I picked my first rhubarb of the year on 12th April - 5 sticks made a very nice crumble. More sticks will be ready soon.
2 crowns in buckets appear to be dead. 3 others in buckets seem to be doing ok. One has a lot of 8" sticks, quite thin, the others have only just started sprouting.
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Potatoes
I've been up to the allotment, finished digging over the 2nd potato bed and planted potatoes in it. I also planted the remainder of the first potato bed.
As I've had spare potatoes, I've put some in large tubs at home. My neighbour wants a few and I'll save a few for a friend who wants some too.
The full planting out list is as follows:
ALLOTMENT
Potato bed 1:
17 Duke of York (first earlies) nearest raspberries
30 King Edward (maincrop) nearest path
Potato bed 2:
16 Charlotte (salad potatoes) in 2 rows nearest compost bins
16 Maris Peer (second earliest) in 2 rows furthest from compost bins
HOME
1 row Charlotte (salad potatoes) nearest the greenhouse
2 rows Duke of York (first earlies)
2 rows Maris Peer (second earlies)
1 row King Edward (maincrop)
8 large tubs for patio as follows:
1 King Edward, 3 Charlotte
1 Duke of York, 3 Maris Peer
(I'll keep them in this order so I don't get mixed up!)
As I've had spare potatoes, I've put some in large tubs at home. My neighbour wants a few and I'll save a few for a friend who wants some too.
The full planting out list is as follows:
ALLOTMENT
Potato bed 1:
17 Duke of York (first earlies) nearest raspberries
30 King Edward (maincrop) nearest path
Potato bed 2:
16 Charlotte (salad potatoes) in 2 rows nearest compost bins
16 Maris Peer (second earliest) in 2 rows furthest from compost bins
HOME
1 row Charlotte (salad potatoes) nearest the greenhouse
2 rows Duke of York (first earlies)
2 rows Maris Peer (second earlies)
1 row King Edward (maincrop)
8 large tubs for patio as follows:
1 King Edward, 3 Charlotte
1 Duke of York, 3 Maris Peer
(I'll keep them in this order so I don't get mixed up!)
Monday 19 April 2010
Other Work
Been to garden centre to pick up 4 sacks of multipurpose compost - it's good and cheap. I'm hoping to set up my pallet compost bins this year and get some proper compost rather than having to buy it. The stuff in the daleks looks like sludge and I don't really want to touch it yet.
Thinned out seedlings in greenhouse - all going well - lots need potting on or planting out soon.
Emptied tomato pots and potato pots from the stepped beds at the top of the garden - as tomato seedlings are ready for planting out, I'll have to crack on with these this week.
Went to allotment for BBQ Sunday afternoon, then dug over most of 2nd potato bed - it just needs raking over before planting spuds. Moved some weed sheeting to cover over what will become the 2nd brassicas bed - it had a partial dig over last year, but as it's been uncovered, has a lot of grass and weeds. The sheeting will kill some of it off and what's left can be dug up easily later on.
Thinned out seedlings in greenhouse - all going well - lots need potting on or planting out soon.
Emptied tomato pots and potato pots from the stepped beds at the top of the garden - as tomato seedlings are ready for planting out, I'll have to crack on with these this week.
Went to allotment for BBQ Sunday afternoon, then dug over most of 2nd potato bed - it just needs raking over before planting spuds. Moved some weed sheeting to cover over what will become the 2nd brassicas bed - it had a partial dig over last year, but as it's been uncovered, has a lot of grass and weeds. The sheeting will kill some of it off and what's left can be dug up easily later on.
Sunday 18 April 2010
Salad Tubs
This year I'm using a couple of large tubs for loose leaf salad plants. These will be kept on the patio for easy access for picking at any time - this also frees up more space in the veggie patch for veggies that take longer to grow. The loose leaf plants allow constant picking for a long time, until the plants bolt or die.
