Field Study's Man in E11 reports from an allotment bed

7/9/2013 - Field Study's Man in E11 gets to work on Bed 5, Plot A of 'the farm'. This was one of our sub-tropical beds for the 2013 growing season. The raised bed was host to pumpkins (from seed saved in 2012), 3 Sisters (pumpkins/climbing beans - kew/sweetcorn), lauki (from Organiclea organised seed swap). The raised bed has an area of c. 10 square metres with a heavy clay soil base and a slightly low pH. The bed was also treated with rockdust in February. The bed was planted in early May, using a temporary polythene covering for frost/wind protection.   

The plants are beginning to die off.

The pumpkin plants are showing various signs of stress

The stems are beginning to die back from the pumpkin fruits.

Some of the fruits have been damaged/affected by pests and diseases.

Slug damage.

Slug.

Harvesting, weeding, light digging - leaving lauki in at end of bed.

Leaving in some self sown American Land Cress. There are also several self sown spinach plants.

Bindweed is one of the most prevalent weeds. The roots are composted or burned separately. 

Another application of rockdust - 20kg bag.

Rockdust application - 2kg per sq m.

Rockdust raked in.

Application of municipal compost sourced from North London Waste - 4 barrow loads to 10 sq m. There are some very heavy clay patches along the bed. 

Application of over wintering green manures - Phacelia and Crimson Clover. We use a 4 year rotation - Sub-tropicals/legumes/brassicas/roots. The next main crop for Bed 5 is legumes - to plant out in late May 2014 - thus there are 8-9 months to cultivate the bed in various other ways.

The green manure seed was raked and watered in

Phacelia sown in another bed 2-3 weeks ago.

The pumpkins harvested from Bed 5. The total weight is 29Kg / 66Ib plus the beans/sweetcorn/radishes/spinach/landcress and lauki. We might have got more pumpkin(s) had we been more diligent with pest control and the cultivation of the plants - cutting back extraneous growth. The pumpkins were liquid fed with 'comfrey tea' and a liquid manure derived from the North London Waste compost soaked in water. The larger pumpkins weigh c. 3-5Kg.  

Despite lamenting the curious demise or auto-destruction of the lauki there is one very substantial gourd growing at the end of Bed 5. Alas, recalling Field Study's Man in E17 (and his Rabelasian pretensions) this gourd is short, fat and slightly blemished compared to those 'ship's masts' and 'jousting lances' he hoped for. I am however very satisfied with this wonderfully stocky specimen.