Tag Archives: Allotments

Compost at the Plot

On the 7th October 2010 at Allotment Plot at MERL in the Autumn sunshine, it was time to harvest and remove the Sweetcorn form the Plot. The corn ears were collected and the canes were cut leaving the roots in the soil to decompose. The Sunflowers seed heads were cut off and saved then plants cut down. Other seeds were collected from the Borage, Pot Marigold and Mint (the seeds were later laid out to dry in Ella Montt’s studio). The Dwarf Beans Royalty were removed from the Plot. One pyramid of Bamboo canes was disconnected from the others and removed from the Plot, the pyramid had supported Blauhide and Blue Lake Climbing Beans; these were cut down. The vacated areas of the Plot were gently forked over, leaving the roots of the cut down plants intact so that they will return any possible nutrients to the soil. The earth was easy to manipulate. The plant remainders that had been removed were left to one side of the Plot.

Allotment 7/10/10 allotment167

Bricks were collected in a wheelbarrow from a pile across the garden. The bricks were arranged in a rectangular form of a raised bed where the Sweetcorn had previously been growing. The discarded Sweetcorn, Sunflower and Climbing Bean Plants were chopped up and placed into the raised bed to decompose back to the soil. Compost was also collected from across the garden and a thin layer was applied to the plant mixture in the raised bed. This raised bed will now act as a compost facility on the Plot. Any plant removed from the Plot will be composted there.

Bricks for the Plot

The harvest for the day was as follows: 14 ears of Sweetcorn = 1lb 5oz = 600g; Courgette Soleil F1 = 2oz = 60g; Climbing Beans Blauhide = 3oz = 80g and Blue Lake = 3oz = 80g; Runner Beans Painted Lady = 110z = 340g.

Bricks on Plot

Thirty Days Have September

Thirty days have September… on 30/09/2010 at the Allotment Plot at MERL the clouds sat over the garden, but they were not as heavy and low as the three preceding days and there was a faint chance that sun could break through later or it could rain or both (both). The month of October loomed peeping and edging closer as every minute passed. The end of one growing season and the start of a new growing season looms, the over wintering will begin. A need to make space for this action in the limited Plot area is becoming more necessary as the days pass. The Climbing Beans leaves are starting to look like they have endured chilling over night temperatures as the autumnal hours of daylight diminish. It feels like it will be an early winter, but the weather is unpredictable and warmth can seep back when it is least expected yet yearned for.

Allotment September

In a week when it is announced in the media that one in five plant species are in danger of extinction through human activity an underlying fact is emphasized that plant life is the basis of all life on Earth. The Cosmos Cosmea blooms attracting insects for late pollination, where other flowering plants have faded with the last remaining days of summer. Late in the season the Squash plants are determined to sustain a chance of production.

Squash baby

Harvest commences: Dwarf Beans Royalty 1.5oz = 40g; Rainbow Chard = 3oz =75g; Kale Pentland Brig = 1oz = 30g; Climbing French Beans Blue Lake = 5oz = 140g; and Blauhide = 1.5oz = 40g; Runner Beans = 9oz = 260g; Herbs, Parsley, Sage, Marjoram, Basil and Mint.

Cosmos Cosmea & Insect

Raining on the Plot

On 23rd September 2010 autumnal weather had taken a firm grip and it was raining on the Plot at MERL. The Sweetcorn still looked healthy, but it will need to stay put on the Plot for a few more weeks if it is to be of any substance. Sadly the previous months of consistent dry weather had taken their toll on the Kale Red Russian Curled plants. The plants no longer had the ability to produce leafy foliage so they were uprooted from the soil. The displaced plants were left to compost themselves back to the soil from whence they came. The Courgettes Soleil F1 were still growing slowly without visible harassment and so were left to continue their life span as part of the Plot. A Squash that was formed a few weeks ago is suspended in the air, its plumping action in full force, it sits beside the fruitless flowering Aubergine, fruitless in two ways the first because it has not born fruit and the second underlining its fruitlessness (unsuccessful). The new carrots are germinating.

Squash & Sqaush Flower

A flurry of activity happened when Ella Montt decided to uproot the blighting Tomatoes from the Plot. The plants, which considering the length of time they endured before they could be planted out because of the cold spring, have up until now produced well. A sense of relief was felt as the plants were allowed to relax into the compost box across the garden. Some say that blighted tomato plants should never enter a compost system, but these plants were not inflicted to a worst degree and will not affect future plantings in the garden. Next the Onions Red Baron were dug out from the Plot, their growth had not been successful again attributed to lack of water in drought like conditions. They will however be saved to be replanted next year on Plot 326 in a further experiment in growing. Space is slowly opening up to plant the over wintering vegetables.

Space on the Plot

Harvesting commenced: Climbing Beans French Beans Blauhide =1oz = 20g and Blue Lake = 6.5oz = 180g; Tomatoes = 2lb7oz = 1.5kg; Runner Beans = 13oz = 400g.

Energetic Force Field

16/09/2010 in the garden at MERL at the Allotment Plot, Ella Montt harvested a small Squash that had unfortunately been attacked by something with teeth. Glistening trails were detected as the evidence of slug and snail activity, this kind of activity has been thankfully minimal, presumably because of the dry weather conditions this growing year. The Sweetcorn need to accelerate their growth in order to be edible if not their destiny will be compost material. Cosmos Cosmea pink will continue to flower for the next few weeks, the white Cosmos’s life force has faded as has the Sunflowers, the latter is concentrating its energetic capacity in seed generation. The Leeks are growing, but slender, beans continue to be prolific and reach for the sky. It was decided that two small Soleil F1 Courgettes would be left to survive another week on the Plot to maximize their growth, will they be attacked or will their energetic force field hold and not be penetrated, only time will tell. The temperature of the days and nights are dropping, the evenings are getting darker, the angle of the sun is shifting, Autumn is on its way. Green Manure seeds Phacelia Tanacetifolia were scattered on the Plot (to be dug in before flowering, some flowers can be left to attract biodiversity). Sweetcorn Cosmea 2

Harvesting commenced: Tomatoes = 1lb4oz = 560g; Kale Pentland Brig 1oz = 40g; Squash Green Hokkadio = 4oz = 100g; Dwarf Bean Royalty = 1oz = 40g; Runner Beans = 12oz = 340g; Climbing French Beans Blue Lake = 12oz = 340g and Blauhide 2oz = 50g.

The complication of Fine Art Practice Based PhD research should not be under estimated.

Slender Leeks

Plot 326

Plot 326 tenancy started on 24th August 2010. The key to the plot arrived in the mail on 27th August and the first visit to the new Plot took place on the 28th August, subsequent visits to the Plot have taken place since then and will continue on a regular basis. The whole Allotment site is extensive and the waiting list for this particular site at Bulmershe is long and now at the numerical figure of 88. When Ella Montt signed up to the waiting list in November 2010 the waiting list was half the number as it currently stands, this would suggest that there is a fairly active turnover of Plot holders, but it may also suggest that individual flux is a reality in society as a whole and that static living is not a common factor for many.

Gaining tenancy was and still is an exciting moment for Ella Montt who now became an Allotment Holder. The experimental Plot at MERL will now have a research area not just in the historic garden at MERL, but Ella Montt would also become part of or linked in to Allotment History on a town site that has been in existence for many years, a space that has much history of its own. Ella Montt will share the people’s rights to growing space for food. Allotments in the United Kingdom were originally set up for the working classes, poor or unemployed people when they were denied access to land through the Inclosure Acts. The parliamentary Acts were a gradual process from medieval times but the passing of these Acts accelerated around the 18th to 19th Century. The rich often appropriated Common Land that was once open to all and the people were denied access to growing space or to forage for fuel wood and food. A mass exodus from the rural areas at this time, because of lack of work and means of support coincided with industrial revolution, towns and cities began to grow rapidly, and space was needed as part of both the rural village and urban areas for the workers or unemployed to grow food for subsistence.

Various Allotment Acts were passed over many years to allow the right to land with in a given area. Much like strip farming of medieval days this land was divided up and rented to the Growers. During the 1914-18 War, because food was needed, the demographic of allotment holder grower changed to be not just the poor, but also anyone who was able to implement this action. In WW2 1939-45 Allotment land was converted from any land, garden, or park space that could be made available. The need for food is universal, so this was a parallel affect in other countries affected by war at this time.

