Early Crops -Friday 2.3.12

As you probably know, I have a

NEMESIS -

PARSNIPS!

The packet said sow seeds into a well watered drill.

So I did.

The packet also said fleece can be 'beneficial'.

So I used some and made a small cloche.

And here, I've covered the other drill with several layers of fleece.

Let's see which does best.

And Mr McGoo, I hear you ask? He wont be growing Parsnips this year as he has SO MANY LEFT TO EAT LURKING IN HIS FREEZER.

BUT I'M NOT BITTER!

Now that the poly tunnel has a lovely tight cover on it, I decided to get the soil prepared for planting. Two rows of manure has now been dug in. You can see that I had just started digging it into the right side.

The ground is now covered with black plastic - care of Gerry The Dairy and his silage clamp.I'll plant through the slits in the sheeting, if I can get anything to come on now that my propagator has gone belly up.

In the mean time I'm going to some some beans to train up the framework and give me a mega early crop. 

Good idea HUH?

Plot Shot - Friday 2.3.12

Looking good, isn't it?

: )

Slowly, Slowly ....... Monkey!

Or am I the organ grinder? Either way I'm slowly bringing the plot to order.

Onions, garlic, garlic 'seeds', various brassicas (cabbage family), leeks, leaf beet, Hamburg parsley and turnips are all under way. With the runner beans,  beetroot, courgettes and scallopinis still going strong!

So many muddles and overgrown areas still to attend to, as well as broad beans and peas to go in....once I've finally prepared their snuggly bed for them.

PLEASE

CAN I LIE DOWN NOW?

On The Plot

Oh dear, I didn't want to see my shiny, new poly tunnel looking like this. It's 'dropped', you can see the roof line is distorted.

Once inside I can't believe how fast the poly tunnel plants have grown! They were put in as seedlings 5 weeks ago. Now we're picking cucumbers and have some small peppers and tomatoes coming on.

There is, as we all now know, a problem with the cover of the poly tunnel.

It is too baggy and sags and holds big puddles of rain water. 

Now the seam has stretched and broken because of the weight of the water. I'll have to contact the supplier.

The peas have gone over, so we've ripped them out along with the broad beans.It can be composted - after removing any dried pea pods for next years seed.

Atena courgette, heavily ribbed and holds its' flower well - lol.

Hefty spuds. Cut the dead foliage off the spud plants, leaving 4 - 6 ins of stalk. Fungi can travel down the stalks and infect the potatoes under the ground. Some say leaving the dead foliage on the spuds makes the spuds grow huge. Judging by my results, it may be true!

Plastic Sheeting

During the second week of June I got on and cleared the brambles that had grown through and over the plastic sheeting.

It didn't take long to do,

even though it was fairly thick and prickly in places.

Once the area was bare, I rolled the sheeting down again, doubling it up as half the patch will be given over to the new poly tunnel!

The TYRES have been put back,

It all looks neat and tidy again.

The tiny plants were popped inside the tyres.

WHY TYRES?

• Slugs aren't to keen on them - though I'm not sure why - the plastic sheeting sits tight to the tyre, so the slugs have to crawl up and over to get to the plants. 
• There's often a puddle inside the tyre = slug barrier
• Stops the wind flapping the plastic against the plants and damaging them.
• Creates a windless zone around the plant.
• Black absorbs heat and radiates it too = micro climate.
• And THEY'RE FREE

It's getting on for 5 weeks since I planted up the tyres,

The COURGETTES have come on a treat,

as have the YELLOW SQUASHES

and the OUTDOOR WONDER MELONS

SWEET 

: )

Poly Tunnel Saturday 23.7.11

We decided to go the whole hog  and adopt an agricultural theme for today.

For starters we helped out on the GO GROW stand at our farmers market .....and then ......

we really set to work! MeWally checked the instructions and then the bits and bobs. I said 'Check' as he listed each item.

WE WERE GOOD TO GO!

The frame work went together really fast, but was definitely a job for 2!

MeWally went home to catch up with the Grand Prix qualifiers. I dug 4 trenches and then dug in compost and manure. It was much needed as I had dug fairly deep into the subsoil when I levelled this area. Then I watered each trench very generously. I've kept a path of firm soil down the centre. By planting directly into the soil, I hope to cut down on the amount of water I use. As it has to be carried UP the hill from the spring, this feels important to me!

