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Early winter jobs

2/12/2015

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If you're the old-fashioned sort you'll have already finished your winter digging in the mild weather. If not, well, there's plenty of time.

Many younger gardeners suspect that winter digging is a bad thing. Others of all ages put their faith in rotovating in spring.

The famous 'no-dig' systems rely on two things: really good drainage and the soil being in good nick to start with. Soil is one area you really can't cut corners. And on heavy soils, winter digging is really still a vital necessity. By all means rotovate in spring to produce a tilth, but the soil needs those winter frosts to break up the structure. It kills pests too!
Other jobs you should be snatching the time to do in the short midwinter days include checking taller brassicas for wind-rock. After the recent blustery weather many wil have worked oose in the soil. This can lead to plants dying later, before you get a decent crop. Firm them back in with a boot and, if your site is open to the wind, consider staking with a stout cane and string.

If you have an asparagus bed you will have cut all the 'fern' down by now (won't you). Take the time to remove all the weeds, even the tiny ones, while they are young. They won't be easier to get out in the spring and you'll have less free time to do it.
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If your asparagus bed had already got infested with perennial weeds, you have a good chance right now to clear it completely by spraying with glyphosate weedkiller. This will kill anything green it touches, so while the asparagus is dormant you can clobber the weeds. The same technique can be used to clear fruit bushes which have become infested with couch grass - but you MUST wait until ALL the leaves are off the bushes. Weedkiller that falls on brown bark will just wash harmlessly off.
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Seasonal work for October in Kent

5/10/2015

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LOGANBERRIES, TAYBERRIES & BLACKBERRIES

Loganberries, tayberries, boysenberries and their cousins can be pruned now. Blackberries can be pruned as soon as they have finshed fruiting - for most varieties, that is by now. The advantage of pruning now is that they can then be tied in for next year.
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Tying in these fruits is not a nice job on a cold winter's day - much better to do it now while the weather is mild, even if the fact that the leaves are still on the canes makes it a bit less of a neat job.

All the canes that fruited this summer should be cut out right to ground level, and burned (to destroy cane-boring pests and fungal diseases). The new growth can then be tied in neatly on the framework. There are several ways of arranging the long wangly shoots, the main thing is to spread them out and make sure they get as much sun as possible.
Producing all those canes every year is hungry work. Make a note to give the plant a really good feed during the winter or spring. Once the leaves have fallen and the weather cooled own, you can mulch with fresh manure, but don't let it touch the stems and don't do it just yet. After christmas you would need to use well-rotted or bagged manure. Hoof and horn, available from the Trading Store, is also a good long-term feed for these fruits.
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Seasonal work for October in Kent

29/9/2015

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WINTER SQUASH It hasn't been a great year for winter squash like butternut and Crown Prince - we had a late cold spring, and a cool wet August is not what they like either.

Make the most of sunny autumn days. Place a tile, bricks or small paving slab under squash to reflect heat and warmth up; if all else fails, a piece of black weedproof fabric will do.

Keep a very close eye on the weather forecasts. Once there is a danger of frost, squash should be harvested. Take them in somewhhere frost free, but don't store them yet.

American gardeners are expert squash growers and they understand the importance of ripening ('curing', they call it) the squash after they have been cut. Lay your squash in a warm sunny place; in a dry greenhouse is good if you have space, or outside on a bench or table. Take them inside if frost is forecast. Give them as long in the sun as you can, till the skins go hard. This is a good sign.

Once the skins have hardened up, the flavour will be fully developed and the squash will keep better. Butternut are usually OK till Christmas if fully ripened - check your squash regularly in storage and use the least ripe first! The first sign of deterioration is usually seen where the stalk joins the squash.

If you want a squash which will keep right round till spring, try one of the blue-grey ones like widely-available Crown Prince, or the rarer Queensland Blue. In most seasons these do better than butternut anyway.
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Green manure is the stuff!

21/8/2015

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After the recent soaking rains, the soil is in a good condition to work. But if you've just taken on your plot you may ask, "What can I do right now?". If you have an area which is roughly cleared, or can create one, then sow green manure.

Green manures are short-lived crops which you dig in at the seedling stage. They add organic matter quickly and increase both the soil's fertility and its moisture-holding ability. You will notice a real improvement.


Most seed companies sell green manure seeds of various kinds. The best are the very quick-growing such as mustard. The packets may look expensive at first sight, but remember you are buying a huge amount of seed, not the usual little packet. However, in the case of quick-growing plants like mustard, you can save money in future years by growing your own seed. Sow some of the seed in a corner where it can be left undisturbed, and let it run to flower next year. Save the seeds when ripe; the pods will turn dusty beige. Don't let them go too far or the seed will be shed where the plants are growing and you won't be able to collect it all.


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For more about green manures from the RHS, click on the picture.
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Slug pellets that work in wet weather

24/7/2015

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Rain, lovely rain! But wet weather brings out the slugs of course. Old-fashioned metaldehyde slug pellets (the usual sort you buy) is less effective in wet weather, as slugs are killed by dehydration and in rainy wetaher they can recover and crawl away. Bad news for birds, who can be killed by eating slugs containing metaldehyde, and bad news for your lettuces.

The new generation of 'organic' slug pellets gets round this problem. In years gone by, organic slug treatments were pretty ineffectual. Not so the new ones based on ferric salts. they are extremely good and actually work better in wet weather. They block the slug's gut and the slug, thinking it's had a good meal, goes somewhere quiet to digest. Except it dies instead. This is why you see no slime or corpses with the organic pellets. You'll find the bodies only if you look for them. The empty snail shells are easier to spot, of course.
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Look for Growing Success Advanced Slug Killer (B&Q does it) or Wilkinson's have their own version, on the sleves next to the metaldehyde type.
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HOT DRY WINDY WEATHER- oh dear!

21/7/2015

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Keeping newly-planted stuff and young seedlings from suffering in this weather isn't easy, especially if you work in the day and can only visit the plot in the evening.

You can help avoid plants drying out by erecting netting to give some shade and break the force of the drying wind. This is very useful for plants which don't like hot conditions, like lettuce for instance. The support doesn't need to be anything fancy as you aren't trying to completely enclose the plants, just give them some shade during the hottest part of the day and soften the effect of the wind.

For more tips on helping plants to cope with Kent's dry summers, click on Using Water Wisely to go to our advice section.
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Heatwave gardening

27/6/2015

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So, we're set for a heatwave? Good news for some, bad for those who don't like hot sticky weather. Here are our tips for avoiding the worst problems.
If humanly possible water last thing at night. Pour water directly on the roots rather than sprinkling.
Avoid getting water on leaves especially on hot mornings - it can cause scorching.
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If using liquid feeds use them more dilute - half strength - to avoid damaging roots with too-strong solution in dry conditions.
Don't spray pesticides in the morning in bright sunlight - wait till evening or when it's cloudy.
Newly planted seedlings can be scorched by bright sunlight if you move them staright out of a shaded greenhouse - "harden them off" to sunlight just as you would to frost.

Take care of yourself too: don't get sun stroke!
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I've only just got my allotment straight and the soil is a bit ropey in places. What are the best things to put in the rough spots?

29/5/2015

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Two crops are ideal for ropey old newly-cleared areas, couregttes (plus the squash family) and potatoes.

You'll still find seed potatoes around and you should be able to get them for next to nothing (10p a pack in B&Q last time I looked). It doesn't matter whether you choose a main crop or an earlt as we have a good long season here, but if you see one which is recommended as 'blight-resistant' that is a big plus when you are planting later than usual.
Don't worry about 'chitting' your seed potatoes (seen on the right) when planting late, just put them straight in.
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Late frosts

1/5/2015

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We have just had a rather sharp frost. One doesn't expect to be scraping ice off the car this late in the year. But just how late can we expect a frost in this part of Kent?
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The books say we can expect a frost any time up to the end of the first week in June. This would be most unusual - although some years ago a real below-zero frost killed all the tender stuff in late May. In general, you can be fairly sure that you are safe from mid-May onwards, although keeping a 'weather eye' on the forecasts is alway advisable.

Plants can be protected from a 'ground frost' (also know as a grass frost) by the lightest covering - a bit of net or a sheet of newspaper. The easiest way to get a good forecast for the week is to watch Countryfile on Sunday night!
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Is it too late to plant parsnips?

21/4/2015

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Parsnips need warm soil to germinate, and putting them in too early will result in poor germination. They may come up later when the soil warms up - and then again they may not. Funny things, parsnips.

You are surer of germination if you wait util the soil temperature has reached 5degC - Wilkinsons do a very cheap soil thermometer, a wise investment - and this has been a late spring with soil slow to warm up. Planting parsnip at any time to the end of April usually gives good results - even sowing them in early May isn't a disaster. Leave it too late and the soil may become too dry, and the parsnips not have time develop long roots before the summer sets in. However, if we get a wet cool spring, and you haven't had any success yet, it's worth a try.

Parsnip seed should be used fresh, so there isn't much to be gained by saving it for another season. Despite this, we've seen good results from one-year-old seed, so if you've had a failure, and have some of last year's seed left, pop it in.

Parsnips, like sprouts, only develop their full flavour after a frost, so don't try them as a summer vegetable, leave them in the ground to sweeten up.
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    Kent's climate is drier, hotter and has a longer growing season than the average for the UK. Advice in gardening books may not fit Kent. This blog has local tips on what will grow and when to do garden jobs.

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