Tag Archives: Bamboo

Peas, Fence, Frame, Destruction

10th July 2011 – Allotment Plot 326 – Harvest: Peas Ezeta’s Krombek Blauwschokker = 5oz = 150g, Oregon Sugar Pod II = 5.5oz = 160g, a mix of Kelvedon Wonder, Ambassador and Meteor = 1lb 3oz = 550g.

12th July 2011 – Allotment Plot 326 – R&P helped to erect some of the fence around the Plot. The first gate was placed in position. The fence that was being erected around Plot 326 might suspend the rabbits from eating any plant they desired, but it would not deter the growth of unwanted plants.

A new allotment holder had moved in to the plot next to 326 and placed carpet off-cuts on the soil to try to hinder the growth of unwanted plants, such as the brambles. Some seeds can live in the soil for many years before they germinate. It is a slow process to eradicate perennials and is better to calm their growth by not allowing the seeds to spread over the Plot. However many plants that are considered weeds can be beneficial in all kinds of ways, by attracting biodiversity, acting as green manure, fixing nitrogen, activating compost or acting as food for the vegetable plants.

14th July 2011 – Allotment Plot at MERL – It is two weeks since Ella Montt had visited this part of the Plot. The garden had been involved in graduation activity. Ella Montt brought black bamboo canes to the Plot, in order to construct a frame that would connect the six smaller bamboo assemblages together. The day was warm, day and there was no chance of rain. The soil was parched. Ella Montt attached the black bamboo canes with stripes of plant material connecting the upper part of the series of six bamboo assemblages. The larger Bamboo Wigwam remained central to the Plot within the frame of the other bamboo. the Climbing Beans at the base of the Wigwam had not yet started to ascend the frame.

The plant residue in the Brick Composter had dried out. Ella Montt harvested the Comfrey and Nettle leaves that were growing there and scattered them over the compost as an activator. The other companion plants were flowering, but there was no sign of the orange Cosmos yet, only the pink and white. A Bee visited the Cosmos. Nigella (Love-in-the-Mist) was flowering within the Plot although it had not been planted there.

The first few Climbing Beans were harvested and a good handful of Wild Rocket. Harvest: an assortment of 10 x Climbing Beans = 2oz = 40g; Wild Rocket = 4oz = 100g.

15th July 2011 – Allotment Plot 326 – Harvest: Peas Ezeta’s Krombek Blauwschokker = 1lb 1oz = 480g, Oregon Sugar Pod II = 2.5oz = 60g, a mix of Kelvedon Wonder, Ambassador and Meteor = 8oz = 220g.

Unknown beings continued to eat the Pea leaves in a destructive manner. The destruction was viewed by from Ella Montt, but not by the unknown beings, who consumed the Pea leaves as their vital food source, and left the Pea pods undamaged.

Mid Summer

23rd June 2011 – Allotment Plot at MERL – One of the Comfrey plants in the Brick Composter was starting to grow out of the Composter. Comfrey can be harvested regularly through the growing season to be used as a plant food and as a compost activator.

Ella Montt adjusted some of the Climbing Beans to encourage them to grow up the Bamboo. The Beans that had been planted by the Bamboo looked healthier than the plants grown to seedlings and then planted out. Ella Montt harvested a mixture of Peas and also the onions, because their foliage had collapsed. Some of the Carrots had failed; they were removed to the Brick Composter. It is a very unpredictable growing year. Seeds were harvested from the herb plants Chive and Sage. The Borage, Cosmos and Pot Marigolds plants were coming out, a number had self-seeded from last years planting, others Ella Montt had placed on the Plot. Ella Montt planted six Tomato plants where she had removed the Carrots, these were; 2 x Chadwick, 2 x Koralik, and 2 x Brandywine, .

It was Midsummer, across the garden was a braying Donkey, and a Wall appeared with a chink through which Pyramus and Thisbe attempted to kiss.

23rd June – Allotment Plot at MERL – Harvest: Onions Swift = 2lb 10oz = 1.2kg; Peas, Ezeta’s Krombek Blauwschokker = 2oz = 60g, a mix of the green Peas = 13oz = 380g.

26th June – Allotment Plot 326 – Harvest: Kale Red Russian Curled = 4oz = 100g; Peas Oregon Sugar Pod II = 2oz = 60g.

29th June – Allotment Plot 326 – Ella Montt planted more Climbing and Dwarf Bean seeds. Birds or other wildlife seemed to be eating and flattening the leaves of the Peas. The Pea plants looked chaotic, but luckily were producing produce. Ella Montt made a mental note for next year that it was not enough to put a net fence around the Peas with sticks for supports. The Peas needed to be able to climb up strong supports, be fenced in and have anti bird CDs hanging as a defense mechanism. So far Ella Montt had not deployed any Heavy Metal CDs at Allotment Plot 326, this was perhaps a mistake on her part that needs to be rectified. If it is one-thing birds do not seem to sing a long to, it is heavy metal music. The Perpetual Spinach that was already growing on the Plot when Ella Montt acquired it, is developing seeds, which will be allowed to continue to form until ready for harvesting and seed saving.

Harvest: Peas Oregon Sugar Pod II = 7oz = 180g.

30th June – There had been Wood Imps that came through a wormhole portal by the woods next to the Allotments. The Imps had caused havoc by breaking things. Captain Swing was unimpressed. Ella Montt and Captain Swing had seen some of the Imps watching them while they were working. The Imps were hiding behind piles of compost and then a shed. Ella Montt had spoken to the Wood Imps that she found in a hollow under a pile of large oak trees that had experienced deforestation. The Imps were not yet mature. A whisper passed around that the Allotment that the Wood Imps were seized and taken to a Panopticon.

At Allotment Plot at MERL, William Morris was waiting by the doorway wearing an elaborate print in shades of black and gold. The morning started off bright and sunny, but by midday dark clouds started to assemble over head.

Ella Montt planted out the last of Celery and Celeriac seedlings, (the seedlings that were planted at Plot 326 were not doing very well). Ella Montt started to remove the rest of the Pea plants, because they had stopped flowering and were descending to the ground. The Peas were harvested and the Pea plant residue was placed in to the Brick Composter. Slugs and snails that had been hiding under the Pea foliage were moved to different locations in the garden. In the place where Ella Montt had removed the Peas, she planted out four more Tomato plants, these were; 2 x Koralik and 2 x Brandywine.

Ella Montt inspected the Climbing Beans at each Bamboo station, then the remaining Bean seeds were taken from the packets and planted next to the Bamboo. At both Allotment Plots, although it was still early in the season, Ella Montt remained unconvinced that the Climbing Beans were going to grow successfully this year.

The sun came out and there was no rain, so Ella Montt fetched the watering can from the shed. Borage, Pot Marigold, Cosmos and a Dwarf Sunflower had opened their petals to flower, as had male Squash flowers, but not yet female Squash Flowers. Ella Montt broadcasted a mixture of seeds around the Plot, they consisted of Fenugreek (to act as green manure), Leaf Beat Swiss Chard, Rainbow Chard, Perpetual Spinach, Rhubarb Chard, Dill, Onion Ramrod, Coriander Santos, and Florence Fennel Romanesco.

Harvest: Peas (a mixture) = 1lb3oz = 540g.

4th July – Allotment Plot 326 – Harvest: Peas Oregon Sugar Pod II = 7oz = 200g.

June 15th and 16th

The previous evening (June 15th), Ella Montt had travelled with William Morris up the river to visit a group of humans who wished to hear Morris speak at a social space. The place was where it is oval down by the gasworks, a short walk from the river. Whilst Morris spoke, they had left his rowing boat tied up by a bridge in Vauxhall. The humans at the social were a mixed group of individuals who sort alternatives to the labour machines that they were reliant upon. William Morris explained the folly of over production or mass production of the commodity as opposed to the process of hand-printing wall paper and fabric in complicated 32 colour block designs. It was not just the aesthetic; the process of which although exacting was nevertheless purposeful and time consuming, but in terms of employment in time hours it allowed an hour or two left over in the day for cultivation of plant matter at the allotment. After the social event, Morris was sleepy and Ella Montt had to row back down the river, so she switched the boat to fast forward mode and they returned in no time. William Morris rolled himself in his carpet and slumbered peacefully under the Mulberry Tree. Ella Montt left him there and tuned into an electronic headset and processor.

June 16th – At Allotment Plot at MERL, Ella Montt removed the net that had been surrounding the Peas, then harvested Broad Beans and Peas. It was no accident that the words “botany” and “starch”, kept repeating themselves over and over again in Ella Montt’s head, she was under the influence of prescheduled programming and imagining the starch molecules moving inside the living plants. If she stared hard enough, perhaps she would see them. It is the plant starch that is part of photosynthesis that is keeping us all alive. The ability of plants to convert light, oxygen and water and to absorb carbon dioxide never ceased to amaze Ella Montt as she worked in the garden.

Eve Balfour strolled across the garden to check on her Potatoes and ask about the Oak Trees seedlings that Ella Montt was collecting from sprouting acorns at Plot 326. Beuys was interested in Ella Montt planting them in the field at the Farm to replace the collapsed 1000 year old tree. More plant residue was removed from one area of the Plot and placed in the Brick Composter to become another part of the Plot, an evolving ecotope. Ella Montt planted out Celery Tall Utah and Celeriac Ibis seedlings echoing the action that had taken place at Allotment Plot 326 on the 11th June. 1 x Koralik Tomato plant was planted within the row of Tomato plants beneath the large Bamboo Tripod.

