Hot off the allotment...
Wow! Things are finally hotting up, which is a good thing as everything has picked up and is putting on strong growth.
We (the family) went up on Sunday afternoon and then filmed on Monday. We actually came back with a good sized box with peas, potatoes, salads, herbs and a big cabbage (although Keith gave me the cabbage!). Stan gave the sweet potatoes a good water and then mulched them over to keep in as much moisture as possible. Heavy rain is forecast in the next day or so, which they'll love. I pulled up the rocket that had bolted and flowered and sowed some more.
My mentality is slowly changing. At first I wanted to fill the space as much as possible. Now I'm being more selective and cutthroat and am pulling up any plants that don't perform or have bolted as I want the space to work more productively for me. Where I pull up any plants I dig it over and weed well. My soil is really getting good now and in the raised triangles I can get quite a fine tilth for direct sowing. I still lined the seed drill with a little sieved compost just to get them off to a good start. I also sowed some more coriander, mizuna, cima di rapa (a turnip top used in pasta dishes), and planted some strawberry 'marshmallow' where my swift potatoes were, which are plants that have been kept in suspended animation and will hopefully fruit in 60 days. I helped Ken out as he's not been well and planted the extra strawberries in his patch. My sweetcorn is looking the business and the beans are loving the huge pit I dug for them and putting on strong growth. Connie's sunflower is huge- way bigger than her. The large tarpaulin I used to cover the weedy areas is working, but is also creating a home for breeding slugs. Help. Oh well- it's all par for the course. Happy allotmenteering! Joe
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~53~RS~)
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Hi Joe
It never ceases to amaze me how the vegetable garden transforms over a few weeks from having almost nothing to harvest to full production with a choice of vegetables and fruit to pick. Should it be peas or broad beans, cabbage or broccoli and what about a small sweet turnip. Then there’s the fruit, courgettes, and salad leaves the list just keeps on growing over the next few weeks. It’s just a pity about the crops growing in the contaminated manure. Do I really have to dig them in – even the ones that look unaffected – yes I know I do! What a blow!
Martyn
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Joe glad your produce is doing well, but could you publicise tha national disaster that is unfolding on allotments across the country where evn those thought to be organic have been contaminated by aminopyralid, a potent herbicide used on grassland, brought in in manure. many allotmrnts are rerporting stunted and deformed crops and frighteningly DEFRA is advising such produce should nit be eaten.
Surely a case for a report and warning to all allotmemteers on gargeners World. PS Do you know where you got your manure from. It is probably irrelevant as many farmers buy in contract hay and although they may not use it it may be already contaminated, them later being passed on as manure.
This is going to be big problem.
Antichem
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Our allotments site is suffering from the affects of contaminated manure too.
In fact I have created a web page with all the information we can find on this subject (Just Google Green Lane Allotments) and also have listed the experiences of people across the UK who have suffered from the same problem. Some suspect that they have introduced contamination through commercially prepared products not just use of 'raw' manure, some products declaring that they are organic.
The only thing that is supposed to protect us from the effects of a herbicide that can persist in manure for several years is that the person using the product reads a label and passes on what it says on that label down a chain of supply. Obviously this hasn't happened in so many cases and we are now advised not to eat affected crops or even those that may be affected. The only national report was on Sundays GQT so many people are stillunaware that there is a major problem out there and to be very careful when buying manure.
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Hi Joe
As you might be aware my plots are affected by contaminated manure. Yes I think the issue needs some publicity but most of all it needs a “champion” someone with some clout to get something done to stop this happening again. Without any new safeguards in place my only choice is never to buy in manure again. It is not possible for me to chase back the supply chain from farmer to farmer to contractor etc etc to find out if or which herbicides or other chemicals have been used. Buying from an organic supplier seems to be no safeguard. Surely the farming industry should have protocols in place listing the chemicals used on crops and pasture land available for inspection by the public or more importantly a government body. Should we not be able to find out what is sprayed onto our food crops or is fed to animals? Imagine for a minute it’s your plot that’s contaminated and the advice is just dig in the crops, don’t eat them, it might be alright next year but just to be on the safe side test the soil out with some sensitive crops. All the effort and expense just wasted and it’s no bodies fault. It cannot be right but if nothing is done how are chemicals to be kept out of our food chain either by accident or design.
To add insult to injury I have just heard our Prime Minister explaining how wasteful we are with food and how much we throw away. Nationwide there are hundreds if not thousands of keen vegetable growers digging their produce back into the ground through no fault of their own.
You are now a high profile allotmenteer with influential contacts in the world of gardening. We need a figurehead such as you to take up the challenge and instigate change. Are you up for it?
Martyn
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I wonder if this herbicide is safe for animals to ingest? I see from the RHS site that the official word is that it doesn't harm livestock, but how do we know? Surely if it's powerful enough to resist being broken down by digestive enzymes in the animals themselves, and further bacterial attack in the horse manure or compost heap, then it's quite something.
Shades of BSE?
