War Time Mincemeat for these hard times

 Mincemeat

1⁄2 – 3⁄4 lb. mixed dried fruit
4 oz. apples or 2 oz. dried apple rings 3-4 oz. sugar
2-4 oz. suet or melted margarine
2 level tablespoons marmalade

1⁄2 level teaspoon cinnamon

1 level teaspoon grated nutmeg

1⁄4 level teaspoon salt

4-6 tablespoons, rum, sherry, stout or ale

A few drops of rum essence - if stout or ale is used

1⁄2 level teaspoon mixed spice
Mince the fruit and apples or chop finely. Add the other ingredients and mix very

thoroughly. Put into small jars and tie down securely. Store in a cool dry place. If the larger quantities of fruit, sugar and fat are used, this should keep 12 months, but will not keep more than 10 days with the smaller amounts

Ministry of Food

Making the mincemeat in advance reduces the Christmas workload and enables smaller batches of mince pies to be easily made so they are always fresh. Apples can be stored for quite some time but it is quite tricky unless you have the right place to store and know how to look after them. Those lucky enough to have an apple tree in the garden, or access to one, would dry apple rings in a very low oven for winter use or as a treat for the children.

1⁄2 – 3⁄4 lb. mixed dried fruit
4 oz. apples or 2 oz. dried apple rings 3-4 oz. sugar
2-4 oz. suet or melted margarine
2 level tablespoons marmalade

John Harrison - Rationed Christmas

What to do in December!

 

I do like December for gardening, which is a bit strange considering there's not a much you can do outdoors in the short days.  December is the month for reflecting on what went on last year and what  you think is to come, preferably indoors and warm by a fire.  I do find that gardening brings me closer to the seasons, the rhythms of the year. Although this is the darkest month with the shortest day of the winter solstice and the cold winter months of January and February are still to come, it's very much the time of renewal and starting rather than ending. After the shortest-day solstice on the 21st the days will be getting lighter again, which means spring isn't that far away. After two years of pandemic,  you would of thought 2022 was going to be a much better year. However it didn’t  turn out that way, Putin’s criminal invasion of Ukraine to expand his empire and the economic disruption that’s caused has made it a tough year for most of us. It is thought that the average family could save over £1,000 a year from a full allotment or a large garden. Even a small plot can make a significant contribution to the budget.  If you add hens, you would get a few eggs as well, which are not easy to come by because of Bird Flu

My best Crop every time.

 My best Crop every time.

Without fail, my best crop is Blackberries ........by that I mean: easy to grow/.big harvest /no pest/eat every day of the year.

In the winter I prune them and feed them with a bit of farm yard manure

In the spring I mulch them with a few wheel-borrows of wood chips

In the summer I feed them with chicken pellets and start to harvest

I freeze them and when I have no space left,I bottle them

I have enough to eat every morning with my smoothy.

I never water them.

A real dream crop.

Farm Yard Manure

 Farm Yard Manure

I buy a farm trailer of Farm Yard Manure ( FYM ) and store it in a compost bin for and year, before I dig it into my beds.

The way that I dig the FYM into my soil is to dig a trench and fill that up with the FYM and then cover it with the soil of the next trench.

This ensures that the FYM is where it is suppose to be, under the ground. If you just put the manure on the surface, in the summer it will dry out and in the winter, it will have all the goodness washed out of it.

Another tip: never put FYM where you are going to grow your next crop of cabbage. If you do this there is a danger of Club Root 

Home made rat bait

 I have a rat problem and I would think that most people who garden have the same problem.

I set traps, but most of the rats are too wise to touch them.

Poisons can become far too costly and so I make my own.

I use Plaster of Paris mixed with  bird seed, the rats do take it however I find that they take more of it if I add sugar.

The best way to get rid of rats is to, keep at them with various methods.

Lack of Worms:

 If you are a bit concerned about the lack of worms when you dig in your soil . This does suggest a lack of organic matter in the soil which is quite easy to sort out: just add manure or compost to your beds.

It is being put about that suggest that our soil is so deleted so much that it only has 100 years of growing left....to my mind this is rubbish and just to scare!

