Welcome to BST

I forgot to record what happened last weekend.  I am not sure I got up to much aside from buying some decent multi-purpose component and pricking out De Cayenne and Cauliflower seedlings.  Having found that the salad leaves, Chard and Spinach seedlings that been pricked out in the RocketGro compost had almost all died, I salvaged just a couple of the Chard and Spinach seedlings which I had kept back in the original pots of seedlings.  Lesson learnt though it is a shame to have to go further afield to get my favourite compost. 

According to the moon thing, it wasn’t the weekend to sow anything.  With slightly milder weather though, I did move a lot of the seedlings from the house to the greenhouse to get a bit more light.  With a lovely Mothers Day, I didn’t get anything done at the plot.  I did pick some deep purple Hellebore flowers for my mum’s resting place.

Yesterday it was bright but very breezy.  I spent around 3 hours at the plot and focused on transplanting out the Onions and Spring Onions - the former in what is now Bed 4 and the latter along the long sides of Bed 3.  I covered them with fleece.  I also covered the Garlic, in what I am now referring to as Bed 0, with Enviromesh.

Having freed up 3 trays from the Onions, today I spent an hour sowing the following leafy crops:

The Lemon Balm is covered by a plastic bag in the airing cupboard which the others are in the house for the next few nights while the temperature increases a tad.  Meanwhile, germination has continued for the Lemon Drop Chillies and King of the North Peppers so they’ll need pricking out very soon.  

While putting away these packets (all except the Coriander which was used up), I decided to pull out the Brussels Sprouts and Calabrese seeds to sow those tomorrow while there is still time in this leafy phase.  I had planned to sow these in April but if the summer is anything like the last one, I could do with giving them a head-start before the dry weather.  Perhaps I could prick out the Chillies and Peppers too.

I’ve treated myself to some Fruit and Veg Protection nematodes so hopefully they will arrive this week.  It is set to be cold tonight and tomorrow night but then I think the temperatures after that for the next couple of weeks mean it should be viable to water on the nematodes next weekend.

Laying down more paths

Today was set to be a fine day weather-wise.  It was certainly milder though a tad breezy at times.  I spent about 5 hours at the plot all told.  In that time, I weeded Beds 1 and 2 and laid down chippings for the paths.  There are now 3 of the 4 original main beds divided into smaller, more manageable beds with just Bed 3 to sort out.  I’ve made a decent dent in the pile of chippings on that bed so can hopefully sort that before Easter when I should be planting spuds there.  

In the process of weeding, I managed to almost fill Bin 4, using damp cardboard between layers of weeds. Before leaving for home, as the drizzle was getting heavier, I raked and bagged up some Holly chippings from near the gate as they had been left there for a few weeks.  Came to 3 full compost bags worth which I used to fill Bin 5.  Might be useful for mulching later in the season or next year.

I am really pleased with the progress made but still lots to do.  I did cut down the raspberry canes but need to properly weed around them before the new growth starts.  I need to do something about the nettles that are starting into growth near the Pear tree.  I also need to tame the hybrid berries in the top right corner (Bed 2).  

I didn’t get around to sowing any seeds this weekend so may need to catch-up in the next few days or next weekend.  

  

Tidying up in the back garden

For weeks, there has been random stuff on the back garden lawn from the greenhouse cleaning - it has been moving up and down my to-do list.  Finally I cleared it today.  I broke up the Ivy sticks to join a small pile of other twigs - this could be used for some hugelkultur pots or for the critters to shelter in.  I threw a few bits away (at last).

Some of the mess consisted of bags of the compost/soil mix I’d emptied from some of the pots on the patio.  It is a weekend for root crops and, as temperatures in the next couple of weeks are looking to be generally above zero most nights (not my much in some cases), I decided to plant out the Rocket potato tubers in pots.  These will start in the greenhouse but then be moved out by the last frost date (mid-May).  I used the compost/soil mix in the bags for the spuds.  Two in each of five pots.  Pairs of tubers offset on opposite sides of each pot and buried at slightly different levels.  I reason this provides more room for the tubers on each plant to grow as they are determinate so grow on a single layer.  

