25/4/09

Trying out the Blogger Buddy widget from the vista sidebar on my desktop. Apparently i post without even opening Firefox to the blog. Well if your reading this that is!!

So i had to buy chilli plants in the end as the one that did germinate is still doing nothing and i need to get plants into growbags asap. I bought 1 jalapeno and 1 i've forgotton and will fill in later.
As i showed in the last post the indoor cucumber is also doing poorly so bought 2 varities also and put them into a grow bag immediatly.

At the plot i started by putting up the bean poles over the filled in trench, and completed the new 'cat prevention' fencing. Another of the plot holders was complaing about the local cats coming into the plots and fouling, which is present on my site also, and the fence on my edge is an obvious entry point so the allotment secretary put chicken wire across the fence, and plugged a gap.
I also put some mini cloches on the peas that have started to show.

The spinach and radishes doing well, but since i took this the radishes have mostly withered and died for some reason, whilst the spinach seems fine.
Some of the tomatoes and cucumbers, the outdoor cucumbers are doing well, but the small one in the left hand corner is the indoor variety and seems to be doing rather poorly. I'm hoping to grow a couple of the outdoor ones up a trellis at the plot to avoid the slugs.I have also repotted 2 of the Golden Sweet into their large final pots.
Little gem lettuce in the greenhouse. I have also sowed at the plot some Webbs wonderful and another tray of it with a few red/green lettuce also.
The dwarf french beans which have about 80% germination, and i have now sowed a second tray tonight.
The Brights Lights swiss chard which i put into the plot on sunday alongside the lettuce.
At the allotment i also removed completely one of the covers and continued with the digging, adding into it some of the manure. I am hoping to put the sweetcorn and squashes into this area.

My daughters sunflowers, since repotted, and some new ones she sowed.
More sunflowers, and the Bright Lights chard that will be going into the plot soon.
In the trough is the radishes on either side and through the centre is some spinach which we'll use as cut and come again leaves.

This evening i quickly got in a couple more sowings, which following on from yesterday means the order from the bean trench down the plot is a row each of beetroot and carrots i mentioned in the last post, next is a row of carrots 'berlikumer 2' from lidl. Lastly a row of perpetual spinach 'leaf beet' which we grew last year and was a great alternative to the usual spnach we grow that bolted straight away and we never got any cuttings from.

I also put in the broad beans in a space at the end of the bean trench. The plants in the tray had great roots already so hopefully they'll take well.

In the green house i forgot to mention also sowed pots of basil and one container of coriander.

Quick summary of the past week.

Put in the second earlies 'international kidney' and after my IL's help by raking over a large area ready for sowing i got in a row of beetroot 'Bolthardy' and carrots 'Early Nantes 5'. I also put in the first of the pea's 'Kelvedon Wonder' alongside the onions and shallots. I also loaded a bag with compost and soil and placed a few spare potatoes (IK) in it.

In the shed/greenhouse i sowed with help of my son a tray of Dwarf French beans, and also a tray of Leeks 'Musslebrough'. I've never had much luck directly sowing leeks and the only time i had a good crop i tray sowed and then transplanted. More tomatoes were potted on, and a few more 'tabasco' chillies were sown as only one has so far germinated. The cucumbers are going along nicely esp. the outdoor ones.
In a trough in the greenhouse i sowed some spinach with a few quick crops alongside, being radishes 'icicle' and 'Hilds roter Neckarruhm' which according to DT Browns catalogue ''These long, red, mildly spicy roots are eaten as a snack accompaniment to a glass of beer in Germany, served sliced with a little salt'. Sounds interesting!!

My daughter has sown alot more sunflowers, 'irish eyes' and 'giant' and despite "help" from my son, he managed to drop the tray of 'teddy bear' sunflowers he sowed right at the end.