Into Winter

 You should be able to start harvesting your leeks now. There’s no rush as they’ll stand right through to March.  Love them because there are so many ways to enjoy leeks, one of my main stays on the plot.

As we go into Winter, my plot has got Leeks, Kale, Red Cabbage and Beet root. It is just a question of keeping the pigeons and rats away. 

Check your stored veg.

 

Check Your Stores 

It's worth checking any vegetables you have in store and removing anything that has started to rot before it spreads. 

Last year, I lost all my apples to mice. This year, I have set traps and have caught eight mice this week and going through my apples, found that I only needed to throw out three due to rot.

Potatoes especially need to be checked and watch out for slugs that have emerged from one potato to go and damage another one

Grow your own worms

 How to get earth worms into your beds.

Worms like warmth, dampness and darkness.

Choose a bed that is empty and water it for two weeks. Then cover it for the winter with plastic.

When you open it up the following Spring....there you are.... the best growing soil ever.

I do one bed a season, works wonders ever time.  

How to store your carrots

 

I've generally felt carrots are, similar to potatoes, an underestimated vegetable. Flavourful and solid, carrots are an especially decent wellspring of beta carotene, fiber, nutrient K1, potassium, and cell reinforcements as well as being low in calories.

In September it is a good idea to lift your lift your  main crop carrots, use a fork to lift your crop. Remove the tops. Lay aside any parted or harmed carrots.

To store, use a cardboard box and put  about   ½ inch (1 cm) layer of  damp sand at the bottom. 

 Doing this will stop the crop going wrinkling, if they do you can put the carrots in water for a couple of hours and they will be fine.

Lay the carrots top to tail in a line or in a circle with a tiny bit of room between and afterward cover with sand to ½ inch (1 cm) over the primary layer. Rehash as required. Keep in cool  spot and they should keep going for quite a long time.

Tomato Care in September

 

Greenhouse Tomato Care  Keep on feeding and do not overwater now things are cooling down. Wash off shade paint . Do make sure that your green house is well ventilated to help, this'll help to prevent mildews developing.  Remove any diseased leaves. Remove leaves starting from the bottom that are shading the fruits to help them ripen and improve airflow.

Tomato Freezing  If you find you've too many tomatoes to cope with at the moment, just put them them into your  freezer. They willl keep at least 3 months and be ok for cooking.

Use the Greenhouse

 

 Use the Greenhouse 

Autumn is upon us, however it is not too late for sowing a few crops outdoors, like lettuce and carrots.. If you have a greenhouse or a poly-tunnel you can make good use of it – even if you have a few  tomatoes in the ground. 

Sow early carrots, turnips and  beetroot for a quick crop that would be ready mid to end November.

Also good to continue with successional sowings of lettuce which do remarkably well under cover as the year cools down. Keep a space for a some spring onions too – White Lisbon Winter Hardy .

I grow my Taunton Dean kale in containers and bring them in when the weather starts to get bad. The idea is to keep the birds off  the crop. 

You can also use containers for all the above crops it gives you option to grow inside if the weather is too harsh, just move them under cover.

Mulching

 

If you get a much needed shower of rain, it’s a good idea to mulch. Use well-rotted compost material, cardboard, or part decayed grass clippings between the rows and around the plants. This stops evaporation losses, and will also give your crop  nutrients and helps the next shower soak into the soil.

Mulching also helps to keep down the weeds – another benefit!

This is the last time that it is possible to sow carrots, you should harvest at the end of October  

Drought

The lack of rain being more of a problem than the heatwave. Plants will generally cope well with a period of hot weather but lack of water is a major problem. Now they’ve declared a drought, expect more restrictions and hosepipe bans.

Just to be clear, if you have put in rainwater harvesting and storage, you can use a hosepipe to water your plot from your own tanks or butts. You will most likely need a pump to provide enough flow - either mains powered or by battery. There’s a wide range to choose from but I’ve had a couple of people praising the Bosch system so that may be worth shortlisting.

Remember, the ban applies to using a hosepipe for mains water, not harvested water from your tanks.

