Author: Tony Lewis

Green? What’s That?

As a bit of a Geek it seems fair to say that green is just how our brains interpret the specific wavelength of light entering our eyes, and it is possible you do not see exactly what I do.  

Nonetheless, it is the colour we associate with most growing things, and we all know that it is good ‘to eat up your greens’ even if we don’t all do it.   I would put it to you that it is even better to grow your own greens.   You know exactly how they have been grown and the food miles are minimal – another green bonus.   

I couldn’t resist using the picture, I may never grow another cauliflower like it!  

It is possible to harvest ‘greens’ all year round.  So, it is time to plan ahead, clear and mulch the areas you haven’t got round to and get sowing and planting.  Traditionally brassicas need rich ground and a fair bit of space.  That is no problem in a large garden or on an allotment but if you have neither don’t despair. They will all grow usefully in containers or small beds.  

Growing them closer together will produce smaller plants but the crop for the area is likely to be greater.  Also, you can more easily control their environment and keep pests such as pigeons and cabbage white butterflies at bay.

April is a good time to sow most things.   The winter-cropping greens such as cabbage, kale, sprouting broccoli, leeks and the dreaded sprouts can all be sown in modules or pots and planted out late May or June.   They are normally slow to mature but will give you winter veg when most other plants have given up.      Summer crops are not usually frost-hardy, so runner beans, French beans and peas should be sown now for planting out when the chance of frost has reduced.  

Some Broad Beans and peas are hardy and can even overwinter to give an early crop.  The results can be variable, but it is worth giving it a go.   To my mind the first broad beans are one of the great treats of spring. 

Plus, don’t forget the salad plants which can be sown little and often right through the summer – I love lettuce – and fresh herbs need very little room.

So, in short, get on with sowing those greens!

Think You Can Rest? Think Again!

I suspect your current focus is on Christmas and I do hope Santa and his troupe of busy elves meet your requests.  

But I want to look further ahead.   New Year cometh and it can be cold and gloomy indoors as well as out, especially  if like us you are trying to do your bit for the climate and keep the heating bills down. But all the same, there are many things you can do to prepare the garden for the coming year and avoid the unseemly rush to do things as the weather improves.   

So, here is a rallying call to get on and do what you can in the next couple of months to prepare for Spring – a time of expectation and hope for good things to come:

  • Take Stock    Look back at what succeeded or failed in the last year and adjust your approach.  The effects of climate warming are with us.  Now is an ideal time  to think about what has changed, and what plants can do better in the increasingly turbulent weather that seems to be our lot.
  • Act    Make the changes you think necessary.     In particular, prepare beds for planting and sowing when the weather allows.
  • Order What You Need   If you have not already done so, order seeds and any shrubs or trees you need.    It is usually cheaper to order shrubs and trees bare rooted so that they can establish well.  If they arrive before you are ready, or the weather is too bad, heel them in on a spare spot and plant them later.  It is important not to let the bare roots dry out.
  • Do Your Winter Clean    I know – who likes cleaning?    Pests and diseases can persist in greenhouses, pots and containers and on your tools.   Give them a good clean it will help to combat future problems.
  • Divide herbaceous perennials       Probably best to do this as the weather warms, or in a mild spell.   My view is that plants are pretty tough, so do it when you can.
  • Prune shrubs and fruit trees    I usually wait too long to do this, and it gets overtaken by spring tasks so, do it in any mild spell.    Cut down autumn fruiting raspberries.  Do a general tidy up.

Happy Gardening!

Batten Down the Hatches

It seems the weather is all or nothing these days.  First it was dry and now it is wet, who knows what’s coming next.   This year’s warm weather is lovely though.    So, I am not going to dwell on autumn and, you know, that season that follows that begins with a ‘W’.    We should be well into harvest time now, a time to celebrate our successes in garden and allotment.  Perhaps even the opportunity to step back, draw a breath after the rush that always seems to fill the early growing season, and relax and enjoy late summer’s warm embrace.   

But we gardeners are not the only ones celebrating and enjoying our crops and garden gems.    The wildlife likes them too!    I am the first to say that we need to do all that we can to support the wildlife.   After all, as we are regularly told, our ultimate survival is dependent on theirs.   

Increasingly, our furry and feathered friends, alongside those that crawl and creep, see our gardens and allotments as a place to dine.    I suppose to them gardens and allotments are the equivalent of supermarket shelves stacked with good things and what’s more, they’re free!  

