FEBRUARY - ALLOTMENT NEWS

MEMBERSHIP is just £5 a year.

THE HUT is open to our members from Saturday 4th February 10 – 12 noon. Do look out for the new price list which include details of new and existing product lines. Seed potatoes (first early, second early and maincrop) will be available from the Hut along with a fresh range of vegetable seeds at very competitive prices.

PLOTS If you live in Capel and fancy 'growing your own',  download a form from our web site and contact Martin via site.manager@capelallotments.co.uk to see what might be available. One enormous advantage of growing your own fruit and veg is that you harvest and eat it when it is in season - the time when it is at its very best. Cold frames and greenhouses help to stretch that season and protect crops from freak weather conditions.

THE VEG PLOT: - Clear spent crops, canes and perennial weeds. If dry, spray with a suitable weed killer to reduce the sight of freshly germinated weeds the next time you visit. Continue winter digging. Sow peas and broad beans, apply bone-meal. Plant rhubarb, cover with a straw/manure mix. Feed with sulphate of ammonia or blended stable manure and cover crowns to encourage early growth. Sprout potato tubers in a frost free area. If soil dries, consider a sowing of carrot, spring onion, lettuce, beetroot, turnip and parsnip or sow under cloches. Plant onion sets and shallots. Scatter slug pellets but protect birds from indiscriminate use.

LAWNS: - Aerate wet areas and apply sharp sand. Lay turf. Clean equipment.Apply lawn sand or sulphate of iron to control moss.

FRUIT: - Apply grease bands now. Plant trees and bushes with a dusting of bone meal.  Apply a winter tree wash to control insect pests. Cover strawberries with fleece. Prune apples and pears. Cut autumn raspberries to ground level. Protect peaches, nectarines and apricots against leaf curl with a copper spray.

GREENHOUSE: - Empty and wash with Jeyes fluid. Line with bubble plastic. Spray with a whitefly killer. Sow main crop onions, leeks and sweet peas in pots. Check cuttings for mildew and spray with fungus fighter. Begin sowing annuals and tomatoes. Water plants sparingly.

FLOWERS: - Tidy borders, feed with Growmore or 6X and mulch. Ventilate chrysanthemum stools. Start sowing annuals.