Roeshot Hill Allotment Association
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Happy New Year from the US

31/12/2014

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PictureThe future bog garden. The bed has a boulder on the tree stump and the rainwater duct can be seen on the left and comes from the downpipe at the back corner of the house - behind the bed.
I understand from the news online that things have got rather cold at home.  Perhaps that is a good thing as I certainly had a major infestation with whitefly which I hope will be killed off by the cold.  They even resisted when I was forced to use soap and water sprays - and eventually I was reduced to using contact insecticide (Pyrethrum, I think) but still to little effect.
Here, however, in the American mid-West the weather is seriously cold.  Yesterday the top temperature was about minus 5 degrees Centigrade.  I am rather disappointed, however, as I had expected to be enjoying the snow but all I have seen is the old snow heaped in corners out of the sun.  Not to say that wrapping up warm is the order of the day.  Even a slight breeze cuts right through you.
The only gardening I have managed to do was in the first week when it was still above freezing and that was only to run the mower over the grass to pick up the dead leaves.

My son hopes to use some of the 33" of rain that falls here (Christchurch only gets 23") to make a bog garden.  I have given him the benefit of my very limited knowledge so I anyone out there has experience of building a bog garden I would be grateful for comments.  They have already got, as is normal here, long 5" flexible pipes leading the rainwater from the roof 4/5 yards from the house.  He plans to direct 1/4 of the water from his roof into a bed that, when the old tree stump is removed, will have a small depression in it.  The soil is a clay loam and the site slopes to the south east and is sheltered from the south east by the roadside trees.

He also plans to grow vegetables in raised beds at the back of his 'yard' ('garden' to you and me).  He is concerned about the wood treatment chemicals leaching into the soil.  Has anyone dealt with this problem or should he use the artificial wood decking that is available here?  I think it is plastic but may be reconstituted wood.

Happy New Year to you all!

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View from the U.S.A.

17/12/2014

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It is not strictly allotment business but since I am on holiday with family in the U.S.A. I thought I might record some observations.
We came ready for really cold weather - suitcases bulging with sweaters and thermal underwear, but today has been the first day when it has been below freezing. Up to now we have been within a degree or so of the Christchurch weather but today it turned cold (-1 was the top temperature). I was outside, dressed in padded jacket, fleecy hoodie, + 2 layers underneath, winter walking trousers and fingerless mitts, putting up the exterior Xmas lights. (About a third of houses are decorated outside as well as inside.)
I was lovely and warm working in the shelter of the house until I put my head over the guttering and felt the icy breeze! And the sun was shining! However, there were a few flakes of snow drifting down and we are promised proper snow for next weekend!
There is precious little gardening to do. Everything except the evergreen pine trees is brown and dead. I thought I would sweep up some of the leaves but found they were frozen to the grass. Even the heap of leaves left in the middle of the 'lawn' was so solidly frozen I couldn't move it. Not sure if the grass underneath will benefit from the insulation or die from lack of light.
I wrapped up well with a down coat to walk to the shopping mall but then had the problem of what to do with the bulky coat once in the centrally heated mall! Everyone else drives to the mall but I need to get some exercise somehow!
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All clear for my winter holiday

13/12/2014

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So I am writing this from Wisconsin USA where it is so cold nothing grows. It is not yet as cold as it can be (it is still above freezing - just) so the grass is still green and there is only the odd heap of dirty leftover snow in the gutters. The wind was absolutely bitter when we walked the half mile to the shopping mall but I was warm enough wrapped in my down 'Puffer' coat. Unfortunately I was then too hot once inside the centrally heated mall!

I have left the plot in the capable hands of my son who will be able to help himself to some of the winter crops while dealing with any damage the weather might cause.
We picked the last of the turnips and a few Brussels sprouts for him when he visited to check on what needed doing. He also helped me demount and clean the canes from my runner bean frame so the canes could be stored inside the shed. Stored inside the canes will probably last a couple of years; outside they need replacing every year!
He has his own allotment at Somerford but he doesn't grow some of the traditional Christmas veg as most of his family don't like them. Fortunately for him my Brussels look as though they will give a good crop for Xmas and a few leeks and parsnips will be available. The leeks are still a bit small but they should fatten up in time for my return after Christmas. The parsnips on the other hand have to be seen to be believed! While the ones I sowed directly are quite normal, the double row which I started in modules and transplanted, look more like celeriac with thick roots. Under a normal crown is a large turnip shaped parsnip with a twisted mass of roots underneath! The taste is normal and some of the roots are thick enough to use.
The lesson is, if you want to start parsnips off indoors you need deep pots/modules and transplant very early before the roots get to the bottom!
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Final preparations for winter

5/12/2014

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I've finally covered all the vacant ground with horse litter, including under the fruit bushes. As I mulched under my standard blackcurrant I saw it had grown some suckers from the rootstock. I didn't have time to remove them completely so just trimmed them off at about a foot. I will have to deal with them later by trying to tear them off the root - or at least cut them off as close to the root as possible.
It was a good time to remove the netting from round the fruit to let the birds in to eat up some of the creepy crawlies.
I also managed to find space to plant the blackcurrant bush and thornless blackberry donated to me by a friend who is giving up his plot. I love freebies!
I harvested the last of the Swiss Chard for now. Hopefully it will have re-sprouted in late January when I return from my Christmas break to the United States. I also harvested some parsnips, one beauty over a foot long and several that looked more like a celeriac (a ball shape with twisted roots underneath) because I was too slow planting them out from the modules in spring.

I found some huge turnips the size of small footballs which my neighbour reassures me will still be good to eat.
I mustn't forget to have a last pick of Brussel Sprouts before going off, though there will be enough for a Xmas meal for my son who will be keeping an eye on the plot while I am away.
There will be precious little gardening in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the ground will be frozen under at least a foot of snow! I shall have to visit the nearby Ryman Gardens' huge conservatory to assuage my withdrawal symptoms by looking at the magnificent display they always have - and to visit their beautiful butterfly house.
I may post from the U.S.A. if something seems relevant - or if any of you post a comment that merits a reply!!!!!!
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Even more Horse litter for mulching

1/12/2014

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Another visit to the plot and another trailer load of horse litter to mulch vacant ground. Now all my 2015 potato plot has been covered - apart from the small section where the Kohl Rabi is growing. I also managed to mulch the asparagus bed and a couple of fruit bush beds.
A fortuitous visit from one of my friends from further down the site gave the opportunity to get his help to move the greenhouse frame up the plot to a mulched part - so now I can mulch the patch it was sitting on. That means at least one more trailer load next time I go down there! He came to ask for advice on how to keep the mice from decimating his Broad Bean seedlings growing in his greenhouse. I suggested he plant new ones out in the open where the sparrowhawk makes the mice more vulnerable.
Then I checked mine out as they are under a net tunnel. So far, so good! But they could do with replenishment of slug pellets, as could the peas under 'bottles'.
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    Hi! As "Webmaster" for this site I feel a bit of a fraud. 
    I am neither an expert at IT nor at growing vegetables. I do enjoy playing at both, however.
    I have a 10 rod plot in the middle of the site, having transferred in 2012 from a 5 rod plot I had been cultivating for about 5 years. I needed to give myself space to grow a wider range of crops.
    I will be recording my thoughts and activities on the allotment as well as sharing any knowledge and information I gain in my 'travels'.
    I constantly seek hints and advice from my neighbouring, and usually more knowledgeable, plot holders and will pass on anything I think is of general use via this blog.

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