Belleville Vegetable Garden

Raised Beds For Each Year Group

2011-10-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

From next week, and in readiness for the forthcoming revamped Peaceful Area, each raised bed in the Belleville Vegetable Garden will be allocated to a Year Group.

We're aim to get a team from each year that will include teachers, students and parents, and they will look after their own raised bed from now on, although I'll happily help and keep an eye on things.

[Left] YEAR ONE

Yellow bell peppers and sunflowers

This bed is the closest one to the artroom. Most of the beds already have things growing in them as shown in the photos, but some of these are ready to crop and will need replacing with new seedlings.

[Left] YEAR TWO

Aubergine, chilli, parsley

In reserve we already have some seedlings: Curly kale, carrots and leeks, and most of these are almost ready for planting.

[Left] YEAR THREE

Swiss chard ('Bright Lights'), parsley and coriander.

All students will be encouraged to take care of their year groups's raised bed, whether they're on a gardening team or not.

Nicola Hedley has a fund donated by Waitrose (which can hopefully be topped up by the PTA if requested) for buying further seedings and tools if required.

[Left] YEAR FOUR

Self seeded cougette plant (touch and go - we need a little more warm weather!), chilli, yellow bell peppers, rocket and dwarf runner beans

[Left] YEAR FIVE

Aubergine, tomato, chilli, strawberries and three pots of baby leeks. These need to be about the thickness of a pencil before transplanting into the ground

[Left] YEAR SIX

Ready for action!

School Food Matters

2011-07-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

School Food Matters teamed up with Waitrose to encourage local schools to grow their own veg. They supplied Belleville with plug plants for growing on in the raised beds, and even supplied the paper bags for selling the produce in. Miss Hedley took five of her class to Waitrose today to sell the produce which sold out in just over an hour. She also asked the children to decorate the paper bags and make posters which added a splash of colour to the display!

We even had a visit from BBC London News who were covering the initiative.

RUNNER BEANS - A FRENCH MUMMY'S GUIDE

2011-07-05T02:08:00.000-07:00

Speaking to a charming group of French mums at the school gates I realised not everyone knows the traditional way to prepare and cook that old English classic, the Runner Bean.

There you go - easy!
Steam for 5-6 minutes, max.
Bean strippers will be available at La Cuisiniere I expect.

Garlic Garlic Garlic Garlic!

2011-07-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

This year's garlic crop was easily the best yet. We sold all of the crop (about fifty bulbs) at the summer fair.

Disappearing Potatoes Shock

2011-06-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what happened but the potatoes have vanished. Until quite recently there were huge plants emerging from the bed closest to the artroom, but now all that is left is an empty, raked-over bed.

These photos were sent to me anonymously and show a gang of suspected desperados -possibly starving outlaws forced to forage for food wherever they can find it.

Good luck to them I say!

Tomato action!

2011-05-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have no bananas, but we've got these tomato plants, last few remaining.

Tiny flowers about to appear! Treat 'em well and they turn into tomatoes. How do they do that! Have planted four plants in the school garden so far.

Strawberry cage

2011-05-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

Fed up as I am with foxes and pigeons messing with me plants I´ve built a little cage - or at least some sticks with netting attached - to protect these stawberry plants. Fingers crossed!

Spring harvesting

2011-05-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

In the foreground you can see the nasturtiums which we planted in order to attract blackfly and greenfly away from the runner beans. The beans themselves were grown by year one students.

I salvaged strawberry plants from the bed that was removed to make way for the new quiet area entrance. Most have been sold but the last few will be for sale on Friday at drop off, in the upper playground. The pots have been placed amongst the garlic plants.

The cabbages are fairly small then!

Broad beans are almost ready for harvesting.

The potatoes are the ´first early´ type, so we should see the plants flowering soon.

These lettuces were sold yesterday. Mine had a few tiny slugs in amongst the leaves. Very nutritious!

Onions in the foreground. The leaves are delicious!

Quiet Area developments and new plantings

2011-03-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

Click on images to enlarge
Major renovations of the 'Quiet Area' have begun. The idea is to make it less of a thoroughfare and more of a place for the children to go to read, play games and sit and talk. A new canopy is being built and walls are being painted a shade of olive green. Very calming!

Both access gates will go, to be replaced by a single central gate that will allow access from the lower playground through the veg garden along a path made from the new quiet area covering, which will probably be a form of artificial grass.
The upshot of this is that the strawberry bed [left] will have to go.....

.....so in order not to have to throw away the plants that survived the winter I've repotted about twenty of them into pots, and they seem to be doing well so far. These will be available for purchase if any parents fancy having a pot or container of strawberries in their garden or patio. The strwberries are famous for being very sweet although they do have a habit of disappearing, especially during break time for some reason.

[Left] This bed has been allowed to veg out over the winter and is half empty as the earth was used for topping up the other beds which have settled over the years. After a quick weeding job I planted two rows of potatoes. Hopefully these ´earlies´ will be ready in June or early July at the latest.

Of course the fox/foxes dug some of them up overnight, resulting in the new (chitted) growth getting removed. This will probably result in some of the new plants not growing successfully. Grrr.
Speaking of foxes, lets hope that the new single gate access will result in the Quiet Area becoming a fox-free zone! (Plea to Baki, can we not have a large gap under the gate so the foxes can't squeeze through?)

The earth from this bed has also been used for topping up the others, but prior to it being topped up with earth from the strawberry bed I added a layers of sand, then bark chip, then a layer of half matured leaf mould (real leaf mould takes two years to mature, ours has had one).

Keeping the pigeons off the cabbages been a bit of a battle over the winter, and I´ve added an extra layer of netting to keep the greedy #*!%*s at bay. Pigeons, this is your final warning: One more nibble and I´m reaching for the shotgun.

As mentioned in the previous posting I´ve dug a trench where the beans will grow and filled it with half rotted compost from the tumbling composter. Very smelly but great food for the beans and worms.
Speaking of worms, it´s almost time for holding another ´bring a worm to school day´!
Nature alert: Look out for the Lesser Spotted Crombie, seen in the area in the last few days!

Any Belleville parents who would like to get involved with the veg garden in whatever capacity please contact me.
Cheers, Jim Dutton.

Spring is in the air?

2011-03-10T02:09:00.000-08:00

At last, after what has seened liked the longest winter ever, the weather seems to have changed for the better, making the idea of gardening seem much more pleasant!

I have a couple of egg boxes of potatoes chitting away in a sunny window, and have been about to plant them a couple of times when the night frosts have intervened. I'm hoping to get them into the ground on Friday, so long as the weather holds.

I'm also going to try a bean growing trick that I read about recently. The idea is to dig a trench where you intend to plant your beans, and fill it with half rotted compost. This forms an ideal supply of food for the beans which can be quite hungry plants. I'm thinking of growing the purple podded variety again this year as they were popular and easy to harvest (being purple, rather than green). It's also good fun watching them turn green when boiled or steamed.

The garlic and onions seem to be doing well despite the attention of foxes (who dig them up in their pursuit of worms). As usual the pigeons have nibbled the cabbages, which they'll do when there's no more easily available food around. They'll hopefully stop when the cabbages are bigger and the leaves they've nibbled can be removed and added to the compost.

New plantings for winter

2010-11-01T01:03:00.000-07:00

As you've probably noticed most of the plants (tomatoes, chillies, courgettes, squash etc) have been dug up and consigned to the composter. All that remains are the purple podded beans (the success of the year) and some nasturtiums.
The present mild spell has created a window for planting new crops to occupy the beds for the winter season. A visit to Terwins Seeds on Bury St Edmunds market provided some very handy plug plants: cabbage, broad beans, pea shoots and lettuce, all of which were a decent size, which should see them thriving before the temperature drops. The idea of planting now is that the plants should establish themselves and grow very slowly over the winter, giving them a head start when spring arrives in March. It should also mean that the broad bean growing tips avoid the curse of greenfly, as they are small and at their most vulnerable before the greefly season.
Still to be planted are the onions and the pea shoots.

I was helped yesterday by Simon from The London Cycle Workshop and his friend Sue. To tell the truth, I sort of messed about while they did most of the work - I could get used to this supervising lark! Sue planted an entire bed of (Solent Wight) garlic while Simon planted broad beans and lettuce. We are hoping to hold a cycle workshop where Belleville pupils can bring their bikes to school one Sunday and learn about bike safety and how to clean and look after their bikes. Could this be the birth of the Belleville Bicycle Club?

