Entries from May 2007 ↓

Before the rains came solid for two days, I managed to get out on the plot to plant the runner beans.

You saw in a previous video how I had put up the canes ready for them so it was an easy job of putting them in and watering them. I also tied them to the canes as the wind has not really stopped for the past three weeks.

As you can see there is only one plant per cane as they will need the room to grow and will bush out so much that the inner area needs light, so putting more plants together is a no no.

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Here are the broad beans as of 26th May, 2007.

They have been flowering now for a couple of weeks. I’ve managed to keep them relatively bug free, so I am hoping for a good harvest eventually.

They have been one of the success stories of the plot this year so far with the odd weather we have had.

Today Monday, the wind and constant rain nearly knocked half of them down. I had to put in taller stakes.

Here is another picture I took yesterday at the plot. This time it is the spinach I planted in early May.

As you can see it has grown well and is coming on nicely. At this stage you can pick it for salads if you wish, or you can let it grow on for more mature flavours where you can shred and steam it.

As you can see the slugs have not touched it so far. Perhaps they don’t like the taste, but at least one thing is slug free on the plot.

This is the shot before I weeded around them. It’s best to get the small weeds out now as they just rake out, rather than leaving them until their roots have gone deeper and they are harder to get out.

As it is raining and not suitable to be out in the garden in, here is a picture I took yesterday of the courgette. This is the only one that survived from the two courgettes and two pumpkins I put in on the 7th of May.

As you can see it is not exactly as large as it was when it went in, but at least it has survived and established now. It should come on as we go through June.

Just to be careful I have planted two more in pots and they have come up. I will probably plant them out, but we will see as we had so many courgettes last year that after freezing some, eating some giving some away and making cauldrons of soups, we still had to compost some of the larger ones. In the end I got fed up of eating them and refused to have any in my food. So I will probably find more people to give them to this year – I may even set up a stall outside and sell them.

I think this is sprouting broccoli. The reason I’m not sure is that someone gave it to me already growing and told me it was sprouting broccoli. It will become more obvious when they have grown a little.

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Update: 29 May, 2007

Turns out it is Curly Kale. Not my favourite as you have to catch it very early otherwise the leaves are quite fibrous and tough to eat. It is also good for bugs to hide in, so you have to wash it well before cooking it. Of course, some of you may like to eat the creepy crawlies from the garden, but not me.

However, there are plenty of nutrients in Curly Kale:

Continue reading →

I’m not sure it’s politically correct to call them dwarf beans any more, but that’s what it said on the packet – as the man said.

I really like these long thin beans, especially as they grow purple and cook green.

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I’m hoping that they will grow, so the netting is coming out when they need it.

I’m not growing too many as each plant produces quite a lot of beans.

I also checked on the growth of the cabbages I planted a while back. As you can see they have variable growth, but they are growing. The netting seems to have saved them from the same fate as the sprouts. Which leads me to think it probably was birds that ate the sprouts. Hopefully my new method of staggering the stakes and tape will work.

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You can also see the onions I planted. They are doing well which is good as I do like a good onion in my food.

At the weekend I also checked the growth of the early potatoes I put in. After filming this I built them up some more.

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I’m not very happy at the moment. My sprouts are not doing very well. Quite apart from the variable weather causing havoc with their growth, they have been lunch for the pests. In this case either slugs or pigeons.

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As you can see there is not a lot left. However, on the bright side, there is some green shoots in the middle of the eaten leaves, so we might get some sprouts later on, if we are lucky.

I had put up some tape to ward off the birds, but in case it isn’t working I was advised to move the stakes holding the tape into a zig-zag pattern along the line. This way the birds can’t crane their necks in and nibble. I would net them, but I don’t have enough of it to go round this year. Maybe if I ‘mug’ a fisherman?

Today I checked on the strawberries and netted them. They seem to be growing well and there is quite a lot of fruit on them.

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I nipped off the trailing shoots as well. This stops the plant from getting too focused on sharing its growth with a ‘sibling’. With this done it will focus on growing its fruit and making them juicy and big.

I have put mulch mats round them to soften the ground for the fruit. You can use straw – this also reflects the heat – which helps to grow the fruit. I don’t have access to any fruit at the moment, but will be getting some shortly.