The first tub has:
1 Spinach Hector
1 Spinach Picasso
1 Lettuce Red Salad Bowl
2 Lettuce Salad Bowl
1 Lettuce Mixed Leaves
1 Lettuce Lollo Rossa
1 Chinese Leaves ?
2 "Stir Fry Mix"
I'm not sure how long these plants will be pickable / usable for. I have another large tub the same, so I'll be sowing and planting that one in a few weeks time. I'll probably sow more seeds every few weeks just so that I have seedlings ready for planting whenever they're needed to replace the first.
My neighbour wanted a similar salad tub - she had two large pots so we did the two with a mixture of lettuces and spinach.
The first tub has:
1 Spinach Hector
1 Spinach Picasso
1 Lettuce Red Salad Bowl
2 Lettuce Salad Bowl
1 Lettuce Mixed Leaves
1 Lettuce Lollo Rossa
1 Chinese Leaves ?
2 "Stir Fry Mix"
I'm not sure how long these plants will be pickable / usable for. I have another large tub the same, so I'll be sowing and planting that one in a few weeks time. I'll probably sow more seeds every few weeks just so that I have seedlings ready for planting whenever they're needed to replace the first.
My neighbour wanted a similar salad tub - she had two large pots so we did the two with a mixture of lettuces and spinach.
More Sowings
Bright, warm sunshine and I've been suffering with a heavy cold. Typical! Not to be deterred, I was sowing more seeds yesterday:
2 pots Leeks
2 pots Spring Onions
8 Lettuce Webbs
8 Lettuce Iceberg 2
8 Lettuce Iceberg Set
12 Lettuce Mini Green
12 Lettuce Little Gem
4 Butternut Squash
4 Courgette Green Bush
4 Cucumber Marketer
4 Cucumber Marketmore
4 Celery Sigfrido
4 Celery Lathom
30 Sweetcorn Minipop
1 King Edward in a large pot for the patio
24 Calabrese Sakura
10 Calabrese Belstar
14 Broccoli Green Magic
12 Cauliflower All Year Round
10 Cabbage Wheelers
2 Kale Black Tuscany
10 Climbing Beans Blue Lake (in 3" pots)
4 Thyme Old English
4 Thyme Orange Scented
4 Sage
4 Oregano
2 Parsley Envy
2 Sweet Basil
2 Basil Siam Queen
2 Rocket
2 Summer Savory
Small tub Parsnip Gladiator
2 Horseradish roots into deep square pots
Most of remaining onions sown in 2" pots
Most of the King Edwards were planted out on the allotment the other day. I've kept one for a patio pot at home. It's in a large pot of compost, so we'll see how it compares with the ones planted in the ground on the allotment and the veggie patch.
Having planted out a lot of onions, I've started more in the 2" round pots to give them a head start against the weeds. The ground hasn't been prepared for them just yet.
I've sown a huge batch of herbs. I'm not very clued up on herbs, so this is a bit of a learning curve. Last year I read about "companion planting" using herbs to attract bees and deter other bugs - I'll need to find the articles and read them again until it all sinks in.
I've sown a small tub of parsnips. Me and my son don't eat parsnips, but other people do, so will be useful if I end up cooking for other people. If nothing else, I could try making some parsnip wine.
The ground isn't ready for planting out horseradish - it'll be a while before I get that dug over. So for this year, I've planted 2 horseradish roots into deep square pots of compost. We'll see what happens!
2 pots Leeks
2 pots Spring Onions
8 Lettuce Webbs
8 Lettuce Iceberg 2
8 Lettuce Iceberg Set
12 Lettuce Mini Green
12 Lettuce Little Gem
4 Butternut Squash
4 Courgette Green Bush
4 Cucumber Marketer
4 Cucumber Marketmore
4 Celery Sigfrido
4 Celery Lathom
30 Sweetcorn Minipop
1 King Edward in a large pot for the patio
24 Calabrese Sakura
10 Calabrese Belstar
14 Broccoli Green Magic
12 Cauliflower All Year Round
10 Cabbage Wheelers
2 Kale Black Tuscany
10 Climbing Beans Blue Lake (in 3" pots)
4 Thyme Old English
4 Thyme Orange Scented
4 Sage
4 Oregano
2 Parsley Envy
2 Sweet Basil
2 Basil Siam Queen
2 Rocket
2 Summer Savory
Small tub Parsnip Gladiator
2 Horseradish roots into deep square pots
Most of remaining onions sown in 2" pots
Most of the King Edwards were planted out on the allotment the other day. I've kept one for a patio pot at home. It's in a large pot of compost, so we'll see how it compares with the ones planted in the ground on the allotment and the veggie patch.
