Topic: Why would someone not harvest anything????

[Crystalmoon]

Hi everyone I am not sure if this is the right place for my question, apologies if it isn't the right forum.
About the same time as I got my new plot in Spring this year another person got a plot 2 plots away from me. They did amazingly well setting it up, they had 6 helpers & all manner of petrol powered tools to help them...it was wonderful to see an almost instant allotment appear. The plants that appeared looked quite mature when they arrived at the allotment so I assumed they grew them at home or bought them from a garden centre, everything looked very healthy (nothing was sown from seed at the actual allotment). Greenhouse, shed, poly tunnel, fruit frame, bark paths etc all appeared in a 2 week period. The plot looked amazing & they won the best new comers prize which I felt was really well deserved....BUT...something really odd is going on as nothing has been harvested at all, & I mean nothing! Fruit is rotting, loads gone to seed, beans not attached to the strings so a tangled mess on the soil, courgettes the size of marrows, Kale ruined by caterpillars & pigeons etc etc. The paths have been mowed regularly & things have definitely been watered as nothing has turned to dust in the current heatwave so someone has been doing something on the plot. I can't get my head around nothing being harvested....really can't understand it at all. I did make enquiries to make sure the new plot holder was ok just in case they had someone watering & cutting paths for them but they couldn't actually get down to harvest. Apparently all is fine with the new plot holder....so it is a mystery to me why nothing has been harvested. Have any of you come across a similar situation?   

[squeezyjohn]

I have a neighbour who is similar!  I know - it beats me too.  He is very busy and can only come down for blitzing sessions where he seems to weed kill everything (including his asparagus bed - killing all the asparagus!) and then come back several weeks later to literally plant everything out.  It tends to get overcrowded with weeds again later in the season but he lets everything go over.  Currently his pea pods are going starchy and dried and I know from experience that his beans will all dry on the poles and get eaten by mice in the winter, his broccoli will all go to flower as will his leeks as they stay unharvested in the ground.

It does seem strange ... but I suppose it is under cultivation and he can do what he likes with his allotment!

[Elfeda]

sometimes it looks odd,but it is not so unusual like our meal plans  and allotment chores and produce doesn't sink. also some time we grow but not really can not eat so much or they realised they planted too many. it takes a year or 2 to match them up.

some times in the first year they grow to avaaiod weeds or use much of their time developing plot.

OR

THEY HAVE ANOTHER PLOT SOME WHERE ELSE !!!

[johhnyco15]

the last 2 years i havent had the time to harvest my black currants 6 bushes and josta berries will try this year must try harder

[galina]

When we had an allotment, our neighbouring plot was not harvested.  Lovely food going to waste.  Until we found out that the plot holder had gone to his GP with backache, was referred to the hospital the same day and asked by the consultant whether he had made his will, as his condition was so advanced he only had days to live.  We did not know about this for weeks later and his family did not want the plot, so it was all left. 

When I hear about somebody not harvesting I fear the worst, because most people will want to enjoy the fruit of their labours. 

It could however be a demonstration garden of some sort.  Lots of help, ready made plants, instant plot.  Did you spot a camera crew, Crystalmoon?  Will there be a feature on the telly?  Who is the celebrity plot holder?   

[galina]

the last 2 years i havent had the time to harvest my black currants 6 bushes and josta berries will try this year must try harder

Can I please come and harvest these lovely tomatoes when they are ready?  Just in case you won't ? 



There is one problem with jostaberries and that is the after care.  They need to be 'topped and tailed'  unless you juice them and because they are smaller than gooseberries and softer, it is a more time consuming job.  But they taste so good!

I make a cake that is slightly similar to a lemon meringue pie, except that I fill the pastry case with josta berries (mixed with a table spoon of custard powder to prevent them going soggy).  I make a two or three egg meringue mixture, spoon on top of the berries and bake for 40 minutes in a cool oven.  So easy but looks elegant and tastes very good.  I use the egg yolks in the flour and fat pastry mixture for the base.   Good for all fruit that is slightly sharp - adapted from a morello cherry recipe, but also good for gooseberries and redcurrants.  Would do nicely for your jostas and your black currants, Johhnyco. 

[johhnyco15]

Can I please come and harvest these lovely tomatoes when they are ready?  Just in case you won't ? 

:

There is one problem with jostaberries and that is the after care.  They need to be 'topped and tailed'  unless you juice them and because they are smaller than gooseberries and softer, it is a more time consuming job.  But they taste so good!

I make a cake that is slightly similar to a lemon meringue pie, except that I fill the pastry case with josta berries (mixed with a table spoon of custard powder to prevent them going soggy).  I make a two or three egg meringue mixture, spoon on top of the berries and bake for 40 minutes in a cool oven.  So easy but looks elegant and tastes very good.  I use the egg yolks in the flour and fat pastry mixture for the base.   Good for all fruit that is slightly sharp - adapted from a morello cherry recipe, but also good for gooseberries and redcurrants.  Would do nicely for your jostas and your black currants, Johhnyco. 
[/quote]sounds lovely indeed i really must try this year i have two huge jostas bow breaking full same as the blackcurrants and the strange thing is i love blackcurrant jam thats it harvest tomorrow i say around 3 carrier bags full job sorted 

[Crystalmoon]

Squeezyjohn you are right at least the plot is cultivated it's just such a shame watching all that great food go to waste. Very odd that your plot neighbour does this every year...makes you wonder why they have a plot at all.

Hi Elfeda  they actually do have a second plot on the same site, it is diagonally opposite the unharvested plot. They haven't done anything to the 2nd plot except cover it with membrane. I'm beginning to wonder if they greatly underestimated how much produce they would get to harvest & if they just don't actually eat that much fruit & veg.

Oh my gosh Galina what a very sad story, the poor man, awful shock! Yes I feared the worst which is why I made enquiries to find out if the new plot holder was ok. lol no I don't think there was a camera crew but you never know there may have been one when I wasn't at the allotment 
 

[Deb P]

It could be just a result of the varieties sown, my blooming broccoli matured all at once this year despite sowing two different types, I had two plants I cropped before I was away at a festival for five days, and came back to a riot of yellow flowers (which I still haven't cleared yet, too busy harvesting stuff which hasn't gone over yet! I'm also rubbish as harvesting peas and beans, but do save them for next year's seeds! Hey, perhaps that is what your neighbour is doing, perhaps he's a seed guardian!

[Crystalmoon]

Hi Deb yes I know what you mean I sowed a variety of lettuces that should have seen me through from May until September but they all came at once in late June. Non have gone to seed yet but it is only a matter of time so I am giving many away.
Someone at the site said yesterday that the chap has ducks, geese & chickens so perhaps he is planning to just feed most of the unharvested veg to them...who knows. xJane

[penedesenca]

I have known a couple of peeps over a couple of sites with full plots that grow lots of amazing veg and flowers but it is a hobby to them and they only feed themselves so everything else just goes to waste. Unless you speak to the plot holder you will never know their reason and even then some people don't like to admit it.