There’s been a lot in the press about using grey water from the bathroom and ways of reducing how much water you need for the garden. All valid but the thing is, if we are going to get more hot, dry summers then we will need to set up our own water systems ready to catch the winter rains.

Putting a decent volume of water capture and storage in is quite an investment. Even with climate change, we’re possibly looking at one in five years being too dry – maybe more in the south east of England.

 Not so long ago they were telling us we were going to have wetter summers with climate change. Confused? I am!

Incidentally, whilst there are variations between water companies with a hosepipe ban, most are allowing pressure regulated drip watering systems that are fitted with a timer. Registered disabled are also allowed to use a hosepipe in the garden.

Weeds....Weeds

 Weeds.. weeds.. weeds

August might be a time when you take time off , however, a drop of rain and the weeds are up,  jumping right  out of the ground and cultivating. It just takes one plant to seed to keep your cultivator occupied into the indefinite future.

If by some stroke of good luck our vegetables developed as well - we'd sow  bunch of seeds and never do one more stroke of work, aside from gathering. Indeed, a man can dream as he has some time off! Presently, back to the weeding

Seeds to Sow in August:

Seeds to Sow in August: 

You can direct sow in August, below is a few ideas:

There are still a significant number things you ought to sow in August. Spring Cabbage and Chinese cabbage, which is a late yield as well as strong lettuce.

Despite the fact that we consider lettuce a mid year crop, it is a very strong plant and under cloche and in the nursery can, without much of a stretch, be accessible for a Boxing day salad as opposed to some boring import from sunnier climes.

Sow spring onions like White Lisbon,  which will develop, and, to add a punch to that plate of mixed greens alongside a few quickly developing radishes.

Late spinach can be planted in August alongside a last planting of kohlrabi and turnips.

When all is said and done!

 When all said and done, the best way to rid your crops of pest is to use a hose pipe and blast them off with water.

Do this every couple of days.

Keep your hoe sharp

 The draw hoe is useful for making a shallow trench of the sort we might use for planting peas, which is why we call it drawing a trench, but for weeding I don’t think you can beat the Dutch hoes. The draw hoe just isn’t as easy or effective for weeding.

It’s really important to keep your Dutch hoe sharp, I’ve a metal file in the shed for this or you can use a sharpening stone. Just a few strokes every 10 minutes or so keeps it in optimum condition.

The idea is to cut through the weed stem just below ground level. Blunt hoes or hoeing when the soil is wet tends to pull the weeds out with the roots intact. This means that if there is a drop of rain the weed will re-root and grow back.  Sharp hoes are far more effective and easier to use than blunt hoes.

Summer Pruning

 All cherries, peaches, plums, greengages, damsons, and apricots ought to just be pruned in midsummer to keep away from contamination by a staggering contagious sickness known as silver leaf. Plum trees don't need as exact pruning as apples and pears, yet they actually benefit from introductory preparation and the diminishing of old wood to guarantee they produce however much natural product as could be expected.

Summer pruning for natural product trees (timing July to September)

Pear, apples, and quinces in predominate/semi-bantam rootstock need summer pruning. This is the fundamental strategy for pruning for confined structures like cordons, espaliers, fans, and pyramids in any united rootstock. Summer pruning permits daylight to age the leafy foods great editing the next year. The essential standards for summer pruning pear and apple trees are the accompanying:

• Eliminate upstanding, enthusiastic development totally

• Scale back new shoots (laterals) more than 20cm (8in) long developing from the primary stem to three leaves over the basal bunch of leaves.

• Scale back new shoots developing from existing side shoots (sub-laterals) to one leaf over the basal group

Try not to prune when it is dump  and remember to clean your secateurs. 

Do not believe what they tell you!

 My Stihl cordless battery brush cutter stopped working and I was told that I had to buy a new motor at the cost of £133.14 plus vat plus postage.

I took it apart and cleaned all the build up of dust in the motor, put back together. It worked.

I have had it for 12 years and it is a wonderful tool. 

