2017 Veggie Garden! Pics pg 6.

I have one thing to say:

[clothmama]

Thanks @confusinglady and @Aeseldyr I need to have lots in if our 'good life' plan is to work

I started getting earth in the new round bed and planted up the last things in the list in one of the 1/4's, we put a funky old wine bottle dryer in the centre (there is 4 paths going to the centre then a path around the wine bottle dryer too, you just can't see it all yet - except where there is a plank of wood on the first one wehre i'm working) and I'll grow Scarlet runners beans up that which should look nice. Also put some metal cattle fence stuff on another 1/4 where there will be pumpkins - there is one growing - I think it is a pumpkin, don't know any weeds that look like that so hopefully I'm not growing a dud The photos are a bit weird, it looks like i've done much less than a 1/4 where the soil is - I may have to have a measure but I think it is just because it is on a hill it looks funny!





This is the soft fruit bed I started before I went away, I'd got 2 raspberries in and today J dug in a white currant and an unknown, possibly a red currant but we've lost the tag and they were gifts so not sure exactly! I want to get more in but this will have to do for this year! That gives me a total of 4 raspberries now! I need to get some soil over the cardboard then mulch with straw but at least the cardboard is doing the deweeding job for me even if it isn't looking pretty yet!



Tomorrow I'm hoping to get another quick 'no dig' bed in for some maincrop potatoes that are desperate to go in then hopefully I'm almost up to date with the April things that need to go in!

[clothmama]

Here is a little update - I think these were taken last week, or maybe the week before as looking they have all grown heap, when @JabberJabber asked me for some pics.
Peas

Garlic, so pleased with these, only got them in just before I went away and came back to fab growth, I think all 50ish have grown too so hoping for a good harvest of what should be most of our garlic for the year (I guess I use about a bulb a week)

The lettuce / radish / carrot bed

[clothmama]

And here are my potato experiments! I have been reading about growing potatoes in straw and using straw to make the hills that you build up. As I dont' hav ea lot of compost I decided it was worth a try! So for the new potatoes I did them on the bed but didn't dig them in very far, covered with a bit of soil and then lots of half broken down straw (been out all winter and the bottoms of the bales starting to be lovely and brown!



I then had all the maincrop ones desperate to go in the ground but not free space so I decided to try the straw method, creating a new bed at the same time - very simple just lay some quite thin (hopefully will kill off most of the weeds but break down quick enough for the potatoes to get through). I just cna't get my head around only straw being enough so I also put some soil (bagged stuff so lots of goodness) on top of each potato:

Then covered with a thick layer of straw:

I still had lots of potato chits left so thought I'd try the tire growing method, I layered newspaper in the bottom, then soil, then straw then 4 potatoes and covered it all up with straw. As they poke up I'll add another tire and more straw:


I'm looking forward to seeing how the 3 different methods work! Will keep you updated

Looks fab !

[clothmama]

I have randomly sprinkled calendula plants around the garden as they were really struggling in the mini-greenhouses! The area that I'm supposed to have flowers isn't ready yet and they are quite good companion plants I think so they have been scattered

[clothmama]

15 February

• Planted first lines of carrots and radishes (mixed) direct sew.

17 February
Planted into mini bottle greenhouses:

• Peppers
• Tomatoes (marmande)
• leeks
• Broccoli
• Thyme
• Lettuce
• Basil
• Cosmos
• Gaillard

18 February

• Planted raspberries
• Started round bed
• Parsley (flat) direct sew into herb bed
• Planted pot of rosemary that I have been meaning to do since last April!

23 February

• Planted 40 Mangetoute
• Planted 60 peas (dwarf variety)
• Planted 60 garlic bulbs (Rose de Lautrec) they'll work this year! Feel better as lady in garden centre told me that last spring was a nightmare and lots of peoples garlic rotted as it was so wet - much dryer this year!

25 February

• Planted carrots (rainbow mix) with radishes mixed in 1 row
• One row spring onions
• Headed lettuce 1 row
• Cauliflower 1 row 'All year round' (slightly early so may not work but giving it a go to try to get ahead while I'm away!)

