On the allotment blog - July

Juggling July

Winter has passed, spring has sprung and now we are in the full swing of the summer allotment madness. I find July is where it all kicks in, reaping the rewards of beautiful harvest but battling the weather and weeds. For me July brings the pinnacle of excitement on the allotment, with dahlias bursting into bloom, the glut of courgettes and eating berries while you work on the plot, it really can’t get any better for me.

Alongside this is where July can feel a bit mad and trying to juggle everything that’s going on down on the plot can get a little overwhelming. The UK never seems to have a steady flow of weather, one moment we are baking in the sunshine and the next the rain is pouring, thus sending the weeds and allotment into overdrive. 

Talking about madness on the allotment, can I mention Christmas yet? I mean we have just reached the height of summer and the dreaded word comes out, but for allotment holders thinking ahead to the bountiful homegrown harvests being cooked up for Christmas day, now is the time to get thinking about Christmas. This year I aim to get some Christmas potatoes on the table, the past two years have been rather underwhelming but each season gives me a new chance to persist and hopefully get a great harvest this year. If you too want to get some Christmas spuds on the table you can pick up seed Christmas potatoes from local garden centres and get them in the ground at the end of July/start of August ready for a Christmas harvest. 

Planning ahead when having an allotment for me is particularly important to make sure I grow my plants in the right conditions, sow seeds at the right time, crop rotate and it generally makes my life a little bit easier on the plot. Over the past two seasons I haven’t focused on growing crops over winter other than my autumn planted garlic and onions. This year I want to try to make my allotment space a productive space for growing all year long.

I like to use my allotment space for therapy and over the winter months I will happily go to the allotment for a cup of tea and to read my book in the shed, but if I can bring home some fresh pickings too that would be a huge bonus. During July I will be sowing some kale, cabbage and swiss chard seeds to grow over autumn and winter. Thinking and planning ahead for the allotment year is a great way to keep on top of it.

I hope to spend the rest of this glorious month pottering around the allotment completing jobs and spending some much needed family time on the allotment plot. It may be one of the busiest and most beautiful months on the plot and I think it’s very important that we take time to sit back and look at how much this space has changed in the past few months, and if you can sit back and enjoy it with a cup of tea in your hand, really nothing gets better than that for me.

P.S I really hope you can all forgive me for mentioning Christmas in the height of summer.

Allotment holder and self confessed grow your own addicted, Kirsty Ward from My Little Allotment is passionate about growing food and spreading the word about gardening therapy and its benefits to mental health and wellbeing.