Preparing for next season
It’s the time of year that growing and cropping on the allotment will soon be winding down. Even if you are growing winter crops the hours needed will be much less as there will be little weeding and none or very little watering to do.
Next spring will be manic, preparing the ground, sowing seeds, watering, putting up netting, weeding, potting up; the list is endless.
It’s better for you and your plot if you use the lull to prepare for next year. Then you will be in control, not chasing your tail and taking short cuts that work poorly. You have time to do the job well and reap the rewards later. 80% of gardening success is preparing your soil.
This year I took on a second plot, because of covid restrictions I was unable to prepare my new plot for the season. My old plot had been prepared in the autumn and I had started to prepare the new allotment when covid hit the UK. I am a no-dig gardener so needed lots of rotted manure to start my preparation for the season. I could not go and dig it out from the stables. It is the first job that I must do to prepare for the season. I needed 20 tons of the stuff to cover two plots. It takes time to dig out.
It is the first year that I have been chasing my tail in the spring, it was a much less pleasant experience for me. It was not until early summer that I managed to catch up. However it was at the expense of part of the plot being left till next winter to bring up to scratch, and some crops going into the ground later than I would have liked. Plus a lot of stress and last minute decisions to be made whilst feeling like you’re losing the battle.
So why do I normally not feel rushed in the spring? One word preparation!
That means planning next season over the next couple of months, then putting that planning into action as soon as possible.
Here are some things to think about.
Crop rotation.
Two reasons to rotate your crops.
What Plants are you going to grow next year?
With covid demand for seeds has been high; I buy mine around January or February online. Time enough for them to have sold last years seed, so you get fresh seed. However, early enough to avoid the mad buying frenzy people have in the spring.
What about that shady spot or difficult to grow spot. What can you do to make it productive? A shed, compost bin or shade tolerant plant like rhubarb, gooseberries and some soft fruit etc.
Now you have decided what you are going to grow, you need to decide how much you are going to grow. Some plants like peas, beetroot and lettuce can be sown in batches over next season to give you a continuous supply without a glut of produce, then something else can be sown in that spot. Decide on how many to grow at a time so that you don’t waste your plants when they bolt or go past their best. Other crop surpluses like runner beans can be frozen for winter use. Then there are the crops that will store well into the winter like potatoes, celeriac, pumpkins and butternut squash. Lastly some crops can be grown through the summer and harvested in the winter, like sprouts or sown as a second crop between May and July for a late summer harvest e.g. dwarf French beans or a winter crop e.g. swede.
When estimating how much you can grow you will need to know the size of your plot, then find out the spacing of the plants that you are going to grow. From this you can work out how many plants you can get into the ground. Sow more seeds than you need, then pick out the best plants to grow on, keeping a few spares encase of slugs etc.
For me I grow about 16 to 20 cabbage plants at a time, I like cabbage!
I work on harvesting about two pounds of potatoes from early potatoes and three pounds for main crop potatoes per plant. In practice I usually get another pound or more per plant.
One Kilogram of seed potatoes usually gives me one row width of the plot of potato plants approximately.
Some plant combinations that I find work for me:
Early carrots followed by climbing French beans. Plant your beans between the rows of carrots about 3 to four weeks before harvesting your carrots and insert your poles when sowing.
Early potatoes followed by dwarf French beans, turnips, Spring cabbage, Winter cabbage, peas
Overwintering broad beans or peas followed by brassicas like cauliflower, cabbage, swede. Leaving the bean roots in the ground to release nitrogen stored in their root nodules.
Main crop potatoes followed by winter cabbage or spring cabbage grown in pots late summer to get them started before planting into the ground.
I grow little salad crops but they can be used as a quick first or second crop.
When planning consider crop rotation, to avoid problems. Crop rotation / RHS Gardening
Over-winter sowing or planting
First early peas, broad beans, over-wintering onions and garlic are things that you can grow for an early crop next year, reusing spaced free from harvesting. Sow or plant around October / November.