26 February
Big lot of planting into my milk bottle mini greenhouses:

• Purple Sprouting broccoli
• Cauliflowers
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Basil - giant variety
• Echinacea
• Zinnias (giant variety)
• Calendula (2 varities - I think - were in different packets and different names but one French and one UK so maybe the same )

30 March
Lidl mini greenhouses:

• Mixed Chillis
• Chillis from our last years plant
• Butternuts (Cheiftan F1 and Waltham)
• Maskotka cherry tomatos
• Thai Basil
• Diamond green courgette
• Shooting star yellow courgette

Planted out from mini bottle greenhouses into little pots:

• Feuille de Chene lettuce
• Broccoli
• Purple sprouting broccoli

23 April

• Planted out another square metre of brown onions (next to garlic)

24 April

• Got bed ready and planted 25 new potato chits
• Planted maybe 30 (? I didn't count them) onions between potatoes

28 April

• Another row of carrots / radishes
• More rocket
• More lettuces (the few left from my presowing - the ones I direct sowed are doing better lol!
• Kale
• More spring onions
• Welsh Perennial Onions
• Rainbow mix Swiss Chard
• Leeks

29 April

• Planted out maincrop potatoes
• More onions down the centre of the potatoes

4 May

• Planted out broccoli
• Planted out cauliflower

Also done some weeding ready to put nasturtiums in end of one of the rows. Will try to get some more done this afternoon.

[clothmama]

15 February

• Planted first lines of carrots and radishes (mixed) direct sew.

17 February
Planted into mini bottle greenhouses:

• Peppers
• Tomatoes (marmande)
• leeks
• Broccoli
• Thyme
• Lettuce
• Basil
• Cosmos
• Gaillard

18 February

• Planted raspberries
• Started round bed
• Parsley (flat) direct sew into herb bed
• Planted pot of rosemary that I have been meaning to do since last April!

23 February

• Planted 40 Mangetoute
• Planted 60 peas (dwarf variety)
• Planted 60 garlic bulbs (Rose de Lautrec) they'll work this year! Feel better as lady in garden centre told me that last spring was a nightmare and lots of peoples garlic rotted as it was so wet - much dryer this year!

25 February

• Planted carrots (rainbow mix) with radishes mixed in 1 row
• One row spring onions
• Headed lettuce 1 row
• Cauliflower 1 row 'All year round' (slightly early so may not work but giving it a go to try to get ahead while I'm away!)

26 February
Big lot of planting into my milk bottle mini greenhouses:

• Purple Sprouting broccoli
• Cauliflowers
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Basil - giant variety
• Echinacea
• Zinnias (giant variety)
• Calendula (2 varities - I think - were in different packets and different names but one French and one UK so maybe the same )

30 March
Lidl mini greenhouses:

• Mixed Chillis
• Chillis from our last years plant
• Butternuts (Cheiftan F1 and Waltham)
• Maskotka cherry tomatos
• Thai Basil
• Diamond green courgette
• Shooting star yellow courgette

Planted out from mini bottle greenhouses into little pots:

• Feuille de Chene lettuce
• Broccoli
• Purple sprouting broccoli

23 April

• Planted out another square metre of brown onions (next to garlic)

24 April

• Got bed ready and planted 25 new potato chits
• Planted maybe 30 (? I didn't count them) onions between potatoes

28 April

• Another row of carrots / radishes
• More rocket
• More lettuces (the few left from my presowing - the ones I direct sowed are doing better lol!
• Kale
• More spring onions
• Welsh Perennial Onions
• Rainbow mix Swiss Chard
• Leeks

29 April

• Planted out maincrop potatoes
• More onions down the centre of the potatoes
• Corriander seeds

4 May

• Planted out broccoli
• Planted out cauliflower
• Chamomile seeds

9 May

• Planted cucumber
• Planted borage seeds

Huge day in the garden, 3 beds weeded, topped, raked and straw mulched as well as a bit of planting, just shattered!

[clothmama]

Potato experiment update - the new potatoes in the ground slightly with straw covering are all starting to sprout (but weirdly to the side all of them not straight up!). The maincrop ones that I put on cardboard are not showing any signs of life (yet?)