Sunday 10 February 2013

Victory Garden - Backs To The Land

One of the many plans I have for this year is to get cracking on turning my slightly neglected allotment in Walthamstow into and food producing 'Victory Garden'!

Last year was a bit disappointing for both crops and for my enthusiasm. With the rotten weather and my partner in crime becoming pregnant early on in the year (she now has an adorable little baby boy) our grand plans of growing simply potatoes and onions whilst we set to digging and clearing the rest of the plot fell by the by and with addition of a garden at home for me to look after, I struggled to keep on top of everything and so our poor little 'Lotty' got a little neglected and more than a little overgrown.

Fortunately the bad weather meant that the story was much the same with our neighbouring plot holders (boy do weeds love wet weather) so we avoided the obligatory 'tut-tut' letter telling us to shape up or ship out (they are quite rigorous on our site and we got the aforementioned letter in our first year, even when our plot looked amazing compared to what we had started with, see below).

Our achievements in 2011


and in 2012 it looked like this!
Depressing!!!
There are about 5 rows of potatoes under there somewhere!
Regardless of the threat of a letter I will be honest and say by the end of last year I was considering giving it up, my friend has obviously more important things to worry about (three little ones under five, does not leave you with much free time) so it was going to mean another year going it alone, battling to keep on top of the weeds and make progress with the digging, I really was not sure I could summon up the enthusiasm.

That was until a few weeks ago, I had popped over to see just how bad it had become and was hit with a huge pang of guilt. So I started there and then to pull up some of the weeds, the more I pulled out, the more I realised just how much I enjoyed it, the more ground I cleared the more resolute I became that 'NO' I was not going to give up so easily, this massive plot and its bazillion weeds was not going to beat me.

After a morning of weeding and a considerable amount of digging, I found not only the soil but my enthusiasm buried  beneath the weeds.
How could I give up I had waited and wanted an allotment (well any green space after living with only a balcony for 8 years) for such a long time and there was plenty of other people who would bite my hand off in an instant for the opportunity. So after much deliberation I decided that the best course of action would be to go back to my original dream of turning my patch of weeds into my very own Victory Garden. I am going to 'Dig for Victory' and the war I am hoping to win is against the weeds (oh and that darn letter from the association).

So where to begin?

Well, I will need a planting plan and there is no better plan to work from than that issued in 1945 by the Ministry Of Agriculture  'Grow for Winter as well as Summer' which promises 'Vegetables for you and your family for every week of the year ' sounds good to me! It requires a plot divided 3 separate sections so that you can rotate your crops each year to maintain the nutrition in the soil.
'Dig Well and Crop Wisely'
{source}
The plan suggests a plot of 30ft x 90ft divided into 3, 30ft x 30ft squares. Now I haven't measured my plot yet but I am pretty sure its nowhere near 30ft wide (it's definitely 90ft long though) so I will have to scale the plan down to fit which will mean one row rather than two in certain areas, but that's no problem.
Along with the planting plan, I will also be following the Ministry of Agriculture Monthly Allotment & Garden Guides also produced in 1945, which promise to keep me on track with all that I need to do in the coming months!
"In this new series of monthly "Guides" we are out to help you to get better results from your vegetable plot and your fruit garden. Every month we shall try to do three things : first, we shall remind you of the things that ought to have been done, but may not have been possible because of the weather or for some other reason ; secondly, we shall deal with gardening operations for the month; thirdly, we shall look ahead a month or two and remind you of what you need to do in readiness." {Source}
 I will also be referring to the multitude of books new and old I have on the subject of veg growing, so all in all I should have every aspect covered (I am quite intrigued to see if any of the modern advice differs greatly from that of the wartime publications).

I am a firm believer that you can never have too many books!
So all of this will mean a monthly post charting my progress or lack of. I am happy to admit there are bound to be times when I will loose enthusiasm, but hopefully, it won't be for long and the insensitive of shaming myself online should be enough to keep me on track!

 Right, I'm off. I've got my flask of tea at the ready, I just need to grab my wellies and my bus pass and then I'll be heading on over to the allotment. It's time to measure up and to crack on with some serious digging!