The popularity of access to Allotment space comes and goes. For some individuals they have asserted their right to this growing space for many years. In recent years awareness that being able to grow ones own food can be beneficial in many ways. It is an enjoyable way to maintain health through outdoor activity, food can be grown without the use of pesticides or genetic modification, biodiversity and wildlife can be encouraged through companion planting, one can grow food without contributing to air miles, the food tastes better than anything bought from a supermarket, the food is fresher, one will know how it is grown, it can be an act that deflates the power of the supermarket through autonomy, but does not support individuals who are in business as Growers. An Allotment site is a social space, in order to maintain an individual Plot and achieve vegetable self-sufficiency it takes planning and labour.

The first visit to Plot 326 was the start of a new adventure. On entering the big iron gates a series of social interactions was initiated, including welcoming deposits of runner beans and over sized courgettes from various other Allotment Holders. Ella Montt’s Plot was at the furthest end of the field site. A timely reminder was noted that panniers would be needed on the bike for transporting various items both to and from the Plot. With assistance from a map of the Allotment space and another Allotment Holder the Plot‘s position was defined. A survey of the new Plot discovered that it was cultivated in a small percentage area by the previous tenant, but the majority of the Plot space was covered in weed plants with bountiful seed heads and brambles.

An Apple Tree is at one end of the Plot. The tree is over grown and in need of pruning with some of its boughs trailing onto the floor. When the tree was flowering in Spring it must have been covered in blossom, because now it is covered in Apples, which unfortunately, because of it being over grown and over capacity, means a lot of the Apples are being wasted on the ground. Some of the fruits have since been gathered but as yet it is too early for them to be ripe and because they are eating apples they are not fluffy when they are cooked, but they are usable for cooking. It was reported from the Allotment Holder at 328A that last year there was only one Apple on the tree and in October it was very tasty.

Working on the Allotment Plot has revealed the soil seems good, but the Plot is known to flood in the winter. Gradually the Plot will be dug over, a choice was made not to rotovate it, because although rotovation would break up the soil quickly it would turn the seed heads and brambles under the soil, which will create even more work at a later date. The next few weeks will see more space clearing when time allows in preparation for over wintering vegetables and fruit planting.

The Shade of the Mulberry Tree

At The Allotment Plot at MERL on 2nd September 2010, even though the day had started off with a chill in the air, the sunshine was once again hot and bright. Last week there had been substantial rain, but the soil was already drying out. The Plot‘s growth was gradual. There were no dramatic changes. The reality of plant growth on an allotment is part of nature that humans seek to control through the act of cultivation. Ella Montt surveyed the Plot and then sat in the shade of the Mulberry tree, avoiding the direct rays of the blazing sun. Cultivation can be a fine art; the reality of nature can be an organic wonder of unpredictable magnitude.

Allotment 2/9/10

There is minimal harvesting to do, because the produce needs to grow more. The Squashes are disappointing in their lack of development. Ella Montt will need to work on the fertility of the soil through composting and the planting of more green manures over the autumn and winter months. Squashes can thrive well if grown on compost heaps. Cosmos Cosmea‘s is beginning to unfold its pink petals to create beauty within the Plot. The Beans are reaching for the sky!

Allotment Plot 02/09/2010

Harvest commenced: French Climbing Beans Blue Lake = 8oz = 220grams and Blauhide = 2oz = 40grams; Runner Beans = 2oz = 40grams; Tomatoes = 7oz = 200grams; Carrots Amsterdam Forcing 2.5oz = 60grams; 2 Dwarf Beans Royalty.

Beans reaching for the sky

MERL Allotment and Plot 326

At the Allotment Plot on 27th August 2010, after a few days of consistent rain, Ella Montt observed that the Climbing Beans had not yet taken full advantage of the horizontal bamboo canes that were erected on a previous visit. The Beans continued to reach for the sky in the style of a Jack and the Beanstalk action. The Fenugreek seeds have sprouted and are growing.

The day was a historic for Ella Montt in terms of the Allotment Plot and Allotment history. A new part of the Plot revealed itself. Earlier in the week, an electronic notification in the form of email had declared to Ella Montt that Allotment Plot tenancy was imminent at one of Reading town’s Allotment sites. On the 27th August before arriving at the Plot at MERL the tenancy agreement had arrived in the mail, along with the new Allotment key for Plot 326. At the time of signing up to the Allotment waiting list in November 2009, there were at least 38 individuals on the list for this particular Allotment site; in early August the numbers on that list for that site had risen to 75. The numeric nature of the list suggests that Allotment holders come and go, some have the same plot for years, others are in transit and the Allotment is a fleeting part of their reality. Allotment history is written into the tenancy agreement the dates of Acts passed in 1908 and 1950 it seems are still relevant today. The Allotment Plot and the work of Ella Montt will expand to work both the MERL Allotment and Plot 326.

Ella Montt adjusts the focus of the Plot to examine the growing activity on the Plot at MERL. Small Sweetcorn ears are forming. The Pepper plant looks like it was a one Pepper wonder, the weather conditions are defeating the plant, it is perhaps to cool now at night to allow the plant to flourish and produce more flowers for fertilization, the Aubergine is also not succeeding to produce fruit even though it flowered a few weeks a go. All other vegetable plants are achieving produce, but not at an accelerated rate. A surprise Cucumber is discovered. Cucumbers can be a resilient and pro active in their growing procedures. A Blue Lake Climbing Bean has decided to grow using a Sunflower as a physical support. Beneficial insects are actively enjoying the Pot Marigolds and the Sunflowers.

Harvesting commenced: French Climbing Beans Blue Lake 14oz = 400grams; Blauhide = 3oz = 90grams; Rainbow Chard = 2oz = 60grams; Tomatoes = 13oz = 370grams; Courgette 1.5oz = 40grams; Kale Pentland Brig 1.5oz = 40grams; Pot Marigold seeds = 1oz = 20grams.

Fenugreek – An Aromatic Culinary Ingredient and Green Manure

At the Allotment Plot at MERL on 19 August 2010 it was noted that some of the plants look a little yellow, particularly the Sweet Corn, Squashes and Tomatoes, this could be that they have been under watered or over watered, the former seems more likely than the latter. The plants have not been lacking sunlight so chlorophyll molecules photosynthesis work that give plants their green colour should not have been impeded. Although it had rained during the night, the soil looked fairly dry. The first row of Lettuce Marvel of the Four Seasons had finished producing and roots were extracted from the ground then left to decompose in to the soil. Meanwhile the Sunflowers glow radiated the cloudy day.

Squash and Sweet Corn

Sunflower with Bee

Ella Montt was preparing to film part of the Plot when two visitors came into the garden to sit at a bench nearby so that they could eat lunch and converse. The Museum’s garden is a public space. Ella Montt, at this moment, did not want to record private conversation, so worked on other areas of the Plot before sitting to consume lunch and then resumed the quest to film the Plot once the visitors were gone. Part of the Plot on that day, was to plant some green manure in any spaces available. The chosen green manure seeds from Tamar Organics was Fenugreek, it is quick growing and should be ready in to dig in ten weeks time, around mid October. The plant is a legume. The aromatic seeds and leaves of Fenugreek are both used extensively in cooking, particularly in curries.

A small green Squash is growing, the other Squash plants are still lacking in female flowers. A first harvest of Spring Onions White Lisbon became part of the day’s action. The Pot Marigold continue to flower producing quantities of seeds, those that had darkened and dried were harvested into an empty seed packet for distribution at a later stage. Thoughts turn to scattering the seeds in Guerrilla Gardening format or seed swaps. The Marigolds will perhaps self-seed as has both the Borage and Chamomile. Harvesting of other crops commenced with Herbs, Basil, Mint, Marjoram, and Chives. Harvesting of other crops commenced with Herbs, Basil, Mint, Marjoram, and Chives; followed by Rainbow Chard = 2oz = 60grams, Kale Pentland Brig = 3oz = 80grams, Tomatoes = 11oz = 320grams, French Climbing Beans ~ Blauhide 2oz = 60grams = and Blue Lake = 6oz = 20grams, and 1 Runner Bean = 1oz = 20grams.

Ella Montt has been considering the growth of the Climbing Beans up the four supporting bamboo pyramid structures. Some of the plants have climbed past the pyramid structures and are searching the sky for support. More bamboo canes were hunted out and collected from the shed across the garden then delivered to the Plot. Ella Montt attached the bamboo horizontally from one pyramid to the next; all of the pyramids are now linked at their zeniths so that the climbing and runner beans can continue to grow to optimize their plant constructions. Ella Montt wishes to enhance the Beans growth potential to compensate for Brassica failure. In any given season the harvest that a crop will produce can be unpredictable at the outset, because of weather conditions, disease, predators and unforeseen chance happenings, Ella Montt has to adopt a flexible working strategy to maintain the balance of available produce.

Climbing Beans

A New Allotment Site and The Plot

12 August 2010 – Two weeks had passed since the Ella Montt had visited the Allotment Plot. The Plot had not become chaotic, but was growing steadily. Ella Montt had visited a new Allotment site in rural South West England. The Allotment site had started cultivation in March this year after a village had decided to search out a field that could be converted into Allotment growing space. A village can have the advantage of negotiating new Allotment growing space from a landowner, if the village is in closer proximity to land as opposed to a city or town, however the negotiation always depends on the location of the village and the situation of the land, what it is already used for and who “owns” the land.

New Allotment Site

Back at Ella Montt’s growing Plot at MERL, there was more research to be done. Ella Montt kneels on the ground and carefully digs the earth to uncover any remains of the buried Sweet Potato. The disturbance of the earth reveals a hardened lump that is barely distinguishable as the original tuber, it would seem that it was still composting, but producing very fine shoots or roots in the process. However the roots could be in themselves part of decomposition, a breakdown of nutrients absorbing themselves into the soil. The remains of the Sweet Potato are gently recovered and will not be disturbed again, but the area will be monitored for any signs of shoot growth. The Sweet Potato experiment will resume at the start of the growing season in 2011 as mentioned previously.

The day’s weather is overcast; warm, but not overly so and somewhat humid. Ella Montt’s attention turns to other details of the Plot through an assessment of vegetation growth activity. Both Kales, Pentland Brig and Red Russian Curled, are not appreciating this summers weather conditions, harvesting of both will commence without further delay. The Aubergine Black Beauty has two flowers. One small Squash has formed on a plant, but all of the Squash plants are being slow to grow and not producing the needed female flowers in order to form Squashes. Squashes are a good source of food for the winter, because they can be stored. The Sweet Corn plants are starting to flower, but they are not tall enough to produce good ears. More Cosmos plants are growing.

Aubergine Flowers Tomatoes

Harvesting commenced: Lettuce Marvel of the Four Seasons = 4oz = 100grams; Rainbow Chard = 4.5oz = 115grams; Kale Pentland Brig = 7.5oz = 200grams; Kale Red Russian Curled = 4oz = 110grams; 1 Runner Bean; 1 green Pepper = 1oz = 20grams; 1 Courgette Patriot F1 1oz = 20grams; 1 Courgette Soleil F1 = 7oz = 200grams; Dwarf Beans Royalty = 1oz = 20grams; 7 Tomatoes 2.5oz = 65grams; French Climbing Beans Blauhide = 6oz = 175grams and Blue Lake = 5oz = 145grams.

In an effort to work towards achieving vegetable growing self-sufficiency through the Plot some more seeds were planted close to Sweet Corn. Seeds planted were Oriental Saladini, Borecole Nero Di Toscana, and more Carrot Amsterdam Forcing.

Ella Montt sits next to Allotment Plot reading The Living Soil by author Eve Balfour. This book, first published in 1943 by Faber and Faber, was an informative research text that assisted in the initial formation of the Soil Association. An original copy of Lady Eve’s book sits across the garden in MERL’s reading library archive. Chapter III HUMUS is being read again today. Whilst reading, a woman and her child is silently observed removing seed heads from the prolific Pot Marigolds, she places the collected seeds in a paper bag. Earlier the woman had been seen to be amused by the Heavy Metal CD pigeon deterrents.

