The Compton Patch

Down at the patch this morning to complete the last of the raised beds in the polytunnel.  Mission accomplished !

The new plot has been completely cleared now and we have replanted the Strawberries that were left behind by the previous tenant.  We have also sown Onions, although it remains to be seen whether or not they will germinate from such an early sowing.

We also sowed a row of Douce Provence peas… again as an experiment to see if the unusually warm late-Winter weather will help germination and produce an additional crop.

The crops in the raised beds are looking good.

The picture below shows the bed with garlic that we planted in Autumn, cloches warming the bed where our ultra-early potatoes will be planted and the bed where our Autumn-sown broad beans are growing with the protection of micro-mesh and fleece.

When we first started at Compton Allotments, we were allocated a 15′ wide plot with a fence running down one side to separate our crops from the pigs in the neighbouring field.  In the following year the pigs were moved and the land used to create more individual allotment plots and our plot expanded from 15′ to 22′.

Our raspberry canes grow on wires strung between posts that we erected when it was a 15′ wide plot leaving a spare bit of land where we grew odd things that took our fancy.

This year we are growing hybrid berries (Tayberry, Loganberry  and Bosyenberry) and I have bought the materials to construct another wire frame which would stretch right across the 22′ wide plot.

Now being a man who likes order in all things (yes, I know there is another name for this !) it would be unthinkable to have one frame for the hybrid berries which was wider than the adjoining frame for the raspberries.

So, as you can see from the picture I have extended the raspberry bed by installing another pole and stretching wires across from the old pole. Once this was done, I removed the obsolete pole and this will be used when I constuct the frame for the hybrid berries.

In November we agreed to take over an adjacent plot which had been left untended by the previous tenant.  The picture below gives some indication of how it looked after the annual weeds had been pulled-up and cleared.  We now had to set about clearing the numerous paving slabs and timbers that had been abandoned there.

After a few weeks I had dug over enough of the plot to cover with black polythene sheeting.  This will be where our potatoes will be grown next year.

Yesterday I completed the last section that was covered :

The final section will be cleared this weekend and we will rescue some of the Strawberry plants that have been left behind. Alongside these we will be planting Onion sets in March.

We ordered three berry plants which arrived last week, so this morning we were down at the patch planting them.

One Tayberry, one Loganberry and one Boysenberry have been planted in a 22′ row with 6′ spacing between them.  I will be erecting posts at either end of the row and then stretching wires between them so that we can tie-in the canes as they grow.

As it was a very pleasant morning in Compton, we took the opportunity to construct another raised bed.

The new bed is the nearest one on this picture and was built around the carrots remaining from the summer sowing and the shallots which were planted in October.  The raised bed behind is one constructed earlier this year where three rows of garlic are being grown.

Once these crops have been lifted, the beds will be topped up with a mix of fresh soil and compost and used to grow squash and courgettes.

We’ve had a productive afternoon down at the patch.  I finally got round to fixing the door handle on the polytunnel and Heather got a fire going to burn the prunings from fruit bushes… there’s something very evocative about Autumnal wood smoke.

We have built one of our planned six raised beds in the polytunnel and have sown Winter leaves (mizuna, mustard greens and spinach) which we hope will provide us with a cut-and-come-again leafy greens.

The door is on, the floor levelled and the frames for the raised beds will be constructed sometime in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile,  there are plenty of other jobs to be getting on with :

• The bed where we will be growing climbing beans has been cleared and two trenches dug out… these will be filled with newspaper and waste that would normally go on the compost heap.  The trenches will then be filled in and the bed covered with a layer of cardboard until we are ready to sow seeds in April.
• The soft-fruit bushes will be pruned back to maintain a good shape and encourage more fruits.
• The step-cordon apples will also be pruned and side branches tied into the wires.
• Another bin will be constructed to hold leaf litter… the leaves will slowly break down to produce a very rich compost.

We love eating red cabbage in the Autumn and Winter months.

We sometimes braise it with apples and onions to make a superb accompaniment to sausages and mash, but most of it goes into pickling jars that we can store until after Xmas.  Not only good with cold meats and cheeses, this is traditionally served with Lancashire hotpot.

The actual recipe states 750g of cabbage and 250g of onions, however we omit the onions and increase the amount of cabbage accordingly.

• 1 kg red cabbage
• 65 g salt
• 450 ml red wine vinegar
• 50 g sugar
• 150 ml water
• 1 cinnamon stick. broken
• 4 cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice berries
• 1 large piece root ginger, roughly choppe
• 6 black peppercorns

Cut the cabbage into quarters, remove the core, wash well then cut into 1 cm shreds.  Put these into a bowl with the salt, mix well and then leave to stand for 24 hours, stirring several times.  Rinse under cold running water, drain thoroughly and the pack into hot sterilized jars.

Put the vinegar, sugar and water into a pan. Place the spices in a small square of muslin, tie firmly and add this to the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the muslin bag.

Pour the boiling vinegar into the jars over the cabbage and remove any air bubbles with a skewer or chopstick. Seal the jars.

Enjoy !

We have already cleared all the perennial weeds from around the polytunnel, fixed gravel boards along the outside, lined the gap between the boards and the tunnel with black polythene and filled this with shingle to  prevent any weeds growing close to the tunnel walls and to allow the areas around the tunnel to be strimmed without damaging the walls.

• Attached a mesh screen to the back doorway of the polytunnel.

• Hung a polythene blind at the back doorway to raise/lower as temperature dictates.

•  Rebuilt the front door and re-covered it in UV stabilised polythene sheeting.

On Wednesday, the door will be hung and we will then concentrate our efforts on preparing the allotment beds, leaving the remaining work inside the polytunnel for those cold and rainy days when it is not possible to work outside.

We have acquired a polytunnel !

A neighbouring allotment holder has given up his plot, leaving this polytunnel which abuts on to our patch.

We have managed to clear the jungle that was growing inside and removed the door and the curtain, both of which will need repairing.  The door will then be hung so that it faces onto our plot.

As you can see from the picture, we have been washing the inside and outside of the tunnel with a solution of Jeyes Fluid to remove the algae.

The next task will be to construct raised beds inside the tunnel and fill them with compost ready for planting in late-Winter.