Wendy x

26 comments:

  1. Wishing you lots of good growing this year. My efforts last year were blighted by blight and all that rain (which does not seem to want to stop!) My garden is like a bog at the moment. *sigh*

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    1. Thank you!! I know what you mean I had a few tomato plants in my garden which looked lovely but never ripened and turned black "Boo to blight!!" oh and the rain seems endless, I got totally drenched doing my digging this weekend, the grounds so wet I probably should wait, but I fear it may never stop!

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  2. Ooh what a fun plan, can't wait to see how you get on! :)

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  3. This looks like such a great idea. I wish you every success and hope the weather is kind to you this year :-) Can't wait to see what you do with your plot x

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    1. Thank you Lucy!! Fingers crossed on the weather I think we could all do with a little (allot) more sunshine this year!!! xx

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  4. I hope you do not give up! I admire what you are doing plus you have to show those folks who wrote that letter that you can do a great job! So here I am cheering you on with my pom poms and all!!!! Going to share this fantastic post on my facebook page as well. I look fwd to seeing your progress!! xox

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    1. Thank you Bunny that is very kind of you!!! xxx

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  5. Oh, well done! I am envious of your gorgeous allotment and I am planning on digging for victory this year, too. I'll be using raised beds as I don't have enough yard space for a full-on victory garden. I am eagerly anticipating your posts! Dig on!

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    1. Thank you Sarah! I am very lucky to have such a huge space to work with but its a little intimidating.
      I am really glad to here that your planning your own victory garden, it will be lovely to know there is someone else out there Digging for Victory too!!! xx

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  6. I'm happy to see you're back at your allotment. I remember how excited you were when you first got your hands on it. Best of luck with it all - it will such a wonderful feeling to have your own fresh vegetables, and to be so aware of the seasonal foods x

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    1. Thank you Marie!! Yes there is nothing quite so nice as growing your own veggies and its a lovely reward for all the hard work!!! xx

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  7. Best of luck with your allotment, I hope it brings you a lot of fun (and fresh fruit n veg!)

    www.mancunianvintage.com

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    1. Thank you Helen! I am certainly looking forward to the eating part of this endeavor! xx

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  8. Last year was disappointment for us too. We grew our plants from seeds and had finally planted them outside when a freak hail and rain stormed killed all of my seedlings and that really broke my heart. We decided that we buy plants that were a little more sturdy. That was the plant I've planted a few tomatoes and cucumber plants. For us, I think we'll end up with a container garden since the ground is full of rocks and not very good.

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    1. Awwa thats terrible, I know how you feel you spend so much time caring for these little plants that its terrible when they get destroyed, I even struggle to thin them out as I hate choosing between them, silly isn't it:) I hope you have better luck this year xx

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  9. Ahhh, you're making me miss my garden back in my old wartime house. Good luck with your allotment. I think you're going to have a fantastic crop this year~

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  10. Ohhhh you know I have a soft spot for the land girls! I'd LOVE to have a victory garden someday. I'm renting right now though and don't have a back yard that I'm aloud to dig in, sadly. One day though!! Thanks for sharing some awesome resources! I'm bookmarking this page for the future :)

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    1. Thank you Rochelle! Its been my dream for so long to have a bit of green space to grow on so I am definitely going to give it my best shot!! xx

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  11. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your veg. Think I may work with you in my garden............ But I have found pulling weeds when the ground is soft is so much easier!
    Julie xxxxxx

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    1. Thank you Julie! I agree, the best thing about all the rain is that it makes the weeds much easier to pull up! xxx

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  12. Good luck with the growing! I'm a bit rubbish and stick to things like tomatoes and herbs in pots. Your allotment looks very impressive.

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  13. Oh, how I long for a plot of my own! I shall have to live vicariously through yours!

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  14. Oooh, yes please do keep us updated! I want to start growing my own veggies eventually so would be very interested to hear all about your adventures. Well done for taking on the challenge by your lonesome too, I don't think many would have

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