NEW PLOT!

A couple of months ago, I had the good news that I had a new plot!

It's a full size plot - 4 large beds that had been dug over and hardly used for a couple of years - looks in pretty good condition - could have been a lot worse! Sadly no shed ...

Left Side

Right Side

There's a path on the left, another down the middle, another on the right. The front bed (1) is sheeted over with plastic. Then there are a few raspberry canes and another bed (3), uncovered, quite a lot of dandelions in there.

Beyond that is a huge clump of rhubarb that desperately needs dividing. Beyond that is enough space for another bed. The old shed used to be down there.




On the right is another uncovered bed (2) with a few shallow weeds. Beyond that is a bed (4) covered in blue plastic and then space for another bed beyond that.

The remains of the old shed are on the plot. It burnt down a while ago. I'm using the pieces to cover parts of the plot until I can clear, dig and plant them.

While it all looks 'ok', there's a lot of work to do .....


I started with some carpet - very handy for keeping the weeds down. A local carpet fitter had a car load, just enough to cover the front right bed. I got a huge room size carpet which covered part of the bottom end of the plot. While collecting these, I cracked a rib. I sowed hundreds of seeds at home - anything and everything.

I pulled back the blue sheeting and dug over bed 3 on the plot and planted loads of spuds. Due to time and cracked rib, it was only a quick dig, no earthing up. I dug over about 1/4 of bed 3, dug out loads of dandelions, sowed a few rows of carrots.

Sadly, seed sowing at home was a total disaster. Very little sprouted. Brassicas cooked on hot days. Sweetcorn and beans were eaten by mice or slugs. Salads disappeared. With re-sowings, I got enough to fill an 8x8 bed at home, nothing for the plot. Leeks in buckets have done ok so far, ready for transplanting to the plot.

With nothing to plant on the plot and the cracked rib, I didn't go to the plot much. It was covered anyway, just hoped that mother nature would rain and shine on the spuds and carrots. I sowed some cauliflower and PSB for autumn / winter - these are nearly ready for planting.

As leeks are ready now, I've been to the plot again this week. Not too bad - some of those long straggly weeds over the carpets, some brambles and nettles at the bottom, so grass coming through holes in plastic sheeting etc. A couple of hours later I'd cleared quite a lot of it, moved some carpets around. Bed 2 (the front right above) is now uncovered and almost ready for the leeks - just needs a quick hoe and pop some holes in.

The spuds on the plot have mostly died back. Carrots were a no-show. I thinks it's just been too hot and dry for them all. Since the wettest winter on record, it's been quite dry.

In fact, right now, it's a heatwave, temperatures of 30C+ forecast for tomorrow and not far off that torday. I'm heading to the plot soon to hoe and pop some holes in for the leeks. I'll pop down in the morning to plant out .....

And I'll try and keep this blog updated more often ....