Now, I accept some losses, but controlled sharing is not in nature’s vocabulary.  So, we need to balance things up.    However, if like us you do not want to cause harm or use pesticides, mechanical barriers are the answer, and if you go down to the allotments today (just like the Teddy Bears) you’ll see every kind of barrier: from solid wire netting clad fences, all sorts of nets to fleece and enviromesh which also keeps the bugs at bay.    It’s not pretty but it IS effective; no animals are hurt in the process, and we get our share of the produce and blooms that we work so hard to produce.     

Over the years it seems we have to protect ever more crops or losses would increase year by year.   I wonder, is it the additional stresses from climate change or just learned behaviour, perhaps it is both.  Does anybody know?

Time to Get Ready – Slowly

Christmas and New Year are a distant memory.   If you’re like me you can barely remember the effort it took to smile, even laugh delightedly when another pack of socks or hankies arrived when Santa’s letter specifically asked for a pruning saw.    Put that behind you, it’s time to look forward not back.

Spring is just around the corner and, hopefully, you’re all fired up, but temper your enthusiasm.  Unless the procession of strange seasons continues the soil will still be wet, perhaps frozen (as it is as I write this) and doing anything to prepare the ground is likely to cause damage to the soil structure and make it harder to work later on.    If there are some weeds, I suggest you leave them.   Weeds can make the garden look untidy but they are protecting the soil structure and our small garden residents need hiding places if they are to be ready to do good work as the season warms up.

That does not mean there is nothing to do.    Now is the time when you can get the tools sorted out.  Check the handles, give them a clean and put sharp edges on hoes, shears, secateurs and so on; it will make for lighter work later.     Go on, spoil yourself and give the lawnmower and strimmer a service as well.    I find if I don’t do it now, it doesn’t get done.    

The other, rather more enjoyable task, for me at least, is to look through the packets of seeds and sort them into some sort of sowing order.   It helps me remember to sow them and avoid overlooking the odd one which I then ‘rediscover’ too late to use them.                                                                         

Spring officially starts in March (according to the Met Office).   Like the dates on seed packets just take it as guidance, particularly now with the seasons becoming more variable.   Seed wants to grow, it is the natural order, but in nature it waits until the conditions are favourable and we must do the same.   

Plants that need a long season like tomatoes you may need to sow indoors with some heat so they are ready by the time the weather is warm enough but for the rest my advice is to be patient, wait for the soil to warm up and sow little and often to hedge your bets and, with luck get a succession of crops.

Coming Up

All our talks are held in Milton Village Hall on the 4th Wednesday of the month and we open at 7 with the talk starting at 7:30pm.  A smorgasbord of talks is scheduled.

On February 22nd we have a Vegetable Growing Workshop and Q&A and on March 22nd it’s all about Planting in Containers.   All are welcome and if you are not a MUWAGA member we would love to see you and all we ask is the princely sum of £1.50.     Why not test the water?  I look forward to seeing you there.

Happy gardening!                                         

Go wild – you know you want to! (Well a bit…)

With pestilence, war and raging price rises I certainly feel pretty constrained and more than a little worried. We all need a release. When I say go wild, at my age that means having dinner 30 minutes later, so I am not proposing revolution.

What’s more some wildness can do some good to address climate change as every garden can be made a little bit more nature friendly and we need to aim to live life in a more sustainable and less wasteful way. If we all do a little bit, it can add up to a lot; don’t be put off, do what you can. So, let a little wildness in, be a bit less tidy and provide hiding places and food for those beetles and bugs which then support so much other wildlife. No need to go mad, just relax and let nature do the rest.

So, having dealt with climate change, it’s time to get on with things. It’s summer and there’s plenty to do, nature doesn’t take a holiday, even if we do. As well as harvesting the early summer vegetables take a bit of time to think what you may like to sow in succession to keep the crops coming in the autumn. It is not too late. Indeed, for winter crops June is a good time to sow or plant out. Some may end up a bit on the small side but nothing beats your own veg for flavour and satisfaction.

Salads, beetroot, carrots and peas can all do well and extend your culinary summer a bit and you could consider growing new potatoes for Christmas, particularly if you have a greenhouse. David Betterton extolled the benefits of using plug plants to just raise the plants you need and save yourself some work. Typically, I am going the other way and using seeds. Not because it is easier, it is not, and adds quite a bit of faff but it is cheap.

It is my poor results from planting onion sets that has prompted me to try and grow them from seed and I’ll see how it goes. I do not want to put anyone off using plug plants; there are no hard and fast rules – gardening remains more of an art then a science so just do what works for you.

