Alexei Charkham
My name is Alexei Charkham. I am 36 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
Big Green Jewish would like to introduce Alexei Charkham, a Jewish Allotment holder from North London. Alexei will be updating and writing his growing blog here. Alexei sells his surplus veg and fruit and he can be contacted on acharkham@hotmail.com for more information. He also likes to hear from other veg growers, so feel free to email him. Click here to subscribe to Alexei's blog.
September 2010
I got a call the other day from my neighbouring allotment holder, who is a classical bass player called Ollie. “Alexei,” he said, “I’m in Switzerland…would you mind giving my plot a quick water?”
Ollie is partial to watering his veg, so to help him out I did so. I tend to think that he overwaters, but having seen the amount of runner beans he has growing, it’s possible that he has got things right and that I haven’t. I’ve had a disappointing crop of runners despite giving them a trench full of organic matter through the winter. Better luck – and more watering - next year then.
We have just spent a lovely weekend away at Limmudfest, UK Jewry’s equivalent to Glastonbury but with more (and stranger) food and far more children. It was lots of fun; here’s a lovely, happy clappy clip of one of my highlights, being havdalah (seeing Shabbat/Sabbath out).
Talking of events, there’s one coming up in London celebrating Jewish food and cooking: it’s called Gefiltefest. I’m presenting a session there along with lots of others, and all proceeds are going to charity. It should be very interesting.
With a chill definitely in the morning air, one’s thoughts turn to winter, and next year’s crops. It’s too early to sow for the winter, and mostly too late to sow for this season, so we’re in a strange ‘in-between’ period when there’s little to do. Having threatened on this blog to do so twice already, I’ve finally bought in some green manures to sow outside from late September/early October (not too early, as I don’t want it to flower, self-seed, and become a weed itself). I got them from Hurrells seeds, who are very good and reasonably priced, but do unfortunately charge £8 for delivery. I should have a few kilos spare if you want to buy some off me at cost price.
I’ll lightly broadcast (sprinkle) the seed in early October, having hoed and raked over the soil first, then protect from pigeons if I remember and can be bothered, and then leave the plants to grow slowly over the winter, hopefully surviving the cold, and holding nutrients in the ground and preventing rains washing them out, as well as adding a little organic matter when they’re hoed and lightly dug into the ground in spring.
We’ve had some very irritating news on the allotment: our landlord Barnet Council have visited and are going to require us to take down all home made greenhouses, of which I have three! As per last month’s blog, I was planning to overwinter lots of veg in the greenhouses, sacrificing some tomato plants early to free up the space; but this plan may be scuppered if legal notices are served over the winter. Oh well.
Regardless of my very minor tribulations, you can do this yourself, sowing carrots, winter hardy broad beans, beetroot, onions and potatoes - and planting sprouting broccoli - under cover from late September. They should survive the winter and then in spring, grow far quicker than anything you’ll sow outdoors, giving you a good month’s head start and a much earlier crop. Please however take this caveat: I have not done this before with all of the above-mentioned veg, so I cannot guarantee it’ll work with all of them. But it’s definitely worth a try. Rocket and other winter-hardy greens can also be sown in the greenhouse soon. They’ll happily survive the winter – even very cold spells - but shouldn’t be watered at those times, as they’ll freeze solid and their cells will burst, killing them.
The toilet extension – which has cost my allotment dearly due to the amount of time I’ve spent on it this summer – is very, very nearly done. The loo is useable, and the building just needs one final render (cement coat) to waterproof it, and the gutter and fascia boards putting up. It’s my proudest DIY moment by far, but has been slightly marred by Barnet Council, whose building control team have rejected the building due to its shallow foundations; this means when we move, it’ll have to be converted into a shed or possibly taken down. We aren’t planning to move, so that’s okay for now. Have Barnet Council got something against me? The voices being projected into my head by CIA satellites suspect that they do…
Happy sowing,
Alexei
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