Applying manure or compost.
This is so important for a successful season, good soil grows good plants, poor soil grows poor plants. Which of your beds are you going to apply your manure to? Where can I get some from?
If you cannot get manure, should you grow a green crop?
Digging your plot.
You do not want to be doing this in the spring! You will be far behind schedule if you do and suffer all season, due to lack of preparation. Dig in the winter removing weeds and persistent weed roots. You can rough dig it, that is do not break up the sods. The soil will weather and hold water. The frosts then will freeze the water, breaking the soil within the sod. Then on a nice spring day as the soil dries out, hit the sod with a glancing blow with a rake or hoe. The soil will shatter into a fine tilth, ready for sowing. Do not leave it to dry out too much or the soil will go rock solid timing is important. Dig in your manure and cover your ground with plastic or weed suppressant membrane.
If you are no-dig then remove persistent weeds and cover in manure for the weather to turn your well-rotted manure into a fine tilth.
Tackle those jobs that you were to busy to do in the summer.
Tackle those weedy areas that you did not have time to do in the summer or the ground was baked too hard to work with.
Service your tools
Sharpen you hoes, secateurs etc and oil them so that they do not rust and are ready to use in the spring. Apply linseed oil to wooden handles.
There is an old sand trick from 1919-1945 era rinse the fork/spade/hoe under the tap, stick it into the oily sand bucket, wiggle it about a bit -done. Keeps them all clean and rust free; a big thank you to Dorothy, for this tip.
Spring clean your plot and shed,
Remove and dispose of responsibly any accumulated rubbish and re organize your shed. It’s a good time to clean your pots and seed trays.
Make sure your shed, greenhouse or polytunnel is in good repair so that it survives the winter.
Cover your ground if not in use.
Soil loses nitrogen easily; the winter rains will wash it out. Cover your beds with a plastic sheet or something to stop the rain. It also stops weeds from getting light, so any seeds germinating will die.
I cover mine in manure as the nutrients are bound to the manure until the manure breaks down.
Black polythene will also warm the soil in the spring ready for sowing into.
Next year when the weather warms up the bacteria in the soil will become active and trap nitrogen from the air, it’s a natural cycle that nature goes through each year.
September:
Seeds you can sow this month are more limited they need to be winter hardy and grow big enough to survive the winter.
You can sow:
• Winter lettuces and salads such as rocket, land cress, corn salad, and winter purslane – under cloches
• Hardy oriental leaves such as mizuna, mibuna, and komatsuna,
• Spinach.
These will benefit from some protection e.g. a cloche or fleece.
Spring onions to overwinter till next spring. White Lisbon is winter hardy.
You can plant:
• Overwintering Japanese onion sets, they will be ready a month earlier than the main crop onions next year but will not store as well as the main crop onions.
You can plant out:
• Transplant spring cabbages that you sowed in July
• Ready late spring/early summer avoiding caterpillars.
• Protect the plants from pigeons with netting.
• You can plant an extra row of plants a few inches apart to be picked as spring greens in February/March
• Strawberry runners.
• Plant early for a bigger harvest next year.
• Strawberries will benefit from a generous amount of well-rotted manure.
Plot preparation for next year.
• Collect well-rotted manure to boost next years crops.
• There is a stable in Bromley common where you can dig it out for free.
• If you have a new neglected plot then do a small bit at a time and you will eventually win!
Why not try clearing a patch of ground and try some of the above? Then you
clear the rest of the plot whilst your crop grows over the winter.
It is easier to clear the plot by covering the ground with black polythene or cardboard to kill most of the weeds.
Keep busy over the winter
Kevin
It’s the time of year that growing and cropping on the allotment will soon be winding down. Even if you are growing winter crops the hours needed will be much less as there will be little weeding and none or very little watering to do.
Next spring will be manic, preparing the ground, sowing seeds, watering, putting up netting, weeding, potting up; the list is endless.
