According to the February 1945 Ministry of Agriculture Allotment and Garden Guide, this is the month for planning. However, it’s not just a case of deciding whether one wishes to eat peas or beans come the summer. A large proportion of the guide is devoted to the system of crop rotation, for which it recommends a three-year cycle for a 300-square-yard (about 250m²) plot. The system is best explained in the following illustration:
You can see the full guide here.
The Royal Horticultural Society’s website also contains advice on crop rotation. Does anyone use this method today? We’d be interested to hear whether this makes a difference to your yield.
During the war, getting the most from your little piece of England (or Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland!) was crucial. This fabulous film, produced by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1941, explains how to prepare an area of ground for growing your veg, and shows why not having space is simply no excuse!
Anyway, back to work. The vagaries of the English weather mean that February can be anything from mild and sunny to knee-deep in snow, and is usually a combination of everything in between. The guide provides sound advice: never work the soil when it is too wet and sticky and clings in lumps to your boots. If the weather allows, February is the time to get outside and get ahead. Broad beans, spinach and shallots can all be sown or planted, and crowns of rhubarb can be divided.
Essential February jobs:
Plan your planting for the year
Mulch your beds (sprinkle mulch around emerging plants to add nutrients and keep in moisture and warmth
Chit your potatoes – the BBC shows you how
Tags: Allotments, Dig for Victory, Gardening, Rationing, Second World War
well one out of three (chitting spuds)isn’t bad. And I’ve put the greenhouse up in the yard in preparation for Feb seed sowing so I’m way ahead on previous years!
if only people could go back to doing only a fraction of this, i think the world would actually be a better place to live in – it is not just the food that one is provided with by doing this, it is also the simple pleasur of growing something that is your own, and it occupies some of your time frutifully – i dont believe it when people say they havent got the time to do this; they probably do, but devote it to other activities
I want to look after an allotment in my lunch break. That is a brilliant idea.
I have a raised bed in my new back yard that is about 1m x 1.5m. I’m going to see what I can grow.
This inspired me….I just looked up my nearest allotments http://www.london.gov.uk/allotments/map/
Turns out that my local allotments have a volunteer programme where you can go and help someone with watering and digging. Particularly good if you haven’t got time to invest in a whole allotment, or don’t want to be on the waiting list for five years.
I’m going to do it and learn how to garden!
Fantastic, Sarah – we aim to inspire!
Let us know how you get on with your foray into the allotment world. What do you want to grow, and what are you most interested in learning how to do?
It may not be war time, and technically its not really a little piece of England – its 20 feet above it – there is nothing more satisfying than growing your own veg.
With the UK in dire shortage of allotment space, and local councils unlikely to reintroduce the schemes of WW1 and WW2 where playing fields were turned into growing space, I’ve turned to the balcony and elevated my agriculture!
It amazing what you can do with a few pots of dirt, some seeds and a little TLC.
The Ministry of Agriculture have it spot on…February is the time to plan, but you can also start planting up some crops in the greenhouse or in trays on a window sill (think hardy lettuces, broad beans and you can also start chitting your early potatoes!).
If you fancy a spot of balcony growing, but aren’t quite sure where to start, then plaease have a read through my site and feel free to drop me a line with any questions.
http://www.elevatedagriculture.co.uk
Camel Community Supported Agriculture in north Cornwall practises crop rotation as a matter of course. This is in order to increase fertility, improve nutrition and ensure that the soil doesn’t get worn out. We provide weekly seasonal vegetable boxes for our members. Have a look at our website to see how we go about it and what we do.
Crop rotation is still a well-recognised feature of allotment gardening. For example, you don’t grow tomoatoes or potatoes in the same place each year, because fungal spores that cause blight affecting both crops persist in the soil for several years. Similarly ground exhausted by hungry brassicas shouldn’t be used for the same crop year after year.
Good post. I just delved into the field of gardening and although it hasnt been my hobby, I can understand why people are crazy about it.
For beginners, there are three types of herbs you should get: herbs that are sturdy and strong, herbs with an appealing accent, and herbs that are for blending. Sage, rosemary, basil, mint, chives, and parsley are perfect for any beginner because they fulfill these traits. Later on, you can improve your mini herb garden by plating herbs according to their life span-in other words, choosing herbs if they are annuals, biennials, and perennials. Generally speaking, the type of herb you choose should be based on their life span classification. What these should affect, however, how to plant them and where. If you are planning to plant herbs for your mini herb garden according to particular usage, this should not affect you at all.
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.
Thanks very good for report, I follow your blog:-)From fitness & exercise
Hi thankyou for repeating this. A lot of people disregard this. Keep it up !
Haha. Funny pictures are great for lifting up moods
Gavin