Planting for spring 2010

Plot 1 now has small broad beans in position for a fighting start in the spring.. complete with chicken wire cage to stop them running away. Plot 4 has 4 purple sprouting broccoli plants, looking very healthy and about 18 ins high at the end of October.

There has been a problem with the best cabbage I have ever grown (still in Plot 3), none of us could bear to harvest it as it looked so superb, but now it has TEETH MARKS in it.. either left by ravenous monks or wretched roe deer..damn them!

Chard rules OK..............

......and kale; both have been on the menu this week, delicious. two small raspberry canes are in, offshoots from our garden in Edinburgh, and rhubarb from Sussex. Broad bean seedlings also planted. the purple sprouting broccoli look fantastic and we have built a deer cage for them as it appears that the beasties have snaffled some of the cabbage............weather a bit too wet this week to do much in the garden, roll on spring!................

today's weeding

It was lovely this afternoon, weeding with a rainbow, Caroline and John. Also using a new Kale recipe: Shred it, add salt and soya sauce and place on baking tray in the oven! Result like Chinese seaweed. Still interested in receiving more kale recipies.

Compost

I get frightfully excited about compost. In Edinburgh I recently got my rotting heap up to 55degreesC, I was out measuring it's temperature first thing each day. Getting compost to really take off like that takes great cuilinary skills... Bins are labelled clearly enough for all literate morons,

The horrid green bin is now redudant, but has left us with some scrummy compost ready to use.

Weeding

Lots and lots of weeding has taken place over the last two days.. especially in the long thin bed by the house. Should be ready for Catherine to get creative with in October.

Plot 4 and 5

Plot 4 now has purple sprouting broccoli, which all being well should be croppable in April... that is if it can survive the winter gales and hungry roedeer. It also has one tomatoe plant in it.. but not for much longer.

Plot 5 just has one lonely sickly squash plant at the moment and other wise is empty. I am about to put in a whole load of broad beans, in the hope they will be well established before the end of the growing season, and croppable in May.

That is the theory.

Plot 3

Plot 3, thanks to the kindness of Francis Richardson, has produced the best cabbages ever, huge and perfect. Also a seriously good crop of kale.. tough stuff, it is too tough for cows to eat and even survived being stood but a whopping great bovine, and yet Tom has managed to stuff it into the naughty nephews!

This small patch of earth is also supporting a tomatoe plant, a PRODUCTIVE corgette and a squash plant (not so productive).

Thank you Francis.

Plot 2 this year

Plot 2 has been beautiful. A fantastic mixture of rainbow chard and beetroot both of which have grown very strongly.

Also in this space we had runner beans on the tripod at the back, sugar snap peas on the trellis at the front, and a squash.. all of these grew, but not brilliantly. It may be that all of these suffered from not being planted out soon enough, so they were a little leggy and late.

crop rotation

This is not just a pic of Dad's bum...

It occurs to me that in a few months time I will have completely have forgotton what we grew where; disaster. So Here is a record:

The plots I have numbered from 1 - 5 starting at the gate and from left to right.

so plot 1: Right now it is full of tomatoes, they have grown very slowly indeed, don't look hugely healthy, and only now, late September, are they ripe to eat.. but they are sooo delicious.

There are also 3 healthy handsome chive plants.. how many chives can a household consume

harvest time

The veggie beds are looking fantastic, yummy tomatoes, cabbage, kale, beetroot, squash, corgette (ok only one), beautiful rainbow coloured chard. Really a very good showing for just our first summer and one that started late too as the veg beds were'nt ready til the end of May. A very few peas and runner beans, not sure why these two were less prolific, but then I have never been able to grow proper cabbages before.

In this photograph you can see Dad installing blackcurrant bushes in the top corner, They were moved out onto the hill last summer, since when all their tenderest shoots have been devoured by bovines.. so they have been given a reprieve.

not sure what this is, some kind of weed possibly??...............

sugar snap peas, chard, beetroot

...........with veggies.........tomato plants in situ

The veggie beds!!

the omphaloides in its new spot.............Colin do not stand on it!!

the new herb barrel

Frost in May

.....hail, sleet, gales, torrential rain...................but today, at last, sunshine. everything a bit waterlogged but at least a chance to do some weeding and tidying. main task to revamp the herb barrel, which put up stiff resistance but has now been replanted with new mint and thyme as well as bits of the old mint and thyme (applemint and black peppermint, lemon thyme and ordinary).  don't know if the oregano will make it but we can only try, it has survived three winters despite being a Mediterranean herb, not frost-hardy etc etc...........obviously it does not know that so as long as nobody tells it we should be fine........

pleased to see that the catmint has taken in the annual bed...........have flung in some annual seeds as there's no point in doing anything too ambitious till the yard is gravelled but if they come up it will look pretty............we brought some of our self-sown nasturtium seedlings and a couple of borage seedlings seem to have come along for the ride, so have put them in the beds and the nasturtiums in the window-box. and the rest is down to the weather...............

What a great idea this is! After the new veg beds we'll need a webcam to check on how the courgettes etc are doing!