Summer in the Garden 15 June, 2008

Summer has arrived in full swing at OPSP, the flowers are opening, the birds are singing and the bees are buzzing. The plants are all bursting into life with salad harvests a plenty. So I thought this was as good a time as any to give a small update on the goings on in our little corner of paradise.

Unfortunately my dear husband has managed to snap the front door key, so my pics are from inside, but its still unbelievable the change that has occured in the space of 4 months. The plot has filled out, a new fence has been erected and the gravel is down, making the garden a much more welcome place to be.

 

 

So far we have planted, in no particular order:

• Potatoes
• Peas
• Salad leaves
• Radishes
• Spring Onions
• 2 carrot varieties
• Beetroot
• Strawberries
• Leeks
• Onions
• Garlic
• Pumpkin
• Show leeks and onions
• Little gem lettuce
• Red cabbage
• Baby summer cabbage
• Broccoli
• Italian beans

I am astounded at what we have managed to fit into such a small space! Although I have to say that much of it is now starting to burst at the seams! The idea of creating raised beds was a fantastic choice, not only have we had to water little and often, but pests and weeds have been pretty much non-existent. Although that could be because the garden is so new that they haven’t found it yet!! The beds have had to be added to with the use of pots for crops such as potatoes, strawberries and the beans but the original plans drawn up in February have worked rather well. And with the addition of sweet peas and a hanging basket the garden is looking rather good.

 

 

The potatoes are on the left, with the peas taking over the end of the L bed.

 

 

The cabbages and broccoli are just about visible at the back under the netting, with salad crops, strawberries and the show leek and onion filling in the gaps of the seed bed.

 

 

Several rows of onions, leeks and garlic safely under netting in the L bed.

My Baby Leeks 19 May, 2008

Well it was another productive weekend at OPSP. My little leeks, that I potted on last month, have finally been released from their loo roll prisons, to enjoy the freedom of the beds. I managed to plant 19 leeks altogether in 4 rows, planting them slightly closer together than you would in more traditional larger beds; about 20cm apart with about 30cm between rows. It was rather tricky getting those long roots into the holes, especially as I’d never done it before, but I think my technique got better as I went along, so the ones planted out last may come out better! As you can see from the photos, I have two rows on either side of my onions, which are also coming on great. Above the leeks are my two garlic plants which are just starting to show signs of dying back. Towards the end of the bed are my brassicas, intercropped with beetroot and radishes. They too are growing at top notch speed and look very tasty indeed!

 

            

 

As I was pottering around the garden, my neighbour, who has two very impressive allotments in front of our house, asked if I would like a giant leek and a giant onion, show ones no less. Well I couldn’t say no, so along he came later that day with two whoppers. Um, now where was I going to plant them? As space is quite short they have gone into my seed bed. Hopefully this will help keep the local cat out of it. I only hope I don’t kill them as that will be very embarrassing indeed!

 

                

A Quick Update 13 May, 2008

Ooops, its been over a week since I last posted anything so I think I better add a quick update. Thanks to the brilliant weather last week we have managed to get a great deal of work done in our little plot. The fence between us and our neighbours is finally up and look pretty good if I say so myself (a big thank you to my hubby for that). The netting to stop the hoards of sparrows that visit my garden is now over the main bed, under which the plants have gone crazy. The onions and brassicas seem to benefit from the diffused light under the netting. It looks like the plants have at least doubled in size over the week.

              

The potatoes planted in black bags earlier in the year have now reached the top of the bags and are growing bigger by the minute. The potatoes themselves should be ready for harvest next month at the earliest. I’m surprised how well these have done given that I have never grown them before, they are definitely a great choice for anyone with a small garden.

                                                     

My ‘free’ strawberries from Peters boss have been planted up in a pot, with a couple added in the small bed. They too are doing really well, with the flowers starting to die back ready for juicy strawberries… I can’t wait!

        

Also this weekend I managed to get most of the weed fabric down ready for the paths, planted up some flowers (calendula, french marigolds and lobellia) in amongst the veg, potted up my sweet peas and planted my baby pumpkin (Wee B Little) against the front wall of the house. I also managed to sow some more radishes, as well as my carrots and beetroot.

                                          

It’s quite astounding the difference a week of sunshine makes to a garden. Everything suddenly comes to life, looking more vigorous and healthy by the day. It has meant extra care and watering, but the results are already out weighing the work. I even managed my very first harvest, it was only a couple of salad leaves for my sandwich yesterday, but they were very yummy indeed!

