I have now got down the the plot for the 'proper first time' this year, with a good couple of hours spent digging and planting. I dug in the green mustard manure that overwintered and mostly had been killed off by the recent snow, its needs to be dug in before it sets seed in spring. This will hopefully add a bit of nutrition to my soil, and i also spread the last of the bone fish blood and raked it in. My MIL had kindly got me my onion sets, 'sturon, stuttgart and turbo'
and some shallots (variety unknown). This photo show the area before the sets went in......
and this is it afterwards. I forgot to bring any twine with me!, so used poles to mark the lines. I planted in order from the top sturon, stuttgart and turbo and then the shallots which didn't fill an entire row so completed it with more sturon sets. I still have left over some sets from each variety so may mix them up and do a 'pot luck' bonus row!!
Above is the bottom of the plot where i intend to put the potatoes this year, and also is the pile of manure which was delivered to the site yesterday early, and i got a phone to come and get before it all went! So at 8am i was filling wheel barrows and clearing my sinuses!! Looks like good stuff so will spread soon and probably go into this bottom part.
Below are 2 photos, the reult of an afternoon fun with the kids, my daughter wanted to plant some flowers so she sowed some sunflower seeds (first photo) which i thought might be too early but have signs of starting, the bottom tray is broad beans 'the sutton' which my son helped with great fun, as he enjoyed filling with compost and poking each bean in.
Its huge, one of 4 i dug up for a roast yesterday. Its about 4 times the size of a normal parsnip,
the roasted ones were great and i think i have another 20 in the plot so good for a couple of months yet.
I've added a slideshow on the right here which show a lot more photo's i've taken of the plot, garden and crops. also playing around with general look, what do you think?
so this update has been even longer in coming, but certainly less time than waiting for summer this year!
I felt its was time to show some photos and explain whats been happening. Summery of this year - another rained out season. No sun means little grows and only the late autumn sun meant we finally had some corgettes, but it was not enough for the other squashes to prosper, all failed. Most other things were dissapointing also, sweetcorn grew no higher than my knee, carrots very poor and small, climbing french beans rubbish - all these things i presume are down to the poor weather and probably the poor nutritional quality of my soil which i am now addressing.
The above photo is the end of the plot mostly dug over apart from the parsnips which actually seem to have done well, judging by the first pull. The strip in the middle is the failed carrots with weeds in between awaiting removal, and the top right corner is some green manure i've sown, mustard seed.
The plank in the middle is actually alongside a strip of horse manure spread over the surface.The covered part in the middle is still yet to be completely cleared mainly due to time, with the clocks going back its now impossible to get anything done in the evening, but i suppose that another winter under cover cannot do any harm and i'll target that area with green manure in the spring.
I started a bean trench where the peas were this year and will extend it when i remove the spinach beet, another of the few successes this year.
The top part has also been seeded with mustard, and i am going to remove the water butt and other stuff from the wall edge to put down some covering to stop the weeds coming under the wall, generally couch grass and mares tail. I need to plan where to put the water buts and build a compost bin at some time, as well as considering where to put the permanent fruit beds (raspberry and blackberry) that i want to plant next year.
i know its a month since my last post but what with the awful AWFUL weather here in wales i have rarely been down to the plot to be honest, the few times i have i have picked a little produce but also done some weeding which again seem to be growing the most!.
Plus no photos as my camera is dead unfortunately, not sure when I'll have a replacement.
I have dug up all the early potatoes 'Foremost' and am now digging the next 2nd earlies 'Marfon' which is producing a smaller crop per plan' which i am looking forward to tasting.
The swede are looking great and will start to be cropped now, freezing alot i think, the poorly performing turnips are out after all racing to seed straight away, but i sowed a second little row which are loaded with little golf ball size ready for picking. The swiss chard is doing well, as is the spinach beet which we have had several meals from.
The french beans are slowly producing, i need to do alot more next year i feel. Peas are tasty but again needed more intense cropping and better support. Lessons learnt!
