Entries from April 2007 ↓

Just thought you would like to see how the courgette and cucumber were doing.

This is a week ago, so they are even larger now and have been re-potted into larger pots.

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Today we planted out some broad beans. As it was a little windy we staked them in as they had put on quite a spurt in the greenhouse.

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When we planted them, we added some manure to the hole to provide a little extra nutrient for them.

We are using some cut up tights to hold them to the stake. Remember to tie the support to the stake first and then to the plant so that you don’t damage the stem. Leave enough room for growth as well.

Well, as you can see, we need to dig the allotment at this time of year. It has over-wintered well, but the soil needs to be broken up and we have to remove some of the grass that has grown with the mild winter.

We could have put a carpet over it like some of the other allotment holder, but we didn’t have a spare 50sq ft carpet to hand.

So we dig!

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As you can hear it was a very windy day. Perhaps we will use a rotavator next year?

Having slugs on your allotment can be a real pain. While you can catch them in the act and invite them to leave your vegetables alone, it is good to keep an eye out for them before you start growing. This is often best done when you are digging the soil over in preparation for planting.

In this video we can see some slug eggs waiting to hatch and eat the veg. They are not very large, but you can tell them as they are translucent balls. These could be from last year, but equally they can lay dormant for a long time.

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My favourite method is to lightly salt them.

On a rather windy day, we take a look at the comfrey growing on the allotment.

We will be using this to tempt the slugs away from the veg, but also as an important constituent of the composting process.

It’s a coarse Eurasian plant belonging to the genus Symphytum – part of the borage family. It has large hairy, lance-shaped leaves and drooping clusters of small, white, rose-coloured, or purplish flowers.

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