Having planted out a lot of onions, I've started more in the 2" round pots to give them a head start against the weeds. The ground hasn't been prepared for them just yet.
I've sown a huge batch of herbs. I'm not very clued up on herbs, so this is a bit of a learning curve. Last year I read about "companion planting" using herbs to attract bees and deter other bugs - I'll need to find the articles and read them again until it all sinks in.
I've sown a small tub of parsnips. Me and my son don't eat parsnips, but other people do, so will be useful if I end up cooking for other people. If nothing else, I could try making some parsnip wine.
The ground isn't ready for planting out horseradish - it'll be a while before I get that dug over. So for this year, I've planted 2 horseradish roots into deep square pots of compost. We'll see what happens!
Thursday 15 April 2010
A Sunny Day!
Sunny day yesterday, so went down the garden again. Planted out 6 rows of spuds as follows:
1 row Charlotte (salad potatoes) nearest the greenhouse
2 rows Duke of York (first earlies)
2 rows Maris Peer (second earlies)
1 row King Edward (maincrop)
Then dug over half the onion bed and planted:
30 Stuttgarter Giant (nearest the greenhouse)
15 Reds
20 Setton
20 Reds
20 Stuttgarter Giant
Today, another sunny day so went to the allotment with my son. My neighbour had pulled up the old concrete slabs that used to be her front path, so we collected them for the allotment. Most are broken so really only useful to hold down weed sheeting, but there are about a dozen that can be used for part of a pathway.
We had a good tidy up. We lifted most of the old weed sheeting and turned it over and laid it neatly. The sheeting had been held down by mostly rotten timber and old branches that had been left on the plot, but we got rid of most of that and used the old broken bits of concrete instead. This makes the whole plot look neater and the sheeting is held down better than before.
I also cleared away the weeds that had grown under, over and through the blackcurrant bush. I only discovered the bush by chance last year. It's now in the open and should thrive this year. I'll put some weed sheeting around the base when I get a chance.
We also dug up a huge old mound of weeds and grass in the middle of the plot - this was a mound that built up last year, just for somewhere to put it. The 2nd potato bed had been under weed sheeting and is mostly weed free, so will just need a quick dig over before planting out.
We planted out 30 King Edwards in the first potato bed, from the centre path end of the bed. There is still plenty of space for other potatoes, probably the Duke of York first earlies. I'll plant the rest of the Maris Peer and Charlottes in the 2nd potato bed soon, and will divide them with a couple of rows of onions.
1 row Charlotte (salad potatoes) nearest the greenhouse
2 rows Duke of York (first earlies)
2 rows Maris Peer (second earlies)
1 row King Edward (maincrop)
Then dug over half the onion bed and planted:
30 Stuttgarter Giant (nearest the greenhouse)
15 Reds
20 Setton
20 Reds
20 Stuttgarter Giant
Today, another sunny day so went to the allotment with my son. My neighbour had pulled up the old concrete slabs that used to be her front path, so we collected them for the allotment. Most are broken so really only useful to hold down weed sheeting, but there are about a dozen that can be used for part of a pathway.
We had a good tidy up. We lifted most of the old weed sheeting and turned it over and laid it neatly. The sheeting had been held down by mostly rotten timber and old branches that had been left on the plot, but we got rid of most of that and used the old broken bits of concrete instead. This makes the whole plot look neater and the sheeting is held down better than before.