It’s better for you and your plot if you use the lull to prepare for next year. Then you will be in control, not chasing your tail and taking short cuts that work poorly. You have time to do the job well and reap the rewards later. 80% of gardening success is preparing your soil.
This year I took on a second plot, because of covid restrictions I was unable to prepare my new plot for the season. My old plot had been prepared in the autumn and I had started to prepare the new allotment when covid hit the UK. I am a no-dig gardener so needed lots of rotted manure to start my preparation for the season. I could not go and dig it out from the stables. It is the first job that I must do to prepare for the season. I needed 20 tons of the stuff to cover two plots. It takes time to dig out.
It is the first year that I have been chasing my tail in the spring, it was a much less pleasant experience for me. It was not until early summer that I managed to catch up. However it was at the expense of part of the plot being left till next winter to bring up to scratch, and some crops going into the ground later than I would have liked. Plus a lot of stress and last minute decisions to be made whilst feeling like you’re losing the battle.
So why do I normally not feel rushed in the spring? One word preparation!
That means planning next season over the next couple of months, then putting that planning into action as soon as possible.
Here are some things to think about.
Crop rotation.
Two reasons to rotate your crops.
- Pests and diseases. Some pests and diseases over-winter in the soil, so growing the same type of crop in the same ground is a recipe for propagating those nasties that you suffered from this year. They are waiting there, waiting for something to eat.
- It is said that crop rotation is necessary for plants to have the maximum amount of nutrients available. Growing the same crop year after year in the same ground will deplete certain minerals that that particular plant uses large amounts of.
Personally if you are no-dig I think that the second point is less important for MOST crops but not all. This is because I add 10 cm (4 inches) of manure on my soil surface every year, regardless of crop I am growing. Carrots and parsnips hardly ever fork with no-dig. This amount of organic matter stimulates the microorganisms in the soil to release all the necessary nutrients into the soil. The first point however still applies.
What Plants are you going to grow next year?
With covid demand for seeds has been high; I buy mine around January or February online. Time enough for them to have sold last years seed, so you get fresh seed. However, early enough to avoid the mad buying frenzy people have in the spring.
What about that shady spot or difficult to grow spot. What can you do to make it productive? A shed, compost bin or shade tolerant plant like rhubarb, gooseberries and some soft fruit etc.
Now you have decided what you are going to grow, you need to decide how much you are going to grow. Some plants like peas, beetroot and lettuce can be sown in batches over next season to give you a continuous supply without a glut of produce, then something else can be sown in that spot. Decide on how many to grow at a time so that you don’t waste your plants when they bolt or go past their best. Other crop surpluses like runner beans can be frozen for winter use. Then there are the crops that will store well into the winter like potatoes, celeriac, pumpkins and butternut squash. Lastly some crops can be grown through the summer and harvested in the winter, like sprouts or sown as a second crop between May and July for a late summer harvest e.g. dwarf French beans or a winter crop e.g. swede.
When estimating how much you can grow you will need to know the size of your plot, then find out the spacing of the plants that you are going to grow. From this you can work out how many plants you can get into the ground. Sow more seeds than you need, then pick out the best plants to grow on, keeping a few spares encase of slugs etc.
For me I grow about 16 to 20 cabbage plants at a time, I like cabbage!
I work on harvesting about two pounds of potatoes from early potatoes and three pounds for main crop potatoes per plant. In practice I usually get another pound or more per plant.
One Kilogram of seed potatoes usually gives me one row width of the plot of potato plants approximately.
Some plant combinations that I find work for me:
Early carrots followed by climbing French beans. Plant your beans between the rows of carrots about 3 to four weeks before harvesting your carrots and insert your poles when sowing.
Early potatoes followed by dwarf French beans, turnips, Spring cabbage, Winter cabbage, peas
Overwintering broad beans or peas followed by brassicas like cauliflower, cabbage, swede. Leaving the bean roots in the ground to release nitrogen stored in their root nodules.
Main crop potatoes followed by winter cabbage or spring cabbage grown in pots late summer to get them started before planting into the ground.