 

So far I have no regrets at turning my front garden into a veg plot. It is such a joy to see the plants grow and to see the wonder in my baby Emmas eyes when she sees and feels whats growing. I hope that everyone else is having as much fun as me!!

Planting out my brassicas 4 May, 2008

I’m feeling slightly embarrassed today. After having a good old rant about not being able to get out in the garden due to the rain, guess what… the sun has come out! Isn’t that typical…

So what to do in these few hours of sunshine -  well lets go planting.

 

My little collection of brassicas have come on brilliantly, they are nice and hardy and ready to go out in the plot. In preparation of planting at some point this week I added some general fertiliser and after making sure the bed is nicely compact it’s ready for the plants. I planted out 8 plants altogether, 4 broccoli (Samson F1), 2 red cabbages (Ruby Perfection F1) and 2 trial cabbages (visit Trial Page) from SE Marshall’s. I would have loved to plant more but there just isn’t enough room.

In Carol Klein’s book she recommends that the plants are ‘puddled in’. To do this you put your plant in the hole, add water and let it drain away, do this a couple of times, then add the soil and firm well. I think this minimises root disturbances which they really don’t like. Once they were settled I surrounded them with home made carpet collars to keep cabbage flies away. They still look rather small, but as they take a long time to mature I’m not too worried and the space around them will be ideal for salad leaves which will help keep the weeds at bay.

 

 

Full of flu but…. 21 April, 2008

That didn’t put me off getting out there on such a lovely day. OK, so probably not the best thing to do when you’re feeling rough, but I had bought a pot of leek seedlings at the weekend from my local nursery and they really needed thinning and re-potting. So complete with tissues, I ventured out to the garden.

And what a lovely day it is, actually warm for a change. It was so good to be outside after being stuck in all weekend. My leeks, (Lyon Prizetaker), were squashed into one pot and unfortunately weren’t pencil thick so they aren’t ready to go into their final positions. Instead I gathered my loo rolls and potted them on. I did have to snip the roots which were incredibly long, but hopefully this won’t do them any harm in the long run. I reckon it will be a further month perhaps before they are the correct size for planting. They are however half hardy so at least I don’t have to find room on my windowsills for them! I simply have cover them with a cloche for the night time and leave them open to the sun and rain during the day. Simple…

 

 

If I remember correct I have managed to re-pot 21 leeks which is more than enough for my tiny plot, but does provide me with spares in case some don’t make it. I absolutely love leeks and can’t wait to taste these one… yum yum yummy!!!!

 

Whilst out and feeling quite good, I decided to risk the elements and planted a row of radishes (French Breakfast), a row of spring onions (Guardsman) and a row of cut and come again lettuce (Italian Mix) as I’m desperate to get my salad started. I had planned on covering them with my little poly tunnel, but its too big, so they’re hiding under a layer of fleece, which should keep them ticking over. I watered the soil before planting and them scattered the seed as thinly as possible, to minimise thinning later on. Then I took handfuls of dry compost and sprinkled this on top of the seedlings. I got this little tip of Monty Don, so it must work… right?!?!

 

 

A little update about my onions sets which were planted earlier this month. They appear to be doing great, you can now clearly see some shoots which is soooo exciting! However, my potatoes which were planted at the same time, aren’t showing any signs of life, but its still early days so its a case of watch this space…

Planting my Peas! 20 April, 2008

OK, I have a confession to make, these aren’t actually my peas (Klevedon variety), I bought them from a lovely little nursery, but given the recent weather I’m sure no one will mind this little cheat…

 

 

I have to admit that I’m slightly nervous about planting these but I am hoping we’ve seen the last of the really cold weather. I was itching to get them planted and thought what the heck, I’ve got plenty of fleece in case it turns nasty, plus Vegmonkey has got his in so I can’t be doing it that wrong…

I have decided to have a go at two different growing methods, one up a support with netting, the other I stole from Harlow Carr, five peas planted in a block so little support is needed. Not sure which will work best, but as the peas only grow to 3-4ft and are pretty much self supporting both should work just fine. And the recycling bug in me meant I didn’t have to buy any supports. Whilst clearing out the garden we took down some large shrubs and saved the branches for some unknown use, anyway, these have now been fashioned into the support frame. It looks a bit messy but I am confident it will stand up to the task!