Unfortunately things didn't quite go as I had planned, and I was only able to get down there on Monday, but I still managed to get plenty done.
The first earlies that I had put into buckets on Easter Monday (April 5th) had taken almost four weeks to show themselves, but since then have gone from strength to strength as you can see from the picture to the left. I have since managed to get all my first and second earlies out and also my early maincrop by the middle of May (Bambino, Pentland Javelin, Mary's Rose and Colleen). Some are in buckets and some I am trying in old compost bags for the first time, which should be interesting to see how they do.
I have used it to harden off my cauliflowers, onions, lettuce and spinach, and apart from a couple of days when some rather large slugs took a liking to a few of the spinach plants it has been quite a success, even after some strong winds ripped the lid clean off - thankfully the glass didn't break.
The cauliflowers from the cold frame have now been planted out - I am spacing them slightly further apart than I have before as I found that they grew together quite quickly with the result that some heads were fairly small.
I have planted a total of 12 seedlings approximately 18 inches apart (last year was 12) and they have been netted against thedreaded cabbage white and also slug pelleted. so hopefully they will all survibe to give us a nice crop come autumn.
Also planted out this week, but from the greenhouse was the sweetcorn.
These were sown onto a root trainer, and from the 33 seeds planted 32 germinated and were planted out (2 were in a single cell), so that's not a bad success rate :) The variety is Conqueror F1
The bed that they have been planted into has had a top layer of compost added, but no other nutrients and I will add canes and other supports as necessary thoughout the season.
My 2 year old grandson has recently started coming to the plot with me on Sundays, and so I have given him his own little raised bed to plant what he wants.
So far he has 4 Little Gem Lettuce, six Malabar Spinach, three Red Sun Shallots and eight strawberries. There are also two buckets of potatoes, one Pentland Javelin and one other (not sure which variety)
There is plenty of space left for a pumpkin or two as well.
Last year most of my strawberries were planted straight into the ground and gave a good yield, but I did lose quite a few to slugs and birds.
I experimented with planting them through weed fabric in the smaller bed, and these seemed to have less losses so I have repeated the experiment on two out of the three strawberry beds this year.
Looking at the picture I have just realised that I have forgotten about the hanging baskets between the beds - they also need replanting.
I have a total of 29 plants in these two beds, with about another 35 in the long bed at the back, and another 24 which I bought from Aldi earlier this season and are still waiting to go in.
The raspberry/blackberry bed to the left in the picture was going to be cleared and also turned over to strawberries this year, but I think I may have left it just a little too late as there is far too much growth going on over there, and I am a bit worried that I might end up killing them off if I move them when they are in full swing.
I planted out half a bed of broad beans aroung the middle of April, and they have all put on quite a bit of growth since then
I used two varieties this year, Crinson Flowering and Bunyard's Exhibition.
Because I haven't kept on top of the grass at the back of the bed the Bunyard's have suffered a bit from slug attacks, but a scattering of pellets seems to have held them back for a while until I can strim the grass one night this week.
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| Potatoes in several different containers |
I still have my maincrop (Pink Fir Apple and Sarpo Mira) to get in, but I am not too worried about them right now. They will use up the remaining space on the weed fabric where my wood pile is on the picture above.
Last year I got a home-made cold frame off FreeCycle, but I only started to use it this year.
I have used it to harden off my cauliflowers, onions, lettuce and spinach, and apart from a couple of days when some rather large slugs took a liking to a few of the spinach plants it has been quite a success, even after some strong winds ripped the lid clean off - thankfully the glass didn't break.
I have planted a total of 12 seedlings approximately 18 inches apart (last year was 12) and they have been netted against thedreaded cabbage white and also slug pelleted. so hopefully they will all survibe to give us a nice crop come autumn.
Also planted out this week, but from the greenhouse was the sweetcorn.These were sown onto a root trainer, and from the 33 seeds planted 32 germinated and were planted out (2 were in a single cell), so that's not a bad success rate :) The variety is Conqueror F1
The bed that they have been planted into has had a top layer of compost added, but no other nutrients and I will add canes and other supports as necessary thoughout the season.
 |
| Jack's Patch |
So far he has 4 Little Gem Lettuce, six Malabar Spinach, three Red Sun Shallots and eight strawberries. There are also two buckets of potatoes, one Pentland Javelin and one other (not sure which variety)
There is plenty of space left for a pumpkin or two as well.
 |
| Strawberry Heaven |
I experimented with planting them through weed fabric in the smaller bed, and these seemed to have less losses so I have repeated the experiment on two out of the three strawberry beds this year.
Looking at the picture I have just realised that I have forgotten about the hanging baskets between the beds - they also need replanting.
 |
| More Strawberries |
The raspberry/blackberry bed to the left in the picture was going to be cleared and also turned over to strawberries this year, but I think I may have left it just a little too late as there is far too much growth going on over there, and I am a bit worried that I might end up killing them off if I move them when they are in full swing.
 |
| Broad Beans |
I planted out half a bed of broad beans aroung the middle of April, and they have all put on quite a bit of growth since then
I used two varieties this year, Crinson Flowering and Bunyard's Exhibition.
Because I haven't kept on top of the grass at the back of the bed the Bunyard's have suffered a bit from slug attacks, but a scattering of pellets seems to have held them back for a while until I can strim the grass one night this week.
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