Photos Dated April 16th
Lots of work done in the garden!!
Beds 1 through to 5 are all now full.
Bed 1 hasn't changed much. This cold snap has finally given way to warmer temperatures overnight so I'm not bothering with the polythene any more. I've left it in place just in case it's needed again over the coming weeks.
Bed 2 has lots more plantings.
The first row of radishes has had their pop bottles removed. With another two rows planted under pop bottles until they get settled in.
Behind those I've got a couple of rows of carrots also under pop bottles.
And last bit not least three rows of beetroots.
I've run out of pop bottles so these are sheltering under an old clear plastic box.
I'll be removing these covers next week when the seedlings have had a chance to settle in and acclimatise to the cooler temperatures outside of the greenhouse.
I've been opening my greenhouse roof daily to lower the temperature and harden off the plants a little.
Bed 3 is starting to show some merge signs of life. I'm assuming these little eruptions are the beginnings of my potato harvest - I'm so excited to eat home grown spuds soon!!
Bed 4 has become a bit of a mish mash. The first half is main crop potatoes and there's some purple sprouting broccoli and cabbages in the back. This has left an awkward little space in between them. I had an awkward amount of lettuce and cress needing a home so they've filled this space nicely. Not according to plan at all but hey.
They are hanging out under a couple of old propagator lids for a week or so before I expose them to the elements.
Side bed 1 is still growing peas. Last year something eat my legumes next to the fence so I'm pleased to see this year's plants are flourishing so far.
I had to remove the pop bottle from one of them in order to use it in bed 2.
Side bed 2 still has it's bean plants growing happily. Pop bottles just removed from these too.
Bed 5 has been planted up with a variety of brassicas. More purple sprouting broccoli because Little Miss likes it. Some winter broccoli, more cabbages, some sprouts and a first for me, swiss chard. It's not something I've eaten much less grown before so we'll see how that goes.
With no more pop bottles or plastic boxes and lids I've created a makeshift polytunnel. I've used a length of old wire fencing and bent it into shape around the bed then covered it with polythene and secured the edges with stones and lengths of wood.
It seems to be keeping the worst of the weather off the baby plants.
Bed 6 has been treated to a layer of commercial compost and is awaiting a planting of onions and leeks. I would have liked to have planted them out sooner but a lack of protection has forced me to keep them in the greenhouse for another week until this round of plantings are acclimatised and can survive without protection. I'll be moving the makeshift polytunnel to this bed in a week's time when I will also be removing the pop bottles and propagator lids from the other seedlings.
I should have photographed the greenhouses too. My main greenhouse is filled with germinated seedlings.
I've got the onions and leeks ready to plant out. Then a few herbs which could do with planting out soon. I've just obtained some new (to me) planters which will do very nicely for my annual herbs. They'll be arriving in a couple of weeks so the herbs will have to live in the greenhouse until then. I've also got a few sunflower seedings which likewise would benefit from planting out but will have to wait for their planters to arrive.
Then I've got a lovely big collection of tomato seedlings and plants. They'll be moving into the planters too so I can keep them on my sunny patio, the warmest part of my garden. But for now they're hanging out in the greenhouse for as long as I can fit them in there. I'm thinking I may rig up some sort of makeshift polytunnel / protection thingy for my tomato plants as I only got one solitary tomato last year and I'm hoping for a much bigger harvest this year. I'll probably plant them out when I really can't squeeze them into my greenhouse anymore and I'll keep them under pop bottles for as long as they will fit.
I've acquired a second greenhouse this year so my old one is currently availible for un-germinated seeds. I did keep them in the house earlier in the year but there's far too many now for that. Ideally I'd like to keep them in heated propagators which I have just recently been given. They belonged to my grandfather so I'm not sure of they will actually work but I haven't yet organised a space with accessible power for them. So for now my seeds are in the old greenhouse which is kept closed to keep as much heat in as possible. I'm hoping that this will be sufficient for them to germinate. It's quite hot during the days (12 - 18 degrees centigrade) so it's much warmer than in the house but the nights are 1 - 3 degrees centigrade and even -1 forecast for tonight Presumably it's warmer in the house overnight but I just don't have time to move them every night and morning, plus I don't really want to cover my dining table in dirty seed trays. Maybe I will live to regret this decision but that's the whole point of keeping a record isn't it.