Pot Marigolds

In search of the Rhizomatic

Sunflower on the Allotment Plot

16 July 2010 – A light weeding of the Allotment Plot is performed. The Marigolds are in full bloom. A question hangs in the air – whether or not to harvest any Kale Red Russian? Or to leave the leaves until they grow larger? The cut and come again method can prolong the harvest time. Perhaps the Carrots should also be thinned? Or not? They can be left to plump up perhaps, as part of the on going growing experiment? The same questions hang over the Leeks and Parsnips; to thin or not to thin? Ella Montt ponders the Plot. There is currently not much room to plant new seeds. There are no signs of madness staring into the face of a Sunflower.

Rainbow Chard harvested 6oz = 160 grams.

Red Russian Kale Sunflower

22 July 2010 – (Writing this at the Allotment Plot). Rain showers fell this morning; sun is now shining. At the Allotment Plot everything is growing slowly. The red-tinged Lettuce Marvel of the Four Seasons is bolting, so harvesting will commence. Brassicas are growing under the influence of Heavy Metal. In searching for the rhizomatic vegetable an experiment was attempted to sprout shoots known as slips from Sweet Potatoes. The Sweet Potatoes had been suspended in water for one week, but no shoots had appeared from the vegetable. At the Allotment Plot, a hole was dug for a Sweet Potato, which was then buried under the soil to see if that would result in the growth of slips. The Sweet Potato would be unearthed in a week’s time to check on any developments. Sweet Potatoes are a vegetable that grow in a vine like format which is a rhizomatic construction. The leaves of the plant grow above the soil and the shoots grow tubers under the soil whilst growing more slips in different directions which then grow more tubers. A Sweet Potato plant with the right temperature and growing conditions can grow to cover an entire area, which in a sense is truly rhizomatic.

Sweet Potato

Black Fly on the companion planting Pot Marigolds had Ladybirds in attendance. Cabbage White Butterflies fluttered by, fortunately and as yet, there are no signs of their Caterpillars. The season will follow soon. The hungry Caterpillars can be removed from Brassicas to companion planting to avoid total crop devastation. A few Fennel plants are appearing. Weeding action was suspended this week in order to attract more biodiversity. Rainbow Chard harvested = 4oz = 110grams. Marvel of the Four Seasons Lettuce harvested = 6oz = 160grams.

Blackfly and Ladybird

29 July 2010 – On arrival at the Allotment Plot there seemed to be no signs of any rhizomatic growth action by the Sweet Potato, in order to verify this claim, the buried Sweet Potato was unearthed. The Sweet Potato was starting to decompose under the soil, composting itself and not growing any slips. The Sweet Potato was covered again with soil; it will be checked again in a week or two’s time to confirm any results. In search of the rhizomatic, if the Sweet Potato fails to produce the desired slips, the experiment will continue in 2011 at the start of the growing season.

Weather conditions of the day were warm, humid and still very dry. The artist, acting as grower initiated weeding action. Different types of bees and insects were visiting the Plot. Cabbage White Butterflies were not deterred by the fading words on the Pigeon defense mechanisms Heavy Metal CDs. The words will need to reapplied. The Brassicas are growing, but could be attacked at any time by the hatching Caterpillars. Ella Montt continues weeding.

Green Tomatoes are forming and a Pepper. The Pot Marigolds continue to grow prolifically, enjoying the weather. Plants can prefer different types of soil, amounts of water, temperatures and weather conditions. Ella Montt acting as a grower planted more plants as potential rhizomes. Creeping Thyme and Strawberries plants that send out runners in different direction to form new sections of the extend plant.

Strawberry Plant

Pepper

Both Kales Pentland Brig and Red Russian Curled are almost ready for cut and come again harvesting. A few purple Dwarf Beans Royalty 1.5oz = 40grams and climbing Blauhide Beans 2oz = 60grams were harvested, also some Marvel of the Four Seasons Lettuce 2oz = 60grams, some Rainbow Chard 5oz = 140grams and a yellow Courgette Soleil F1 2oz = 60grams. There are only male flowers on the other squashes so far.

Blauhide allotment122

Ella Montt dug two holes in order to plant the wooden legs of a sign carved a few days before in the studio. The sign is made from old wood the is recycled from the fixed up greenhouse. The letters of Ella Montt’s blog address were carved into the wood. The sign was planted and is now part of Ella Montt’s Allotment Plot.

Allotment Plot Sign