2012 has proved the most difficult year in the allotment that any of us can remember. We lost our first – and sometimes second – sowings of carrots and other crops due to the cold and wet April and May. Perhaps this was inevitable as we had a hosepipe ban which started on the 5th April. On the 6th the rain started and didn’t stop for weeks.
Then came the blight as potatoes throughout the site were devastated, a condition largely unknown in Smitham due to our excellent drainage. Come the harvest we dixcovered that the unblighted potatoes were disapppointingly small. An exception to this was Valor, and Sarpo Miro. This latter is not usually grown in Smitham as we don’t generally need to choose blight resistant varieties but a new member, Brian, was given a dozen tubers in April by an allotment holder in the Glenthorne Avenue Allotments where potato blight is rife in its clay soil. Will we be seeing more of this variety?
Onions survived the adverse conditions quite well but a severe hailstorm in June ripped the heads off the shallots and stopped further growth.
The late season has been kinder. August and September have been warm and dry and as a result the squashes, pumpkins, courgettes and marrows have done well. However, tomatoes inevitably suffered from blight and the season has not really been long enough for aubergines, peppers and chillies.
Oh well, there’s always next year!