| Plot 17 – The Earthly Comforts Garden Season Three – Plot 17 Growing Season April – September 2023 The Allotment Plotters Directory |
| Farm to Fork ,Plot to Plate and Growings for Good! |
| “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” Audrey Hepburn |
| The planting lineup or growing schedule for Plot 17 has now been finalised, and Suze and l, for the last few months, pored over our options for the table. I will write a more detailed post concerning the varieties we will grow this season. However… With both of us now principally vegetable oriented, having a diverse range of fruit, vegetables, and herbs was important. Given the alkaline levels and clay base, we also had to consider what would grow successfully in our soils on the allotment. We could and did amend the soils in specific locations like the raised beds and the orchard – l will write about the latter later – and where possible, we have endeavoured to avoid planting directly into the soil where possible. Some of the crops that existed when we took on the area we have left in situ or slightly rearranged and expanded upon, like the rhubarb. The fig tree we left where it was but given a harsh pruning last winter, ready for spring growth. The raspberries at the back of the plot were also given severe pruning to ensure more productive crop yields this year. They had been waiting for proper training from the previous gardener for some time and were desperate for attention. But so far we are looking at a healthy crop for 2023, with many buds presenting themselves to us. We will have a healthy share of fruit growing for this year and the following seasons. The plot will have raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, goji and cherry bushes and dwarf fruit trees of plum, pear and apple. The latter will be situated in the plot’s orchard area next to the polytunnel and within a purpose-built fruit cage. We also will have a long-time favourite of ours in the polytunnel, which is cucamelons, and we will also grow honeydew melons. Whilst we will have many individual herbs sited around the entirety of the plot itself, we will also have dedicated areas for only herbs – like the bathing bay [two enamel baths are to occupy a space in front of the shed] and the three old worm farms – the tabled planters – which will take up residence to the side of the shed. The polytunnel will also have a small range of herbs. Herbs bring a fantastic range of benefits to the garden and gardener. The herbs we will have growing will be mints, sages, Rosemary, thyme, borage, comfrey, lavenders, marigolds, nasturtium, chives, oregano, dill, coriander, parsley, bay leaf, garlic, ginger, lemon balm and basil. I also know Suze is eager to see if we can grow turmeric, an ingredient in many of our dishes which has displayed marvellous healing properties to our lifestyle changes in the last four months. Plot 17 will also have a fair share of flowers present to encourage pollinators to the crops we are growing and to introduce companioning properties alongside the obviousness of the scents and smells to the growing spaces like the previously mentioned lavenders, marigolds, nasturtiums, borage and comfrey. Also, we will have a wildflower range in the orchard of yarrow, vetch, teasel, ragged robin, field scabious, sweetpeas, common poppy, cranesbill, knapweed, wild foxglove, ox-eye daisy, cornflowers, corn cockle and clover. In the future, we will introduce more flowers to our allotment. So we are well covered for our fruit, herb and flower needs. Vegetable-wise is where we needed to explore and examine our actual needs. We do have a relatively large range of produce to be planted or which has been planted already. Most of the seedlings were/are in various stages of growth, and a good forty percent has been repotted on to encourage healthier growth. With the current poorer weather conditions and strange climatic changes, we have been reluctant to plant too many younger seedlings directly into the soils. We changed the pot size and grew in Edward’s greenhouse and our back kitchen conservatory. However, the following vegetables are the choices we chose to produce for this season. Sweet potato, potato, bush beans, climbing French Beans, mange tout peas, snap peas, other assorted pea varieties, green beans, spinach, rocket, tomato, leek, shallots, radish, kale, Swiss chard, celeriac, calabrese, parsnip, courgette, butternut and summer squash, beetroot, pak choy also known as bok choy, marrow, aubergine, sweet peppers, carrots, artichoke and whilst not this year, next year we have plans to add to that range asparagus, celery, turnip, swede and mushrooms. So as you can see, the growing regime for this year is quite extensive, which is why we are always busy working on the allotment and with the soils and the compost productions. As said, l will write about these choices and the allotment in the future of the current season of The Allotment Plotters. |
| I hope you have enjoyed this post, thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time. Till then, have yourselves a terrific day! The Autistic Composter |
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Earthly Comforts 
Fantastic journey from farm to fork!
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It’s a great start for sure 🙂
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I’m just trying to get my head round what to plant this year. We are quite behind with spring. Going to plant next week even if the weather hasn’t picked up. Can’t wait any longer
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Wow!! 👏👏 very nice – as always – impressive 👏
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Thanks Trisha, it’s certainly getting there 🙂 We are very pleased with everything achieved so far.
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Can you sell the food you produce? Will they allow you to have farmers market? Or do you want to do that? I’m sure you will have plethora
👏👏 even if not is very incredible 🙌
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Hey Trisha, sadly not directly. Indirectly, l am not sure if we would produce enough of a surplus to sell on.
Once the vegetables are growing there will be more food prep and freezing going on.
We can use the plot as a side hustle for advertising and learning techniques though 🙂
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Very cool 👏 you be set 👏 nice job
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Very impressive line up of fruits, herbs and vegetables here Rory, and of course flowers too. Wishing you a fruitful harvest my friend
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Many thanks Sadje, we are getting closer to being able to line up all the raised beds with crop seedlings. There is still much to do though, always the way 🙂
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Yes these things need hands on approach all the time.
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Yes very much so, very , very much so 🙂
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👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
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