Salad harvest

 

One of the things I thought I would learn from last year's allotment growing was not to plant too many lettuces. But once again we have overdone it. We always plant more than we will need because we expect to lose some to slugs and  that didn't happen. But we are enjoying our lettuce harvests.

We have a few different varieties of lettuce growing. The first one we started off was 'salad bowl', which can be picked as leaves, but because we have so many we have been pulling them as whole lettuces. Back at home I keep them in a bowl of water which keeps them going for a few days and I can just take leaves off as I need them. This lettuce has kept going for weeks in the ground and is still going strong, getting bigger and bigger, although it is now showing signs of going to seed. We are also growing 'red salad bowl' which is the same type of leaf but red. It looks quite attractive on the plate with the two mixed. Also in the salad bed is  'little gem' lettuce and a variety called 'freckles' which has a spotted leaf and in the last week I have sown some' Webb's Wonderful'.

To make sure we have a continuous supply of salad stuff throughout the summer I sow about every two weeks. As well as lettuce we grow radish, spring onions and beetroot.  The radish are very quick to grow and need picking regularly as they soon go to seed and then they become very tough, so it's best not to sow too many at a time.

Salad vegetables are such a quick growing crop they can be grown in between other veg which might take longer to grow.  If we run out of space in the beds we use containers. Salad veg is really easy to grow in containers and is good for anyone who has a very small space or doesn’t have a garden. This week I sowed some rocket and watercress in big tubs.

We like having different varieties to choose from and even if we grow too many and they end up on the compost heap, they are not wasted because they go back into the soil eventually.

 

July on the allotment

Well here we are in July, halfway through the year, how time flies. There’s no let up in the jobs on our two  allotments at the moment. It’s a race to make sure seeds are sown at the right time and plants are got in the ground.  But everything is looking good.  I love to see the rows of vegetables starting to get bigger and I always think that once the bean frames are up in place then it starts to look like a proper allotment.  After a long dry spell of weather, we finally had some proper rain which has given the ground a good soaking and filled the water butts up.

We've been picking lettuces and radishes for a few weeks and last weekend we picked the first of the peas and broad beans.The brassica beds have been planted up with white cabbages, red cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale and purple sprouting broccoli. In the roots beds the parsnips and beetroot are coming along nicely.  Also in those beds  are fennel and celeriac. These are both fairly new to us crops. I tried growing celeriac a few years a go without success so I am giving it another go now on our new plots.

In the fruit beds, the gooseberries are ready for picking, the blackcurrants need to ripen yet and the rhubarb is enormous. I've already got a few pounds  bagged up in the freezer.

The weeds are growing fast. We try to keep them under control in the beds, but around the rest of the plot they grow at an alarming rate and I keep hoping I will soon have time to tackle them but there are so many jobs to do. I have a list of allotment jobs to do which never gets any shorter. As I cross jobs off, more are added.

This weekend I emptied the containers of  the first early potatoes (Rocket), picked more gooseberries, thinned out some of the flower seedlings in the cut flower bed, planted a pumpkin, fixed up some supports for the cucumbers and tomatoes in the growhouse and made up some comfrey feed. I was really pleased to cross all those jobs off my list.

Next week I hope to plant out  leeks and  celeriac, pot on basil and parsley seedlings, sow fennel and cabbage for the winter and do lots of weeding.