We were watched by the new addition to the Belleville Veg Garden, the beady eyed Alberto. His job is to scare off the foxes (ha!) and to keep a look out for strawberry thieves.

This fleece is there mainly to keep the foxes off the beds. They like to dig for worms and slugs which apparently make up a major part of their diet.

New fence

2010-08-28T00:27:00.000-07:00

We have a new fence at the Belleville veg garden. We´ve given it a couple of coats of rustic looking wood preserver and a good sandpapering. There´s now a bit more room inside the fence so that larger groups of children can visit the garden more easily, as we hope to integrate with the school carriculum more fully this year.

[Left] A highly trained craftsman gives the fence a coat of ´Eco Preserver´

[Above] Skills like these don´t come cheap you know!

While we were on our hols in France the garden had a real growth spurt! The beans in particular had done really well. They are the ´purple podded´ variety chosen because they show up so well and are therefore easy to pick. They also seem not to have attracted a single greenfly/blackfly which is a huge advantage. Although purple when picked they go green when boiled, something that goes down well with the children.
The courgettes also went crazy and some turned into marrows. The tomatoes and sweetcorn are now ripening and the squash are growing rapidly. The tomatoes are delicious and, as happened a couple of years ago, the Radiator Charlie´s Mortgage Lifters are set to be enormous (and delicious!).
Next year we really need to make sure produce gets picked in August so we´ll be looking for volunteers! Pick your own localorganic veg. Can´t be bad.
I´m hoping to have some produce for sale in the upper playground at pick up next week, either Monday or Tuesday.

[Above] The finished fence looking quite sturdy

2010-07-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

Lucas Dutton has invited you to play in his Fantasy Premier League called Belleville League (open to Belleville children and parents only).

If you aren't already playing the game then you can register at http://fantasy.premierleague.com

Once you have logged in and entered your team, click on the 'Leagues'
link you can find on the right of the page. Now enter the code 591675-151707 to join the private league.

We´re off on our hols and we´re hoping that the irrigation system works in our absence. Steph McIvor-Oakley is keeping an eye on things produce wise, so if you fancy some tomatoes, courgettes or rocket, give her a call!
See you for a gardening Sunday soon!

Two major new additions to the garden!

2010-07-15T00:35:00.000-07:00

Very excited to report that on a visit to the Hampton Court Flower Show I bought a tumbling composter and an automated irrigation system for the vegetable garden.

At last we have a composter for Belleville School so our green credentials have been significantly boosted! The advantages of this style of composter are that it produces compost much more quickly than the Dalek style bin as the air gets in as it tumbles, and that it´s cleaner being off the ground. Feel free to add your vegetable and fruit peelings. It helps if you add some pieces of brown cardboard as well. Please stop adding stuff if the sign on the handle says 'full'.
For full details on what to compost see the section at the end of this post.

IRRIGATION SYSTEM
Over the last couple of days I've installed (with help from Nick Ward) a timer controlled irrigation system which should really make life easier. Of course it rained most of the day I was installing the main pipes but that was to be expected.
Being built on top of tarmac when the raised beds dry out the soil is unable to suck up moisture from the ground as happens in normal flower beds. The problem with watering with a hose is that only the top inch or so of soil gets wet and this can confuse the roots which start growing upwards instead of downwards. But the main problem is that plants like courgettes, squash, beans and strawberries will not produce crops if they think there isn't enough water to do so. Baby courgettes shrivel up when they're a couple of inches long. The new dripper system will ensure that the beds get a thorough soaking and will help produce better crops and keep everything ticking over, even when we are on holiday.

The beans are doing well. I´ve just wind proofed the supports as we´re experiencing blustery weather. The beans will be purple but turn green when cooked. I´m hoping this will make them easier to harvest as they should stand out against the green leaves.

[Right] Expect lots of tomatoes this summer. Christina of Lola Rojo will probably be harvesting during the summer holidays but I hope to make some available on ´gardening Sundays´.

Sweetcorn. These are struggling, not sure why. Perhaps they haven´t had enough water.
The Courgettes [below] are just getting started and are enjoying a bit of rain after the dry spell. (They're now enjoying the drip feeder!)

We only have a couple of chilli plants [below] as I sold so many at the Northcote Road Carnival and the Summer Fair. They´re looking good though and have just flowered

WHAT TO COMPOST
A mixture of 'green' and 'brown' matter:

'Greens' or nitrogen rich ingredients
* Nettles
* Grass cuttings
* Raw vegetable peelings from your kitchen
* Tea bags (paper not plastic) and leaves, coffee grounds
* Young green weed growth * avoid weeds with seeds *
* Soft green prunings

'Browns' or carbon rich ingredients - slow to rot
* Cardboard eg. cereal packets and egg boxes, but brown coardboard is best
* Waste paper and junk mail, including shredded confidential waste
* Cardboard tubes
* Newspaper * although it is better for the environment to send your newspapers for recycling
* Bedding from vegetarian pets eg rabbits, guinea pigs - hay, straw, shredded paper, wood shavings
* Tough hedge clippings
* Woody prunings chopped into small pieces
* Old bedding plants
* Bracken
* Sawdust
* Wood shavings
* Fallen leaves can be composted but the best use of them is to make leafmould

Other compostable items
* Wood ash, in moderation
* Egg shells (crushed)

Do NOT compost
* Meat
* Fish
* Cooked food
* Coal & coke ash
* Cat litter
* Dog faeces

Mutant tomato plant shock and Carnival

2010-06-14T05:10:00.000-07:00

The Northcote Road Carnival was a great success. The police estimate that nearly 10,000 people turned up to enjoy the music, floats, stalls and funfair rides. The Belleville plant and PTA stall had a very busy and raised over £400.00 for the school. Thanks are due to all the helpers who turned up on the day and made it more like a party than a chore.

Ready for buiness!

We mainly sold veg plants but also some plants that you can't eat.

Spotted this tomato, the first of the year.

[Below] This is the first Minibel that I've sold. It's a miniature very compact plant, ideal for growing in pots or baskets. They're fairly rare but I hope to grow a lot more next year.

MUTANT TOMATO SHOCK!

Amongst the tomatoes grown at Belleville this year one stands out from all the others. Tomato plants are fairly straggly, higgledy piggledy sort of things and they certainly aren't perky and symmetrical like this 'mutant' Super Marmande that appeared amongst this years crop. The branches seem firmer than normal and they grow from the main stem in clusters [left] rather than the normal one at a time. I've planted one in bed six (the second from the left as you look at the garden from the playground) and it'll be interesting to see how it develops. I've also planted a Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter in the middle of the same bed. The 'mutant' is nearest the fence).

The joy of fox

2010-06-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

I mentioned the fox traps at Honeywell. Perhaps we could do with one at Belleville during the holidays. Apparently captured foxes are re-located to the countryside. For a nice holiday.

21st May - Tomatoes Planting out plan

2010-05-21T02:03:00.000-07:00

29th June Update:
Dug up the broad beans in bed 2 and planted:
1 Cherry? Sungold?
2 Dominato
3 Super Marmande
4 Radiator Charlie
5 Radiator Charlie
6 Cherokee Purple
7 Super Marmande
In Bed 3 planted:
2 Radiator Charlies at fence end of bed

3rd June Update:
Dominato F1 planted in bed three (Greenhouse end is bed one)
Red Cherry planted in bed five
Super Marmande planted in bed six, furthest from playground
Sungold F1 planted in bed seven
Can't remember what is planted in the smallest raised bed. Only time.....will tell.
More to come when space become available
Would all footballs/basketballs please avoid these plants. Thanks!
UPDATE: Will all foxes please find somewhere else to dig.
3rd June Update:
Two Dominato F1s planted in Honeywell Nursery veg garden
Saw fox trapped in cage. Photo to follow!
13rd June Update:
Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter Bed six, middle of the bed.
'Mutant' Super Marmande: Bed six, nearest playground

THIS YEAR´S TOMATO VARIETIES

2010-05-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

We´ve selected a wide range of tomatoes to grow at Belleville School this year. Seedlings are already six inches tall and will be ready for planting out in a week or two. We´ll be selling a range in the playground soon so whether you´re after a small cherry tomato plant to grow in a pot on your patio, or you´d like to try your hand at growing a monster variety like Radiator Charlie´s Mortgage Lifter, I think we have the plants for you!

SUNGOLD F1
Cordon (Indeterminate). An excellent new tomato for greenhouse or outdoors to provide lots of deliciously different fruit for salads etc. Sungold has an exceptional and very high sugar content (it definitely rivals 'Gardeners Delight') and these attractive golden orange, approx. 13 gram, fruit are irresistible with a sweet flavour all their own -almost a dessert fruit! Sungold crops well and has resistance to Tobacco Mosaic Virus and Fusarium to ensure healthy plants.

SUPER MARMANDE
Semi-Bush (Semi-Determinate). The favourite large-fruited tomato of Provence. Tomato Super Marmande is distinguished by its irregular cushion shape and touch of pink on the shoulders. Super Marmande is large, juicy, well flavoured fruit and a great improvement over an already excellent variety.

DOMINATO F1
Czech variety. Round red fruit weighing between 140 and 160 gram. Distinctive scalloping on the upper side. Tolerates cooler temperatures. Very good resistance to disease. A good basic tomato with excellent flavour. A favourite of our nanny´s granny!

RADIATOR CHARLIE´S MORTGAGE LIFTER
Sometime during the early 1940's, a Mr Marshall Cletis Byles of Logan, West Virginia, otherwise known as Radiator Charlie (a radiator repair man by trade, unsurprisingly) decided that he wanted to develop a very large tomato, so he set about trying to locate the largest tomatoes that he could find. He soon located four varieties of very large tomatoes: German Johnson Pink, Red Beefsteak, an unknown Italian variety and an unknown English variety. From these, he grew ten plants which he cultivated in a very unorthodox, unique fashion. He planted nine of the plants in a circle and then planted a German Johnson Pink in the centre of the circle. Byles then cross pollinated the German Johnson's flowers with pollen from each of the nine plants in the circle and saved seed from the resulting tomatoes. The next year, he planted the seeds and selected the best seedlings. The very best of these again went to the centre of a circle, while the remaining were planted in a circle around them. Again, the plants in the middle were hand pollinated with pollen from those in the circle. Byles repeated this process for the next six years until he had created a stable variety that met his needs. After that, he never had another type of tomato on his place. The resulting variety became known as the Radiator Charlie's Tomato and soon established themselves as being very desirable. Every spring, gardeners from as far away as 200 miles came to buy their tomato seedlings from Radiator Charlie, which he sold for one dollar each, which was a substantial amount of money for a tomato plant back then. Mr. Byles sold so many tomato plants of his new variety over the next five or six years that the profits of his tomato enterprise paid off the $6000 mortgage on his home! After that, the tomato variety became forever known as Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter Tomato! In 1985, Mr. Byles shared some of his seed with the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, who formerly introduced it to the general public. Ever since then, it has been a very desireable tomato variety.

RED CHERRY (Cordon)
This is a standard large Red Cherry Tomato that produces small round, red and sweet tomatoes. Great for salads or using in stir-fry and other cooking. A great and prolific producer. Red Cherry was originally introduced way back in the 1880's and has been growing strong ever since. Just like the ones your grandmother used to raise! A popular, disease resistant variety that will produce a high yield. A compact habit means it is ideal for those with small gardens and for planting in pots.

MINIBEL

This is an ideal variety for people with a small garden, patio or balcony, preferably south facing as tomatoes like plenty of warmth. In a sunny spot it will reward you by producing tasty tomatoes that are ideal for salads, roasting or nibbling straight from the bush. Also suitable for a pot as it is low-growing (45-90 cm).

You can grow the TORNADO F1 variety without pruning and it will produce an abundance of normal sized round tasty tomatoes. Great if you have a sunny area of your garden or patio that you can set aside for tomato production!

CHEROKEE PURPLE
One of the few tomatoes to have its own dedicated website (http://www.cherokeepurple.com/) this is apparently an amazingly delicious beefsteak style tomato, great for slicing and serving in salads, rather than cooking. If you love tomatoes sliced with a little olive oil and black pepper, this could be the one for you!

After last year´s disaster when a young Dutton removed all the plant labels, the seedlings are in pots marked with dots or initials designating the variety:

Minibel - One dot
Dominato F1 - Two dots
Super Marmande - Three dots
Sungold F1 - Four dots
Red Cherry - Five dots
Radiator Charlie - RC
F1 Tornado - F1T
Cherokee Purple - CP

TOMATO PLANT CARE

Pruning Cordon (indeterminate) varieties : As soon as the flower trusses start to form the plant will begin to produce shoots in the joints between the stem and the leaf. By nature the tomato is a bushy plant, but allowing these shoots to grow will result in a mass of bushy foliage and small fruits. Remove sideshoots by "pinching out" using your thumb and forefinger. Repeat this every two days towards the end of the season. When the plant is bearing six or seven trusses of fruit break off the growing tip cleanly just above the second leaf above the top truss. The plant can then concentrate all of its resources into growing fruit.

De-leafing: Removing the lower leaves of the plant will encourage it to channel its resources into fruit production and improve ventilation close to the soil.
Feeding and Watering: Tomatoes need plenty of moisture but not a saturated soil. Twice daily watering is a must in hot weather. Greenhouse grown crops will benefit from a good misting by spraying the whole greenhouse including floor, staging etc.

Harvesting: The bottom trusses ripen first and you can if you like pick the tomatoes before they are quite ripe. Sever the stalk at the "knuckle" just above the calyx. They can complete their ripening on a windowsill within a few days. Removing the crop before it's ripe helps the plant to concentrate on the next lot of fruit.

Post (extended) Easter break roundup

2010-04-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

CLICK ON PIX TO MAGNIFY
April is one of the busiest times in the garden (especially the veg garden) and it´s also the time that Duttons go away every year. This year the ash cloud turned our two weeks into three. Just before we left for the airport on the 3rd April I seeded a few rows of salads assuming that there might be a bit of rain in early April (which you´d expect right?). Well, as you know there wasn´t, so they didn´t germinate. Apart from that though, everything did pretty well considering the lack of water. The garlic (which don´t like much water) have thrived, although some look like they´ve been chewed by a giant garlic chewing thing. The elephant garlic is already much beefier looking than its ordinary cousins.

The broad beans have done extremely well. I planted them in Oct/Nov with a view to getting an early spring crop. They´re in flower now so we should see the beginnings of beans in a couple of weeks. The spinach and swiss chard are going great guns. Netting them has kept the pigeons off effectively.

The onions are doing quite well in an Alistair Darling sort of a way.

[below]Swiss chard always adds a splash of colour!

My ongoing failure to grow fennel properly may have ended, as these plants look great. Maybe the secret is not to water for three weeks when you´d think it would need it most.

At home I have a lot of tomato seedlings (and quite a few more trays have been looked after by some very kind volunteers). They were watered by our builders and are looking very healthy. They´ll be available in the playground shortly, so don´t buy any weedy things from B&Q and the like!
Hopefully see you in the playground soon for a produce sale, or maybe at one of the gardening Sundays that I´ve been threatening to hold for some time!

The Beginning

2010-01-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

For the benefit of new parents who weren't here before the veg garden was built, here are a few photos of the day the soil arrived and a team of volunteers transferred it to the raised beds. The whole operation only took an hour and a half which just goes to show that many hands make light work.

Parents take on the ice - and win!

2010-01-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

Brilliant effort by the parents and children who braved the elements to clear the playground of ice and snow. Hopefully there'll be enough salt left on the surface to keep the ice away?

Fiona Gammie clears up after a marathon session. She's an inspiration!

Fennel shock

2009-11-23T03:36:00.000-08:00

The new crop of fennel looks promising. The last lot were all gnarled and unpleasant. I think the recent rain has helped, so fingers crossed.

The leeks are looking good and I think I'll sell them at the Xmas fair. We'll also be selling some jams and chutneys made by a victim of crime that I met through work. Good cause.

The broad beans have stood up the recent high winds and hail surprisingly well. They may or not flower soon but the beans should be well set for a spring appearance.

I've now planted four varieties of garlic, including elephant garlic. Hopefully some of these should make an appearance over the next few weeks.