Get out there:

 Being out in the garden and fresh air, like everything else in life, you must work for it and because of that some folk would rather keep on enjoying their old miserableness day after day and year after year.Not much can be done for these people.

 

Some people will not want to bother, just perfering do the “same old” and moan and moan.

Watering

 

Watering I just use the ‘Mark 1 finger in the soil damp meter’. If it’s dry a couple of inches down, time to water.  I find do find the best time to water is late evening. This will give the water a chance to soak in, before the sun is out, which will evaporating the water off.  If possible, avoid watering in the heat of the afternoon. Just to remind, Apart from seedlings, please don't fall into the trap of giving a light sprinkling every day to a parched plot. The water stays on the surface and the plants develop shallow and vulnerable rooting systems. Far better to give a good soaking when needed so the water goes down and the plants develop a good root system. Know your crops, as regards watering: Water Melon need more water than Beet Root!

Watering Potatoes

 

Watering 

There has been dry spell so I’ve been watering a fair bit. One of the crops that really benefit from regular watering is the potato.

Main crop potatoes do not need don’t need a lot of water for the first four weeks but after that they need between an inch or two of rain each week. This depends on the weather of course, more water being needed in hot sunny weather than cool, cloudy periods.

So it is a good idea to give some water to them a couple of times a week. You will get a better crop.

What to do with leeks going to seed !

 Because of the warm weather, my leeks have started to go to seed. Rather than waste them, I dig them up, wash them and put them in the freezer for later use.

They should be used up within three months of freezer.

The frozen leeks can then be used as soup.

My soup recipe is as follows:

Three medium size leeks and three medium potatoes.

I steam them for ten minutes and pop them in my blender, heat up and eat with bread.

Keep it simple and waste not!

What you cannot do!

 If you have taken on a new allotment and you are find it to much, do not give up, just keep it simple.

What you cannot do, don’t do.

I find a simple plan of potatoes, leeks, onions, garlic, cabbage and some soft fruit means that you do not have to spend hours at it and the same time get some food off your plot all the year round without too much stress.  

Pruning Older Trees (5+ yrs)

 For Older Trees (5+ yrs) 

As the tree gets older however, and especially if you’ve been suffering from poor harvests, the aim is to maintain the shape and branches which can support fruit maximising your yields. 

After removing anything dead, dying or diseased you then want to pick out any unfavourable branches. These again include any vertical, acute or congested branches. This opens the tree up allowing for air and sunlight to reach it.

Additionally, if there are any branches growing from below the rootstock these are ‘suckers’ and should be pruned out entirely. 

On the plot
The weather is quite warm, so the ground is not frozen at the moment. There is still time to plant your winter garlic. I prefer to plant mine in winter as this gives it a longer growing season. 

Did you know that garlic cloves need cold to trigger clove division? Some cultivar varieties available today can be planted in spring, but I was not as successful in the past in growing those. 

As always, do get ahead with weeding when the weather allows – it’s an investment that will help you stay ahead when the busy start of the growing season arrives.

Pruning Young Trees:

 For Young Trees ,2-4 yrs

When pruning a Pome (apple/pear/quince) fruit tree it is recommended to carry this out during the winter while the tree is dormant.

Always remember to cut at a 45°
angle and to wash any pruning equipment in a sterilising solution especially if you are dealing with anything diseased. This will help prevent the spread of contamination.

The priority is to get rid of anything dead, dying or diseased. The goal is to manage the plant’s growth so that energy is directed into establishing the roots and healthy branches.

You then want to remove any vertical and acute growing branches. These branches won’t be able to support the weight of fruit and usually end up getting damaged.

You also want to prune away any branches that cluster or cross over. When these grow larger, they’ll damage one another and help the spread of disease and pests.

This may require you to cut as much as a 1/3 of all your branches if the tree is particularly unkempt.

You should be looking to train the tree as horizontally as possible. So, with the branches you have left you should cut back to an outward facing bud. This will stimulate growth from this bud training the branch outwards.

In the early years pruning is a form of training designed to stimulate growth in

branches capable of supplying fruit. Even though by this point the side shoots may be very small it is a good idea to cut them off if they’re growing inward to maintain the desired shape early on. 

Your Soil

 Making sure that your soil is rich in nutrients is essential for growing healthy plants. There are a number of commercial fertilisers on the market, however they can be costly and some contain harmful

chemicals that is why I buy Farm yard manure every year for my allotment. It cost me fifty pounds for a farm trailer full.

 

As you should not use fresh manure on vegetables, particularly root crops, because of the potential of transmitting human pathogens, such as E. coli, fresh manure should never be used on fruits and vegetables.

To over come this, I make a neat heap of the manure and cover it with waterproof sheet and leave it for a year.

 In the summer, I will water the heap five or six times,to keep it moist. This, I belive, keeps the bugs happy and active.

To feed my crops, I spread chicken pellets, rake them in and  plant.

I dig last years manure into my beds as they come empty in the Fall. 

Ways to get the most out of your plot:

 Ways to get the most out of your plot:

Sow vegetables in modules so you can always be a head of the game and save time by always having strong little plants to put into your beds as soon as there is empty space.Nature does not like bare soil and will fill it with weeds, given half a chance.

Harvest your plants as soon as they are ready, if not just before.

Only grow what you can eat.

Weed and hoe all the time in all seasons.

Sow Tomatoes:

 February is the time to sow your early tomatoes.do this now and you will have fruit in July. however this is only if you intend to grow them in a heated greenhouse, too early  for cold grown ones or outdoor ones. Wait till march for them.

Variety  of tomatoes to try now: Tirgerella AGM or 

Y Draig Goch  

Manuring for cabbage:

 Any manure but pig manure is good for cabbage,—barn manure, rotten kelp, night-soil, guano, fertilizers, wood ashes, fish, salt, glue waste, hen manure, slaughter-house manure.

 I have used all of these, and found them all good when rightly applied. If pure hog manure is used it is apt to produce that corpulent enlargement of the roots known in different localities as "stump foot," "underground head," "finger and thumb;" but I have found barn manure on which pigs have run, two pigs to each animal, excellent. 

The cabbage is a big feeder, and to perfect the larger sort a most large allowance of the richest composts is needed. 

If you are growing smaller varieties either barn-yard manure, guano, fertilizers, or wood ashes is good, if the soil be in good condition; though the richer and more abundant the manure the larger are the cabbages, and the earlier the crop will mature.

To grow  large varieties of drumhead,—by which I mean to make them grow to the greatest size possible,—You will need a strong compost of barn-yard manure, muck or fish-waste, and, if possible, rotten kelp. 

 Early in spring, dig your plot making sure all lumps are broken down. 

If the lumps are frozen wait until they have thawed, give the heap another digging over, aiming to mix all the materials thoroughly together, and make the entire mass as fine as possible. A covering of sand, thrown over the heap, before the last diging, will help refine  the ground.

To produce a good crop of cabbages, with a compost of this quality, from six to twelve cords will be required to the acre. If the land is in good heart, by previous high cultivation, or the soil is naturally very strong, six cords will give a fair crop of the small varieties; while, with the same conditions, from nine to twelve cords to the acre will be required to perfect the largest variety grown the Bonnie Plants sell a variety called OS Cross, which produces cabbage heads that start at 30 to 50 pounds.

A cord is 128 cubic feet

Winter Garden

 Assuming you are one among those nature lovers who do not mind a bit of cold then this time of year is a good time to get out and do a few jobs.

Your plot should be full of live during winter seasons. Snow and cold temperature should not stop you form getting out there. 

Evergreens, supports and greeneries add tone to your plot while winter and late-winter sprouting plants add tone as well as aroma also.

 When searching for potential plants to utilize, think about those that can endure brutal winter storms. You can pick red twig dogwood, holly, winterberry or nandina.

These plants offer extra tones supplementing the white winter environmental elements. 

Keep your plot free of weeds this time of year helps stop them from taking over in the growing season.

 One of the most incredible ground covers during winter season is the English Ivy. Periwinkle, alba or bugleweeds are among different models.  

