The Anaesthetist’s Allotment – Catch-up for 2023

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Disclaimer: I’m a professional anaesthetist, not a professional gardener. I do a bit of gardening and cycling in my spare time. I have grown veggies for many years and have learnt what works for me (sometimes!). These are my ramblings! I would be honoured to be corrected / advised by those with more knowledge than me!

Yesterday, I started a blog to update progress (hopefully!) with the events on my home allotment. I promised to keep you up to date with happenings on a regular basis.

I have, however, realised that yesterday was not the beginning of this year’s crops and that plenty has been happening prior to now. So, I am adding another post today to let you know what is already happening in my veggie saga.

These are spring cabbages called Spring Hero. They were sown in summer last year. They were planted out into the Allotment in October and have been in the ground right through the worst of winter. The netting cover is to protect them from birds etc. They are now starting to grow nicely.

Garlic bulbs were also sown directly into the ground in October. There are two varieties and both have now sprouted and are looking good. Sorry, no picture 😳!

This is what the allotment looks like at the moment – pretty barren, yes, agreed, but wait a month or two……..

The spring cabbages, mentioned above, are at the bottom right of the picture and the shallots (from yesterday’s blog) are on the very mid-left. Just to the right of the shallots are leeks from last year, behind this, at the very back, last year’s winter cabbages, and to the right of that Brussels sprout also from last year and still producing crops.

In the very far right corner are the garlic plants.

The big cage to the right is the fruit cage. In here are: red currents, black currents, raspberries, blackberries (Brambles if you live in Scotland), green gooseberries, red gooseberries, apples (3 varieties) and strawberries (2 beds).

Seeds have been sown within the last few days:

– Beetroot: Golden & Red (Boltardy)

– Peas (Early Onward)

– Brussels Sprout

– Summer cabbage (Caraflex – this is a new variety which Im trying this year after the success of Puma last year. It’s a pointy type of cabbage!)

– Winter cabbage (Tundra – an old favourite!)

– Chard Bright lights – very similar to spinach, but brightly coloured!

– Perpetual Spinach – cut and come again spinach. Nyum! Your😋

– Broad Beans – “ The Sutton”. Delicious if picked young

Two varieties of leeks:

– Musselburgh – an old favorite

– Below Zero – a later cropping leek – had good success over the last year or two!

Onion sets have started sprouting in the greenhouse

Potatoes have started sprouting in the greenhouse. These “ Casablanca” are a new variety this year. They have already had an additional layer of compost added. Looking good!

Potatoes 🥔 (Casablanca & Picasso) chitting in the greenhouse. This chitting process was started in early February. They will be planted out into the garden when the soil warms up a bit.

And in a mini- greenhouse within the main greenhouse, my bonsai. they are kept at higher than 15’C and have additional lighting.

There are two types of bonsai here:

– a fig (Ficus) in the foreground

– two Jacaranda bonsai – still very young and early in their training. I fully expected that they would not survive the winter, but my efforts with the mini-greenhouse, heating and lighting has, so far, worked and they are looking great with new shoots appearing. Wow 😮!

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