I grow little salad crops but they can be used as a quick first or second crop.
When planning consider crop rotation, to avoid problems. Crop rotation / RHS Gardening
Over-winter sowing or planting
First early peas, broad beans, over-wintering onions and garlic are things that you can grow for an early crop next year, reusing spaced free from harvesting. Sow or plant around October / November.
Applying manure or compost.
This is so important for a successful season, good soil grows good plants, poor soil grows poor plants. Which of your beds are you going to apply your manure to? Where can I get some from?
If you cannot get manure, should you grow a green crop?
Digging your plot.
You do not want to be doing this in the spring! You will be far behind schedule if you do and suffer all season, due to lack of preparation. Dig in the winter removing weeds and persistent weed roots. You can rough dig it, that is do not break up the sods. The soil will weather and hold water. The frosts then will freeze the water, breaking the soil within the sod. Then on a nice spring day as the soil dries out, hit the sod with a glancing blow with a rake or hoe. The soil will shatter into a fine tilth, ready for sowing. Do not leave it to dry out too much or the soil will go rock solid timing is important. Dig in your manure and cover your ground with plastic or weed suppressant membrane.
If you are no-dig then remove persistent weeds and cover in manure for the weather to turn your well-rotted manure into a fine tilth.
Tackle those jobs that you were to busy to do in the summer.
Tackle those weedy areas that you did not have time to do in the summer or the ground was baked too hard to work with.
Service your tools
Sharpen you hoes, secateurs etc and oil them so that they do not rust and are ready to use in the spring. Apply linseed oil to wooden handles.
There is an old sand trick from 1919-1945 era rinse the fork/spade/hoe under the tap, stick it into the oily sand bucket, wiggle it about a bit -done. Keeps them all clean and rust free; a big thank you to Dorothy, for this tip.
Spring clean your plot and shed,
Remove and dispose of responsibly any accumulated rubbish and re organize your shed. It’s a good time to clean your pots and seed trays.
Make sure your shed, greenhouse or polytunnel is in good repair so that it survives the winter.
Cover your ground if not in use.
Soil loses nitrogen easily; the winter rains will wash it out. Cover your beds with a plastic sheet or something to stop the rain. It also stops weeds from getting light, so any seeds germinating will die.
I cover mine in manure as the nutrients are bound to the manure until the manure breaks down.
Black polythene will also warm the soil in the spring ready for sowing into.
Next year when the weather warms up the bacteria in the soil will become active and trap nitrogen from the air, it’s a natural cycle that nature goes through each year.
September:
Seeds you can sow this month are more limited they need to be winter hardy and grow big enough to survive the winter.
You can sow:
• Winter lettuces and salads such as rocket, land cress, corn salad, and winter purslane – under cloches
• Hardy oriental leaves such as mizuna, mibuna, and komatsuna,
• Spinach.
These will benefit from some protection e.g. a cloche or fleece.
Spring onions to overwinter till next spring. White Lisbon is winter hardy.
You can plant:
• Overwintering Japanese onion sets, they will be ready a month earlier than the main crop onions next year but will not store as well as the main crop onions.
You can plant out:
• Transplant spring cabbages that you sowed in July
• Ready late spring/early summer avoiding caterpillars.
• Protect the plants from pigeons with netting.
• You can plant an extra row of plants a few inches apart to be picked as spring greens in February/March
• Strawberry runners.
• Plant early for a bigger harvest next year.
• Strawberries will benefit from a generous amount of well-rotted manure.
Plot preparation for next year.
• Collect well-rotted manure to boost next years crops.
• There is a stable in Bromley common where you can dig it out for free.
• If you have a new neglected plot then do a small bit at a time and you will eventually win!
Why not try clearing a patch of ground and try some of the above? Then you
clear the rest of the plot whilst your crop grows over the winter.
It is easier to clear the plot by covering the ground with black polythene or cardboard to kill most of the weeds.
Keep busy over the winter
Kevin