I also cleared away the weeds that had grown under, over and through the blackcurrant bush. I only discovered the bush by chance last year. It's now in the open and should thrive this year. I'll put some weed sheeting around the base when I get a chance.
We also dug up a huge old mound of weeds and grass in the middle of the plot - this was a mound that built up last year, just for somewhere to put it. The 2nd potato bed had been under weed sheeting and is mostly weed free, so will just need a quick dig over before planting out.
We planted out 30 King Edwards in the first potato bed, from the centre path end of the bed. There is still plenty of space for other potatoes, probably the Duke of York first earlies. I'll plant the rest of the Maris Peer and Charlottes in the 2nd potato bed soon, and will divide them with a couple of rows of onions.
Saturday 10 April 2010
Allotment Update
We've finally had some decent sun so went to the allotment to check the condition and make a start for this year. The good news is it wasn't too bad!
Most of the plot was sheeted over, so not many weeds. The unsheeted parts were a bit overgrown, but not bad. Some of the sheeting had blown out of place, but was easily replaced. I took more bricks with me to hold down the sheeting a bit better.
I dug up the brassicas from last year and dug over the bed - approx 12' x 8'. Most of it was fairly easy to turn over, but did have a lot of grass and weeds in parts. I removed as much of the mares tail root as I could find. I'll be planting spuds in this bed in the next few days - the spuds have been chitting for a few weeks so are ready for planting.
I'll need more space for more spuds, so will make a start on digging the other spuds bed up there over the next few days. I have also finished digging over the 8' x 8' spuds bed at home, so all spuds should be planted soon.
The gooseberries and redcurrants have a lot of grass growing under them. I'll need to rip out as much grass as i can at some point and put weed sheeting under the bushes.
The raspberries are in similar condition, but i can't put weed sheeting under them like with the bushes. I'll probably need to dig the raspberries up in autumn/winter, lay weed sheeting just like at home, and replant the raspberries.
The blackcurrant bush I found last autumn is clearly visible under something else that appears twiggy and dead, possibly lavender. I'll need to clear all that and the ground underneath when I get a chance.
Overall, not too bad - had feared much worse. The weather has set me back with the digging, but some good sunshine and hard graft and I'll catch up. Need to remember, I don't need to do it all at once! I've got plenty of time for planting out over next couple of months.
I'm also going to mark out some slightly wider paths - I don't need to use all the ground at once - and I'm being given some old slabs etc, so can use them for pathways. I will get a whole load more slabs eventually!
Most of the plot was sheeted over, so not many weeds. The unsheeted parts were a bit overgrown, but not bad. Some of the sheeting had blown out of place, but was easily replaced. I took more bricks with me to hold down the sheeting a bit better.
I dug up the brassicas from last year and dug over the bed - approx 12' x 8'. Most of it was fairly easy to turn over, but did have a lot of grass and weeds in parts. I removed as much of the mares tail root as I could find. I'll be planting spuds in this bed in the next few days - the spuds have been chitting for a few weeks so are ready for planting.
I'll need more space for more spuds, so will make a start on digging the other spuds bed up there over the next few days. I have also finished digging over the 8' x 8' spuds bed at home, so all spuds should be planted soon.
The gooseberries and redcurrants have a lot of grass growing under them. I'll need to rip out as much grass as i can at some point and put weed sheeting under the bushes.
The raspberries are in similar condition, but i can't put weed sheeting under them like with the bushes. I'll probably need to dig the raspberries up in autumn/winter, lay weed sheeting just like at home, and replant the raspberries.
The blackcurrant bush I found last autumn is clearly visible under something else that appears twiggy and dead, possibly lavender. I'll need to clear all that and the ground underneath when I get a chance.
Overall, not too bad - had feared much worse. The weather has set me back with the digging, but some good sunshine and hard graft and I'll catch up. Need to remember, I don't need to do it all at once! I've got plenty of time for planting out over next couple of months.
I'm also going to mark out some slightly wider paths - I don't need to use all the ground at once - and I'm being given some old slabs etc, so can use them for pathways. I will get a whole load more slabs eventually!
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