Planning For Growth

Well, we're back from a well earned holiday in the Balearic islands, so now its time to start planning for next years crops. We came home to some sad news though, while we were away Freddy the rabbit died. His guineapig room mate Dylan tried to look after him. We have no idea why he died, just one of those things that happen. Sams grandma and grandad have bought him another bunny similar to Freddy, and two cute little white and brown piggies. Sam isn't old enough to tell the difference yet. The new bunny is a bit older and bigger. It seems he was taken back to the shop as the owners son was 'allergic' to him, but he is a bit too timid, i think they couldnt be bothered to look after him. I pulled a fresh carrot for him and he looked at it then had a nibble, i dont think he's ever seen fresh vegetables before.

C'an Picafort was a lovelly place, shelly beaches, fish in the harbour, rocky shore, clear water, lots of archeology and nature to explore. Fabulous little creatures. But its nice to be back, apart from having my exams this week.
This is one of the bugs that lived in the town.


So, now home with a bit of a tan and some great photos, a stroll down the garden was called for to see how well everything is doing, and how much of the brassicas the caterpillers had eaten. Well, on that note, i picked off about fifty of the sodding things from the sprouts. Seems sprouts are the meal of choice for small cabbage white larvae, and they have systematically decimated them in the last week. Much less damage to the swede and broccoli. Also seems to be some mealy aphis on a couple of the sprouts, that will need dealing with. If the infestation is small i will remove the affected leaves and burn them, rather than use a spray.

So, what of the seeds? Well, the few garlic shoots that were showing have been joined by many more, the whole plot is now looking like a miniature plantation, and the Germidour as well as the Marco variety are now growing, all in neat rows. The carrots and the lonely lettuce amongst them are doing fine as well, this is where i pulled bunnies carrot from (the middle one in the picture), the last four cabbages though look like the caterpillers have got into them. I think these will be given to the animals to munch on.

The cauliflower dont seem to be up to much, doesnt look like they will heart up very well. Never mind, cauli is a difficult beast to grow, and the soil wasn't exactly prime for them. The spring cabbage and early carrot seedlings are all going strong, awaiting now a second thinning out. Remarkably, there are few weeds, so a light hoeing should have everything looking good.

Somethings been at me rhubarb! A whole block seems to have dissapeard, i suspect its Barry, Sams grandad, has pulled any dead sections. It needs a good barrow full of manure on it now so it grows good next year.

The broad beans, Aquadulce, are all sprouting nicely, but in Sams magic bean pot only the middle one of the four is coming up, i think the rest will show in the next few days. The spring onions are holding their own although there are gaps in the rows where not all of them germinated. Still, theres only me eats them! so it should be a decent enough yield.

And so, on to planning and preparing. Autumn is here, and with it the prospect of frost and the fall of leaves. The leaves of course are destined for the compost bins. Some minor external repairs need doing to the house, and once i've bought some roof bars today i can start aquiring wood and materials for a hen house and bricks for a herb garden. The herbs are to go on a section of the patio where Sams beans are, in a 1ft tall raised bed. It will be Sams job to cultivate the herb garden. It needs to be built before winter, so its not too cold for the mortar to set correctly.



My task though, is a bit harder. The space where i moved the blueberry bush from is to become next years potato patch. This is fairly sandy soil, i would say a sandy loam, and is pretty low on organic matter. The first job will be to mark out the patch, and remove the turves. The turf will be distributed elsewhere in the garden. Once thats done, it will need double digging, and quite a bit of humus added. Fresh manure is no good at this stage for potatoes, and i dont think there will be enough compost ready, so i might have to fork out on some bagged well rotted manure. The patch will then be allowed to freeze-thaw weather over winter to break the soil clods, and early next year will be worked to form a seed bed. In the meantime, i have a voucher for Thomson-Morgan, and intent to spend it on seed potatoes. A first early and a maincrop i think. Something waxy and good for boiling.

All this will mean that after the coming year, and assuming i still dont have an allotment plot by then, i can at least start some form of basic rotation. All the articles and letters for the allotment campaign have been submitted, and are now awaiting printing. Hopefully in the next few weeks that will start off and we can begin organising a site.

Its still misty out, and i need to prepare for my exams, including finding out where to go to take them! So thats todays jobs - go shopping for roof bars, mark out the tatty patch, study hard, and browse the spud catalogue.