Nurturing those babies

Hello!

The last three weeks have been busy busy busy in the garden and equally in the makeshift potting shed.  Many seeds have been sown, flowers and veg, and now they are all shooting up delightfully and need nurturing and tending.  

Most of the tougher ones I've moved outside, like broccoli, cabbage, leeks and onions, while the more tender babies like courgettes, squashes, sweetcorn and beans get moved out every sunny morning and back in again on cold nights, bless them.

R to L Cabbage, Broccoli and Leeks, are living outside, getting well watered each morning during this dry spell.  Not watering at night as not great for them to enter chilly nights full of moisture.

Cucumbers and sweetcorn.  Probably not such a great idea to sow them in the same module set, as I really want to harden the sweetcorn off ready for planting out.  I need them to get to a decent size by the time I sow my runner beans which I am hoping will be supported by the sweetcorn.  I had limited success last year with climbing French beans and sweetcorn, but I don't think the corn was big enough before the beans swamped them a bit. 
Looking forward to growing the cucumbers in the porch of my shed - the equivalent of a greenhouse.

Pea shoots!  These are rather exciting as I've never grown them as a salad crop before.  Sown thickly in a tray, you can use dried marrowfat peas, but I had plenty of escapee peas knocking around in the bottom of my allotment bag from last year - these are three weeks old.  Another week and I'll be picking them for salads.

S

Mixed salad leaves and spinach.  These live outside on a sunny table.  Longing for them to grow enough to start eating as I'm sick of forking out for lettuce and spinach from supermarkets and very much missing my poly tunnel from which we would have surely been eating leaves by now.

Turks Cap and Queensland Blue squashes.  These took an age to germinate - well, weeks, and I admit to poking around under the soil several times to see if there was any sign of life.  In the end there was - I put them back in the porch every night as I don't want to risk them suffering from chilly nights.  If this is the great summer I'm hoping for we'll get a bumper crop of very delicious squashes.

Meanwhile, over at the plot...

Yes mate!  We are still eating veg from the plot.  The last of the leeks and parsnips, and still more dinners worth of wonderful purple sprouting broccoli. The gift that just keeps on giving.  

T

Meanwhile  I'm following the allotment plan and have sowed  parsnips and clumps of Babbington Leeks - perpetual spring onions.  Pleased to see peas, spinach and radishes are already up.

A bed of leaves - perpetual 'red russian' kale, two different types of rocket and some chard -  has been sown on last year's lasagna bed which should be nitrogen-rich as I grew peas in it last year, 

The nearest bed contains parsnips and perpetual onions.  I added a top dressing of soot from when the boys swept the chimney as I didn't want to waste it, and after much googling found that gardeners have been using it for years to warm up the soil (it's black - absorbs heat) and it possibly improves soil quality.  Whatever.  It probably won't hurt it.

The next bed is a bit experimental, as it was cardboarded last year, and this Spring it's had layers of grass cuttings and the seaweed/straw material which got washed up in the storms earlier in the year which Jake has been collecting for me from the boatyard, then 2 bags of bought compost spread on top. 

I've sown alternate rows of round lettuce and beetroot, but the compost layer was really thin, and beneath it the layers were crunchy and not composted down.  I have no idea how this bed will go - maybe the beetroot will be huge with all that nutritious stuff breaking down and all that space to grow... or maybe the seeds just sunk down to the cardboard and they will never grow.  In any case, there are a few seedlings appearing - lettuce I think - so I'm just going to watch that space, keep my fingers crossed, but sow some more lettuce in a more conventional bed, just in case.

I have two more no-dig beds earmarked for courgettes, sweetcorn, runner beans and squashes.  These have been layered up again with grass cuttings, seaweedy straw and a few bags of horse manure collected from the back road. When I plant them up I'll also use my garden compost from home.

Such fabulousness!  Wonderfully Oscar and Hazel have made and hand painted these lovely signs for the beds!

The Hungry Gap

We are now facing a 5 week period apparently when this year's food won't be ready, and we've used up everything from last year.  However, there is plenty of forageable food available.  Nettles for instance - I've never used them before but this year I was inspired to make nettle pasta - it was delicious!  Also using lots of wild garlic.  Last night made wild garlic butter to go with home made bread - and tomorrow planning on using the flower buds in a salad.  

The Luxury of Research

The lockdown situation has not only offered the opportunity to get on with sowing, planning and working on the plot, but also the luxurious chance to do some research.  

I've signed up to this Free Online Permaculture course.  What I've learned is that Permaculture is not just about gardening, but a whole way of living in harmony with nature.  It's about following the patterns and relationships and diversity which happen in the natural world which allow ecosystems to support themselves, and not fighting against them.  

Permaculture garden design is about planning a garden which works harmoniously with the plants, weather, water, soil and topography of your garden, and creatively attempts to mimic nature, with diversity of planting as key, and recycling, reusing, composting and taking advantage of the relationships between these elements.  It all makes logical sense, and there's obviously loads more to it than that, but it's simplicity is wonderful.

I came across this wonderful chap in my research, his name's Patrick Whitefield, a Permaculture teacher.  There are various videos of him teaching the theory and methods of Permaculture, but the best ones are when he is wandering around his garden chatting and giving you loads of great tips.   

The video below describes how to collect seeds in the first part, but skip to the second part to see him talking about how he makes his compost - it's brilliant.  His video on mulching and weeding is also excellent.  He died sadly a few years ago.

I've also had time to look at Charles Dowding and his no dig method of gardening in more detail, and am  relieved to see that on the beds I'm doing it on, I'm doing it pretty much right, but also that you need an awful lot of compost, far more than would be possible for me to make at home, as he recommends putting at least 10 - 12 centimeters of depth of compost on top of the cardboard  This would be really expensive if you were trying to do all your beds with no-dig.  I'll have to stick to mixed methods for now.

I'm also signing up for Edible Mach's Intermediate Growing Course which will run on Friday evenings from 5.30 to 7pm from 10th April. After all, knowledge is power and I need all the help I can get.

Edible Mach Growing Course

Sowing and Planning

For the first time ever I have an allotment plan!  Although it's not to scale and may well be changed, it is really great to have a plan to go by, and will be fantastically useful in years to come I'm sure.  Beautifully drawn out by Hazel!

As April was rapidly approaching and the sun was shining deliciously, it seemed like the right time to get sowing.  I had various seeds lined up which I'd bought earlier in the year (BC - Before Corona) on a shopping trip to Lidl.

Others, as I realised I wouldn't be popping out on casual shopping trips again, I found online from Ebay retailers mainly.  Then, one morning the most marvellous package arrived from my sister in law - a padded envelope full of all sorts of seeds, many of which I hadn't yet bought.

The porch to my shed rapidly became full of trays and pots as it has a plastic roof, ideal for seedlings to shoot up in.  The lovely warm clear days often meant very cold winter nights, so I made use of a little oil filled radiator a few times, set on super low, to encourage my seeds to get sprouting.

There are plenty of trays of flowers too, so I hope I'll have a pretty garden at home also.

Although I have the whole allotment for growing, I thought I'd try and get some early salad leaves and spinach growing, so sowed seeds in these really long window box troughs.  I've had time to read quite a lot of interesting information from other blogs lately too, so am definitely going to get some pea shoots growing for salads.

As the porch became full I decided to use the caravan at the end of the garden as a temporary nursery.  Usually I would be looking forward to friends coming to stay in it at this time of year, but the virus means that's not happening.  Silver linings I suppose - more space for food growing.  Rather have my mates down though.  

Some of the seeds are from stuff I grew last year - sunflowers, nasturtiums, dill, poppies and hollyhocks.  I really do plan to collect more of my own seed this year - it always gets too late, or I'm busy at the best time, but this year I've got time to read up on how and when is best - is it too late after a frost for instance?

One of the nice things about buying my seeds online was that I could choose different varieties from my normal supermarket bargain brands.  I remembered Turks Cap squashes were grown really well years ago in North Wales by a friend's dad - and he had such a glut he gave them away and they were really delicious - so searched some of those out. 

Repurposed pot noodle tub.  I never seem to have anything suitable to mark out my seedlings, let alone a pen to hand so this is a big improvement! 

Likewise, I managed to find some Queensland Blue, which I first came across when my dad bought some seeds back from Australia in the 80s and successfully grew these scrumptious squashes in his Southampton garden. 

I love that summer 2020 is an unwritten chapter at the moment, I'm full of hope that it may be long, sunny and glorious, and perfect vegetable ripening weather.  In this positive vein I've just bought some sweetcorn seeds, although the only time they've really been successful is when I grew them in my long lost polytunnel.

Meanwhile on the allotment

We worked to get some beds ready for planting.  The first ones I don't have much option but to double dig, as I just need to get them weed-free enough to sow some seeds directly into, and I just can't afford the ton of compost needed to start with no dig.  

I have two beds which I covered in cardboard at the end of last season and they should be ready for planting up with courgettes, sweetcorn, squashes and beans a bit later in the year.  One we have smothered in grass cuttings from the first allotment cut, and the second has had a layer of straw type stuff collected from the beach, some actual seaweed, and now a layer of grass cuttings.  I will empty my home compost bin to add another layer and use some bought manure when I plant it up.

I won't use this bed, but I've covered it in cardboard ready for layering up next year.

Oscar and Hazel tidied up the strawberry bed and sowed some Welsh onion seeds between them,

and Oscar planted the three jostaberry bushes I've been given and mulched round the bases.

It was lovely to smell the gorgeous aroma of fresh mint on the plot, and great to see those fresh shoots coming through.  The old mint is also nice to break down and use to mulch round the base of new plants.  I picked enough for a pea and mint soup for supper.

And Finally

My most recent visit to the plot this week saw me finally sowing some seeds into the ground.  Following the plan, I have sown a row of spinach down one side of this first bed, a row of radishes down the other, and four rows of peas across the middle.  I used a whole bag of compost to start them off and the trimmings from pruning the pear tree as pea sticks ready to support the peas.

It was time to harvest the rest of my broccoli as the first tiny yellow flowers were appearing on one of the plants.  There are still parsnips and leeks lurking in the ground over there, and it's comforting to know that next years broccoli and leeks are already sown in trays in the caravan.  

The next job is to get some parsnip seeds into the ground, very late this year, but I don't expect to be eating them until at least Christmas, so plenty of time to grow!

At last - it has begun - there is potential food in the ground, and I feel altogether better.

Things I have learned and in some cases had confirmed by reading other blogs this week:

1.  Urine is a great source of nitrogen if watered down 1 to 10 parts water. Easy peasy!

2.  Cardboard egg boxes and toilet roll middles are not such a great idea as they seem (my broccoli plants were crap in toilet roll middles last year) as they use loads of nitrogen (I think?) during their own decompostion.

3. Seaweed is wonderful.  Never go to the beach without getting a carrier bag full.  It can be chopped up for mulch, added to the compost bin or steeped in a bucket of water for a month, then used 1 to 10 parts water as a nutritious tea (for plants).

Hello 2019. You are currently full of unknown potential.

Starting somewhere

It's still only February and I have a full day of allotment work under my belt with Oscar which feels good

The poly tunnel is no more.  The frame stands, but we cut off most of the scraggly remains of plastic after complaints from the poor people who live adjoining the plot that the noise on a windy day was annoying.

Today was about general tidying, clearing brambles, motivating overgrown beds and having an absolutely massive bonfire.

I was on bramble clearing, and it was super satisfying to get them just as they are about to sprout into uncontrollable chaos.

Once Oscar has a power tool in his hand there is no stopping him, and he not only motivated a bed ready for broad beans and parsnips, but one side of the tunnel, some bunny paths and an enormous area at the bottom of the plot which we have never successfully cultivated.  Maybe this is the year...

It was very mild and I was aware villagers were undoubtedly taking advantage of this to hang out washing, but when it started to rain at 3pm, we lit the bonfire.  And what a whopper!  Tons of scrap, semi rotten wood, one and a half crappy sheds and a pile of brambles which reached the sky, and we were ready to leave the embers and go home at about 8pm.