Sunday 19 June 2022

Harvest time & more planting

As I said, June is spud digging time & I dug some 'Casablanca' up and they were very tasty.
Same day we also harvested:
Beetroot, 
Broad Beans, 
Peas, 
Strawberries, 
Radish & I dug up the leeks that didn't do well, but roasted were lovely in a jacket potato.
We added a few more cabbages & some kale.

Extended the netting too.
This load of Strawberries weighed 3.5 lb so Jo made some conserve, lovely on home-made scones.
So after digging up the leeks, I planted 48 more! 
Lets hope these do better.
Jo picked a massive bunch of sweet peas too.
Latest harvest:
Sweet peas, 
Beetroot, 
Peas, 
Broad beans, 
Lettuce, 
Strawberries & Gooseberries.


Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Sunday 22 May 2022

A busy day on the plot

I earthed up the main crop potatoes again today.

The early potatoes you can see in the background are too tall now to earth up anymore, they should flower soon, so we can dig some up in June maybe?


A few weeks ago Jo planted out some Beetroot, today they look good, as she has hoed around them. 

Under the enviromesh tunnel (to the right) the carrots are coming up, but need weeding!

Using Creoseal, the safe version of Creosote, I treated the pallet fence, will carry on soon.
In this patch we prepared the bed with lime after digging over and compressing the soil, then planted 6  sprouts and 4 cabbages.
The red & black currants are heavy with fruit still green, but dont want to risk loosing any to the birds so have netted them!
Strawberries are full of flowers and fruit, so have netted these too.
We have many flowers on our plot, important for the bees & wildlife.

Foxgloves 

More flowers around the herb bed.

Foxgloves, white.

The broad beans are doing well too, Jo has had to tie them up again, they are growing fast.
Rhubarb, Victoria.
Inside the greenhouse, various tomatoes and the cucumber, now have canes.

They are tied at the top to make the canes rigid. 

Our dwarf stock Pear tree is full of fruit, this one is definitely pear shaped.
So a good week on the plot, today we had a few short rain showers but didn't stop us.


Thanks for reading/returning.


Ian & Jo
 

Sunday 24 April 2022

Busy time of the year

Long time since last Blog. 

But we have been very busy:

I made a new boundary fence out of pallets, dug over most of the plot & had a manure delivery.


But while I was digging the trenches for the Potatoes today, this cheeky Robin took to my spade handle each time I stopped!

Main crop 'Picasso' 15" (38cm) apart in rows 30" (75cm) between. 

I dug a trench a spade deep, put the soil in a mound along one side, put manure in the bottom of the trench & watered the soil & manure, once soaked in, I placed the 'chitted' potatoes along the bottom of the trench & then using a rake pulled the soil back over, to cover them. 

2 Weeks ago I planted 3 rows of 'Casablanca' 1st early & 3 rows of 'Charlotte' 2nd early, the same way as above except, 12" (30cm) apart in rows 24" (60cm) between.

The 'Casablanca' are already poking through. 

As I said, we have been busy preparing the beds. 

In this one we have: 

Asparagus, 

Garlic, 

Shallots, 

Sweet Peas, 

Spinach, 

Spring Onions & Radish.

Here we have: 

Strawberries, 

Broad Beans 

& Peas so far.

In this patch we have Leeks that were put in months ago.

We weeded & fed with chicken pellets.

This Pear tree we put in last year, has lots of blossom and even some tiny pears forming.

The tree is still small, about 4' tall, but has loads of fruit forming.

It will be our 1st Pear tree, so excited to see how many we get.


Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo