every school kid has managed to
grow a pea in a bottle at some time in his early life (at least
we used to when I was a child in school, goodness knows what
they do now - I wouldn't be surprised if it's something like
origami or yoga to widen their cultural horizons, or some
similar
cockamamie brainchild of an 'enlightened' education smarty
somewhere) I
nearly failed to grow
a single pea this year
! AT LAST I've got some seedlings in (thanks to
Phil, Graham & Stephen's left-overs) and it's AUGUST!
HOWEVER
whilst the cultivated tribes of veg languish, feeling sorry for
themselves, the weeds have gone berserk - I've never seen such a
"lush flush" of all the nasties under the sun. There are two
real champions amongst them on my plot.
 Chickweed.
It's determined to carpet everything on my allotment that's in it's path.
Thank goodness it's easy to weed, but what it loses in ease of removal,
it makes up for in vigour and quantity - there's tons of it
everywhere - it's like a never-ending nightmare!
 The
other is smooth sow thistle. Both the perennial and the annual
varieties.
Sow
thistle is a REAL survivor. Apparently seeds that are calculated
to be about 150 years old have been brought to the surface by
excavators and have then promptly germinated (jaw hits ground -
brain puzzles why can't peas do that!). It's quite common
for it's seeds to lie dormant for 10years at a time and them
germinate. How disheartening is that?
 It's
also annoying, not the fact the weed is there, but because the main source of my
infestation of soft sow thistle is a badly maintained plot
nearby. She (the tenant) has an annual
crop crop of the weed that's allowed to grow to maturity. It
seeds then get merrily blown over in the height of summer. If the wind
isn't very strong on the day they decide to go airborne they fall straight on my plot about
5m away! They
lie snugly in the soil over winter, and then when a patch gets
"bared" during the tilling period in spring - they SPRINGS to
life. By August - if it was left alone - it could be well over six
foot high - with it's very own army of self fertilised wind-pollinated
fluffy seeds!
 Sow
thistle - as I've always know it - is also known by some folks as milk
thistle. This bewildered me when Tig, from Plot 11 (she was
brought up in Kent), came over and said "Wow I see you've got
loads of 'milk
thistle' ". So it was research time, because what I have always
known as milk thistle has
a purple flower! Sow thistles have yellow flowers - very much
like a dandelion. The one that bedevils my plot is definitely yellow flowered
!
Mystery
solved, 'proper' milk thistle
is a thistle of the genus
Silybum Adans., a flowering plant of the daisy family
(Asteraceae)
it is indeed the purple flowered member of the
family that's also used for medicinal purposes. However in
certain areas sow thistle also goes under the name of 'milk
thistle' - cue confusion!
Apparently the Romans brought milk thistle over as part of their medicine
chest -
which
in those days meant bringing some plants with you! When they
went back to Italia they left us Celts (the Anglo Saxons hadn't
arrived at that stage) exhausted from fighting them, but with
an inheritance of many strange and beautiful plants from the
Mediterranean that still grow wild in our country, we're
still using them for our cooking and in our herbal remedies.
 For
those of you with liver problems (self inflicted through alcohol
abuse or
otherwise), many
years of research shows that the active flavanoid-lignan group
of constituents, called silymarin - contained in it's greatest
concentration in the seed shell of the milk thistle plant - has
liver-protective and regenerative properties, as well as
antioxidant effects.
The liver-protective effects
were known and written about in ancient Roman times, leading to
the active chemical, pharmacological, and safety research that
began in Germany in the 1950s (who else but the Germans - a
brilliantly advanced race of people, they got on the case after
they were allowed their toys back after the war!).
Clinical use for a variety
of liver ailments, such as hepatitis, has also prospered
throughout many parts of the world.
So you can thank the Romans for the milk thistle
plant they brought to our shores, and which can now be bought
over the counter in the form of tablets containing
silymarin
to cure liver
ailments - thanks in no small part to the Germans. Take a bow
Romans and Teutons!
SOME
OF OUR
ALLOTMENTS
SITE NEWS
Aberaeron in Bloom Competition
 Here's
The Man of The Moment!
Stephen Parry - Plot 14.
Whilst not every Aberaeron Allotment Association plot was
entered into the Aberaeron in Bloom Competition (we
have a bit of a problem with standards of
cultivation I'm sad to say), we
have nevertheless, again swept the board in the Best Veg Plot/Allotment
section of the competition!
Not only were
some of the plots on our allotment site entered but
other privately owned and tended vegetable plots in
the town were also entered and were competing
against us for the prizes.
Not many of us
really wanted to compete this year because things
are not growing as well as usual, and because of
time restrictions - due to the weather we've had (It
has been difficult getting out to the allotment
plots over the past few months because of the rain)
not only are our crops behind, but so are all the
other jobs - including the weeding etc.!
However Tig
(last year's winner) quietly went ahead and entered
about six plots, without our knowledge, telling us
afterwards - before the judging date. A bit of panic
broke out amongst some - to say the least!
The Result?
1st Prize has
been awarded to Stephen Parry (Plot 14). Runner-up
was Moi.
The competition
which has been
independently judged by the Aberaeron in Bloom
Committee judges will be officially presented to
Stephen and myself
at the town's annual carnival event on the August
Bank Holiday Monday. For those of you who can - or
who may be here on holiday,
please try to be there to support and clap our
Stephen!
WE ARE IMMENSELY PROUD OF HIM!
OTHER ALLOTMENT
& GARDENING NEWS
Spot the 'Blue One'
 The
Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is
calling on gardeners to watch out for
the blue mint beetle - the latest pest
to appear in the UK.
The
beetle, Chrysolina coerulans or
blue mint beetle, was confirmed to be
breeding in the country by the charity’s
entomology department when specimens
were sent to them by an RHS member in
Kent in July 2011.
However, as there has only been one
reported finding, the charity is keen to
find out if this is an isolated
situation and therefore controllable or
if the insect is more widespread but not
yet reported. By having more information
the RHS will be in a better position to
advise gardeners on the most effective
measures to take.
“The
beetle is widespread on mainland Europe
and the detection of breeding adults in
the UK could mean problems for gardeners
who grow this herb,” says Andrew
Halstead, Principal Scientist Plant
Health. “It is therefore important that
we find out if there are any other
breeding adults elsewhere in the UK. The
adults and the black, soft-bodied larvae
both eat the foliage.”
-on-Mint-(M?width=154) The
7mm long blue mint beetle (pictured
left) is quite different in colour to
our native beetle, the green mint beetle
(Chrysolina herbacea) which is
shiny, emerald-green. This beetle also
eats mint leaves but is generally not a
problem because it occurs more
frequently on wild mint.
“At
the moment our control suggestions are
the same both for our native green mint
beetle and the new incomer,” says
Andrew. 'If there are only a few then
removal of the beetle and larvae by hand
works best.
"If
the infestation is more extensive then
it may be necessary to apply a
pesticide. An organic insecticide,
pyrethrum, can be used on mint to
control pests. This short-persistence
insecticide should deal with young
larvae. However, it may not be effective
to control the adults and so other
insecticides, such as deltamethrin or
lambda-cyhalothrin, may have to be
considered.”
The RHS would like
gardeners to check their plants for
holes in the leaves and search their
mint plants for beetles. If blue beetles
are discovered the charity would like
either digital photographs taken and
sent to
advisory_entomology@rhs.org.uk
or live samples posted in stout
containers to Advisory Service, RHS
Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB.
 An
allotment holder who originally WON a
case against his local council for
increasing the cost of allotment rents
by 60% has had his case dismissed on
appeal. What could this mean for the
future of the Great British allotment?
Some
allotment growers, predict councils
across the country will now feel freer
to impose rent hikes and the traditional
allotment gardener could be "priced
out".
Georgie Willcock of the National
Allotment Society (whilst commenting on
the decision) said: "There are councils
that have been waiting for the outcome
of this court case". I am apt to agree
with her.
It
has become fashionable for middle class
"professionals" with an envious amount
of disposable income (the pink marigold
gloved Margo Leadbetter types) to dabble
with vegetable growing. Nothing wrong
with that, although for the vast
majority it's a novelty kick that wears
off after about twelve months. In the
same way as new marinas push out local
boat fishermen because of prices, I
personally fear the same will happen to
poorer working class allotment growers.
Allotments were originally designed to
allow poorer families with no land the
opportunity to grow their own food at
minimal costs. Put monied people into
the equation and change the role of the
allotment to a middle class hobby rather
than a serious means of growing food due
to a need, and you have a recipe for the
wolves to descend on the carcass.
Councils will realise that they have got
rid of the small rent shackles that were
once imposed on them and will ratchet up
the costs until the traditional
allotmenteers will drop off, replaced by
the "new" allotment types with money and
no energy.
Only
time will tell what these councils will
do over the next 12 to 18 months - but
there is a very strong possibility that
they will now start putting up their
rents.
Case dismissed
Alex
Mullins, of Eastleigh and District
Allotments Association, challenged
Eastleigh Borough Council in Hampshire
over its 60% price increase, from £25 to
£40 a year. A Southampton county court
judge backed Mr Mullins at an earlier
hearing, but the case was dismissed
after the council appealed. A judge at
Winchester County Court ruled that the
small claims procedure taken by Mr
Mullins was inappropriate for the
dispute, and set aside the original
ruling.
"I
think a lot of councils will now think
there won't be anyone to challenge them
and they will take comfort in that and
whack on huge increases," said Mr
Mullins.
Mr
Mullins said he believed most allotment
holders would not be able to afford the
court fees to challenge rent hikes.
He
said rent increases would mean people
would no longer view their hobby as
"worthwhile" when taking into
consideration the cost of seeds and
tools and the work involved to keep a
plot in a satisfactory state of growth
and cultivation.
"We
might as well go to Harrods and buy our
carrots there," he said.
Rents doubled
Eastleigh Borough Council said it was
"delighted" that the case had been
dismissed.
 A
spokesman denied there would be any more
allotment rent increases in the borough
over the next two years, except in line
with inflation. He said the council did
not want to discuss allotment rents
further.
During the court case the council argued
it had priced its allotments in
accordance with what other local
authorities were charging. It said when
it set the price increase it wanted to
reduce the cost to the local authority.
There are currently 100,000 people on
the allotment waiting list in England
and Wales, said Ms Willcock, of the
allotment society.
Gym membership
Ms
Willcock said local authorities should
take into account the popularity of
allotments and provide an "open
consultation process" with allotment
holders. Some councils across the
country had increased allotment rents by
100% she said.
Last
year Barnet Council attempted to triple
rents in the borough but was met by
strong opposition. Ms Willcock said:
"Traditionally allotments are the
preserve of people with not much
disposable income.
"If
rents are put up quite quickly it takes
out a section of society, such as the
elderly and the retired.
"We've had a fair few calls from our
members concerned about the fact that
their rents seem to be going up fairly
substantially over the past couple of
years.
"It
might sound cheap to say that it is only
£30 a year - but if you think about it,
it is only the land that is provided.
"It's not like paying for a gym
membership - which includes services
like heating the building and the
showers and providing the equipment and
an entire service - you would expect to
have to pay more for that."
KNOW YOUR PESTS
Do
you recognise the difference between one
cabbage white butterfly caterpillar and
another? A cabbage white caterpillar is
a cabbage white caterpillar right?
WRONG. There's big differences between
one (native) species and the larger
visitor from southern Europe.
 The
two species, the large white butterfly,
Pieris brassicae, and the Small White
butterfly Pieris rapae are particularly
important pests, and both common to our
gardens.
Here
on the left, are the differences between
their caterpillars.
The
caterpillars of both the small and large
cabbage white butterflies are cabbage leaf munching
vandalss with
monstrous appetites! The first is pale
green with a body up to 2.5cm long, the
second is bigger at 4cm and is yellow
with black markings. The adult
butterflies lay eggs at different times:
the small from February to April and
again in late-summer, the large in April
and May. This means the caterpillars can
be busily munching away from early
spring through to autumn.
This
is a taster to help our readers sit up
and realise how important it is to
recognise the damage caused by various
pests. What symptoms to look for, how to
recognise the culprit when seen, and,
most importantly how to guard against it
- or if present - how to get rid of it!
In
the following months we'll discuss
various pests in our news-letter and provide a link to our
web-site's Fact Files on the pests. Not
ALL pests have had fact files compiled
for them yet!
So
to kick off here's a bit of info. about
the
Cabbage Root Fly
The
other evening I was admiring some of my
plot neighbour's brassicas. Whilst
chatting we both noticed that one
cabbage was looking a bit limp and had a
different leaf colour to that of it's
brothers in the same row.
We
debated whether we'd lift it for a
post-mortem or leave it in situ to see
how things would pan out. Anyway it was
decided to lift it.
 The
first thing we noticed was how easy it
came out of the soil - a sure sign that
something had been having a go at it's
roots, as it was no longer anchored as
it should be.
The
root was badly attacked and was only a
couple of inches long. With a sharp
penknife we started scrapping away the
soil and sure enough, there were the
culprits, little white "lazy" maggots.
Cabbage Root Fly Larvae.
Too
late to save the plant. It was too small
to eat so after making sure no maggots
were left in the root, it was moved to
it's new home - the compost heap! A word
of warning - if you're not sure whether
there are any maggots or eggs left on
the roots it's safer to burn what's left
- rather than risk contaminating your
compost.
A
painful little lesson. When it comes to
this pest it's ALL about prevention,
because there is no cure.
The
maggots of cabbage root fly eat the
roots of cabbages and other brassicas,
as well as tunnelling into the roots of
swedes, turnips and radish - which all
belong to the brassica family. So
beware, if there are cabbage root flies
about they don't just attack cabbage -
they'll attack all it's cousins too!
 So,
What is a cabbage
root fly?
Cabbage root-fly (delia radicum). Large
numbers of this small fly, whose larvae
feed on the roots of brassicas and
oilseed rape, are often seen out of
doors, basking on light coloured
surfaces in warm humid weather.
Adult cabbage root flies resemble house
flies. The larvae are white, legless and
headless maggots that feed on the roots
and can kill seedling and recently
transplanted brassicas.
Brassicas
attacked by cabbage root fly will be
affected in
the following ways:
-
poor growth, plant will wilt and may die,
especially recent transplants in
early summer
-
swede, turnip
and radish are ruined when white
maggots, up to 9mm long, tunnel into
the edible part of the roots
-
maggots can sometimes tunnel
into individual buttons on Brussels
sprout plants
Prevention & Control
 Recent transplants can be given some
protection by placing a
brassica collar around the base
of the stem. These can be bought from
garden centres or they can be made from
circles or squares, about 8-15cm
(3¼-6in) across, using carpet underlay,
roofing felt or cardboard, my favourite
material is lino - if you can get some
bits from somewhere (modern terminology:
vinyl floor covering). The collar
prevents the female fly placing eggs in
the soil surface close to a host
plant. Eggs deposited on the collar
often dry up and fail to hatch.
However the daddy of all control methods
is to cover your brassicas with a fine
mesh net - it's the only sure fire
method of protection, plus the fact it
will also protect you from all the other
flying pests as well. Growing them under
the cover of
horticultural fleece, or an
insect-proof mesh such as Veggiemesh
will do the trick. This year for the
first time, I've used the green mesh
netting you get around scaffolding (to
stop bits flying off into unsuspecting
crowds and killing them all - good ol'
British Health & Safety regulations!)
Anyway, this stuff seems identical to
the ventilation & insect screens you
find on polytunnels. The difference is,
if you know a local, friendly scaffolder
or builder, he will probably give you
some used stuff for free. They're glad
to get rid of it because they have to
keep on renewing it for each new job
(good ol' you know who again). It
doesn't take long for them to get sick
of the sight of the stuff! I was a bit
hesitant to use it because I wondered if
it may cause too much shading, but I can
report that my brassicas seem quite
happy in their insect and wind free
environment! Horticultural fleece
may be preferred for seedbeds, being
more dense it will
warm the soil.
Crop
rotation must be practised,
otherwise cabbage root flies will emerge
from over-wintered pupae in the soil
under the fleece cover if host plants
are grown in the same piece of ground in
successive years.
Nemasys Grow Your Own is a mixture of
pathogenic nematode species that is sold
as a biological pest control for use
against cabbage root fly larvae and
other pests, including the larvae of
carrot fly, onion fly, leatherjackets,
chafer grubs, sciarid flies,
caterpillars, gooseberry sawfly, thrips
and codling moth - what a God-send - one
size fits all eh? If it sounds too good
to be true then it probably is!
Personally, my jury is still out
regarding the practicality and
efficiency (not to mention the
astronomical costs) of using pathogenic
nematodes. I tend to believe that there
may be an element of "The King's New
Clothes" at work here. I tried Nemaslug
once. You can't see the microscopic
nematodes, you mix them with water and
hey presto ALL the slugs and snails
above and below the ground die within 6
weeks due to bacterial infection in
their bodies. If that really is
the case then they must have sent in
another battalion under cover of
darkness to finish the job on the
lettuce the year I tried Nemaslug!
If you are the kind of gardener that is
so inclined to zap things with chemicals
- FORGET IT!
There's
nothing for you to use. None of the
pesticides currently available to
amateur gardeners are suitable for use
against cabbage root fly.
General knowledge about your enemy:
-
There are
three generations during
the summer but it is the
first generation in late
spring-early summer that is often
the most damaging.
-
Adult cabbage root flies
resemble house flies.
-
The
larvae are white, legless
and headless maggots that are up to
9mm long. They feed on the roots and
can kill seedling and recently
transplanted brassicas. Later
generations are less damaging to
cabbages and other leafy brassicas,
as older plants have larger root
systems and are better able to
tolerate the damage. Edible root
host plants are damaged by any of
the generations.
-
When fully fed, the larvae go into a
brown pupal stage, either
emerging as adult flies a few weeks
later or remaining in that state
overwinter.
No
excuses for getting caught out next
year!
More
info. on other pests in future issues of
our NEWSLETTER.
 DID YOU KNOW?
Beginning in 1971, retired biologist
Jennifer Owen catalogued the wildlife in
her suburban Leicester garden. After 15
years she published her interim results,
which included 533 species of
parasitical wasp alone. Fifteen of these
had never been recorded in Britain, and
four of them were completely new to
science. Britain has about 16 million
back gardens (not counting allotment
plots), each containing more than
4,000 invertebrates (worms, spiders,
insects) and about 250 plants. Research
from 2002 by Newcastle University
included soil micro-organisms and
calculated that the average back garden
contains 3.5 million species – twice as
many as have been identified on the
planet.
"Not a lot of people know that!"
WEEDS & WEEDING
|
Webster’s
definition:
Weed - “plant growing where
it is not desired.”
A
weed can be defined as a plant of any
kind that is growing in the wrong
place. There are many examples of this
situation including chickweed smothering
lettuces, moss in the lawn and last
year’s spuds in amongst current crops
such as leaf beet. All weeds compete
with cultivated plants for the three
essential requirements of plant life: water,
nutrients and light. For that reason
alone they have to be removed before you
start cultivating and continually during
cultivation. Weeding ranks right up there
with housework: it's one of those chores
that just never go away. As soon as you
clear out a patch of weeds, it seems to
grow right back, like a gecko's tail.
But it IS possible to achieve.
Starting a vegetable plot on an
allotment filled with weeds can be an
overwhelming task. However, it is
possible to start a vegetable plot even
from the most weed infested patch -
if you put in some hard work!
|
A Quick
"Start-up" Guide to
Allotment Growing
And The Task Of Site Clearance!
(hover your mouse pointer over
the text to stop it scrolling)
|
|
First job? Knobble the perennial weeds (docks, nettles, couch grass etc.) before
you start, particularly if you plan on growing long-term perennial crops, such
as asparagus and soft fruit etc.
Fork out all their roots - not just the top bit - but the WHOLE root. You
can then smother the area with black plastic or old carpets to kill off any
other less aggressive weeds and grass.
If you belong to an allotment group that doesn't
mind using harmful plant poisons, and your allotment association or society does
not stipulate that you mustn't use chemical weed-killing agents, then use
glysophate (usually found under the trade name "Round Up") or a similar
preparation - be careful - you don't allow it to drift on to your neighbours'
plots, where it may damage their crops or cause animosity, especially if they
are sensitive to your inorganic methods. You can use a combination of
everything. In extreme cases, think about covering and forgetting about
two-thirds of the ground for that first season, and just grow potatoes on the
remaining third. Their cultivation can help break up the soil and cleanse it of
some weeds. Who said it was going to be easy?!
Remember that some weed seeds can remain active in soil for many years.
Never let weeds grow large and go to seed - hoe them out as tiddlers on dry
days. Don't put the roots of perennial weeds in your compost bin. Boundary paths
are weed hotbeds too, so mow and edge them regularly. No one wants
foreign-looking allotments - all concrete paths, chain-link fencing and stifling
rules - but good and tidy housekeeping benefits EVERYONE.
Raised Beds
Don't be surprised if the current love affair with raised beds causes raised
eyebrows among some of the old guard, who regard them as a waste of space and
prefer regimented rows. Each to his/her own, but defined beds enable you to
improve soil selectively, crop intensively - and with paths of (slug/snail
unfriendly) bark, mown grass or even Mypex between beds, life is easier,
particularly on winter-heavy soil. Don't make beds you can't reach across or you
will have to tread on them; 4ft wide and about 12ft - 16ft long is regarded as a
good size, while others favour smaller square beds.
Soil Improvement
This usually takes the form of an annual autumn or spring muck-spreading frenzy
- it is an essential task. If your allotment association or gardening society
can't organise communal muck supplies, get together with one or two plotters and
share a delivery.
Although some enjoy the "catalogue" neatness of pristine expensive
infrastructure, not spending money is actually a traditional culture of
allotment growers. Most allotmenteers recycle wherever possible, often in very
ingenious ways. Compost bins can be made from wooden pallets, old scaffolding
boards and split tree trunks make good edges for raised beds. Ingenuity is
honoured and respected amongst allotmenteers.
Crop Rotation and Protection is Key
As
sure as God made those little green apples that give you belly ache, growing the
same family of crops in the same location will inevitably lead to big problems.
Certain pests only attack certain plant families. If you grow the same crops in
the same soil the pests associated with that plant family will become an
epidemic in that area. You may then find it very hard to eradicate them. Also,
by growing the same plants in the same soil every year the nutrients that crop
requires will eventually become depleted, resulting in poorer crops. There is
more information on crop rotation in the "Basics" section of this web-site.
Pests, (particularly flying and crawling ones) can quickly get the upper hand.
Hoops of hazel, cut from hedges (failing that, polythene piping from plumbing
suppliers and cut to size), make good supports for protective meshes and
netting. And which netting? Drapey "pond netting'' is easier to handle than that
annoyingly springy nylon stuff that is hard to peg down and control!
Storage
If
you live some distance away, a shed (with a water butt) is a boon, with hooks to
keep tools (and that essential old fleece) off the floor. It also serves as a
good cool and dark place to store crops - such as potatoes or carrots. And, (it
should be added), an old chair is an essential!
Growing Don'ts
Don't grow too much of any one thing, get the hang of sowing seeds a little at a
time every few weeks (a tough one, that - even though it's quite easy with a bit
of acquired self discipline) and even if you don't practise classic crop
rotation, at least don't grow the same crop in the same place twice for more
than two seasons.
Obviously only grow what you like to eat, but there are definitely 'easy' and
'difficult' crops. Potatoes and leeks as well as onions (from sets) all belong
in the easy camp. Peas and beans, too. Strawberries (netted) and autumn
raspberries (no need to net) are a popular and easy must for some. Unless you
live on the doorstop, grow cut-and-come-again salads at home since they need
almost daily snipping. Parsnips are tricky to germinate; carrots need fine sandy
soil (adding as much sand as compost before sowing helps). Without efficient
mesh and netting protection ( to protect against pigeons and butterflies), don't
grow any form of the space-greedy winter cabbage family. Chard and perpetual
spinach, however, are long-life, relatively low-maintenance crops worth learning
to love, if you don't already.
Free, or even cheap, food is sometimes a myth, certainly at first. Needless to
say, allotment growing is more cost-effective if you buy (and share) seed,
rather than plug plants. Once you are established, producing compost and saving
seed from your crops, you go into a different economic league. Allotment growing
is not ALL about economics anyway, it's mostly bout producing fresh, tasty,
healthy and wholesome food for you and your family.
Finally, something slightly controversial:
Don't listen to the kill-joys. It is perfectly OK to grow flowers for picking on
your allotment and it encourages pollinating insects. If your allotment group
allows it - keeping bees is an excellent idea as they are the No1 pollinators on
every allotment site in existence. |
Before anyone starts a new vegetable
plot, they MUST clear away the weeds,
otherwise they will continually struggle
to produce meaningful crops, even worse,
it will only be a matter of time before
they lose the joy of growing their own
as the perpetual weed battle coupled to
the sight of their unkept plot and
moans from other plot-holders changes
their experience from being a joy to
being a chore. That would be a huge
shame.
The
old adage of 1 year’s seeding means 7
year’s weeding is not far from the
truth. Some seeds, (such as poppies for
example), remain viable for decades and
will germinate when moved to the top
inch of soil. So it's very important NOT
to let them seed in the first place.
The weeds on a plot come in different
sizes and characteristics. Weeds can be
divided into two groups:
-
ANNUAL weeds, and
-
PERENNIAL weeds.
Annual weeds mature, reproduce
and set new seeds within one season.
They can spread rapidly through wind or
mechanical dispersal and set on the soil
of neighbouring allotment holders as
well as the soil of the plot where they
are growing. This is a grossly unfair
and selfish deed on behalf of the
plot-holder responsible for the weed
infestation.
Perennial weeds are much harder
to control because they can survive in
the winter weather. Perennial weeds can
spread by root and seed, as their name
suggests they also reappear every year.
To completely get rid of perennial
weeds, you must dig out the roots to
prevent them from growing back. Some
perennial weeds such as horsetail and
ground elder cannot be got rid of. The
only thing that you can do is to control
their population.
Having to weed is a bind for most
gardeners. It's certainly a headache if
it's allowed to get out of hand. The
only way to get on top of the job is to
snaffle them at a manageable stage in
their growth. Give them too long to
establish (quite easily done at the
height of the growing season because it
takes a VERY short time for them to
germinate and get going at an alarming
rate) and you're going to be staring
down the barrel of an impossible task.
The weeds will have overtaken your crops
and may be growing in greater numbers and
more aggressively than your crops. It
can soon turn into a hopeless task
because your attempts may destroy your
crop or the weeds may have strangled and
shadowed them out before you can save
them. Weeds have also evolved strategies
to get the drop on our cultivated veg.
plants.
Moisture & Nutrient Robbers
Weeds are serious
moisture, nutrient and yield robbers.
Sometimes they can have a drastic effect
on crop size and quality (onions and
sweet-corn are an
excellent example of this).
Weeds compete
successfully with your cultivated
vegetables because they absorb more mineral,
nutrients & water in the soil around
them, simply put they're better at it
than our cultivated plants. Many weeds have very shallow roots
& can absorb the rain water before it
seeps into the soil for the desired,
slower-growing plants who have deeper
roots. Fruit trees suffer enormously
from weed overgrowth around them – hence
the reason fruit tree experts always
extol the virtues of keeping the area
around fruit trees weed-free and using a
mulch to keep the moisture from being
robbed by weeds and/ or evaporation.
Weeds can cause
significant crop reductions: 10 to 50%
or more depending on the circumstances.
Sweet Corn plants growing without competition
from weeds are taller, more vigorous, &
better able to withstand drought & any
insect or disease damage than the weedy
corn growing right next to them. The
weed-free corn yields more & the ears
are fuller. When it comes to onions, if
you want under-sized bulbs that often
bolt, because they're stressed and
robbed of moisture - grow them in a weed
infested bed. Onions are even sensitive
to sharing their water & nutrients with
other onions. That's why exhibitors grow
them at least a foot apart and remove
all weeds from the vicinity.
Adequate light is
essential to plants because it powers
the process of photosynthesis whereby
green leaves convert the sun’s energy
into things essential for plant growth.
Weeds that block out sunlight from your
crops will starve your cultivated plants
of sunshine and consequently they won't
be able to convert nutrients into food
through photosynthesis.
The ultimate competition is achieved by
parasitic plants, those that get all
their nourishment from the tissues of a
host plant to which they are attached.
These parasites are almost impossible to
control without destroying the host
plant. Ivy is a good example of such a
parasite.
 Certain
weeds,
can out-compete other plants by a kind
of chemical warfare called allelopathy
(examples include creeping buttercup
- which is rampant on the Cae Ffynnon
Wîn allotment site).
Creeping buttercup also depletes the
soil of potassium. Some
weeds have what is called ‘allelopathic’
(poisonous) tendencies. The roots of
such species produce chemicals that
inhibit either the germination, growth
or development of their neighbours. This
can include veggies. Allelopathic plants
include creeping buttercup, couch grass
(sometimes called twitch), creeping
thistle and chickweed. Rhododendron is
the classic poisonous plant. An allelopathic plant secretes a growth
inhibiting substance (gaseous or
chemical). This substance is
absorbed by another, sensitive species
growing close to it. The result is the
target plant's growth is then inhibited
- how "sneaky" is that? A good idea to
let the weeds get on with it
undisturbed? I don't think so - do you?
Pests and diseases can often be
harboured on weeds. Fungal rust, an
orangey powder that coats leaves, can
affect garlic and leeks. It also thrives
on groundsel, for instance. Fat hen
(also known as Good King Henry) and dock
frequently host vast armies of aphids
which then home in on runner and broad
bean crops. Common nettle is an
important alternative host of carrot fly
and removal of nettles from hedgerows
has been suggested as a means to
suppress the pest.
Certain weeds are alternate hosts for
plant diseases. These are viruses that
can only be stopped by destroying the
weed. Otherwise, once infected the plant
must be destroyed.
Weeds can
also be hazardous to your
health. They can cause allergic
reactions – I personally have a
particularly nasty skin reaction to
certain nettles. After being stung I
develop deep
watery blisters that turn ulcerous for
about two weeks before they heal -
leaving scars. Other gardeners I've met
over the years suffer from all sorts of
plant allergies - it's an occupational
hazard, but it is one that can be
reduced greatly if your allergy is
caused by a weed.
Among the many thousands of kinds of
plants, only a couple of hundred are
undesirable enough to be considered
important weeds. There are some weeds
that thrive only in the wild & there are
some that thrive only in cultivated
areas. Besides making an allotment plot
(or garden) look ugly, weeds rob
desirable plants of nutrients, water &
sunlight.
Why Control Weeds?
Simply put, if you don’t control them, they
WILL
control you. The main reason to
eliminate weeds is that they are
out-and-out robbers. Most are aggressive
plants; that’s how they survive in spite
of much adversity. Their aggressiveness
is often the characteristic that defines
them as weeds.
After a while you begin to wonder if it
really is all that important to do.
After all, many books (and certain
modern "garden gurus")
espouse the benefits of "green manure"
and "living mulches" - what makes those
different from your average weeds? These
are the red herrings raised that
confuses many people
Not only do weeds compete against whole
crop and single vegetable plants for
moisture and nutrients, they can also
harbour insect and disease pests which
then move to your valuable plants. Don't
be fooled by the "Lazy Gardener Myth"
that weeds distract pests away from your
crops - they are not blind or stupid!
It's a supply and demand thing - you
provide lots of food & shelter for pests
in the form of weeds - they'll supply
the plague that will devour what's put
in front of them - including your prized
veggies. Worse still you supply the
weeds and it may be your plot neighbour
who suffers by having his crop devoured
by the pests you've encouraged.
I will not put too fine an edge on it,
to be bluntly honest, most of the
way-out theories of many modern
gardening gurus are myths created for
lazy gardeners! Unfortunately like many
other myths, some of them are picked up
and believed. Especially by fresh new
gardeners, and through no fault of their
own, they get bogged down trying to get
things to work. As the theories are
often nonsense the new gardeners get
disillusioned and pack it in. Thank you
for your fine help modern "Gardening
Gurus"! Mind you, it's not all to do
with "modern" myths. There are some
Victorian techniques that need
dust-binning as well. As an example they
believed that you could get a plant
cutting to root better if it was allowed
to wilt for a few days! They also
encouraged the bending over of onions
before they were ready to fall over
themselves; believing that you were
aiding the ripening process. Crop
rotation was new to them and some still
used the third year fallow system -
believing the only way for soil to
recover it's fertility was to leave it
alone. All myths I'm afraid!
Green manure,
properly used is fine and cannot be ruled
out as a myth WEEDS ARE NOT GREEN
MANURES for digging into soil. Green
Manure is the name given to
plants/crops sown that will later be
tilled into the plot soil. These plants
are usually those that provide nutrients
to the soil (like nitrogen) and as a
rule are planted in
off years when you don't put any food
crops in the bed. Green manure plants
include amongst others, plants like
clover,
alfalfa,
mustard, fava beans,
rye and
buckwheat. They are also great for
attracting pollinators. You DON'T sow
green manure plants among the plants
you're cultivating, anymore than you
allow weeds to grow around them.
Often used in the vegetable garden,
their foliage smothers weeds and their
roots prevent soil erosion. When dug
into the ground while still green, they
return valuable nutrients to the soil
and improve soil structure.
Living mulches, on the other hand, are
plants you stick in the ground in and
among your food plants, like clover. In
theory they stay low, shading the soil
from the harsh rays of the sun and the
sharp patter of raindrops. Additionally,
they are supposed to smother out
"weeds." I know someone who tried some of the clover last
year...it did very well, it grew quite
tall, and took over a section of his
garden. It seems to me like what we're
talking about here is just
another weed! I.e. "a plant of
any kind which is growing in the wrong
place" (at the wrong time).
So where do you draw the line between
weeds and living mulches? Maybe it all
comes down to the species of plant.
Clovers, after all, do help provide
nutrients to the soil. "Weeds," on the
other hand, steal the nutrients and
water from your crops, reducing your
yield, sometimes monumentally. Does the
clover not do this, too? If you sow it
amongst your food crops it will. Because
although it contributes nitrogen to your
soil via it's root nodules when it's dug
in, it also has to live on something
whilst it's growing. The idea is that
those nutrients it sucked up are
returned to the soil when you dig it in
NOT whilst it's growing and competing
with your vegetables for nutrients,
water & sunlight.!
