Getting somewhere

Well, the tatties are in. Two rows each of pentland javelin 1st earlies and desiree maincrop, and a row of marfona to seperate them. As usual ive a load of seeds left.

Today started breezy and cold but the soil seemed warm, and although we have had frost recently they havent been 'hard', so ive taken the chance and got on with sowing, its either that or risk running out of season! Im working on the hope that the germination times, typically 14days or so, will be enough to outreach the frosts.

Okay, so five rows of carrots in total, two of autumn king, one of kings colour mix, and two of Nantes 2. Two rows of Detroit 2 beetroot, and two rows of Hollow Crown parsnips. Im thinking of a fast crop, maybe lettuce, to grow between the parsnip rows, to make use of the space.

Also in today are the peas and dwarf beans. These have gone into the raised bed, which had brassicas last year. A bamboo cane frame has been built to support the peas, which are early onwards variety, two to a cane. Because of the size of the bed, i could fit five pairs of peas in each row, and still have space either side for dwarf/french beans, so seven beans have been planted as well. I cant tell you the variety as i tore that part of the packet off last year! Since these are low growing bushy plants, about 18" high, putting them along the outside of the bed means i will be able to reach over them easily to harvest the peas.

Until now i have been in a bit of a panic about how i would fit in all the veg i wanted to grow, thinking i didnt have the space. After writing down in my diary what was sown today, theres only a few things left on the list! and it seems i have enough space for them, maybe not a huge crop, but at least some. And i havent yet taken into account the use of tubs.

With any luck, i can soon get some of the windowsil plants out into the greenhouse. I think most would appreciate potting on now.

well, no pictures today, but then you wouldnt be interested in photos of flat bare earth, which is what the beds are. Once the seeds germinate and start coming through then there will be some pictures, probably a mass of unruly carrot seedlings, since carrot seed is so had to sow finely.

Windowsill Jungle

Well, its mid april, and so far the weather has been terrible. High winds, and were still getting frosts. Apart from digging and preparing the beds, which i have finally finished today, nothing has got done outside. This is the 2nd Main bed, its ready now for sowing. The onions and garlic are already in having overwintered, and the cabbages there are being slowly used as treats for the chooks.


The small bed has been bordered with salvaged planks from an old fence panel, just to give it some definition and help stop the grass reinvading it. Brussels sprouts i think will be going in here. Beyond it you can see the 2nd raised bed, which has been planted with Asparagus crowns.



The 1st raised bed has been cleared. This will be used for this years 'Legume a poit' (pointy veg?), or maybe peas and beans. The rhubarb behind it seems to be doing well, after having a sack of horse poo dumped on it in autumn.

and so onto Main Bed no 1. This needed completely digging over, and expanding. The front half had manure last year, but the newly opened sections had the usual variety of roots, weeds and rocks. Five rows of potatoes are going in here, with sweetcorn in a block at the far end, which has a triangular profile

As i said, the rhubarb looks alright

Everything else is growing on every available windowsill. After putting the first batch of chilis in the greenhouse too early, new cayenne and jalapeno plants are growing, along with californian yellow sweet peppers, moneymaker tomatoes, the sweetcorn F1 tuxedo, black beauty courgettes, and a few sunflowers.

The first batch of Brussels didnt come up, but a bit of trading obtained me some fresh seed in exchange for some advice and a few seed potatoes. These are coming up nicely now. The weather is good enough today to get the potatoes in, so at least that job will be taken care of. However this mornings frost rules out much else today.

The girls are now laying 3-4 eggs a day, whilst systematically stripping my lawn and munching their way through the cabbages.