Monday, March 24, 2008

A bit too damp for messing around on the allotment...

A shame. I'll pop over to sort out the compost though. I have been meaning to empty last year's bin for a while now - today is the day. The garden's lawn might get mowed today which will provide lots of material for this year's compost.

I peaked into the little plastic boxes of pre-chitting parsnip seeds. No sign of any roots emerging. I just hope that they show before Friday morning which might be the next time I get to go over to the plot to put them out.

Yesterday, I put a new coldframe in the garden to provide more space for seedlings - the mini-greenhouse was crowded. I am concerned about slugs though with all the brassicas inside but I have never seen a slug in our garden before. I was considering using either copper piping or regular applications of bran/oatmeal to prevent them from noshing on the goodies. Copper piping looks to be more costly than I thought. Might start off with the foody approach then.

I can't wait to plant my spuds this year. I forgot to mention in the previous blog that I have loads of potatoes chitting in the lean-to. I went to the Potato Day at Ryton at the start of Feb. It was manic - sharp elbows were very useful. The vast majority were going for blight-resistant varieties (esp. Sarpo Mira which disappeared in a very short amount of time). I was aiming to get slug-resistant ones as my first attempts last year (Estima and Cara) were full of holes. BTW - the Estima seemed ok for blight (probably because it was a second early) while about a third of the Cara seemed to succumb. From memory, I got some:
  • Pentland Javelin
  • Rocket
  • Kestrel
  • Nadine
  • Golden Wonder
  • Pentland Dell
  • Pink Fir Apple
  • Romano

I also picked up some Anya from Wilkinsons over a lunchbreak. Very naughty. I am planning to have some of the Anya and Pink Fir Apple in pots at home. The rest will go on the allotment.

Just a couple more weeks now...

No comments: