little gems

And its all hubbys fault…

I was down there yesterday planting my Leeks, Tundra Cabbages and Brussels sprouts - Iv still got some savoys to go into the brassica bed, which will be a tight squeeze There’ll be a bit on the small side when they grow up but that’s ok. The cabbages i grew last year could of fed a family of six for a week…

This year i listened to hubs and grew more of what he liked, result, no room at the inn.. iv completely run out of space, [ so carrots this year, i wanted to try some whoppers Autumn king] have been shelved. My fennel is on hold, only temporarily, I’m hoping i can get them in when my peas finish.. Talking of peas, the netting i used is groaning under the weight and were in danger of collapsing onto my Peppers and Aubergines, so i did a quick fix and wove some more canes through the netting. Next year ill have to think of something more sturdier . I just hope they manage to stay upright..

Other news: Not much really, my urbikany toms have started to flower and i have picked and ate the first of my strawberries while planting my brassicas, they didn’t make it home. Now its just W W W. Water, Weed, Wait…

Oh.. and my potatoes are in full flower mode. i don’t remember them being in flower this early last year; they are main crop and early main, ready in Aug/Sept. But then, this time last year it rained consistently through June and i wasn’t down there that often..

While chatting to a lottie neighbour she said that this year her forth was the first time she had managed to plan a proper rotation, so theres still hope for me ..

Leeks are doing well: They have grown quite tall now but look more like blades of grass than thin pencils. When should they be planted out - end of this month ?

Yesterday i noticed that three of my cauliflowers have been munched. The leaves look like little blades of grass sticking out of the soil.

I barricaded them in with a fine mesh over the bed, used some blue slug pellets[ i caved in and used them last year on my brassicas] and still they’ve been got at. I’m blaming my Rhubarb, its a flaming slug hotel. Ill be planting out my Brussels sprouts and savoy cabbages soon, maybe i should let them get a bit bigger before planting them out so they can put up a fight against the little blighter’s

All of my Tommy plants have dry white patches on their leaves due to wind damage

Where has the sun gone?

Peas are doing well despite the slugs being out in force. I arrived at the plot yesterday to be greeted by a long trail of slime along a second row i planted that are still quite small. So.. the first job was killing the little sods - Funny thing, when i first got my plot i couldn’t bare to touch them, now i get a warped pleasure out of it. Iv put down some advanced slug pellets as well so that should sort them out..

Mr rude got a few extra slugs on his plot. well, that’s what happens when you shout at me for leaving the gate unlocked. It was left unlocked because hubs was getting something out of the car and was 1 minute behind me - if he had looked properly he would have seen id left the key in for hubs to lock. I don’t think gardening is helping him much, he is always so stressed out..

Second row of peas and my sweet pepper plants..

I’m still digging the roots out from the last strip where my compost darlik was and i am planning on having a raised bed there that can be used as a seed bed, come cold frame - I’m going to lay some weed suppressant fabric down . Ok. Daft question, will the bind weed get through that.. Evil stuff that it is. Iv dug out a fair amount about a spades depth and i know it will bloody return but can it get through the fabric ?

My one and only courgette plant… verdi di milano.. I did have two.. one has been dug up by a four legged pest and i cant be bothered to plant another; if last year is anything thing to go by i only need one. After a couple of weeks we were sick of the sight of them. These really produced so many that I couldn’t keep up, some were the size of marrows and iv still got quite a lot of chutney i made in a desperate attempt to use them all..

The sound of Silence…

A flask of fresh coffee…

The scent of Tomato plants….

This is the first time i have grown Caulis from seed and im quite chuffed with their progress so far. Last year, my caulis were from delfland nursery  [veg plants] At the time it was a race to get the beds dug over, also, i had my work cut out keeping what i had grown from seed alive.

Tomorrow,  they will be out on the plot; the first of my brassicas to go in..