3rd September. Chatting to my son's friend over family dinner she referred to her peppers as doing well this year,(she's got some beautiful creamy white peppers, much further advanced than any I've seen so far this year). She didn't know that she was supposed to throw them out at the end of the year and start again. She just kept them going - in an unheated greenhouse. Now that's interesting.

Then lo and behold in an old copy of Garden News (July 19) they interview Perry and Alli Cook chilli specialist growers and I quote - "They are actually perennials and you can keep them for many years as long as they're in a frost-free environment. Obviously they will look a bit sad around Christmas time, but if they're protected from severe cold they will shoot again in the spring and you can put them outside when you put other tender plants out."

They refer to Chillies so I assume sweet peppers will be the same. I've also got to try aubergines. Now I noticed B&Q have paraffin heaters for just under £20, so I think it may just be worth a go. I think this will also cut down the work as I will turn one of the greenhouse beds into a permanent peppers and aubergines bed.

Whilst we're on the subject, Alan Titchmarsh said something along the lines of "Just cut your runner beans off at the ground, mulch and fertilise, and they'll grow again next year." We have two rows of Lady Di and Czar, which have been profilic. Also very good and for a bit of fun we have some purple beans and some yellow ones so we are going to save their seed and sow them into the gaps of the runner beans, plus some others as we try to extend the season both starting earlier and finishing later. But just keeping them all to the two rows, and again making these two rows also permanent.

27^th August update: Juliette potatoes planted and some shoots showing; radish experiment is progressing, now principally Minowase, Radis Noir, Rose d’Hiver de Chine; three types of lettuce sowed today, plus more beetroot; Tenterden Dwarf French Beans are not yet flowering; 12 plants of Purple Sprouting Broccoli progressing with 5 Calabrese and several Celeriac growing nicely.

28th June 2006 update

Just ordered (3 bags) Onion sets, 3 garlic, and 2kg Juliette potatoes for Christmas. All the salad stuff for the greenhouse (will need vast expanse of bubblewrap as well as hot beds) is here to which I've added Radishes: Purple, Black, Minowase, Cherry belle, Red Meat, Short Top Forcing, Munchen Bier. Should be fun.

Winter radishes will be grown outside.

The Winter Delight was excellent but we need a bit of variety so I've ordered Canasta a red tipped iceberg type. We've also got Rapa Sensa Testa, Orac and Mizuna coming along.

16th June 2006 Comment

We started the allotment in July/August so we weren't able to harvest much in our first summer (2005). We did however clear enough ground for over-wintering Onions and Winter Delight lettuce.

These have been outstandingly good.

Also during the intervening period I have experimented with Victorian Hot Beds. Firstly a small one next to a south-facing wall. Also following a successful chase on eBay I now have a plastic greenhouse 3.5m x 2m x 2m and built two hot beds along the length of this.

I am confident having taken lots of random soil temperature tests that the small bed was 4-5F degrees warmer and the beds in the greenhouse 8-10F degrees warmer than that. 

So the plan is:

Outside: Onion sets, Red Onion sets, Garlic, Senshyu Onion seeds, Winterover hardy spring onions, Mooli - Radish, Mantanghong - Radish, Radish China Rose, and Winter Delight Lettuce, Super Aguadulce

In the (unheated) greenhouse: keep the tomatoes and peppers going as long as possible and replace the manure and soil in  late November/ early December to generate a fresh source of heat. Then to grow various salad crops, 3 types of lettuce, spring onions, radishes or whatever. Apparently the heat reduces after about three months.