Garlic, Calabrese and Gnome Patrol

 Now that the introduction is done, lets get stuck in.

Over the last couple of evenings, before we lose too much daylight in the evenings and I am still able to visit the plot after work, I've been dodging the rain showers to get some planting done.  Even at this time of year, it's apparently not too late to get things in the ground to get a head start on next year.

Perhaps a couple of weeks earlier than last year, I've planted bed 1 up with garlic.  Garlic will sit well over the winter and hopefully won't get too wet and rot before it starts growing.  It would be nice to see the first green shoots appear before the ground gets too cold.  I've planted 3 varieties this year.  Carcassonne Wight, Provence Wight and Maddock Wight.  All the seed cloves have been sourced from the Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight.

A couple of months ago, I had started from seed, some broccoli and all year round cauliflower.  They were doing really well and I soon potted them onto some 10cm pots from their individual cells.  I put them in the hooped tunnel to shelter them from the worst of the weather until they got more established, ready to be planted out.  Then, disaster struck in the form on slugs.  Yes, I am also a slug farmer (by accident and not intentional) and this time, they had found their way into the nice warm shelter of the polytunnel bed, helping themselves to a slap up meal of fresh calabrese and cauliflower leaves.  They left me with nothing but stalks.

Not to be outdone, it was a trip to the local nursery who had recently advertised some winter veg plants for sale, and we bought a couple of trays of calabrese.  Though I'd rather grow from seed, when needs must, I'll buy plants locally to cover up the occasional cockup and travesty.  These have now been transplanted straight out into bed 2 and should stand up pretty well over winter, hopefully producing a valid harvest by May.  If we have a severe winter, they may need some added protection in the form of fleece, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

A huge part of allotment growing for me is having fun and meeting others.  To encourage people to smile a little when they walk past our plot, I have a small army of gnomes who stand guard over various parts of the plot.  And if people just don't notice them, at least they make me smile!

Until next time, best wishes 😁