The 21st is the shortest day of the year. Called the Winter Solstice. It is an important day in the growing calendar, the days will be getting longer from now on, more light and soon enough spring will be here. For now we’ve winter to get through but that’s a chance to rest and recover.
Happy Christ
Asian hornets, Vespa velutina, have spread across Europe and are now in the UK. Their main threat is too honey bees. Our help forum administrator ‘Aunt Sally’ has produced this Asian Hornet advice guide to raise awareness and give advice about They are know to be a dangerous, invasive pest that have killed people all over Europe. Do not poke their nest.
Asian hornets are thought to have arrived in Bordeaux, France from China in a container of pottery in 2005. They quickly spread across France and into continental Europe. Reported in Spain in 2010, Belgium in 2011, Germany in 2014the Channel Isles in 2016 and were first spotted in the UK in late 2016.
Gloucestershire, Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Lancashire, Cornwall, Hull, Hampshire, Surrey, Kent, Suffolk and Staffordshire have all had sightings of Asian hornets.
Once established their growth rate is exponential. If allowed to establish they will be near impossible to eradicate in the UK
Winter has come, at last.
It is good to have some months doing what they should be doing.
-7 here in Oxfordshire.
From last year , when we had -10 , I have learnt that Pigeons can wipe out Kale overnight.
So, for this year I have covered everything with netting and the Pigeons have gone else where.
My Grandad used to say "‘one years seeding is seven years weeding’, and how true that is.
Weeds are part of growing and as such must be dealt with a plan.
All annual weeds will spread thousands of seeds into the ground to await the right conditions . Digging the the soil brings seeds from deep down and up to the surface to grow.
Luckily, most of these annual weeds are pretty easy to deal with. Just hoe through them, leave them to dry or collect them for the compost heap. Catching them young is most effective – better to hoe little and often .
There are r weeds that are a bigger challenge. The Perennial and it can live for years and years.I just keep hoping them and digging them up where I can
My neighbour, is leaning to play the bag pipes on his allotment and it is driving me mad.
Any body know how to get rid of such a pest?
If you have had a bonfire last weekend,
do collect the ashes and keep them dry for use in the spring.
Ash is a valuable source of potash fertiliser which many plants find useful especially tomatoes and fruit trees.
I was born in London during the battle of El Alamein in North Africa, 81 years ago..........We are still bombing each other 81 years on!
We need to plant more flowers.
Nothing happening on my plot, at the moment, because of flooding from the river Thames.
It has been like this for four weeks now, only good thing about it is that the rats have drown.
I have just got my potatoes chitting out of direct sunlight and in a cool place and frost free.
In the UK the time to plant potatoes is Good Friday. I know that is a moveable feast.
This year Good Friday is the 7th April, however, what ever date it is I also stick to the day and I have never had a bad crop.
A lot of people wait till they have to cut their grass, that also works That way you know the temperatures are high enough. It is a good idea to throw the grass clippings over the rows and use it as a sort of mulch.
If there is frost and you have leafs showing, throw a fleece over the rows.
Try not to buy you kale from the shops because it is one of the most sprayed crops that is grown here in the UK.
Much safer to grow your own, because you will know what it contains.
Now is one of the times that I sow my kale, the other time of the year is end of July, doing so will ensure that you have your own crop the whole year through.
It is cold, it is wet, it is dry and warm........such is the weather here in Oxford this past month.
So the result of that is to sit back and wait for the ground to warm up a bit.
I do have a few seedlings on the go, things like: kale, spinach, cabbage, however, I am not one to run out and plant at the first raise of the sun. I wait till the hedgerows green up.
I am enjoying my Rhubarb, which is romping away!
The question is: What is good manure?
The answer Is:
Initially manure will smell like manure and obviously have straw or other bedding material in it.
When it is well rotted, composted in other words, it should not smell of manure. The straw should have gone and generally it just looks like dark, rich soil.
I use raised beds are ideal for the ‘no dig’ system.
Make the beds wide enough for you to reach across so that you do not have to walk on them.
Also make them high enough that you do not have to bend down to far.
Raised beds are a win-win situation for the’ no dig ‘method
I cover my empty beds ( I have 19 of them ) with thick grey sheets of plastic.
Doing so, helps keep the weeds down, by not letting weed seeds that are blown about by the winter winds settle on the beds. Hopefully making them be weed-free when it is time to plant in spring.
The inorganic winter covers work best for raised beds because the soil beneath the covers does not get rained on and are keep warmer because they are not open to deep frost of winter.
Organic Matter ( Farm yard Manure )
I dig organic matter into my beds every three years.
I do this because:
Organic matter provides nutrients for plants and other organisms in soil.
Organic matter also acts like a sponge, with the ability to hold water.
Soil with good structure needs input of additional organic matter.
Digging increases oxygen into the soil, which will
Speed up the breakdown of organic matter making it more available to the crop.
I know that older gardeners are fans of digging but is it really the best way to go for our soils or our backs, for that matter?
There are many reasons for digging, new plot, farmyard manure to name just a few! However in the main there is another way and that is the “ No Dig “ way
Why We Dig
It is a sort of attitude and an old tradition on allotments keeping a grower active and busy in the cold winter months.
Digging helps against compaction, which is something we do not want because heavily compacted soils will not have space between soil particles, which will give you poor drainage in the compacted layer.
Where as what you want is good drainage which is so important to prevent soil saturation and water run-off which could end up with flooding.
Digging can help to:
Aerate Soil.
Soil needs aeration to allow oxygen into the soil.
Vital nutrients to efficiently reach plants’ roots.
Beneficial micro-organisms found in soil.
Needs air for respiration and metabolism.
However, and this is the point: over digging can put too much air into the soil which gives an unstable footing for plant roots.
Over digging may also damage soil structure and may disrupt the balance of particles and space already in the soil.
The ‘no dig’ way of relieving compaction or aerating soil could be by using plants like annuals and biennials with deep tap roots are perfect for this.
Teasel produces a large tap root that will grow deep into the most compacted soil and as the the root dies, it shrinks creating air pockets.
Vegetables also are great to go to delve deep into the soil.
All I do with my beds is to spread compost on the top and hoe in, as well as hoeing every week to control weeds
My Kale have been under water for the last ten days. Old Father Thames has bust the banks again.
My Taunton Dean Kale looks a bit worse for wear, as does my thousand-headed Kale.
Both of them are suppose to be frost hardy, but it looks like the few frost we have had of -10, has lain them low.
Th only Kale that seems to stand it is Pentland Curly Kale
