Alexei Charkham
My name is Alexei Charkham. I am 38 years’ old and live in north-west London with my wife Gaby and our two daughters Vita and Bea. Gaby and I both work part time as teachers; I try to spend as much of my spare time as possible on my allotment, round the corner from our house.
I have had an allotment since 2006 and now have three half plots, totalling about a third of an acre. I grow lots of fruit and veg, have several greenhouses (some freecycled ‘proper’ ones, and others which I’ve thrown together using old window frames and salvaged timber) and am constantly undertaking somewhat unnecessary, exhausting and relationship-straining projects either on the allotment or in our garden.
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Allotment Blog
Alexei Charkham is a Jewish Allotment holder from North London and has been updating and writing his growing blog here since January 2010. Alexei sells his surplus veg and fruit and he can be contacted on acharkham@hotmail.com for more information. He likes to hear from other veg growers, so feel free to email him. Click here to subscribe to Alexei's blog - just tick the 'allotment blog' box.
June 2011
Happy Tax Freedom Day! If you’re the average UK person, every penny you earn from 1st June is yours to keep, 
without any being due to the government…provided that is, that every penny you earned up to 31st May was paid in tax. A cheering thought.
More happily, we’ve now finally had some rain, the miserable hot spell has finally exhausted itself, and the weather has reverted to the tried-and-tested ‘sunny intervals’ with plenty of cloudy intervals in between. I’m really not complaining though, as we did need some rain and I don’t like cycling to work in my suit trousers in the heat.
Gefiltefest – the Jewish Glastonbury with herring – went very well a few weeks ago. It was fantastically organised, well attended and much enjoyed by Gaby, Vita and Bea (there was plenty of outdoor space and kids’ activities, which made things far easier for us). I took a session on brewing and another on veg growing. Any attendees of the former, please let me know if your brews worked (my beer needed more yeast). Well done Michael Leventhal and posse.
Another week, another course: the JCC veg-growing course kicked off last week to a flurry of national excitement (in Mill Hill, anyway). The course is small (in terms of attendees) but perfectly formed. We made good speed on the veg beds at Rubins House (an old-age home in Finchley) and are going back this week to continue digging and planting.
In other non-veg-related-news, the small extension (porch) is progressing slowly – I should make a little more headway on it during half term week (we live in hope…Gaby now subscribes to this blog, so I’ll just mention how much I’m looking forward to all the family outings together, rather than time wasted doing silly jobs).
The allotment is making decent progress, with most crops ticking along nicely, despite having slowed a little with the cooler weather. Spuds have certainly enjoyed the rain – earlies definitely need watering once they flower for any decent crop.
Much in the news have been strawberries, which should crop this month, along with early spuds*, peas*, lettuce, carrots*, broad beans* and asparagus. From your fruit bushes, you’ll hopefully crop cherries, gooseberries and some blackcurrants – which should all need covering from bird damage.
* assuming you sowed early varieties, early enough….I didn’t, so don’t have any of the asterisked veg cropping – shame on me and all who know me.
Other than sowing and planting, make sure you keep on top of the weeds this month, and if you have any compost spare, lay down some (verb: mulch – as in ‘I love to mulch – do you?’) around your plants – ideally after rain – to hold in moisture and add nutrients to the soil (it’s also a noun, as in ‘I love the smell of mulch in the morning’). Don’t forget to spray your broad beans with water/washing up liquid to kill the pesky aphids, which have seriously reduced my crop in past years and seem to introduce rust onto the plants.
Here’s what to do this month, if time, spirit and flesh allow:
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Beetroot
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The usual spiel – sow thinly and soak ‘seeds’ the night before sowing.
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Broccoli
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Late varieties can still be sown now, either for autumn cropping or overwintering
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Carrots
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Gaby doesn’t like mine, so I don’t bother – but this is your last chance to sow these
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Cucumber family (courgette, marrow, pumpkin, squash, cuke)
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Great croppers, as long as they have enough compost around the plant. Get them in now (plant, or sow if you haven’t any plants) and make loads of friends in 6 weeks by lavishing courgettes on anyone you see (although take my advice and do not do so on a first date or at shivas)
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Runner beans
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Last chance to sow – in a well mucked bed, with canes or a frame for them to grow up
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French beans
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A second tranche of these, which should crop a month or so later than those sown earlier (assuming you did sow any earlier)
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Kale
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Sow now if you’ve not done so already. This’ll give you a decent crop through the winter and the ‘hungry gap’ next spring when little is growing. Kale is not popular with pigeons, which makes it an extremely worthwhile brassica to grow (as all the others get shredded if unprotected)
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Kohl rabi
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Sow now
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Peas
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Sow now
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All the best,
Alexei and family