Recent articles

Allium Leaf Miner
Allium leaf miner, which attacks the allium family,onions,leeks shallots and garlic has been present in this country for twenty years but did not ventured north beyond the Midlands but now this has all changed and it is now in our part of the world; Yorkshire.
Runner Beans
A versatile and worthwhile crop to grow producing pods in abundance, the surplus which can be frozen throughout the summer. In late summer as the pods become fibrous and stringy the beans can then be left to form seeds to be eaten fresh and others for harvesting usually around mid October when the pods start to turn brown. These are dried to be used during the winter, after being soaked over night to add to soups and stews. With,of course beans to be saved for sowing the following season.
Clearing up the site 14th June 2014
Some photographs from our site clearup day on Saturday 14th June 2014.
SQUARE FOOT GARDENING
For several years now I have involved my grandchildren in my allotment but as two live in Sheffield and two live in Newcastle this has not been easy. Nonetheless they have a few raised beds in their gardens. I have one 9 year old grandson living in Leeds who sometimes helps especially when the strawberries, raspberries and peas are ready for picking. This year I came across the concept of ‘square foot gardening’ by Mel Bartholomew and decided to try it out although I had to call it ’30 centimetre gardening’ so my grandchildren could understand the idea.
Recent sowings
Sowed Tomato,sweetcorn, courgettess, squash and sunflowers. All these placed on a windowsill to germinate.
Recent planting
Two beds of potatoes planted,Red Duke of York and Lady Chrystal. I am taking a chance because last year we had a heavy frost, on the 16th May and this cut back the growth resulting in the crop being later. I have now planted a bed of onion sets and spaced them six inches apart in staggered rows to try and minimise the threat of white rot even though this particular bed has not had onions in it for at least 12 years.Onions from seed which was sowed on the 24th December are now growing on in a coldframe but will not be planted out until late April.
Planting By The Moon
The notion of planting by the moon goes back to ancient civilisations. You may be familiar with how the movement of the moon influences the rising and the falling of the tides. This influence is not restricted to tides only but actually affects plants and the soil they grow in.
Carrots. Success at last.
After minimal success in previous years with growing carrots, I decided to go down the designated carrot bed to be covered from sowing to harvest with Environmental netting.
ROOT CROPS
My attempts to grow root crops by sowing seed in the open ground have either failed or germination has been erratic. Also, I think slugs and snails have eaten the seedlings as they emerge from the ground. Yet plot holders on each side of me seem to have no problems! It must be my sowing technique.
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Carrots. Success at last.

After minimal success in previous years with growing carrots, I decided to go down the designated carrot bed to be covered from sowing to harvest with Environmental netting.

With the invaluable help of Reg Gledhill I constructed a new bed and filled it with equal parts of compost and sand, raking it well to a fine tilth.

Reg constructed a platform for the netting to ensure it covered the entire bed and we kept it in place with hooks attached to the sides of the raised bed.

I planted my first carrots, two rows of Early Nantes, in the last week of February, germination took place within a month. Yellowstone was my second crop planted on the 7^th March, this proved to be an excellent carrot for both taste and yield and will be grown again this year but a little later because of the cold damp weather and late spring.

Rainbow and a carrot called Purple Haze were my next seeds sown a week later, lovely roasted whole or tossed in butter, giving excellent colour contrast to any dish, Yummy!

Sugar Snax and Chantonnary Red 2 followed two weeks later. Germination on all the crops was excellent and I thinned out the seedlings as they got bigger and had an excellent crop of both baby and mature good sized carrots throughout the season.

After clearing the early carrots (E/Nantes) I sowed a further two rows of the same and had carrots throughout the winter, lifting the last at the end of February this year

Throughout the year I kept the netting on the bed only lifting it to thin seedlings, weed and harvest my crops and have not had a single one lost to carrot fly or other pests. I would consider the new bed a resounding success.

Big thanks must go to Reg for his help advice and support and to other members of our little family of growers for their feedback too. Fran Brain. Plot 9s.

Carrots. Success at last.

After minimal success in previous years with growing carrots, I decided to go down the designated carrot bed to be covered from sowing to harvest with Environmental netting.