The squash are performing at different levels, some of the courgettes plants have given us produce others lagging behind, the butternuts are sitting there doing nothing, and the 'crown prince' pumpkins are slowly growing but not looking promising at the moment unlike 'Jacks' pumpkin which has produced several flowers and 2 fruits which are now melon sized!!
I will be picking the beetroot and pickling soon, and the carrots are looking reasonable healthy. All white onions and garlic are now harvested with the red onions next to come up.
The garlic did quite well, especially the Purple Georgian White, with the Spanish Roja doing reasonable well also. The onions were quite dissapointing, the Swift slightly better than the Autumn Champion but i think i will try different varities next year and possibly try some from seed which will be a new challange.
A little shot of produce the other day, we eventually had a salad of lettuce, peas, green beans, spinach beet leaves, new potatoes and mackerel fillets, along with fresh bread.
The climbing beans starting to ascend the poles, potatoes and peas in the back ground, and dwarf beans next the climbers. And weeds, lots of weeds!
The weeded end of the plot! Parsnips, swedes properly spaced this year, turnips which have been disappointing as they mostly have bolted and failed to grow.
Next are the beetroots, and two rows of resown carrots which have come up well thankfully.
My MIL doing some weeding. Much appreciated too.The center part is getting smaller and will soon be able to be uncovered, although its slow progress as the couch grass and bindweed roots are getting thicker towards the middle. On the right are the newly planted butternut squash.
Jacks pumpkin, with a very small yellow fruit forming near the centre.
As i remove the new potatoes the crown prince pumpkins with some manure are going in.
The sunflowers which i had to secure to the railings as the recent winds had almost knocked them over. In front are the sweetcorn and more dwarf french beans in between.
Just a quick post - sweetcorn now in, and another courgette plant at the plot, and one in a pot at home but that has been mostly destroyed by slugs so i'm not sure if it will survive.
I picked the first french dwarf beans today, and noted that the peas have also started putting pods on. I now have more dwarf beans to put in, and all the squashes are looking promising and will follow on over the next few weeks.
The weather has been terrible for the last 2 days, but good for the garden as they say, although my almost empty water buts will need alot more before they refill. One thing i need to sort out before this winter is water storage so i have a better supply throughout next year.
but i have been busy at the plot and in the garden. At the plot i have again earthed up the potatoes, thinned again the parsnips, swede and turnips, and sowed 2 rows of leeks, a little late but hopefully they'll come through. The second sowings of beetroot and carrots have come on well too, need thinning soon, and i continue to weed everywhere. I have also put in 2 small rows of spinach beet, and the 3 chard plants have also taken well.
Below is my daughter with the sunflower in the garden, she is looking for ants!
In the greenhouse, sweetcorn ready to go out, in the red posts are more dwarf french beans, and also in the tray are the 4 butternut squash, 2 courgettes, and in the next tray 6 crown prince pumpkins.
In the next trays are the next sowing of mixed lettuce, a pot of herbs, the lower green tray has basil and the two at the bottom are yellow sun courgettes.
The cherry tomato plant is doing really well setting flowers already, and the pepper plant a little slower but making progress.
This is a pumpkin, variety unknown, that i was given by Jack my nephew , to see who could grow the largest pumpkin from it. I have now planted it at the plot, photo next time.
and this is it afterwards. I forgot to bring any twine with me!, so used poles to mark the lines. I planted in order from the top sturon, stuttgart and turbo and then the shallots which didn't fill an entire row so completed it with more sturon sets. I still have left over some sets from each variety so may mix them up and do a 'pot luck' bonus row!!
Above is the bottom of the plot where i intend to put the potatoes this year, and also is the pile of manure which was delivered to the site yesterday early, and i got a phone to come and get before it all went! So at 8am i was filling wheel barrows and clearing my sinuses!! Looks like good stuff so will spread soon and probably go into this bottom part.