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Joe, I’ve been following your progress on the allotment with great interest, it seems to be as much a social event as gardening. It did make me laugh seeing the reactions to your triangular beds, but they do the job OK.
Regarding the contaminated compost problem, this is also in bags of compost as I have found to my cost. I and a few others have unwittingly poisoned our vegetables using bagged compost products from the garden centres. I’ve been growing vegetables for over 30 years and am devastated to lose nearly all this years produce due to me using a so called ‘Organic’ compost. I’ve used it in the past with no problem, but even the compost manufacturer was unaware of this new weedkiller. I have preserved my damaged plants and am trying to show as many locals as possible what can happen. I contacted my local allotment society to see how many were affected, and they had not even heard of the problem, they assume someone would have told them of this issue before now. Please help to bring this issue to all gardeners’ attention.
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Yet another plot holder, from Leeds this time, on our site there are numerous plots effected by the contaminated manure.
I agree with the above posts, it is criminal that the chemical companies can put a chemical out there that takes a year to break down after passing through an animal.
We are in a position were we have put in all the hard work and are now looking at our crops(effected and those sitting beside them uneffected) and wondering if we can safely eat them. The chemical company states that the aminopyralid and clopyralid are not suitable for spaying on food crops.
One thing that is most upsetting is that DEFRA have stated that to test to see if we are contaminated and to what extent will cost a minimum of £350 per sample. We would of course then need to resample next spring to see if we are clear and able to replant next year(or repeat this years heartache). I find this absolutely scandalous that the chemical company can produce this is such a slap dash way and it be so prohibitively expensive to check for contamination.
Another thing that concerns me greatly is that the grass that is sprayed shows no ill effects but appears to be a "carrier" of the herbicide residue. This then begs the question what else that is not showing ill effects is actually holding the herbicide within it? This is not something discussed or mentioned on either the RHS or the Pesticides Safety Directorate(who have taken all the samples they are going to take already!)
Yet another issue is the run off(considering it has done nothing but rain for the last two weeks very heavily). Does this then mean that anyone who gets the run off is then contaminated to one degree or another and at what level is safe or do we all assume it is not?
Considering Gordon Brown is saying don't waste food the very people who are doing their best to not waste are being hit in the worst way possible.
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Dear all. I've seen this issue in the papers. It seems pretty serious. I've been flat out at Hampton court all week but I've asked my production team to have a look into the facts/details etc, and make some calls. Leave it with me and I'll try and flag it up in some form or other. thanks Joe
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Thanks Joe,
Your support is much appreciated. Hope you have had the chance for a quick look at the info on our website.
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Hi Joe
Thanks for the help on the contaminated manure saga.
Enjoyed the programmes from Hampton Court and it was good to have Gardeners World back on TV this week. Very impressed with your success with that basil, bought from the supermarket, split up and planted. All my efforts with basil from seed end up with withered plants before they get big enough to use in the kitchen. Must try it this summer before it's too late.
Martyn
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Dear Joe
It would be great if you and your team could find out more about this and, with luck, publicize it in a major way. Thank you. Because of course it won't be just this year that it happens — it will be every year, if the herbicide continues to be used.
I was also very impressed by your idea of splitting up a supermarket basil plant and growing it on. I've sown lots of mammoth and sweet basil this year, but there is always room for more!
Jane
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This is for Joe,something for you to look forward too.We've had our allotments for 3yrs and have produced our big spud this year weighing 1 1/2 lbs.It's second early kestrel.Hoping to send you a photo.
Tony
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Hi Joe just back off hols and really glad to see your reply about looking into the aminopyralid problem. The GLallotmrnt site is really good on information about this problem. I have three long rows of runner beans i thought I would boost over the winter by a diligent application of the manure dumped at our site, over the weekend. the result, three whole rows of twisted stunted plants, complete failure dont even know wether to keep the seed if any produced. If you want to see some results of this just send a camera team for an hour tp our birmingham allotment plots.
Hope some publicity comes of this as at present neither DEFRA or other bodies seem interested in this contamination of the food chain.
regards anti chem let me know here if interested will forward e- address.
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The chemical company have temporarily withdrawn products containing aminopyralid and the PSD are looking into ways on preventing a recurrence - they say "A key issue in their consideration will be whether the conditions of use regarding manure are sufficient, or sufficiently well known."
This is exactly where Gardeners World and people such as yourself can help. Not only do the users of the chemicals need educating but so do the general public who are the ones to suffer from misuse in the long run.
They need to be aware of what is happening, what symptoms to look out for, who to report problems to and what questions to ask when obtaining manure. The problem is will the answers to those questions be accurate!!
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Thank you for including vegetables on Gardeners' World, we are a keen allotment holders and would like to comment on Joe's item on 8 August.
He said that he had not been to the allotment for a week. We are concerned people taking on allotments do not realise the effort and commitment required to keep plots tidy.
We are currently spending a lot of time strimming paths and overgrown plots which not only look untidy but the weed seeds will blow all over the site.
We maintain about 25 rod of allotment, including an orchard, so we really do know what is involved.
Thank you for reading this.
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