THE NEWSLETTER OF THE LICHFIELD AND DISTRICT
ALLOTMENTS AND HOME GARDENS SOCIETY


SUMMER 2011

Chairman: Pat Barden (Moggs)
Treasurer: Paul Thompson
Secretary: Josie Allen (Home Garden)
Editor: Pat Barden (Moggs)

I hope you find something of interest in this issue, as usual please bear in mind that I am no expert, I'm just trying to give useful information to the experienced as well as encouragement to our many new allotmenteers.

SEASON TO DATE

Where do we start, after all we seem to have just about had everything this year. It started off with a very cold winter (killing those bugs hopefully) which was reported to be the coldest for 90 years. Then March & April arrived and again records were broken this time for the driest and hottest spring on record, the plus side was that we could prepare the plot in beautiful weather and make a early start to sowing, the downside was that the seedlings struggled to germinate evenly and watering did little to improve the situation. All in all May arrived and the plots were looking good, then around the 10th of the month we had a fairly severe frost which knocked back the potatoes, lets hope they recover as far as yields are concerned. Finally, by early June our efforts were paying off and it was great to see early crops of carrots, cabbage, onions and potatoes being harvested.

WATERING

For the benefit of some of our new allotment gardeners, I've been doing some research into the best times in a plants growth cycle to water. I read that it's generally agreed by most experts that vegetables need moist soils to give their best, a really good soak every two weeks is much more productive than simply sprinkling the surface. The trick is to water at key growth stages, cauliflowers, broccoli & lettuce benefit when the edible part starts to form, peas, beans & sweet corn on the other hand should be watered at the flowering stage whilst potatoes need buckets full when you first see the flower buds in order to get both plentiful & heavy tubers.

THEY SAY THAT BAD LUCK COMES IN THREE'S

CUTWORMS

Have you noticed your young plants being completely severed at soil level or wondered why a part of a row did not germinate when the rest of the row did, well it's likely to be cutworms. I've lost around 50% of my carrots & leeks this year to this pest, if you see a young carrot chopped off and laid down then have a scratch around in the top 2 inches of soil near it's base, here you will find the grub.

So, it's not a worm at all but the caterpillar of a nocturnal moth which only surfaces at night to feed on the stem sap of my carrots & leeks. The only good news is that we know what it looks like, the bad news is that there is very little you can do about it other than squashing it, no soil insecticides are available that I am aware of.

ALLIUM LEAF MINER

This leaf mining fly is now not only established throughout the Lichfield allotments but is reported to have spread virtually country wide, it attacks all Allium crops particularly leeks & onions. Whilst is has been identified in Europe for many years it did not arrive here until 2003 when it was discovered in Wolverhampton. This is now a very serious pest as it has the potential to totally destroy your crops during a heavy infestation, and at best it will render plants inedible.

The picture above shows the tell tale distorted leaves of onion plants during the early stages of grub attack. First generation adults emerge in late March - April and lay eggs around the base of leaves, or in the stalks of the plants. White/cream larvae hatch and feed inside the plant tissue before pupation. The grubs are tiny only 3-4mm long and cream or brown in colour. In leeks they are most easily found by peeling back the leaves when you will notice the brown tunnels or even the grubs and pupae. Second generation adults emerge October - mid November, lay their eggs and the cycle begins again. The pupae from this second generation is known to over-winter in the soil. I cannot stress the following 4 points strongly enough.

What you can do:-

• Please don't leave your infected plants to grow - they will not recover.
• Leaving them only ensures the next generation of grubs.
• Only grow alliums under fleece or environmesh tunnels.
• Destroy all infected plants.

POTATO BLIGHT

Blight (Phytophtora Infestans) along with slugs is the most common cause of despair amongst potato growers. The problem starts when summer temperatures rise above 15C and humidity reaches above 90%, conditions are then perfect for the spread of blight. Secondly, the fungus has the ability to spread from plot to plot via air, water and soil. The third factor is that the spores can survive the winter and reactivate the following spring when the climatic conditions are again right.

In the south of England it is largely endemic and growers there fully expect to suffer from blight in all but the driest of years. In the midlands the situation is not so acute but we can expect to suffer from it at some point. 2007 was the worst year in recent memory with crop failures nationwide, although 2008 was classed as a wet summer we escaped the ravages of the fungus until the end of August by which time most had lifted their crops.

The fungus remains alive in infected tubers left lying around the plot, in compost heaps and even in those carefully stored sets that you intend to use for next years seed. The first signs are brown spots or welts appearing on the leaves, once spotted quick action is vital. Cut off all the stems & foliage an inch above the soil surface, if caught quickly this action should stop the spread of fungus to the tuber, clear away the rotting foliage so that the spores do not wash into the soil, do not be tempted to compost them, let the council deal with them instead! Finally, you might as well then lift your potatoes as they are not going to grow any larger without foliage and to leave them only increases the chance of slug and disease damage.