I wonder if things would have been different if Mr Putin had an allotment?

Happy gardening!

Wildlife and Gardening – Always a bit tricky

Hare today – Hare tomorrow

The Hare raises a complete range of opinions amongst allotmenteers, ranging from ‘get rid of it’ to ‘how lovely’. It seems to have taken up daytime residence on my plot and I am in the ‘live and let live’ camp – it’s safe with me.

Some blame it (there may be several as I can’t tell one hare from another) for a lot of damage to crops but I have suffered very little so I am inclined to think it is unfairly blamed – it will nibble some stuff but not much as far as I can tell.

So, I like to see it and if we choose to provide the hare equivalent of a supermarket shelf it seems a bit churlish to complain about the odd item being taken. We can always protect stuff we don’t want to share.

I end my address for the defence of the hare Your Honour. In truth we need the wildlife, the whole spectrum from microbes to badgers, is part of nature’s balance and we need to do what we can to maintain it (and our crops – with a bit missing sometimes).

As Winter Approaches- What to do Outdoors

So, what jobs you need to think of doing as autumn comes in your garden or allotment in the vein of Monty Don. I have to say his ‘jobs to do’ bit always incenses me. Nonetheless, if you can’t beat them!!! Here goes.

First, sit back and do nothing. Think about what went well, what was unsatisfactory and what, if anything, you want to do about it. If you haven’t ordered any seeds or plants this is probably a good time to do it, especially as Brexit and Covid could cause some shortages, so get in early.

If you have areas of bare ground it is a good idea to mulch them with whatever mulch suits you, manure, compost or a decorative mulch such as bark.

Alternatively, you could sow a cover crop such as winter tares to protect the soil and put fibre and nitrogen into it for next year’s plants, October is not too late.

Finally, think about those plants, both ornamental and fruit, that will require a winter prune. As they become dormant just do a gentle tidy while it’s not too cold, taking out crossing or unwanted branches. I always think it is worth leaving the final prune until early spring when you can see if the winter has caused any dieback and then cut back to good wood.

Now sit back and warm up. You can now complain bitterly about me.

Happy gardening.
Tony Lewis

Gardening is the answer: now, what was that question again?

Even as the Covid situation improves, life can still seem uncertain. Of course, life and our individual futures have never been guaranteed but previously we did have some degree of certainty that our plans would come to fruition. Covid has put a dent in that confidence, whether it was originally justified or not.

That is where I find the garden and allotment provides an anchor. Spring comes, summer will follow, the trees will flower and crops sown with hope will produce the goods. It’s called gardening and it roots you in nature and its rhythms. The world still turns and despite our egos the great universe beyond carries on in majestic indifference. Indeed, if gardening is not your thing then can I suggest a bit of quiet star gazing, another of my passions, to provide some solace and to listen to the gentle sounds of nature at night. It certainly brings peace to my soul.

ShiptonRoad Milton Under Wychwood

The Rewards are worth it!

Well, I may look up occasionally but this is a ground-based article. Now we have arrived at June we can look forward to some of the earliest summer crops. I always find these the most delicious, particularly as they announce summer with their fresh taste.

The Broad Beans are one of our staples, they freeze really well so we always aim for a surplus. However, Linda’s over-wintering ones disappeared, perhaps it was the weather or maybe the mice did for them. We certainly do have mice in the garden at home, our cats have confirmed this, much to our chagrin when presented with the evidence in the morning. All I can say is that it is not always advisable to pad about the house in the morning, bleary eyed, with bare feet!

I hope that some rain has fallen between the end of April, as my trembling fingers rattle the laptop keys to produce this article, and it tumbling through your letterbox. If not, the potatoes are going to struggle and watering is going to be a big issue. Still it usually works out in the end and plants do want to grow. It is just that some of our crops are really the Olympians of the vegetable world and do need good conditions to deliver their best.

So, gardeners, stick with it. I sense a bumper year and currently the allotments look really good. Also, the outlook across the fields from the plot is superb, so I forgive the blue skies and lack of rain (for now).

Happy gardening
Tony Lewis

It’s all swings and roundabouts…

…in 2021

In April I wondered if we would get some rain to help the spuds along; in May I wondered if it would stop raining and warm up a bit – well a lot warmer was what I wanted. Early June was flaming alright and it was back to watering but at least the first summer crops were appearing, now it’s back to the cool and rain.

