February

February is still deep mid-winter here in the Yorkshire Dales. Overwintering vegetables in the polytunnel are fairly static at this time of year. However now that January is out of the way I can start to think about starting vegetables for maincropping this coming season. This involves the use of my heated propagator.

The first seeds into the propagator are Musselburgh leeks. I put them in deep pots or yoghurt cartons so that there is plenty of room for the roots to develop. No more than approx 25 seeds per pot. The seeds will germinate in 3-4 days and will be peeping through after a week. At that point I take them out of the propagator and put them on a windowsill at approx 16oC. In 3 or 4 weeks the pots can go out into the unheated greenhouse.

Next up are the onion sets. I normally use Sturon as my main crop. They tend to make good sized onions and store very well. This year I have also started Stuttgart sets so I wiil be able to compare the 2 ( providing that I remember which is which)

I purchased both types at Twin Locks Garden Centre, Gargrave. The come in bags of approx 50 at £1 per bag. They have been potted into individual plantpots in the cold greenhouse using general purpose compost.

Each set is then covered with compost. Once the sets have started to grow they will be transferred to the polytunnel on the allotment ( probably in 2-3 weeks)  and then hardened off for planting out in mid-March. Last year, once they were planted out, they were attacked by rabbits which ate the new growth. Once the onions were protected by a mesh fence they grew back and went on to be an excellent crop (for which I give the rabbits no credit.)

Winter's icy fingers

Deep into November and most gardeners will not be doing much other than sitting by the fire planning next year's horticultural campaign. After all, there is nothing happening on the allotment.

With the sun low in the sky the temperature was zero at 10 a.m. this morning. The allotments were deserted. Just the right time to check on what is growing in the polytunnel.

 

 

 

I am told that size does not matter but in the case of tunnels then the bigger the better. This is because the bigger ones do not get too hot in the summer months, and from a northern gardener's point of view the growing season is much extended. I was lucky enough to get a plot with a tunnel already on it, 10'x25', and the price that I paid the outgoing tenant nine years ago has turned out to be a real bargain. I planted beetroot inside in June and am expecting to be still cropping at Christmas.

 

I always grow Boltardy. In the past the outdoor ones have been hit and miss depending on the weather and the field mice. This is my second attempt at indoor beets and the results are good. The additional watering is more than compensated for by the fresh beetroot on the table every week.

 

I also sowed spring onions and mixed leaf in September. The mild autumn has meant that the leaf has regenerated after the first crop and we have now had fresh salad stuff for the last eight weeks!

 

 

Elsewhere in the tunnel I have removed the tomato plants, replenished the bed with well rotted compost from the heap and have planted garlic and onions. The onion sets were a gift from a fellow plotter - Radar - so I am hoping that they will be ready before the maincrop go in outside in the late spring.

 

 

Outside the brassica cage took a beating from the gales last week but its main function, to protect my brassicas from marauding woodpigeons is still OK. Sprouts, caulis and swede will soon be our main fresh veg from the plot.

 

 

Not forgetting, of course,  my favourite winter vegetable - the leek! For the last 5 years I have only grown Musselburgh as my neighbour's leeks always did better than mine. I asked him why that was and he said Musselburgh and chicken manure pellets - a winning combination.  Using poo pellets means that I can plant the leeks quite close together and still get decent results. Musselburgh is a very hardy variety which is what we need in the Dales!

 

 

We eat about three leeks a week so this patch will see us through the winter providing that I can get them out of the ground when it freezes - my favourite winter sport.