John Ray, Carl Linnaeus, Philip Miller were standing across the garden discussing loudly their theories and evidence that constructed the science of plants. The Three had recently watched a BBC television program on Botany that presented their work to a 21st century audience and they were somewhat excited about re-comparing their findings even though they were several hundred years old. Tansley (also a Botanist), appeared at MERL’s reading library window. He climbed out and crossed the lawn so that he could converse with The Three on Ecosystems and the plant as a machine.

Meanwhile, Ella Montt had shifted 6 x 9ft dark Bamboo canes to MERL’s garden to become part of the Plot. One 9ft cane was added to each of the six smaller Bamboo cane arrangements so that they individually now contained four sticks of Bamboo. Ella Montt tied each Bamboo cane arrangement together with stripes of strong plant material that had been taken from a tropical plant near the fixed-up-greenhouse at another location. The Bamboo constructions became stronger and connected to the energy levels above the Plot.

Ella Montt removed slugs and snails from the Peas and placed them in a different area of the garden. Pot Marigold and Borage flower buds were starting to open. The visitors to the garden drifted off to their resting places. Then a vent in the sky opened and it rained.

Harvest: Broad Beans = 4oz = 100g; Peas (various mix) = 1lb = 450g.

Elements, Garlic Harvest, Bamboo

7th June 2011 – Allotment Plot 326. The Bean plants that had been planted a few days before looked like they had been through war, left to interact with the elements and wildlife. Ella Montt found it hard to know if the plants would recover from the havoc they had experienced. The weather was changeable and inconsistent. The fence that should surround the Plot had not yet been installed. The vegetable seedlings planted on the Plot are tender and tasty food for foraging rabbits, birds, slugs, snails and other forms of wildlife that live at the Allotments.

Harvest: Blackcurrants = a few; Spinach = 1lb 2oz = 500g.

8th June 2011 – Heavy rain showers were sporadic throughout the day. The soil and the plants were heard groaning softly and breathing ecstatic sighs of relief, then relaxed to absorb the moisture. Bamboo that was donated by J was shifted with the help of R&P to the Plot. The rain soaked the Shifters. On arrival at Allotment Plot at MERL the clouds separated to reveal blue sky. Ella Montt removed a row of Broad Beans that had finished production. The plants and soil were wet. As rays of sunlight fell towards the centre of the Plot, Green Bamboo suddenly sprouted out of the ground, its leaves opened and the Bamboo grew to be about 15 foot tall, almost touching the sky. There was a pause as Ella Montt processed this event. Then the clouds started to gather again in to a dense grey mass that closed in, darkened and covered the blue atmosphere. In ein augenblick the green Bamboo tree disappeared, perhaps returning to the soil. Then the rain fell again and the Shifters sort shelter inside the museum doorway.

When the rain stopped the Shifters returned to the Plot. The Green Bamboo tree was but a memory, and left the residue of a hole in the soil where it had been. A tall tripod of Bamboo was erected in the place of this memory, not to replace the memory, but to fold another memory around the place, where the Green Bamboo had fleetingly existed.

9th June 2011 – Ella Montt arrived at Allotment Plot at MERL with more plants that were being transplanted from the fixed up greenhouse to a different location in the Plot. Before these plants became situated in the soil, it suddenly became necessary to remove the Garlic from the Plot. Without warning and ceremony the Garlic harvesting commenced. The Garlic harvest was a month earlier than last years in 2010. Elements that constructed this event were influenced by weather conditions since the Garlic had been planted last October. Snow had first fallen in November and in December, this had been followed by rain and frost, but then from March drought and heat had dominated the growing cycle. The Garlic growth systems were starting to crash and shut down. This is why the sudden harvest became essential in order to save the crop.

Garlic Harvest: 2 bulbs x Elephant Garlic (1) = 6oz = 180g, 5 bulbs x Dukat Garlic (2) = 3oz = 80g, 13 bulbs x Sprint Garlic (3) = 12oz = 340g, 11 bulbs x Thermidrome Garlic (4) = 7oz = 200g.

A quantity of Peas was also harvested. Pea Harvest: Pea (Mange-tout) Oregon Sugar Pod = 2oz = 40g,

In the row where the Broad Beans had been removed on the previous day four Tomato plants were placed in the soil between the two of the Bamboo canes that form the Bamboo Tripod (which looks like the frame of a wigwam). The Tomato plants were 1 x Chadwick, 1 x Brandywine and 2 x Marmande (Koralk will be planted on another occasion). Other plants were placed in the soil close to the Bamboo Tripod, these were; Squash Pumpkin Mars x 2, Cucumber Marketmore x 1 and Tanja x 1 and Melon Sivan F1 x 1. Adjacent to the Bamboo, Climbing Bean seeds were added; Blue Lake x 6, Barlotto Lingua Di Fuoco x 6, Blauhide x 6, Neckarqueen x 6 and Enorma x 6. Another Sunflower Jerusalem Sunrise Yellow was planted close to the Brick Composter.