Sussex Gardening: The early bird gets the water

I have found the hot sun combined with the wind dries out my plot each day.

My allotment is on a site of about 70 other plots but the problem is there are only 4 water tanks and stand pipes. If one person is using the tap it cuts down the pressure to the other 3 taps. Of course, because of the weather, every plot holder wants to water their allotment and the taps seem to be in constant use all day. I have found the only option is to get down to my allotment at 5am. Some mornings by 5.45am the first of the two ladies opposite me start watering and by 6am their neighbour is ready to take over the tap from them!

Although the water makes the vegetables grow, it has the same effect on the weeds. To alleviate the unwanted weeds from getting too established, I tend to run the hoe through my plot from top to bottom every week. I always remember as a young boy I would visit my Uncle Hughie on his 5 acre smallholding. He would say “Walk around the nursery and for every weed you find I will give you sixpence” Needless to say I never found any it did teach me to weed my plot every week.

I picked my first crop of Broad Beans this week. I always stick to the old saying of “Plant your Broad Beans on Halloween” I grow a variety called Aquadulce. Plant your beans in a double row, leaving about 18 inches between rows. Using your dibber make a hole about 2” deep, drop in your bean and cover with soil. Allow another 9” and plant your next bean. They will need support as they grow. Broad Beans are one of the few vegetables that benefit from being planted in late Autumn and over-winter in the ground. I find by growing them this way they are not so susceptible to black fly, which can be a problem with spring and summer sowings.

If you have room for a double row, you will find the difference in growing your own to buying them in the shop is a world apart. This is because they can be picked when they are nice and young but the shop ones seem to be a lot older. Once the beans get to big they tend to get hard and mealy.

The usual way of cooking Broad Beans is to boil them until tender in boiling salted water. My wife cooked some yesterday by first boiling them then frying chopped onion and chopped bacon in a little oil until cooked, then add the cooked beans to the onion and bacon, heat through and serve. They were absolutely delicious.

Good luck.

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