We'll just have to resolve
ourselves to
pulling the weeds out by hand or by
using some weeding tool like a hoe. And, if you are like
me, and keep putting it off, let me give
you some hard-learned advice: don't. Get
out there and pull those weeds as soon
as you see the little swines sticking up
between your plants. If you don't keep
on top of them, they will take over and
before you know it, those lovely plots
that you sweated and strained over,
digging by hand, planting with loving
care, will once more become part of
nature's jungle and you'll stand there looking at
your strangled veg wondering what
happened. Yes - and then you'll find
yourself back at square one, having to re-dig those beds, only this time you'll
have to be careful not to damage the
surviving food plants as you
thrust your spade into the soil to
uproot the weeds and grasses. The hard-won truth is that you
must keep up with the weeding every
week.
Gardening - including weeding is a
management exercise. You can only cope
with what you can manage (each
individual has his/ her own level -
depending on age, health, strength,
knowledge, experience & efficiency).
Provide 50 square metres of food for
pests in the form of crops AND weeds and
you'll have the corresponding greater number of
pests to deal with. Cut out the weeds
and your management load decreases -
it's quite simple. If you have a pest problem
that you can't cope with - (through bad
weed management) then you may be
shipping that pest problem on to your plot
neighbour. Not to mention the weed seeds that
will land on his/her soil. Is that fair on your
neighbour? |
|
Know Your Weeds
Click on any weed
name from the list below to see pictures
and a full description of that weed from
the Garden Organic web-site.
Fascinating! It's always good to be able
to recognise your enemy - before you meet
it face to face! |
Annual meadow-grass
Annual mercury
Barren brome
Black bent
Black bindweed
Black medick
Black nightshade
Black-grass
Bracken
Bramble
Broad-leaved dock
Bulbous buttercup
Canadian fleabane
Caper spurge
Cat's-ear
Charlock
Cleavers
Cock's-foot
Coltsfoot
Common amaranth
Common bent
Common chickweed
Common couch
Common fiddleneck
Common field-speedwell
Common fumitory
Common hemp-nettle
Common mouse-ear
Common nettle
Common orache
Common poppy
Common ragwort
Common sorrel
Common toadflax
Corn chamomile
Corn marigold
Corn spurrey
Cow parsley
Creeping bent
Creeping buttercup
Creeping soft-grass
Creeping thistle
Curled dock
Cut-leaved crane's-bill
Daisy
Dandelion |
Dove
Dwarf spurge
Evening-primrose
Fat-hen
Field bindweed
Field forget-me-not
Field horsetail
Field Madder
Field pansy
Field penny-cress
Flixweed
Fool's parsley
Gallant soldiers
Garlic mustard
Giant hogweed
Goat's-beard
Greater plantain
Ground elder
Ground-ivy
Groundsel
Hairy bittercress
Hairy Tare
Hedge bindweed
Hedge mustard
Hemlock
Henbit dead-nettle
Himalayan balsam
Hoary cress
Hogweed
Ivy-leaved speedwell
Japanese knotweed
Knotgrass
Lesser celandine
Lesser trefoil
Long-headed poppy
Meadow buttercup
Mouse-ear-hawkweed
Mugwort
Nipplewort
Onion couch
Oxford ragwort
Pale persicaria
Parsley piert
Perennial rye-grass
Perennial sowthistle
Perforate St John |
Petty spurge
Pineappleweed
Prickly lettuce
Prickly sow-thistle
Procumbent pearlwort
Red dead-nettle
Redshank
Ribwort plantain
Rosebay willowherb
Rough meadow-grass
Rushes
Scarlet pimpernel
Scented mayweed
Scentless mayweed
Selfheal
Sheep's sorrel
Shepherd's purse
Slender speedwell
Small nettle
Smooth hawk
Smooth sow-thistle
Soft brome
Spear thistle
Spear-leaved orache
Sticky mouse-ear
Stinking chamomile
Sun spurge
Swine cress
Thale cress
Thorn-apple
Thyme-leaved speedwell
Volunteer cereals
Volunteer oilseed rape
Volunteer Potato
Wall Barley
Wall speedwell
Weed Beet
White campion
White clover
Wild radish
Wild-oat
Winter wild-oat
Yarrow
Yorkshire fog |
|
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LETTER - that'll be because your e-mail address is
registered with both
our Aeron Vale Allotment
Society &
Gardeners Chat-Shed web-sites.
Consequently it will have been
automatically added to both
data-bases. No harm done - just delete
the second one to arrive! Simples!
Making
the tea
Strain
the Kombucha into your measuring jug leaving behind about 200ml in
the bowl as a starter for the next batch.
The
Kombucha culture needs oxygen for the fermentation. A Pyrex bowl
gives a large surface area and is an excellent brewing container.
But you can use taller jars to brew the Kombucha, it will
simply take longer to brew because there's a smaller surface area
exposed to oxygen. So 5-10 days in a bowl becomes more like 10-20
days in a jar.