Gerry The Dairy had supplied me with another sheet of plastic which covered the ground a treat. I got everything planted - all be it very late, BEFORE I PUT THE ROOF ON!

Well, it was a VERY HOT DAY.

MeWally  came back and we put the roof on together,  and there you have it, one poly tunnel.

It's been a huge amount of work, not just for me, but also for MeWally and both the GERRYS. 

COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU

THANK YOU.

On The Plot

I raced up to the plot last night. There was going to be a GROUND FROST, maybe.

Anything tender needed to be covered up.

Draughts blocked up

and low lying plants and the soil covered. I used this fleece, but old fabric, polythene sheeting (from a delivery) or paper will do fine. What ever you use weight it down with stones, or it'll be gone in the morning.

I found this slug on a brick that was in my ISLAND TRAYS. Did it SWIM to the brick, FALL out of the tree onto the brick, or come in on a seed tray? Who knows, but I know this much, it was gone this morning, Did it SWIM .......

I took cuttings of ROSEMARY today. Ripping the lower leaves from the stalk - ideally leaving no more than half a dozen behind.

Push the bare stalks into compost. 8 or so into a pot. You can see I've left lots of leaf on, which can go mouldy as the plants are crowded together in  HUMID ATMOSPHERE, FOR WEEKS.

Wrap cling film around the pots (or plastic sheeting from a delivery, or pop a clear plastic bag over each pot; secure with string ot elastic bands).

Leave the top open to the air if they're as packed in and leafy as these.

Seedlings of SISYRINCHIUM STRIATUM all 150 of them. Potted up in the blink of an eye!

On The Plot

I had to roll back some of the BLACK PLASTIC SHEETING today to reveal the soil underneath. The idea was to mark out the area that the POLY TUNNEL will cover and then get digging. The ground's on the slope and I have to level it.

I found a couple of TOADS on Saturday. Today I came across this SLOW WORM, it had been dozing under the plastic, but hadn't garnered much heat. It was placid.

Once in the hand, it warmed up and got wriggly. Both Toads and Slow Worms eat slugs and the like. They're very useful to the ORGANIC GARDENER.

I've now tapped low posts into each corner having first marked the boundary with FLOUR. Its a big tunnel.

On the Plot

Today it rained, so I went off for lunch with Gerry after we'd had a pot of coffee and a packet of SHORTBREAD at my place. Needless to say we didn't have pudding, even though it was Egypt Mill.

Bolting onion plant

Later in the afternoon I sauntered along to the plot, in the rain, to get the more urgent jobs done - like this ONION. The flower heads need to be removed.

Thick onion stem

When onions BOLT, their stems thicken - a sign that the onion wont keep very well after harvest. It will have to be eaten first.

Trimming a bolted onion spike

Cut off the flower spike as close as possible to the onion bulb. Don't cut, or damage any of the other leaves on your plant. 

Small onions

My onions are folding over now - somewhat early IMO. Over wintered sets, like these will fold in June, but they should be bigger than mine. I'm not too happy with the results so far.


Click here to see what you can cook up with the onion stalks.

Pea plant

My PEA plants looked good, still going upwards, so I added more support for them to scramble up.

Bean Support

I've also put in the canes for my FRENCH and RUNNER BEANS. The canes are home grown and those green hoops are an old, rickety garden arch that has seen better days.

On The Plot

Take time to look at your plants. Don't do anything, simply look and enjoy. Here are some of my seedlings and other stuff.

BEETROOT 

CARROT

CHINESE LEAVES

These MALLARD DUCKS wandered through the Plot today, cool as cucumbers. They walked from one side of the Plot to the other. No flying, simply walking.

So onto work ...... today I dug up my spare BROAD BEANS, leaving me with an empty row to sow a few seeds into.

The main bed of broad beans had gaps into which I popped those beans I had dug up.

Hoeing was the next thing, with the odd spud plant dug out. They have grown up from the spuds I missed and left in the ground last summer. I'm pointing at this years spuds - still small.

And this is the original spud, at the bottom, and a bit darker in colour than the new, snow white ones.