Once you have detected the disease, cut off the tops and lifted your potatoes you will then have to check their condition on a regular basis, look out for soft wet patches with a telltale horrible smell, destroy these and any others that have been in contact with them.

So what else can you do, there are some products that you can spray on as a preventative measure throughout the growing season, but these are not a cure. Far better to grow second early varieties which will hopefully mature before blight hits.

TOP TIP

Fancy lifting top quality onions by early June? Then look out for Radar sets, I got mine from the Plant Pot last August, planted them early October under a mesh tunnel to keep the leaf minor off them, they are winter hardy and easily produce large bulbs many of which are 1.5 lbs in weight.

THIEVES ARE ABOUT

Following recent theft of produce from Christchurch Allotments can I ask that everyone is vigilant and on their guard especially to strangers walking around the plots. Secondly, it's very important that the gates are closed and locked if you are the last to leave the site, no matter how hard it may be raining or what time of day it is when you leave.

COMPOSTING PROJECT

Aren't you sick and tired of taking weeds and discarded crops to the Council Tip, or piling them into your brown bin at home, if the answer is yes then why not set yourself a worthwhile project this coming Autumn/Winter by building an inexpensive compost bin system. On the other hand if its not a chore to keep carrying it away and dumping it then consider the loss of nutrients from your plot and all that potential rich humus that you are wasting . Virtually all green matter including annual weeds can be composted, only perennial weeds and heavily diseased plants should be avoided.

Right I hear you say, (optimistic as ever) what do I need? Well to start with you ideally need to create two bins so that you can turn the material over from one to the other in order to speed up the composting process. The cheapest way that I know is to obtain 5 old wooden pallets and 10 round 5 foot stakes. You will also need some old planks to form the fronts of the bins as you build up your compost levels.

• Rake and level 2 sq metres of ground.
• Place a pallet on it's long edge to form the back edge of the bin and drive 2 stakes through the two layers of the pallet at either end.
• Position two more pallets at right angles to the first to make the sides, butting tightly together, fix with 2 more stakes per pallet in either corner as previously, you now have a 3 sided bin.
• Your 2 remaining pallets will enable you to form another back edge and another side, again butt tightly together and stake as before.
• Depending on whether they are really firm or not you may want to either wire or screw them together, also trim the top of each stake with a bow saw.
• Finally, cut the old planks for the fronts to the correct length and fix slats to form vertical guides to hold the front planks in place.

SHOW INVITATION

This is your personal invitation to our Summer Show which will be held on Saturday 20th August at the Curborough Community Centre, Reynolds Close, off Weston Road. We have included schedules and entry forms with this PP, staging takes place between 09.00 and 11.00 and the show is open to the public at 2.00pm.

If you appreciate having an allotment and the good work done by the site representatives, then please come along and support them.

So I make no apologies for asking you to support your society by at least coming along during the afternoon, better still it would be very much appreciated if you would show some of your produce. The truth is we need more exhibitors to show their flowers and vegetables or enter the domestic classes, otherwise the long term future of the show is in doubt. Please look upon it as your way of giving a little something back to your Allotment Society.

SITE REPRESENTATIVES

Each of our sites has one or more reps, their details are given below. Please make sure that you know your rep, we are there to help resolve any problems or queries that you may come across, if a query cannot be answered then you can be sure it will be taken to the monthly committee meeting for further consideration. However, please remember that your site rep is just a volunteer trying to give a little back to the society so that we can all get the most out of our precious plots.

Site	Representative	Telephone
The Moggs	Ashley Wain	411870
Beacon Street	Bob Bishton	418127
Netherstowe	Alan James	432575
	John Smart	300370
	Judith Kirby	255298
Cherry Orchard	Derek Oakes	253852
Christchurch	Heather Rourke	255991
Dovehouse Fields	Steve Potts	253043

VACANCY

We have a vacancy for a site representative to share the workload with Heather down at Christchurch, basically if you have a plot down there and are outgoing and friendly then we would like to hear from you.

Whilst we don't exactly have a job description, the main responsibilities are representing the plot holders interests at the monthly committee meeting and arranging viewings of vacant plots. If you can help and want to find out more then ring Pat Barden on 255306 or alternatively contact Heather on 255991.

CORRESPONDENCE

As you are aware we like to send out various bits of correspondence throughout the year in order to keep everyone informed about the society's news & events. Clearly, we want to keep our costs down and you may be able to help us with this.

* If you received Plot Post via the postal service then it means we have no email address on our records for you. If you have an email address then it would be helpful if you would let us know what it is, you can email either Josie at josieannallen@virginmedia.com or myself at pat.barden@sky.com with the details.

POLITE REMINDER

Don't forget to come along to the Show, myself and the rest of the committee will be very pleased to have your support and I feel confident that you will enjoy the experience.

Pat Barden