Sow Seed, Grow Veg

Sometimes when you sow seeds you expect things to happen quite quickly. Other times you expect things not to happen at all.

Parsnips are one of those seeds where the latter certainly applies and use of old seed is not recommended. We had sown a tray with seed from old opened packets (one and two years old). Nothing was seen of them again. Another tray was sown with fresh seed from a new packet and three weeks later they're pretty much all up. That first tray was reused and had the fresh seed sown about a week after the first and they're now showing their heads above the soil level.



Now then I'd better get digging down the plot to get a couple of beds for roots to go in - these and the carrots will be ready to go out in no time I'm sure.

First Harvest

Somethings you've got to wait for - the apple trees reaching their peak will take some years, or the spuds will be months rather than days or weeks. Other things are much much quicker.
The first harvest from the plot in 2010 is in and a few radishes have been pulled from some very short rows - I think we got a bit sick of radish last year when we had lots and lots and lots of them. Still this year it's all new and fresh and exciting once again.

Not Dead Yet

Well the apple trees we put in are all in growth with some of them producing nice apple blossom. Not that we want to get any apples this year (that will be hard to pull them from the tree if any form) because we want to them to be busy growing a good root system and building up the framework of branches on the cordon.

All Go

Well it is that time of year again. There are windowsills full of pots, benches outside have things on them waiting to get big enough to plant out or pot on. There is never enough time to go to work, tend the garden and get work done on the plot. Hopefully all this activity now will bring forth a good harvest later in the year

Return to the plot

Well I did seem to rather drop out there for a while didn't I. I'll try and update this more often now that we're entering another growing season.

We have been busy with the allotment, over the worst winter for a long while (we had snow up to about 12in deep) in the village garlic, onions and broad beans have been trying to survive. It seems like most of them have survived and now are getting going again.
Before the winter weather happened we collected some fruit trees I ordered. 6 apples and 1 plum. The plum is now in the place cleared for it in the garden, it just needs a first pruning to enable us to train it as a fan. The apples took somewhat longer to get in the ground. We've had the idea of using trained apples as one of the boundaries to the plot. Training the apples as angled cordons along post and wire supports. This has been seen at places like the kitchen garden at Tatton and Ryton Organic Gardens and looks really good, so we nicked the idea.
Where the main pathway up through the site borders our plot we decided to put the 'fence' and over several weeks have worked at clearing the ground, then putting up the supports and finally planting of the first 6 apple trees this last weekend. There is enough space for 9 trees along the support but we've got 6 trees for now as that was all I could afford at the time. The trees are Dabinett, James Grieve, Charles Ross, Lord Lambourne, Spartan and Sunset.

Now for a couple of pictures to show off the handiwork.

Hi Summer

Well it seems that we're well into the rainy season again here, high summer. Several times in the last couple of weeks I've been thwarted by the rainy, showery weather.

Still things are growing a pace. The annuals sown in a bed along one edge are comming on fine with some of the poppies flowering already. The lettuces sown earlier in the year we're now able to pick and eat, even though they're only small. More seeds have been sown for more salads and they're emerging. The potatoes are starting to flower and we'll soon start to dig those up as we need them - we've finished the ones sown in the veg beds at home now. At home the broad beans are at a nice edible size and are getting used.
Still there is plenty to keep us busy. The grass always needs keeping on top of - I've started to try and dig over some of the grassed areas rather than having to keep cutting it all by hand. Planning for what we should be doing in the plot over winter should be happening now as well - where more permanent beds and plantings should be. What sort of fruit we want and where - I like the idea of an edible hedge with hazel, sloes, plums, roses, hops and things like that growing through it, nice to look at and nice to eat.

Comfrey

So earlier in the year we ordered a lot of stuff from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
One of the items was five root cuttings of Bocking 14 Comfrey to be planted on the allotment for general compost and plant food making. Eventually the root cuttings arrived and I planted them up an a small tray as best I could. Now they are looking like

Hopefully we'll work out where we want them to go soon and so be able to plant them out. If not they'll be kept on in pots till a final position is found, probably next to where the compost bins will be placed at the bottom of the plot. At the moment though we've got a whole bunch of flower seedlings there trying to get big enough to flower for a bit of colour.