Liz’s Allotment Life: Things don’t always go to plan
RHS Wisley Edibles Horticulturalist Liz Mooney shares what she’s sowing, growing and harvesting right now
It’s my hope that no one reading this blog comes away thinking everything on the allotment always goes perfectly. With a slightly quieter week on the plot, I thought I’d share a few mishaps and explain how I deal with them in an organic, wildlife-friendly way.
Current issues on the plot
Slugs
A mixed flower patch providing habitat for pollinators and natural predators on the plot
Pea and bean weevil
Notched leaf edges on broad beans – typical pea and bean weevil damage, but largely cosmetic and nothing to worry about
Frost damage
My potatoes were caught by a cold snap and blackened slightly. If they’d been further along, I might have covered them with horticultural fleece (I don’t earth-up my potatoes as I like to minimise soil disturbance), but only a few had emerged, so I decided to risk it and left them. Fortunately, they’re already recovering, showing healthy green underneath, and they should be fine.
Potato foliage blackened by a late frost has caused damaged leaves, but fresh growth is already emerging beneath
Raspberry runners
I love my autumn raspberries and they give me an excellent harvest, but they do like to try and take over the plot. Without barriers, they spread everywhere, so I dig them out where needed. I follow no-dig principles on my allotment, but this is one of those moments where a little soil disturbance is unavoidable.
A raspberry runner popping up out of place – one to dig out before it spreads further
Birds
Liz’s fruit cage with netting in place to protect the developing fruit
Mice
These hungry allotment residents wiped out an early sowing of broad beans in my grow hut. Now everything is wrapped in
Liz’s grow hut with crops covered in fleece to protect young plants from mice
Carrot root fly
A persistent visitor to carrots. I grow resistant varieties like ‘Flyaway’ or cover carrots with fleece from sowing to harvest to deal with them.Carrots covered with fleece to prevent carrot root fly laying eggs and damaging the roots
Other tasks on the plot
Watering
I am still hoping for rain. In the meantime, I’ve been down three times this week to water. I'm not sure how much hope I have for the parsnips – they're tricky to germinate even with rain.
Weeding
A few are appearing now. I’m relaxed about them appearing in empty beds, but I weed by hand carefully between crops.
Checking seedlings
Last week’s sowings are starting to germinate, including cabbage.
Harvesting
I am still relying on perennial vegetables at the moment, with harvests of asparagus, lovage, salad burnet, chives and garlic chives. My first lettuce is nearly ready, so I look forward to that.
Crop of the week: Winter purslane (Claytonia perfoliata)
I love this crop and feel it should be more widely grown. I direct sowed it in early October, watered once and left it. No winter protection needed. I’ve been harvesting since late February, with this likely the final week. It’s a cut-and-come-again annual with succulent leaves that are great in salads or stir-fries (especially with soy sauce). As it flowers, stems elongate and leaf production slows, so it’s nearly time to clear it for a spring crop. The stems and flowers are still tasty and edible, but there are not many more leaves, so it is time to replace them with a new spring crop.
Winter purslane at the end of its season, with flowering stems elongating and signalling it’s time to clear and replant
Coming up on the plot
I am heading off on holiday soon, so this week will be about getting the plot ready to fend for itself with my absence.
