We know everyone grows different things on their allotments and use different methods to do so. All plots look different, so too does the produce, and as success and quantities of products vary, nothing looks similar – other than the soil, which itself is hard to see in the height of the season.
So, what is it that makes us grow what we do in the ways that we do it?
Experience is definitely one angle that determines choices, though some plot holders continue to repeat what they’ve been taught by the generations before them.
Some simply decide based on what they read and research regarding various crops, while others go by what is advertised as ‘new to the market’.
Apparently, there’s no hard and fast rule about growing produce other than growing what you like or what you want to try.
Being allotmenteers we’re always keen to share ideas and success stories with others. No politics on site, just simple comparisons of flowers, fruit and vegetables for others to yawn through!
A ‘for instance’ is tomatoes. Kev (plot 2) is usually the first off the blocks in setting his seeds, growing traditional varieties such as ‘Shirley’ and ‘Alicante’, but is not averse to trying something new too.
He follows in his father’s footsteps, repeating the growing of the well-known traditional varieties, though in a change to those past years of allotmenting with his dad, he now grows in his polytunnel, not a greenhouse.
On that note, we wonder if tomatoes are ‘just tomatoes’? Some might say so, but we vehemently disagree, as the colours vary for a start.
Some are intensely red whilst others are orange, yellow, black, green, striped, purple and that’s just the start of the contrasts!
What of flavour? This differs too from one variety to another, as does the amount of flesh each tomato develops that can be the deal breaker as to what varieties to have a go at growing.
Julia is always predictable. Although she learned how to grow tomatoes from her grandparents, since 2010 her choice of tomato has been the huge Mediterranean type such as ‘Beef Master’.
All her plants are methodically supported with wooden scaffold-type constructions in the poly tunnel, whilst Elaine is the complete opposite. She nurtures her dwarf, compact tomatoes ‘Red Robin’ and ‘Veranda’ that sit as virtual houseplants in multi-purpose compost on the shelves in the greenhouse.
They need no supports or pinching out as they thrive in the large terracotta pots (perfect for people who get a bit lost with caring for tomatoes). Additionally, there’s ‘Gardeners Delight’ and ‘Alicante’ planted in the ground in the greenhouse, just as her mum and dad did years before her.
But why bother growing tomatoes at all since nowadays they can be bought and delivered straight to your home, it’s much easier!
Of course it is, but you can’t buy the smell of the tomato as you pick it straight from the plant no matter what size the tomato is.
Read more
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The ‘real’ flavours and tastes that only come with home-grown
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Planning is one of the most important things to do on an allotment
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Beginner allotment gardeners look back on their early experiences
Clumps vs singles
‘It’s too earthy’ proclaims one person; ‘it tastes of the soil’ says another; ‘it’s too vinegary’ is the next comment – and as we ricochet back only having mentioned the word ‘beetroot’ we thought we were in some sort of Goldilocks panto!
This surely can’t be a reflection about the gorgeous vegetable that we’d just been discussing, as the comments don’t fit with our own experience of the vegetable that we eagerly (and lovingly) grow every year.
Is there a difficulty with how others grow it, or is it the growing medium they germinate the seeds in? Is the problem the way others are cooking this delicious, ruby red vegetable as we think roasting it in the oven makes it taste very different to boiling it or even grating it eating it raw in salads.
The main problem we’ve both experienced in the past by growing beetroot seeds directly in the soil is the creatures who steal them as fast as we set them! Nowadays, instead of direct sowing into the ground, we both set seeds in different ways.
Julia sets a cluster of four or five seeds as ‘clumps’ in cell trays of compost, while Elaine sets hers singularly in flat seed trays.
Julia is more of a traditionalist, sowing the well-recognised round beetroot such as ‘Bolthardy’ or ‘Crimson Red’ while Elaine grows rows of the lesser-known long roots of ‘Cylindra’ but both types grow successfully on the plots.
Our different growing styles also have their advantages. Growing in clumps generally means less room for weeds and makes it easy to identify the biggest beetroot to pull out of the clump as they grow.
In comparison, the single, long, slim cylindrical beetroot that Elaine pulls are easy to take as they grow above ground level.
Celeriac
One of the oddest vegetables we grow must be celeriac! It isn’t particularly difficult to germinate from seeds, or even to set as seedlings, but keeping it happy whilst growing is a whole other story!
Celeriac is a root vegetable generally grown for its knobbly, bulbous root rather than its stalks – though both are edible. The popular bulb has a mild, earthy ‘celery’ flavour when cooked, but is delicious grated raw in salads.
The hot summer months have proved difficult to keep these plants happy as they prefer shaded areas with lots of water – but don’t we all?
Tights!
It seems the days of stopping holes and ladders with nail varnish on our tights has apparently gone! So now, what to do with old tights?
We never throw ours away, but instead, use them for making ties from slithers of the stretchy nylon to support cordon tomatoes and tall sunflowers to bamboo canes as well as for storing our dried onions in.
We pop the first one in the foot, then tie a knot or add a peg to prevent it from touching the second, eventually filling the legs with onions to store for future months – cutting as required!
Heartfelt cucumbers!
Who’d have thought we could have had such fun growing cucumbers over the summer months, or that we could have played so many tricks talking about our new (fictitious) ‘Lovebug’ variety?
We’d noticed every year as the cucumbers grew, if any touched a structure, they changed shape and curled!
With that in mind, we wondered if we were to wrap one in a plastic mould if it would take on that form. There was one way to find out, so on with the mould and the two plastic sections tied together.
Within weeks our love of cucumbers was returned!
Go to pottyplotters.co.uk for more or search for Potty Plotters Plotcast.
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