Have a go at establishing vegetables in your colder time of year garden. There are vegetables that are commonly utilized in a colder time of year garden. Among these are winter rye, beets, carrots and a few types of winter-prepared broccoli and cabbage and kale.

While taking care of these errands, have a go at changing your view. Adding bird enclosures, models and seats may add a little change in your nursery.

 Given that you add feeders, a few birds that will be seen sneaking into your plot are finches, woodpeckers and cardinals. 

With a little preparation, you can appreciate watching extraordinary view from your window. Indeed, even flagstones might captivate you to go out to your nursery to investigate the blossoms of witch hazels or heath. 

You may likewise consider making pathways made of old blocks, rock or stone. This will clearly brighten up your colder time of year gardens.

Rats Teeth

 By chewing through a dam, a rodent can drown a country."

Edmund Burke

I needed to get rid of the rodents, or soon over run my plot. Rodents are notorious for the way that quick they breed. Be that as it may, I need to get rid of them.

Rodents have a mind boggling present for endurance. On Engebi, one of the Eniwetok Atolls where atomic bombs were tried during the 1950s, researchers got back to see what stayed after the bombs were detonated. 

They observed radioactive soil, vegetation annihilated and a flourishing state of rodents. 

Rodents can endure a fall of 50 feet without injury. They are also  great swimmers, being able to cross wide streams (a tremendous mass of rodents was recorded in Southern Russia in 1727 when a large number of them swam across the River Volga from Astrakhan). 

They can float for three days without resting and plunge to   100 feet without harming themselves. 

They live for 2 to 3 years, and a female rodent commonly has a litter of 6 to 12, six or seven times each year.

 They live in settlements (loads) with each rodent having a position like in an army, one guy at the top and all the rest ‘know their place’ 

They rest together, groom one another, and take part in play and play-battling. At the point when the settlement gets too enormous, the more youthful guys pass on to begin there own gang of their own.

Rodents are known for their sharp teeth which can be as hard has a jewel. 

 These hard teeth empower rodents to chew through wood, bone, plastic line, even block. Rodents will eat almost anything, and have been known to eat cleanser, cowhide, and hides, yet incline toward grain, animals feed, and meat of different sorts, including human, in spite of the fact that instances of that are uncommon. 

However, with their huge cravings, they can and will eat 33% of their body weight consistently.

What chance de we stand!

I have caught one, this year, so far and so far this year, they have eaten all my crops on my plot.

Summer Veg

 As we are moving into warmer summers with climate change. It is time I think to consider trying veg that perhaps we would not grow here in the UK.

I have looked at a few that I will try this coming season.

The first is cucumbers, which I normal grow under cover, but this year I will grow them outside in the open, making sure that they a protected from the wind.

How to plant cucumbers:

 cucumber grows well from seed and I aways start mine out in a pot in my glasshouse. The soil must be at least 10 degrees

When to plant cucumbers: 

 Mid march till Mid April.

Feed the soil when planting and feed them weekly with liquid feed once they have set fruit.

 Although they are heat tolerant, they require even and consistent watering to prevent them from becoming bitter.

In hot weather water morning and evening.

Do not overcrowd plants –  give them plenty of room

Pick fruit early in the day and immerse in cold water to lengthen storage time.

Hot Weather Plan

What do to do on cold wet winter afternoons: Think and plan the next season.

When planting in hot weather, ponder these five things:

Your watering plan

Shade

Mulch (holding dampness)

Wind and,

The vegetables you need to develop

Watering Schedule

In warm environments it is essential to water your plot to some extent two times every day. It is best to do earlier today and evening. Watering in the day is fine, yet it is less effective as such a great deal it dissipates before it gets to your plants. Be careful no to overwater which your crop to rot.

Mulch

 I like to apply up to an inch of straw, or some such over the whole plot

Shade

Many plants do not like too much direct sunshine, make shore you have some shade netting handy for those hot days to come

Wind

Also have some netting to protect fro the warm/hot south/west winds.

Do this now and do not wait till it is upon you!

Big Rats

 Rats have eaten all my crop apart from the Kale..........the rats are as big as small rabbits.....so this year it is war.....

Any ideas please?