Eventually our crops got going, in fits and starts in mid-May, probably 3 weeks later than normal, and eventually the mangetout and my early lettuce plants gave up sulking and produced usable crops at last. But do you know what? – my expectation is that it will all pan out in the end. Most crops will catch up and the year in both the garden and allotment will be the usual blend of success and failure, just different candidates from last year.

I will still moan, of course, but that is expected of every gardener, we have our standards to maintain! Other than that, I just fall back on blind optimism – it normally works. I am still sticking to my ‘minimum dig’ approach, which may be a little more time consuming but, having mulched most of the plot with manure or compost last autumn, I do seem to see far more worms and the weeds are much reduced. I shall stick with it.

August and September are the traditional harvest months, a time to put your excess away for winter. Of course, now we have the freedom to visit the supermarket and have fruit and vegetables from around the world but, if you have the space, there is much to be said for storing your own crops for winter, accepting some seasonality and cutting food miles at the same time. We could try to become a little more self-reliant and less wasteful. That’s the sermon finished for this month.

Happy gardening
Tony Lewis

Ever Onward – The Year Progresses, Covid or no Covid

Milton Allotments

It is a truism that no matter what the situation, life goes on. Nature and our wildlife carry on oblivious of our problems. As I go out to top up the bird feeders in the early morning and look up at blue skies (still a novelty after winter rain and cloud) there are no vapour trails and the birds say thank you by putting their efforts into the dawn chorus unchallenged by traffic noise. I know things will return to some sort of new normal but there is something nice about the absence of the din of industry for now. As we are forced to slow down I sense nature breathing a sigh of relief.

The garden and allotment form a large part of our therapy and after the chaotic shopping situation at the start of the lockdown we aim to get as much produce as we can from our plots. I don’t think we are alone, I have never seen the allotments so busy and seed sales have gone through the roof with many suppliers being overwhelmed by demand. So, if members have spare plants or seeds, let us know and we will endeavour to pass them on to those who may need them.

On an uplifting note, for me at least, Father Christmas has delivered – his little helper dumped 2 loads of manure (the social distancing wasn’t difficult) on Linda’s allotment and she has, grudgingly, granted me permission to wheelbarrow some to mine. My no-dig philosophy has not progressed well after so much winter rain which compacted the soil surface into a hard pan. I have had to content myself with surface cultivation to get the weeds out. It’s taken ages but, hey, I’ve got the time!

The soil is really warming up and the first indication is that the weeds are growing – after all weeds are just successful plants we haven’t found a use for yet. As usual we sowed some seeds to early, fooled by the warm daytime temperature, but the cold nights caused some to rot; a second sowing solved this (it’s always a good idea to stagger sowings). Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and cucumbers are growing strongly and by mid-May will be in the greenhouse with the promise of crops to come. Hooray, come on summer!

Happy gardening
Tony Lewis

Springtime is Coming

After Christmas it’s Veg all the way now

Santa came and went and a very good time was enjoyed by all. There is always a fly in the ointment and one moaner – me.

My hopes of the yuletide muck delivery came to naught – it didn’t stop raining and Santa could not deliver. Well, that’s life, I am sure I will get it later and will just have to improvise on my ideas for minimal soil cultivation – the closest I can get to being a no-dig allotmenter. I do need to improve my vegetable production and usefully our talk in November (it seems an age ago now) was on vegetable growing and pest control and Roger Umpleby which gave some really good tips which I shall definitely be trying this year – it could be the year I actually produce a usable parsnip!

Now, I don’t know if you noticed but it was a bit wet on the lead up the Christmas. It has been pretty much impossible to get the normal allotment preparation done and I, for one, found the damp dull days a bit wearing. You can only sort your seed packets a limited number of times and as I am not a naturally organised person sorting things has never been a strength of mine. Retirement theoretically should have given me the time to address this shortcoming but it is difficult to change your nature and so, disorganised I remain.

I have plenty of other interests but again Linda (an oracle of logic and reason) pointed out that they are all weather dependant (cycling, paragliding and astronomy) so I have had to resort to writing this article. Spring officially starts in March (according to the Met Office).

I am reliably informed that the weather will be warmer, the sun will shine and work in the garden and allotment can get underway. One of the good bits of advice in that November talk was to ignore the dates on the seed packet, only sow when the soil is warm enough to avoid the seed rotting and also to sow little and often to avoid the customary gluts and famines. Also, just grow what you want to eat.

It is not unusual to see crops remain unused in allotments which is such a waste of effort and resource. Lastly, do try new varieties but don’t forget the old faithfuls – they are still in the seed catalogues for good reason – they usually work and have good flavour.

Happy gardening
Tony Lewis