Learning Day for Leeds Allotment Plotholders
Category: Announcements
Big Garden Bird Watch 27-29 January 2023
RSPB’s annual bird count. Everyone can take part.
Allium Leaf Miner in November
Cover leeks, onions, garlic through November.
The horrible little allium leaf miner flies are still active through November, so it is a good idea to protect crops like leeks and autumn planted garlic and onions with fine mesh, as recommended by the RHS.
Winter Pruning Apples and Pears
Between Nov. and early March in UK.
Winter pruning of apples and pears is best done while the trees are dormant, usually between November and early March in the UK. Here are three useful articles from the RHS that explain what to do for different types of pruning:
- For young standard or bush-trained trees
- Regulated pruning to keep trees from getting too big
- For renovating old or neglected trees
Restricted forms like cordons and espaliers are managed by summer pruning.
Hosepipe Ban – Correction
It affects allotments, too.
Several people have pointed out that the itv article was incorrect (thanks!), and we are allowed to water our food crops with a hosepipe:
A hosepipe can be used for watering food crops but not for general flowers and plants. Where you can, we’d encourage you to use a watering can to save on the volume of water which is used through traditional hosepipes. It’s best to water in the morning or evening, as that means the water won’t evaporate quickly in the sunshine.
Yorkshire Water web site.
Watering dry, bare soil requires patience. It can take a long time for the water to soak in, as shown in this clever little video.
A layer of mulch helps prevent evaporation from the soil, and it also helps the soil soak up water more quickly. I’ve seen a great little video showing this, but I can’t find it just now…
Autumn Show 2022
Have a go!
Our Autumn Show for 2022 is a bit earlier than usual this year: Sunday 4 September. You can download the Schedule as a PDF. Our member Peter Blakey has compiled some useful tips for showing the most common veg.
Summer Pruning: Apples and Pears
When and how to do it.
There is a very useful article about summer pruning for apples and pears on the RHS website – good advice about when and how to it.
Allium leaf miner damage
Many onion crops ruined.
Many of our onion crops have been ruined this year by allium leaf miner. We started to notice them on our alliums (onions, leeks, garlic, etc.) in 2020, but this year the damage is the worst so far. More information here.
Monbiot on Soil
Monbiot on soil and the future of food.
Here is an article by George Monbiot on soils, and how we might nurture them in order to keep producing food in years to come.
Gardening Without Pesticides
A useful guide to gardening without pesticides
The Pesticide Action Network has produced a useful guide to gardening without pesticides. The link for the download is about 2/3 of the way down the page.