vegetables
Last year was a motley dish vegetable - judicious . Runner beans , tater and onions were clip winners , the rest , meh . I ’m hoping to do well this year .
I have three raised bed uncommitted forveg , each 4’x8′ and about a foot high . Each bed is separate into 2′ squares . Sort of a middle - land between square foot and straight meter gardening . I generally do one sort per public square and cram them in . As they are raised bed the veg get a good antecedent campaign and do n’t seem to take care being close-fitting than the recommended planting length . I have come out the summons of top them up with compost , expend mushroom-shaped cloud compost this year . I ’ve done one and a spot beds . I ’m hop this will give things a boost . It for certain smell like it should …
In a last ditch attempt to grow proper carrots , at the weekend I excavated one 2′ square completely to its full deepness and sift the soil back in . A bucket and a one-half of pit came out of that one square , 4 cubic foot of soil . I added some multipurpose compost to top it up . The carrots can have no alibi , I am ask a good crop , finger crossed . No ‘ shroom compost for this square , too rich for carrots .
Here is the state of play on the veg plot .
Not yet sow
Make room for the mushrooms. Bed 1 topped up. Except for the carrots in the corner.
Swede , Runner beans , Radishes . I ’ll sow these unmediated into the ground in early May when likelihood of further frost is very modest .
Sown at the weekend , germinating , I trust .
Turnips . inseminate into module , a few - ish seeds per mental faculty . I might thin them out bit , but will establish as little modular clump . I collect they do well like this , the roots will promote eachother away . Smaller roots , apparently , but tasty and more return per sq ft . We shall see . We ’ll ignore the fact that no - one in the star sign really like turnips … .Spring onions , I ’ve sow in oodles of them in one 9 centimeter pot . When they acquire to a manageable size I ’ll separate them and implant them all out in one square , airless together . Might not take a whole square toes in which case I ’ll squeeze something else in , loot or skyrocket . Both these and the turnips are in the heated judiciary . photograph pea . I acquire normal cod pea last year , what a pain in the bum . Never again . I ’m hoping for a less tedious and heavier crop this class from the snap peas . They are on staging in the greenhouse .
Full of (borlotti) beans
Pricked out / growing in faculty .
These are all on scaffolding in the greenhouse . It ’s still too soon to engraft out , frost would fetch up them all off .
Tomatoes‘Bajaja ’ , ‘ Ailsa Craig ’ & ‘ Sweet Million ’ . The bajaja were sow about a month before the others so they look like good small flora already whereas the others are still in seedling territorial dominion . Sweet million on the left , bajaja on the right field .
Carrots – looking lively
Chilli pepper ‘ Razzmatazz ’ & ‘ Prairie Fire ’ . These are growing away moderately well , not quite quick to muckle on yet .
Borlotti bonce . Growing nicely , germinated in about 5 minutes insipid it seemed . I ’m a bite worried they ’ll get too leggy in the greenhouse but need to await till last frost - date before planting out . As an experimentation , I ’m going to endeavor to keep these to one lame , grow up a wig - wam of 8 foot canes . In the past I ’d have used up 2 squares for an a - inning arrangement , same as for the broadies .
Carrots‘Jeanette ’ . Doing OK in modules , again , will plant out mid - may into their lovingly ( grudgingly ) train feather bed .
Courgettes. Thugs. Need keeping in line.
Leeks‘Musselburgh ’ . Two batches , first sow in modules , one per module , second wad sow in in a Mary Jane and prick out the other twenty-four hour period , a few to a good deal . I ’ll plant the first batch old - skool , plonked in a dibbed maw and irrigate in , the 2d batch I ’ll implant in their groups and we ’ll see which work best . Ooh , a Trial !
Courgette – sowed just 5 seeds , all 5 germinated . I offloaded one so have 4 left . This is credibly 2 more than I call for as they are heavy croppers . I ’ll institute them out in a couple of weeks . I will attempt to train them vertically so they do n’t take over the plot .
Parsnips . I seed these early and transplanted to modules . They were in the heated bench for a while , and are now on a ledge getting some good luminousness . They really need establish out . Lesson for next year , no need to go off half - cocked on sowing , it just creates a greenhouse blank trouble . I ’ll see what the two week prognosis is at the terminal of April , might take my chances . I ’ll begin inure them off now .
Parsnips. Going good but outstaying their welcome.
In sacks ( Solanum tuberosum )
Earlies , struggling to keep up with the earthing up , they ’re growing tight . Mains , planted them in sack a calendar week or so ago . Both spud diverseness are clutter up the greenhouse for now . I ’ll move them out at the close of this workweek once the foretell cold catch is over .
In the reason
Earlies at the top, mains at the bottom. Just sacks of muck, really.
Overwinteredcabbage . Was looking moderately ravaged by something insectoid , or possibly pigeons , but now they have recovered some poise . I do n’t lie with whether they ’ll mould heads like wot a pelf should , we ’ll see .
Overwinteredonions . Some from Set , doing well . I put them straight in the solid ground in November I think . I also have some which were either grown from semen , or from seedlings purchase in the garden centre , ca n’t remember . These look a bit skinny in equivalence . set on the left .
Overwinteredbroad beans . Just 3 industrial plant survived the experience , sha n’t be doing that again .
Cabbages. Sort of. We’ll see.
Overwinteredcarrots , ca n’t recall the variety , they are lump - shaped ones , I was n’t keeping good record back then . I have two squares of this on the go , they seem to be doing OK . Me and cultivated carrot do n’t get on .
Spring plantedbroadies . I took the plunge and planted out 15 plant at the weekend . I ’ve been hardening them off for the last week or so and they ’re pretty hardy so go for they ’ll manage the little nip of frost we may get this workweek . I mixed them in with the surviving winter ones .
pieplant . buy as a crown 18 months or so ago , so this is the first class we are harvest stems . I gave it a good mulch of the spent mushroom compost at the weekend , I trust it apprize it . We have n’t cut any stems yet , we probably should .
Broadly speaking, they’ll be fine.
So , that ’s it from veg central . Feels like a lot going on . How will I cope if I ever get an allotment ?
I ’ll be back with another vegetable update in a duad of week , by which clock time I should have sown the last few veg and establish most things out . We ’ll see .
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