I am pushing it with two tubers per 20-30l pot I think.  For each layer of soil - the one before putting in the first tuber, the one between the two tubers and the one above the top tuber - I mixed in a handful of seaweed meal to provide some nutrition.  On top of each pot, I put an inch or so of half-rotted compost from the bin from last week.  This is to provide some protection from the cold and to add nutrition longer-term.  Lots of branding worms wriggling about.  I decided not to mix the home-made compost in to avoid tying up too much nitrogen given it needs more time to break down.

Another task was to plant out some of the strawberry plants I had potted up in the autumn from the ones growing on the fence.  I planted 8 around the bay tree (see below - please excuse the cat poo - I will net the berries once established to keep the cats away from any fruit).

Also, I planted some bulbils from some Elephant Garlic last year which had sprouted well over winter.  I planted 13 of these along the edges of the bed to see if they grow further into rounds that can be planted in autumn for full bulbs next year.  Many had an impressive root system growing.

Back indoors, the spring onions are growing well and there is some germination from the onions too.  

Yesterday, I brought a 50l bag of compost from the garden centre.  They didn’t have my usual Sylvagrow so I am trying the RocketGro fruit and veg compost.  When I bought it, I didn’t realise it was the RocketGro one which I’ve read mixed reviews about.  Seemed quite fibrous and sticky and I can now see why it is not recommended for seed sowing.  I hope it is ok for transplants as I potted up 10 Spinach, 10 Rhubarb Chard and numerous Red Salad Bowl Lettuce and Oriental Salad seedlings.  I’ll need to either buy some seed compost or use some of the compost left over from last year’s pots for sowing Turnips and Beetroot.

For tomorrow, the weather is set to turn milder so I plan to be at the allotment to get Bed 2 ready, and perhaps a bit of Bed 1.

Mulching the front garden

After a busy day with the kids on Saturday, I made the most of the dry weather yesterday to empty the left-hand compost bin and mulch some of the front garden beds.  It was a cold weekend so playing with compost numbed my fingers for the first hour or so.

The contents of the bin were compacted and could have done with some turning but the right-hand bin was overflowing so I emptied the left-hand bin out and managed to mulch almost all of the two front garden beds.  When turning the right-hand bin into the left, adding 3-4 bags of Ivy clippings and 2 bags of coffee grounds, I found a couple more bags worth of fairly well-rotted material so that enabled me to complete the mulching.  It always looks great to see the dark, crumbly layer of compost in Spring.  It took 2-3 hours though will all the walking between the back and front gardens.  There is set to be a very cold couple of nights this week so I was keen to get the mulching done before that.  I set aside 2 black plant pots’ worth of compost ready for planting first early spuds next weekend.

I then sowed some seeds in the greenhouse:

The Scorpio Broad Bean was given to me a couple of years ago.  I recall they grew well last year.  There were 33 seeds of those.  22 of the Aguadulce.  I sowed them all expecting some to fail and I can easily give some away.  The Scorpio should crop later than the Aguadulce so hopefully this will extend the season.  I’d like to plant out a few at home too to try them.

The Lemon Drop were home-saved seeds.  The De Cayenne has not seemed to work for me in the past couple of years, I don’t think, so this is the last try.  The King of the North Pepper worked very well last year so I’ll replace that packet next year.

I also potted up 6 Jerusalem artichokes in the greenhouse.  I need to buy more compost…

Laying new paths

Bit chilly this weekend with some sunny intervals.  Little bit of drizzle yesterday but dry so far today.

I had a couple of hours at the plot yesterday when I laid down paths and mulch on Bed 4.  I forgot to take a photo so will have to record that here another time.  For mulch, I emptied Bin 1 completely and that covered one and a half of the new beds.  

Today, I emptied Bin 2 to mulch the rest of the bed from yesterday and to fill 4 compost bags ready to spread onto Bed 2 when that is sorted out.  Some of the contents of Bin 3 (towards the bottom) may be approaching ready for mulching but that will need sorting out.  It would be great if I could use that for Bed 2.  That will be for next weekend.

