Aggie led five trainees in a hands-on sauerkraut session, transforming cabbage into a wonderful ferment. The group brought jars, salt, cabbages, carrots and caraway seeds. Paul added juniper berries for a unique twist.  The jars held more cannage than expected, and minimal water was needed since the salt drew out the natural juices.

ingredient ratios involved some unexpected math-Lauren was able to calculate hers accurately while Yolanda and the others got some helpful guidance from Aggie.

The steps were straightforward:

Finely chop the cabbage and grate the carrot or other veggies, then dissolve the salt with water, massage to release the juices, layer with carrots and caraway, then pack tightly into jars, press down very firmly, use a weight if you have one, seal then let sit for two weeks, burping occasionally to release the gas. after that, move to the fridge for storage, it will keep for a year if you can stop yourself eating it! it was a productive morning of chopping and learning.

Thanks to Aggie for the clear instruction and choppy wisdom-this is an excellent way to preserve our produce and support gut health. Aggie you are the brine boss-fermentastic! Looking forward to tasting the results!

RECOLLECTIONS

RHS visit Woodseats Allotments

On the 14th June the Allotment Society were privileged to have 4 RHS experts; Jim Arbury, David Allison, Gracie Barrett and Philip O’Connor (RHS student) visit the site and share their knowledge with the plot holders. 

The afternoon began with some quick refreshments at The Hub before splitting into groups according to speciality:

Jim Arbury-renowned expert in fruit and keen allotmenteer.

David Allison- former Chairman of the National Vegetable Society, exhibition grower, lecturer and judge.

Gracie Barrett- horticultural scientist with a passion for soil, worked with the RHS to go peat free and manages the RHS expert groups and runs Chelsea  Plant of the Year.

Notes

To propagate blackcurrant-

Prune blackcurrant in October and propagate from cuttings, remove leaves and put direct into soil. 

Pruning-

Prune apples and pears in August and the leaves will help feed the fruit.

Tayberry fruits on last year’s canes and die after fruiting, cut out old fruiting canes as soon after fruiting as possible and fan out new canes.

Plum trees, prune in spring and summer when there are dry days ahead. 

Blackcurrant, don’t shorten new shoots, cut quarter to a third of the bush removing old shoots.

Redcurrants you can cut the tops off new wood but not on blackcurrant.

Trim autumn fruiting canes in February to encourage laterals to create more fruit.

For eating apples, thin out to two per cluster for better quality fruit. Cooking apples leave just one.  

Other fruit tips

Plant raspberries 7/8 per meter in a row, too crowded increases the risk of cane disease.

Yellowing raspberry leaves suggest magnesium or iron deficiency-treat with Epsom salts or magnesium sulphate.  Pale leaves indicate  nitrogen deficiency. Mulch with leaf mould, not manure. Try foliage spray such as Q-tex 4 in cloudy conditions.

Grow garlic next to strawberries to deter pests.

Split rhubarb every 4-5 years.  If your rhubarb has flowered , when you dig up the crown to split, cut the centre section out as this is where the flower came from. Replant the 2 outer bits. The redder the rhubarb the sweeter, Poultons red is a good variety to grow.

Train gooseberries into cordons as this makes picking easier.

Tomatoes-

Recommended outdoor varieties include: Toddler, Veranda Red, Crimson Crush and Rubylicious. Grow Agretti below tomato plants-

https://www.holisticniss.com/blog/agretti-monks-beard-how-to-prepare-it

Vegetables and other key points

Avoid bare soil, mulch as much as possible Or plant more plants for ground cover.  Feed regularly. Shred rhubarb leaves to compost quickly, Leave noxious weeds to rot down in water if possible.

Remove the flowers from potatoes plants, harvest some early, don’t wait to pull them all at once.

Try perennial leeks to avoid allium leaf- Pips of Var and Babington, both available from Incredible Vegetables.

Buy grafted aubergines as sowing from seed takes too long.

Eskimo is a good overwinter carrot variety, sow end of July.

Autumn Champion is a good overwinter onion.

Quotes  

“It was a really inspiring visit! Some fantastic advice but also great to take a look at other plots-they are all so different! and we have an amazing community-Kate 

“Brilliant day, thanks to all who organised, and we even had the weather :-)”-Lindsay

We had a brilliant morning discussing composting, comfrey and nettle feeds.

Sarah and Lauren told us about hot composting. We started a hot compost experiment at the hub aided by Paul and Sheena with the ingredients from Sarah. Lesson learned: don't forget the aeration pipe!