The spinach is coming along slowly but should be ready in a week or two if the weather stay mild.
I've also planted some seed grown onions and we have a bag or two of wintering onions to plant asap. Any volunteers? Let me know.

[Below] Our old favourite swiss chard (Bright Lights) is coming along well. A very reliable winter crop.

2009-10-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Broad Beans

This tomato is a bit of a mystery as it shouldn't be there! We only used small and cherry varieties this year. It's quite a mystery. It produces very large, very juicy tomatoes with good flesh and few seeds. A really excellent 'slicing' salad tomato. So... we I think we have a new variety on our hands, and we need a name for it. Any suggestions? How about Belleville Red?

Swiss chard. Pretty.

Expansion shock - winter veg

2009-10-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

[Above - late season salads and strawberries
thriving in the sunshine]

Today I took advantage of a shorter than expected dental appointment and the beautiful late autumn weather and planted seed grown wintering onions, 'perpetual' spinch and broad beans. Hopefully these will have time to settle in before winter, and will be have a head start when spring comes round again. If it stays warm we may have spinach in November!

Tiny onion plants grown from seed, not sets (small onions). Hopefully they won't wither and die!
I covered the beds to stop birds pulling up the onions and the foxes who like to dig up worms (and slugs) in disturbed soil.

Broad beans, with little sticky supports and stakes with wire supports. Nothing can go wrong. Let me know if you see any greenfly!

Perpetual spinach which went all floppy when I planted it. It does this on purpose to make you feel like you don't know what you are doing. Then, when you're not looking, it springs into life again. I think.

Let's hope there's no overcrowding when the plants start growing! [Leave out the politics - Ed]

Tommy asked me to give you a preview of his halloween oufit:

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Produce Sale

2009-10-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

Sold nearly thirty bags of rocket, wild rocket, mixed salad leaves, pak choi, tomatoes and chili peppers today - sold like hot cakes, so thanks for your support!

The pak choi is great in salads or you can stir fry it the Chinese way.
One of my favourite meals is griddled salmon steak with steamed jasmine rice and steamed pak choi, served with a warm marinade of soy sauce, a little honey, ginger, garlic, and mirin if you have it. Highly recommended!

I mentioned before that the fennel wasn't exactly a triumph. Instead of a nice bulb we have this weird looking root conglomeration. Have tied this specimen to the fence to frighten the children.

Don't forget to sign up for the veg garden newsletter!

School Photo

2009-10-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

October Crops

2009-09-30T03:23:00.000-07:00

The warm September has extended the growing season and the salads and tomatoes are doing especially well. The fennel [above] looks very beautiful and smells great, but I'm not sure the heads are large enough to eat. I suspect a lack of water at a critical growing time might have reduced the bulb size somewhat.

The tomatoes have been a great success, the small orange 'Sungold' variety proving specially sweet.
They're definitely on my list a favourites for next year!

We can look forward to these Cos lettuce and Swiss Chard providing some colour and flavour in the weeks to come. The Swiss Chard is the multi-coloured 'Bright Lights' variety. Click on photo for more detail!

Mixed salad leaves and rocket make an attractive display and a delicious salad (which has been going down very well with home made pizza recently chez Dutton! Brilliant pizza dough recipe available on request.......)

The mizuna leaves look great and add a bit of spiciness to the salad [right]
Look out for the leeks that are doing really well. The difference between home grown and shop bought is massive!

Remember, if you want to help out with the garden email me or say hello when you see me in the playground. Thanks!!

Oh, and an historic day at Belleville School - A masterclass in organisation!

New academic year!

2009-09-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

[Above: Mr Grove's sweetcorn. Please do not touch!]
STOP PRESS: APPARENTLY THERE WAS AN UPTURN IN THE AMOUNT OF VEG BEING EATEN BY THE CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOL CANTEEN DURING THE LAST ACADEMIC YEAR, AND THE STAFF THINK IT'S BECAUSE OF THE VEG GARDEN!

Welcome to a new term at Belleville School.

The main frustration over the summer holiday has been that the school is closed when many of the crops have been ready for harvesting, especially beans and tomatoes, but also courgettes and carrots, in fact just about everything we were growing. Fortunately Lollo Roja has been able to harvest some beans and tomatoes for the restaurant, but nonetheless, there remains a problem of what to do in the summer when the school is closed and so many people are away. Maybe next year we should aim to have open days every Sunday morning when parents can come along and pick their own?

Here's a quick run down of successes and failures over the summer:

Failures

1. Fennel - it looks beautiful but no bulbs have formed at all, which according to the books is normally caused by low temperatures but, given the summer we've had (decent?) I'm wondering if it might not be lack of water at crucial times. Apologies for poor picture quality - blame Nokia!

2. The climbing french beans were great in that they grew very quickly in great profusion, but they did tend to pod very quickly if you didn't pick them in time. Next year, borlotti beans!

3. Dwarf beans. Hopeless. Not sure why. Probably my fault.

Successes:

1. Tomatoes. Very sweet orange coloured cherry toms were my favourite. Unfortunately I lost the seed packet so might not be able to grow them again.

2.Companion planting. That's where you grow one plant in close proximity to another for their mutual benefit. In this case I grew Nasturtiums next to the climbing beans, and they were successful in attracting the blackfly away from the tender beans which often get overwhelmed by the nasty bugs. Very green!

3. Pumpkins. Last year they all went spongy when only a few inches across, but it turns out we weren't watering enough. It was such a wet summer that the soil was normally wet, but because the raised beds are on top of concrete they were bone dry just under the surface, so the thirsty pumpkins shrivelled and died. In other words I killed them! This summer I tried to give them long soaks and that seems to have done the trick.

4. Carrots (partial success). We grew heirloom varieties, none of them orange, and although they tasted great they didn't have the modern carrots size and shape. The above the ground plant was often massive while the carrot was quite small. Modern varieties reverse those characteristics.

Also, the peppers again showed how easy they are to grown, the potaoes tasted great but were pretty small, and the strawberries are still going nicely.
But the biggest success of all was the recruiting of Evie who is going to run a veg gardening club after school every Thursday. Great news! More about that soon...

July update

2009-08-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

PICK YOUR OWN THIS SATURDAY AT 10am

Above: (new 'superfood') Curly Kale, still going strong.
Below: Our extra produce is being sold by Dandelion in Northcote Rd. They seem to be pretty pleased that our courgettes are grown 150 yards from the shop are replacing those that were grown 150 million miles away in Costa Rica!

We've also supplied Lola Rojo with french beans and they'll be harvesting during the second half of August and beyond perhaps.
Here are some photos of what's else is on offer this Saturday.....
Right: Climbing french beans. You need to be tall to pick these!
Below: The tomatoes are ripening rapidly and there should be quite a few ready for picking on Saturday. The photos are a couple of weeks old.

Below: Pumpkins won't be ready until Halloween time, by which time they should be really large. They enjoy beer.

Right: The leeks also need more time to grow.

Left: We've already had loads of courgettes but there should be some more on Saturday?

Below right: The carrots (any colour but orange) have shot up (or should that be down?) recently. We could maybe pick a few to thin them out?

Below: For some reason the peppers are growing upwards rather than downwards.

Below: We'll have a dig for Pink Fir Apple potatoes (stock photo below). Seriously, they taste great, and they only need a scrub, no peeling required. Not sure if they're ready yet?

Dig For Victory!

2009-07-14T23:19:00.001-07:00

YOUR GARDEN NEEDS YOU!!

Are you a lower playground parent or will you be a lower playground parent next year?

Do you enjoy the vegetable garden?
Do you feel sad when you see the plants looking thirsty?
Would you like to earn the respect of your children?
Well now's your chance to help!

We're looking for volunteer 'drought wardens' to check on the garden at drop-off and pick-up time, and to water the garden if it looks dry. It would only take a few minutes although if you have longer to give the soil a good soaking, then that would be great. For more info see below:

The hose is easily attached to the tap
Don't water if the soil is already damp
When you water it's better to thoroughly soak some of the garden then wet the surface of the whole garden
Most veg require lots of water, but parsnips, garlic & onions need a little less when they are a decent size
The raised beds dry out very quickly and very deeply because they are laid on tarmac. It's a good idea to sometimes leave the hose on the surface of the soil while the water soaks in
Tomato leaves don't like being wet for too long, but on a warm and sunny day this isn't a problem
In order of water requirement: Potatoes, beans, courgettes and pumpkins, carrots, tomatoes, salads etc
If the gate is locked when you are finished you can leave via the school office

For some further entertainment try these excellent sites which are sure to give you a lift in these difficult times!
http://outonafunkytrip.blogspot.com/
http://skatalitesindub.blogspot.com/

Thank you for your kind attention - Ministry of Food

Courgettes in a pot

2009-07-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

CLICK ON PIX TO ENLARGE

For anyone who bought a courgette plant at the summer fair (and there were quite a few of you), just repot into a large pot with compost, keep moist and find a sunny spot. My plant was grown from seed at the same time as the ones sold at the fair, but re-potted a week or two earlier, so yours should be ready to produce courgettes any day.

These shallots were grown at the school and will be for sale at drop off on Monday along with some bags of curly kale, one of the world's healthiest foods apparently!

How to grow leeks?

2009-06-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

There are various ways to grow leeks but this year I sprinkled some seeds into compost filled 5" pots and transplanted the resulting seedlings (in big clumps) into one of the raised beds when they were a reasonable size. I dug these up today. In the photo on the left you can see how the roots have formed a healthy looking root ball.

At this stage (or before) it's a good idea to mark out your lines (with string?) and make your holes. These should be six inches apart and six inches deep and the rows should be around a foot apart.

I then shook out some of the soil (photo left).

The individual leeks then have to be teased apart (above) and then the roots and leaves are trimmed (right).
The leeks are then dropped into the holes and 'puddled in' (left) which is a gardening term used by the real experts. It means filling the hole with water, which doesn't sound as technical as 'puddling in'. This process settles the roots and fills the bottom of the hole with soil so the leek can get into growing mode again.

They look neat in their rows which I've covered with netting in an attempt to stop foxes digging them up. They look for disturbed soil which, because they are stupid, they hope might contain a chicken.

I'd actually grown four clumps of leeks so I planted the remaining ones at Honeywell Nursery (below right) with the able assistance of Sam Watson.

Bloomin' June

2009-06-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

[Above] Veg Club member Javonte takes a look at the potato plants

[Left] Curly Kale, an early kids Veg Club project, grown from seed. They grow into spectacular plants and are a staple of the Able & Cole veg boxes later in the year. Ha!

[Right] Dwarf beans. There's one clearly visible in the middle of the photo. Behind the beans are the canes for the climbing beans which are just beginning to curl around the poles.

[Left] The clumps of leeks in the foreground are waiting transplantation to rows in one of the other beds. The wild garlic is ready if anyone wants some?

[Right] Onions, shallots and garlic coming along nicely. You can also just see carrots in the outside rows planted by a kind Veg Club member - just where I was going to plant the leeks. Still they're coming on ok. I've also sown five rows of 'heirloom' carrots in the first raised bed... yellow, cream, white and red. Anything but orange. They never used to be orange you know.

[Left] Pak Choi. I'll be selling some at pick up on Monday. I've tried it. It's very nice.

[Right] Pumpkin plants. Last year the butternut squash was a disaster. These are Halloween style pumpkins.

[Left] Strawberries. Everybody likes strawberries. Not sure if there will be enough to sell as they don't ripen at the same time. Although there might be, as there are loads more than last year. I think they taste better than the ones in the shops. Javonte agrees.

[Below] I'm quite excited about my tomato plant cage. I borrowed the idea from something I saw at the Chelsea Flower Show a couple of years ago. Their's was much better.
Don't forget to prune your tomatoes if you bought any off me. And put them in the ground if you can. And support them well with big canes. And feed them when the first tomatoes are full size. They should be great!
And if you could donate to the African school project on the left it might actually get built, as they've almost reached their target.

Veg tribulations

2009-05-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

I was beginning to think it was easy. Plant a few seeds, watch the seedlings grow into plants, cut them down, sell them. And then along came the brassicas. If you look further down this page you'll see photos of nice pointy headed cabbages. I didn't have time to harvest and sell them. The sun came out and they bolted. Which means the nice pointy cabbagy heads opened up and turned into great big leaves. Which is fine, but not so neat and pointy and ace as what we had before.

Post Script I whizzed down to Honeywell today and harvested twelve cabbages in their pre-bolting state. They were planted a couple of weeks after the Belleville ones and as the weather has been cooler recently they hadn't had a chance to bolt. Phew.

Please have a look at the 'Just Giving' box on the left hand side of the page. If you click 'donate' you will see more details about the project. It looks like a worthy cause to me, and Danny Wallce is an ok fella.
Speaking of the Club, there's an after-school workshop this Friday 15th May for joinees. 1530-1700.

The Belleville Cauliflower Experience

2009-05-07T13:42:00.001-07:00

The brassicas have been pretty decent so far, especially now four of them have turned into cauliflowers. They look great and need regular watering to keep them in good shape.
These specimens are up for sale on eBay (in aid of the Belleville Primary School PTA) . Just go to eBay and search for the Belleville Cauliflower Experience. You'd be mad not to.

The other thing you can to with caulis apart from keeping them watered is to keep the sun off the heads which stops them yellowing (not that that affects the taste). The one in the photo on the left below has had the leaves bent over to protect it.

The leek seedlings are doing well (I think). I started them in five inch pots and after they grew repotted to ten inch, of which we now have three. One of these I planted out into a bed I'm using as a nursery bed, which at the moment only contains some wild garlic. The idea is to grow them on until they're as thick as a pencil and then they can be planted out in their final positions, alongside the garlic and onions. Unless we sow carrots there first, which we may do as the garlic and onions might repel the dreaded carrot fly.

The Pink Fir Apple spuds have been earthed up nicely by some veg club members. Last year I underwatered the potatoes which produced the unsightly, but harmless, potato scab. Nice name.
However, when it comes to watering (club members take note) , please don't overdo it!

Post Easter Break

2009-04-22T03:42:00.000-07:00

Two weeks away and the change in the garden has been fairly amazing. The chard and spinach has gone crazy, the onions, garlic and shallots [foreground above] have come through as have the potatoes (pink fir apples), the brassicas have gone crazy and the fox has dug up the climbing beans.

[Above] Purple and white sprouting broccoli, a delicacy to be savoured!
[Below] Onions, garlic and shallots on the left and a rather neat looking pointy cabbage on the right. A bargain at a pound!

[Below left] spinach ready for harvesting
[Below right] swiss chard in the foreground. It's about to be removed to make room for more strwberries.

[Left] Pink fir apple potatoes, just showing through. We'll earth them up when they're about ten cms high.

[Right] Little gem on the right and a new crop of wild rocket on the left.

I might be doing more after drop-off harvesting on demand. Look out for the emails!

Spring Update

2009-03-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, the clocks have gone forward, the temperature's rising, new shoots are appearing all over the place - and I'm off on my hols for two weeks.
Today was my last chance for a session before going away and, amazingly, I found this lump of ice on one of the polytunnels.
It was a bitter night, but I'm fairly sure that from today the nights and days will be getting a fair bit warmer.

The garden is all set for the growing season, and here's a rundown of what's in each bed:

Bed One:

Brassicas, including cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. They were being eaten by the pigeons, so we had to put nets up to keep them away.
The plastic bags are supposed to act as bird scarers.
Once these brassicas are harvested we'll turn this bed over to salad crops.

Bed Two:

Potatoes. Grown from chitted potatoes (old potatoes which are left in cool, light place to encourage growth of the little shoots).
I planted two rows of Pink Fir Apples which are a knobbly but very delicious potato. They are great in salads and can also be eaten hot. The Veg Growing Club members will learn about earthing up in order to increase the crop, once the shoots start appearing.

Bed Three:

This bed contains a fair amount of perpetual spinach which survived the winter. At each end is a pair of brassicas which were transplanted from bed five, which we emptied to make space for other plants to grow.

Bed Four:
This bed will be exclusively for strawberries, although at the moment there are still some swiss chard plants going strong.

Bed Five:
Two rows of garlic, one and a half rows of shallots, and half a row of onions. The garlic is grown from individual cloves, each of which will turn in to a bulb of garlic. The shallots are grown from 'sets' which look like baby onions. They split and you normally get eight or nine shallots from each set. I ran out of shallot sets so filled up the row with some onion sets from last year (Hopefully they weren't too old!).

The second picture shows an onion set in the ground ready to be covered over with soil.
In early May the Veg Club members will sow two rows of carrot seed. I've orded a mixture of heritage varieties including purple, white and red carrots, which is what they used to be like in them olden days.

Bed Six:
Brassicas, including cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. These are covered with nets to keep the pigeons off. The cloche is merely being used for the same purpose as I ran out of netting, but it will be interesting to see the effect on the grown of those plants under cover.

Bed Seven:
In the main part of bed sic there are two tunnels, one containing little gem lettuce, the other two rows of recently planted wild rocket.

Along the west side of the bed, in both the large and small sections, I've built a cane structure ready for climbing french beans. We can then grow some dwarf beans in front of the canes. These shouldn't take too much of the sun from the climbers.
We'll also be able to keep the wild rocket growing, but the little gem will have to make way for the beans.

Other random photos [click to enlarge]:

Purple sprouting broccoli, cabbage, wild rocket tunnel, little gem.

SEE YOU SOON. HOPE TO HAVE THE FIRST VEG GARDENING CLUB WORKSHOPS IN MAY!

Snow bound

2009-02-03T08:17:00.000-08:00

Snow covering the beds on 3rd Feb

Early winter thrills

2008-11-09T14:10:00.001-08:00

We had an excellent produce sale last Friday and everything sold out in about five minutes, which was very gratifying and shows that Belleville parents quite literally have great taste [quite literally? - Ed]. We sold spinach, Swiss chard, chinese salad and pak choi.

Swiss chard 'Bright Lights' (right) which is a stunning plant (try some in your flower beds next year?) looking quite literally good enough to eat [Hmm - Ed].

For those who think the growing season is over...... The usual winter crops like parsnips are enjoying the mild weather (ours have all been harvested now) and the perpetual spinach is quite literally living up to it's name [what the ...!.? - Ed].

But the exciting thing is that the chinese salad is still going strong (including the Pak Choi) and the Winter Little Gem seedlings are doing well in my greenhouse and should be ready for planting out in a couple of weeks. I may even use a cloche for them although in theory they shouldn't need one. It's all soooo exciting [calm down -Ed)

[Left] Weird looking but delicious chinese lettuce, part off the the chinese salad collection that seems to enjoy the cold.

[Right] Winter Little Gem in the greenhouse

[Below] Parsnips picked in October

Wild Garden - The Big Clear Out

2008-10-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today was an 'open day' where volunteer parents (and a teacher) cleared out the rubbish at the site and pruned or removed bushes that were in the wrong place or were inappropriate for the wild garden. Some were dying, some were covered in thorns. We also removed the really grim looking chain link fence and chicken wire that jst acted as a collection point for leaves and bits of rubbish. It's looking a lot better now (and lighter too) but more tidying up work is still needed before we start work on planting and erecting insect and bird houses. We'll probably have another session next Sunday.

Sauce, tools and the dreaded blight!

2008-09-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Green Team members Lara & Joe join Lucas to show off the giant Radiator Charlie Mortgage Lifter tomato

[Photo courtesy of The Wandsworth Borough News]

It's been a busy week for the Green Team who have also been invited along to a garden tool recycling project run by the Conservation Foundation in conjuction with HMP Wandsworth. The general public have been invited to deposit their worn out and damaged garden tools at recycling centres (such as the one near Wandsworth Bridge), and these tools have then been repaired and refurbished by prisoners at Wandsworh prison.

Belleville were donated a full set and it is hoped that these can be used in the construction of the wild garden which is due to be built before the end of the year (email me if you'd like to help with this project).

The cold, wet weather of a couple of weeks ago took its toll and blight swept through the tomato plants - we lost more than half of them. Blight is characterised by brown patches that appear on branches and stems and soon reach the fruit which would go brown and rot, given the chance. The disease spreads rapidly from plant to plant. In theory the plants should be burned and tomatoes shouldn't be grown in the same soil for three years to halt the spread of the disease. Nasty.

On a happier note the Cream Sausage tomatoes grew very well and I made a sauce based on an Italian recipe.

You basically heat onions and garlic, add the chopped yellow tomatoes, add a yellow pepper and when cooked, blend to make a sauce which goes well with pasta and fish in particular.

Currently the foxes are driving me mad and we've had to resort to physical barriers to stop them destroying the new crops [right]

The mini Indian summer has helped the surviving to tomatoes to ripen.

The giant Radiator Charlie Mortgage Lifter is no more. I ate it.
Almost all of it.

And it was extremely tasty which you might not expect such a whoppa to be. Up there with the Coeur De Boeuf that we ate in France in August. I added a little seasoning, extra virgin olive oil and a drop of balsamic, and wow, tomato heaven.
Served with grilled Haloumi. Yum. Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter was the success of the year, especially considering the poor weather. I'll be selling seedlings and small plants in the playground next April for sure.

While we're on the subject of sauce, we've made use of the surplus by making lots of tomato sauce, some spicy using chillies from the garden, and these have been sold in the playground for the PTA.
The most recent batch we made was a simple blend of tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar and seasoning.

A new academic year, three new monsters!

2008-09-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

LOOK OUT, IT'S BEHIND YOU! (Monster No1)

[Click on any picture to enlarge]

A new academic year starts at Belleville and there are some new seedlings to be planted, new parents to involve and older crops to dig up and put on the compost heap (along with the old parents)

Left: New parent gardeners wondering what they've let themselves in for. They/you can receive the email newsletter about produce and sales etc by emailing jd@motionrecords.com

Right: They were spicy green
chillies but now they're
larger red chillies.
What does it all mean?

MONSTER No2.

Left: Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter demonstrating its claim to be the world's largest tomato. Yes it looks like three sections but it's actually one tomato. It weighs 920Kg and the circumpherence is 18 1/2 inches. The Wandsworth Guardian photographed it with Lucas (nepotism) and two of the green team.

Right: New crops: oriental salad including Mizuna lettuce and pak choi. Note the homemade protection from the fox (that dug some up yesterday) and footballs.

Below: Brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) ready for planting.

To save time I ordered these as seedlings from Dobies. They arrived in the post and as I wasn't around they might have died in their box were it not for the quick thinking of Robert De Niro (lookalike Baki) who planted them in the window box. I think he has it in for me, as he didn't label which were which. Now only time will tell....

MONSTER No3 Below: The hazards of vegetable gardening. I spotted this man eating spider 'Spideris Horiblis' today next to the giant Tornado F1 tomato plant. Weighing in at roughly 1 Kg it paralyses with a nip of its sharp little teeth and then eats you slowly from the feet upwards. So if you don't see me for a few days and the spider looks bigger.....

Belleville goes exotic

2008-08-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

[Above & below] Three Aubergine plants in all their glory.
For some reason these are doing much better than expected.

The variety is Long Purple, and it's obviously well suited to the rather cool weather we've been having.(Cream Sausage tomatoes in the background).

The chillies and peppers are also doing well. All sorts of varieties are thriving again despite the weather. The one disappointment is that the pumpkins and squash have been a disaster - they grown to about two or three inches and then rot or wither and die. I'm blaming the weather. Nothing to do with my incompetent gardening obviously.

There's also a new crop of oriental salad (Mizuna, Pak Choi etc) which is something of an experiment. Looks good though!

Next produce sale is today (Sunday) at 6pm, Wakehurst Rd entrance. There are LOTS of tomatoes, as well as the above crops.

Post holiday produce

2008-08-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

Just back from our hols and we have a new look for the Belleville blog. We've also harvested lots of tomatoes which are now ripening nicely.

Two Omar's Lebanese tomatoes alongside a couple of giant Radiator Charlie Mortgage Lifter tomatoes [right]
We also have spinach, chard, rocket. The carrots are just about ready but too small. The parsnips are also doing well.

Chillies and aubergine are also coming along nicely, and should be available in a couple of weeks, touch wood.

STOP PRESS: Below is a BRANDYWINE tomato, considered by some to be the tastiest tomato in the world. This one looks slightly more weird than they normally do so I didn't sell it. Which meant I could eat it myself. It was VERY tasty, so look out for them at the next produce sale on Wednesday (if any more have ripened by then). Midday and six pm is the plan.

2008-08-01T04:24:00.000-07:00

Good news! We have a major new addition to the veg garden team.
Duncan Marshall (left), who lives right opposite the main entrance to Belleville School in Belleville Road, is semi-retired and looks after the children while his wife is at work. He is going to drop in every day while I'm on holiday to water and tidy up, and will harvest only if the Lola Roja team have left anything. Also pictured are Cristina and Antonio, owners of Lola Roja on the Northcote Road. Antonio is also the chef and is particularly interested in the Tres Cantos tomatoes which originally hail from the Andalucian region of Spain and should be rather special, given a little more good weather!

Lola Roja and sunflowers

2008-07-28T11:32:00.001-07:00

Lola Roja on a sunny July evening, the beans being received in the kitchen, sunflowers showing over the school wall on Wakehurst Road, and tons of Gardener's Delight cherry tomatoes, on the vine. They'll be in Lola Roja in about a week!
[Click on the photos to enlarge]

The plan is to replace the summer crops (such as salads, tomatoes, courgettes and beans) with winter crops - probably in October. These will not only include the usual brassicas (brocolli, cauliflower, cabbages etc), but also winter salads such as Winter Gem, and perpetual spinach. I think swiss chard is also a winter survivor, but will have to check to be sure.

Holidays, foxes and tapas

2008-07-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

There's a fox (or foxes) at work in the garden. This morning I had been gardening for a few minutes when one climbed out of one of the raised beds and sauntered off. Looking a bit miffed.
Every time I use the organic fertiliser he digs up the watering pots (which is where I sprinkle the fertiliser) and digs holes in the soil. I believe the fertiliser uses chicken manure which would account for the fox's interest. I've tried to fox-proof the veg garden, so volunteers are advised only to use the gate near the greenhouse, and please make sure both gates are closed when you leave. And look out for foxes on arrival!

Well the holidays are here and there's lots of work to be done before we go away to France for a couple of weeks.

Having harvested the potatoes there was a whole empty raised bed to fill. Rather than sowing seeds I planted all of the sunflowers left over from the competition and I added a couple I had grown myself because I couldn't face seeing them die in pots that are too small for them. I then planted three or four tomato plants that were also stuck in smallish pots. These should lead to us having a continuous supply for some months as they were sown much later than those that are fruiting now. If the weather holds out there's no reason why we shouldn't have tomatoes up to October maybe.
Some of the bigger tomatoes are ready to eat now (see pic below), and the first of the cherry tomatoes (Gardener's Delight) are ripe too. The latter are super sweet and will probably all ripen when I'm away, darn. I keep meaning to mention to harvesters that they shouldn't be over-watered as that makes the taste too, er, watery.

The onion bed also has a big space where the onions were. I'll sow some oriental salads there.
For later in the year I have ordered fifty brassica plug plants from dobies.co.uk. These will save loads of time and effort and are relatively cheap. I've also sourced a variety of other winter season goodies including Winter Gem seeds which allegedly produce a crop of Little Gem lettuce through the winter months. I'm traditionally rubbish at brassicas. They should really be planted in concrete like soil and you don't get concrete like soil in raised beds because it doesn't get trodden on. Although I suppose there's nothing to stop me climbing up and stomping around once they've been planted.

The strawberries have shot out lots of runners and I've pushed some of these down into pots with a view to having some nice strawberry plants to sell cheaply at the Sunday sales (see pic right).

Next week I'll sow some more spinach and swiss chard which should appear in early August and be ready to harvest around three weeks later.

An exciting development is that we have started supplying the Lola Roja restaurant with produce. Today we provided a huge bag of french beans, wild garlic, wild rocket, tomatoes & onions. Co-owner Cristina is a mum at Belleville and all proceeds will go to the PTA. In mid August we will start the Sunday sales, as we should have enough produce to supply the restaurant and parents. If you haven't tried Lola Roja you should, it's amazing. And now they've reduced their carbon footprint. Couldn't get much more locally sourced veg!

Aghh - common scab!

2008-07-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

So, end of term and our first disaster.

Dug up the remaining Desiree potatoes today and found that many of them had a nasty scabby thing happening. Looked it up in the book and it's 'Common Scab', the least serious of all potato problems in that the disease is only skin deep. Peel them and the remaining spud is fine. Took the decision not to sell the affected poatoes, but donated them took caretaker Baki's family (and kept some myself).
In the photo below you can see the scabby bit on the large potato to the right. Click on the photo to enlarge.

Produce sale tomorrow at pick up time in the main playground:

About ten bags of onions
Three or four bags of wild rocket (recommended!)
French beans - about five bags? This weeks top tip: Kids love them!
One bag of courgettes
Two bags of potatoes
Some spinach and swiss chard

The tomatoes are suddenly starting to ripen and we should have quite a lot of red ones in a week or so. Oh, and the aubergines are seriously flowering and there's a decent chance that they'll produce over the next few weeks.
Would like to get sowing seeds asap but working for a living seems to be getting in the way.

Might have to buy an automatic watering system. Now that would be cool.

A brief look back

2008-07-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sunflower competition result and latest sale

2008-07-14T00:07:00.000-07:00

[above]
A 'Brandywine' beefsteak tomato, claimed to be the world's tastiest! An old Amish heirloom tomato dating back to 1885 and passed down from generation to generation.

We had eighteen entries into the sunflower competition, most of which have survived and prospered. They were replanted into pots of roughly the same size.
The winner of the first prize of £5.00 is Joseph Lewis (RL) with the runner up prize of £3.00 to George C (RT). Also commended were Aiden O (RB), Jake Horring (Yr 3) & Oliver GB (1c) who each won one pound.

The latest produce sale went really well. I thought there might have been too much harvested, but once again I was delighted by the response from the parents. We actually had to limit people to only one bag of any type of produce, and we still had quite a few people turn up to find everything sold out.

The mixed salad leaves with wild rocket was the one thing I managed to sample (at Peter and Judith BBQ).
Being sold straight out of the ground it needed a good wash and a minute in the salad spinner, but assisted by Judith's salad dressing it was excellent.
Rocket and salad (left); first tomato to turn red, a 'Marmande' (below) ;
wild garlic, not seen in the shops very often! (below left); shallots, small but perfectly formed (below right). Oh, and results of the poll show a preference for growing shallots next year, probably with onions as well. We've dug up lots of onions so far and have left the most recent batch to dry on the fence (bottom pic) in time for the next produce sale which is on Monday 21st July at pick-up.

First produce sale and french bean news

2008-07-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

Check out the poll to the right of this column. If you highlight the results you can see where the votes have gone so far. The vote is for whether you'd like us to grow onions, shallots, or both next year.
We had our first sale of produce on Wednesday 2nd July and everything sold out in a flash. I think we sold about twenty five bags of potatoes, Swiss chard, lettuce, onions and shallots. And two courgettes. Some ended up on my plate (see photo above). We would have had a few beans to sell but someone (me) forgot to pick them. I think it was because Year One children came to inspect the progress of their onions, which they seemed to enjoy for some reason, and I was distracted. I grew the shallots elsewhere in case you were wondering.

If you bought a tomato plant and the leaves are starting to go yellow then it either needs putting in a bigger pot with some compost, or else it needs fertilizer. Even better than re-potting, is putting it in the ground as that's where they really like to be. I've just bought some Miracle-Grow Organic fertilizer which smells much like chicken manure pellets, but comes in a more manageable form.
The race is on to get the first ripe tomato, and so far it's RB class in the lead. Their Tornado F1 plant is obviously getting plenty of sunshine. I just repotted it (see pix) as the leaves were yellowing. May have left it too late, we'll see. Coming second are the Marmande tomatoes in the individual square raised bed in the vegetable garden (see photo in previous blog if you're really sad).
Remember not to overwater the tomatoes. Let them dry out before watering. This improves the flavour and makes the roots work harder. If it's all going very well you could consider pruning off some of the leaves, the idea being that the plants energy will then be diverted into the tomatoes rather than the leaves.

It's interesting to see the difference between the tomatoes in the raised beds and those in pots like these Tornado plants. The ones in the raised beds are massive in comparison!
One tip for anyone watering the raised beds: apparently parsnips like dryish conditions so maybe only water if they look like they are wilting, or if you know for sure that they haven't been watered for ages.

Below: The dwarf and climbing french beans have really gone crazy. The other day they were tiny and next time I looked there were tons to pick. And the more you pick, the more are produce! We'll be selling these in the playground on Monday 7th July at drop off - and there should still be plenty more for Fridays produce sale.

Latest crops

2008-07-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

Cream sausage tomato (above) Onions on the fence and the potato digging children.
Potatoes just dug up. First of the beans.

Marmande tomatoes just beginning to ripen. Rocket (below). Butternut squash (below left)

2008-06-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

The Belleville Summer fair was blessed with fine weather today and a big crowd turned up to enjoy the many attractions on offer. The plant stall was really well supported and we sold most of the tomatoes, peppers and courgettes, some of the Italian pumpkins and aubergines and a fair few marigolds, busy lizzies, violas, begonias and geraniums. Half of the of the flowers were donated by Homebase - we just had to pot them up, so many thanks to them.
Many thanks to Peter Holland who proved an excellent, and almost knowledgeable, salesman.
If you have any photos of the fete please email them to jd@motionrecords.com

Carnival - and excercise amongst the tomatoes...

2008-06-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Belleville School carnival brightened up the streets of Battersea this afternoon as it paraded up Northcote Rd. The vegetable growing department managed to sell twenty four bags of swiss chard, little gem lettuce, spinach and salad to a captive audience of parents during the fine festival of dance and music that was put on afterwards in the school playground.
(Right: Italian Ridged Pumpkin - just starting to grow)
(Below: Marmande. Below that: Courgette - a few days from being ready to eat)
The mass harvesting of salads resulted in a major thinning out, leaving the year three and four beds looking a little bare; but they'll regrow soon enough, with a bit of luck.
There was also a major pruning of tomato plants (cordon varieties often having forked into two main stems when I wasn't looking, you know the sort of thing!) which has allowed more light to get to the tomatoes, and also revealed a couple of ladbirds trying to play leapfrog amongst the leaves, I think ( click on the image above right).

Above from left to right: Carrots with parsnips in the background, the flower of a french climbing bean, and and onion.

The vegetable growers union would like to congratulate headmaster John Grove, the teachers and the assistants, all of whom put in so much work to make the carnival such a success!

And the winners are....

2008-06-09T00:14:00.000-07:00

The first tomatoes have appeared already and, for those interested in this sort of thing, the varieties that have fruited well ahead of their rivals are 'Marmande' followed by Tornado F1. 'Marmande' is an heirloom beefsteak variety which produces large, ribbed tomatoes of a very deep red colour.
They taste great and have few seeds.'Tornado F1' were specially bred for British summer conditions. They are very early and produce a compact bushy plant that carries a heavy crop of round fruits showing up well through sparse foliage. An RHS 'Award of Garden Merit' winner.
(Above: Marmande)
(Below: Tornado F1)
You won't see either of these varieties in the supermarkets because they are thin skinned and don't travel well (i.e. sit in lorries and storerooms for weeks being exposed to ripening gasses). These are very sweet flavoured and perfectly illustrate the advantages of growing your own!
The others varieties have plenty of flowers but no tomatoes as yet.

The strawberries are also doing well. We need some straw though, as this photo reminded me.

It's all gone bananas

2008-06-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, the recent rain and sprinkling of sunshine has resulted in massive growth of many of the crops, the salads in particular. Unfortunately this co-incided with half term, so haven't been able to sell produce to the parents. Hopefully will arrange this for Tuesday......also have loads of cougette and pumpkin plants - and the tomatoes are massive, with flowers - all ready for some serious tomato action in other words! A couple of videos follow:

Tried the swiss chard yesterday and it was delicious. Treat it like spinach - my mother-in-law, who knows about these things, steamed it with a little nutmeg. Start with the stems and add the leaves for the last couple of minutes. Yum.

Gardening club and born again tomatoes!

2008-05-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Lets hope the change in the weather doesn't mean we'll have a summer like last year i.e. a couple of weeks of summer when it should be spring, followed by four months of rain. Not good for vegetables, worse for tomatoes (which are technically fruit rather than veg). Even worse for people.

The next stage for the garden is to increase the involvement of the children, so that they can follow the growth and harvesting of the produce. I'd also like to start a veg gardening club so that children who want to increase their gardening skills and knowledge can do so. And so that they can be used as slave labour (just kidding PTA).

Watering is a proving a problem as the raised beds dry out very quickly - so I'm looking for volunteer parents who could keep an eye on things at pick-up or drop-off. Plus, plants in the greenhouse may need watering every day, certainly when it's very sunny. Please send me an email me if you can help.

During the mega planting day earlier this week (Monday), I kept meaning to check on the tomatoes still in the 'greenhouse' at Honeywell School, as they were in small pots and it was very hot. On Tuesday morning I realised that I had completely forgotten, and whizzed over to find ten 'dead' tomato plants. I should have taken a photo because two hours later, amazingly, all but one had recovered completely after being given a good drink. I've seen revivals before, but these really did look very dead. I'm thinking of filming the process - taking a plant and starving it of water, letting it 'die' and then filming the revival, time lapse style - and adding it to the blog.
We've grown over 100 tomato plants from seed; varieties include Tornado F1, Alicante, Gardener's Delight, Tres Cantos, Dutchman, Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter, Brandywine, Marmande, Cream Sausage, Mr Stripey Denar & Oregon Spring. You'll see in the photos the progress from tiny seedlings through to decent sized plants in pots. Last year I ended up with tons of green tomatoes, but hopefully there'll be plenty of time for ripening this year as they're so much earlier - sun willing. We've already sold quite a few plants to parents, to grow in their own gardens. Battersea, the natural home of the tomato!

Planting completed!

2008-05-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Took advantage of the early summer heatwave today and managed to get all the beds planted up ahead of schedule. Seedlings that would normally be ready for planting out in June were bursting out of their pots, so I couldn't resist -- especially as it's my last day off for a while. And if the weather suddenly turns nasty and the more tender plants (courgettes, squash and aubergine) die - well there's plenty more where they came from in the greenhouse at home.

Planted in Year Six's bed:
Five dwarf french beans
Nine peppers (various types)
Planted in Year Five's bed:
Three aubergines
Six tomatoes (various types)
Six clumps of wild garlic donated by the Hopkins family.

Baki turned up with a massive tube of industrial adhesive and stuck the
greenhouse together, so with a bit of luck it won't fall part the next time it
has a close encounter with a football.

Speaking of balls, the veg was getting massacred by flying basketballs during the lunchtime break, but after a round of negotiations it's been agreed that the goals don't need to be quite so close to the veg garden.
Finished off the day potting up about twenty or thirty tomato plants, from small pots to quite large pots. I'm hoping to sell them at our plant/veg stall at the summer fair on 28th June, but with all this sunshine they are way ahead, and might be enormous by the end of June - and many will be be fruiting by then. So if you want to eat delicious, freshly picked, organic tomatoes at home, now's your chance. And it's all for a good cause!

Belleville Garden - Story so far.

2008-05-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

There wasn't an obvious place to situate a vegetable garden at Belleville School. Word had got out that I had built a vegetable garden at Honeywell Nursery while my son Lucas was a pupil there the previous year. John Grove, head teacher Belleville, asked me if it might be feasible to try something similar at his school, now that Lucas had a place in the Reception class. I was pretty keen to try, but after a look round decided that the only suitable 'green' area (the beds alongside Webbs Road) was hampered by the almost total absence of direct sunlight.
I reported back that the area most suitable was the main playground which had the drawback of being er, the main playground. There was also the possibility of siting a couple of large planters outside the Reception classes facing Belleville Road, enough to maybe grow some tomatoes and beans in. Having thought that would be the end of it, I was gobsmacked when caretaker Baki Gashi sidled up to me in the playground at drop-off one morning and said he had something to show me. A fence had been built around the 'quiet area' bordering the main playground, and Baki wondered if the enclosed area might be suitable for the vegetable garden. It seemed they don't hang about at Belleville! I said yes, especially if the tarmac could be dug up. This not being possible we went down the deep raised beds route. I thought that if we could built a separate bed for each year group it would encourge the children and teachers to get involved; so we ordered the seven raised bed kits from a company called 'link-a-bord, and the fun began!