I turned the top of Bin 3 and all of Bin 4 into Bins 1 and 2 along with Ivy clippings and coffee grounds (from a local cafe).  Perhaps a bit too much brown material but we’ll see.

I bought home with me: some Jerusalem artichokes, some tiny parsnips and leeks (the last on the plot), 1 large parsnip from Mark and 1.5 stalks of Brussels Sprouts from another neighbour.  I also brought back 3 Hybrid Berry roots which I’d layered in the corner of Bed 2.  Unfortunately I snapped one of them but the root system looked so strong that I took it home anyway in case it resprouts a new stem.  I potted those up at home.

Shockingly, I found about a dozen or so Australian flatworms under the strawberry troughs yesterday.  I wonder if they are prevalent in the lawn which might partially explain the incredibly poor aeration.  I’ll keep on it.

In terms of seeds and seedlings, this weekend has been an active one.  Yesterday, I potted on the Mixed Alpine Strawberries, Aubergines (more of both have germinated in the past week), Foxgloves, Rudbeckia, Nasturtiums and Dahlias.  Today I sowed the seeds below:

My next job is to empty Bin 1 at home, mulch the beds in the front garden and turn Bin 2.  Not sure that can realistically be done until the weekend.  I might be able to do a little tomorrow in my lunch break.  Not enough energy now.

   

Detangling

Yesterday, I stayed at home so aimed to tidy up the pots in the back garden.  I also wanted to check the underneath of pots for flatworm.  Some of the pots did have a flatworm underneath (nearly always a solitary one), including the Blueberry pot next to the bench.  None of the pots on the other side of the steps did though.  None were found under pots that were drier which is perhaps not surprising.  I emptied some of the pots and have separated out the contents of the pots under which a flatworm was lurking.  I am not sure about what to do with the material - I’ll probably reuse in the back garden pots, mixed with fresh home-made compost, to avoid spreading the issue further.

The pots against the north-facing fence needed clearing from the dead Ivy leaves from above, stemming from next door.  When half-way through the pots along that fence, I took a proper look and saw how congested the Ivy was.  I pulled at a few of the stems and discovered that much of it is coming through the fence from the bottom and mid-way up, rather than coming from over the top.  In the end, I ripped it all off the fence.  The plant materials is piled up on our lawn.  I need to chop it all up over the next week and get it rotting down - some at home and some at the allotment.  With the fence cleared, I’ll have another think about what can do up against it food-wise.  Likely some hybrid berries from the plot.

Today, I had a couple of hours at the plot and the day was lovely and Spring-like.  I focused on tidying up the Boysenberries and clearing the ground in front of them.  Photos of before and after below.

 

Next week, I’ll be sowing some leafy crops at home and laying down some paths and compost onto Bed 4.

Speedy cultivation

Last weekend, I managed to get a couple of hours at the plot and I focused on Bed 4.  The picture below shows how it looked when I arrived.

The soil was perfect for weeding - just moist enough for the roots to pull out easily.  I hand-weeded most of the bed and used a spade to cut a wonky edge (I’ll tidy that up another time).  Before leaving as the light was fading, I tried using the cultivator to clear the strawberry bed.  The old strawberry plants came out easily - bone dry so not sure they’ve have made much of a comeback anyhow.  I did a first pass over that part before harvesting some parsnips, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes and a handful of Spanish radish.  

When I left the bed looked a lot clearer.  Next weekend I could finish it by tidying up the Boysenberries (I’ve been inspired by something on a Joy Larkcom book about twirling the stems around parallel wires and I think that will really help to manage them) and clearing the weeds around their base, and setting out a path or two with the cardboard and wood chips.  I then plan to clear Bed 2.

Back at home the seeds are germinating fairly well.  Around 17 Sweet Peas, 1 Black Beauty and 4-5 Early Long Purple Aubergine.  The newer variety of Alpine Strawberries, 4 Dahlias, a couple of Nasturtiums and French Marigolds, and lots of Foxglove.  

I’ve been checking under the Strawberry troughs and have uncovered more flatworms.  Earlier in the week I found one under something in the greenhouse.  None under the bags I put on the garden bed so I’ve removed those.  The monitoring continues.