At last the weather has turned spring like and we have managed to put in another two afternoons working on the plot.
You may not believe it but one afternoon was spent clearing and tilling more beds and there are still areas in need of clearing.
The second afternoon (Tuesday) we actually started planting and it was mainly the pea family that we concentrated on - both edible and decorative. Seeds had been sown in pots and the plants were desparately in need of planting out.
We planted garden peas - Meteor and tall mangetout - Carouby de Maussane. We grew Carouby de Maussane last year and it didn't crop a single pod but as last year was a poor pea year (for us) we are giving it a second chance.
We planted five varieties of sweet peas, four varieties (varieties are listed here under 8 & 9 March) are tall growing and one - Snoopea is a shorter variety. We never intended growing so many varieties but we ended up with a couple of free packets of seed, hence the sweet pea overkill. What is more when we came home, Martyn found a tray of another variety that we had missed. Our house is going to be very sweet smelling this summer. It's a good job that we don't suffer from hayfever.
We planted five varieties of sweet peas, four varieties (varieties are listed here under 8 & 9 March) are tall growing and one - Snoopea is a shorter variety. We never intended growing so many varieties but we ended up with a couple of free packets of seed, hence the sweet pea overkill. What is more when we came home, Martyn found a tray of another variety that we had missed. Our house is going to be very sweet smelling this summer. It's a good job that we don't suffer from hayfever.
We also planted out a block or celery and a block of celeriac. We haven't managed to grow these successfully in the past so this is just another attempt - maybe not the best year for it.
Our last task was to sow some wild flower seeds at one end of the bed where we will plant our dahlias.
As always I wandered around with my camera to capture the moment and have posted the photos in the album below. Positives include potatoes pushing through, parsnips starting to germinate and lots of promise of fruit on strawberries, raspberries and other soft fruit. On the down side despite lots and lots of blossom, it doesn't look as though we will have much of a cherry crop. Such a disappointment as we LOVE cherries! Oh well there's always next year!
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I enjoyed seeing your photos. The honeybee pollinating tayberry was a great shot. You've such a good supply of veg and fruit growing. I may have missed this on your blog, but do you eat it all, or maybe sell some at a veg market?
ReplyDeleteWe either eat it ourselves or give it away to friends and family Kelli. We freeze a lot as the growing season is relatively short. Allotment rules don't permit plot holders to sell produce.
DeleteI need to get my peas planted out, they're still in their cell trays. I definitely won't have a great cherry harvest, not many have set, such a shame.
ReplyDeleteLooks like we're both going to be disappointed Jo
DeleteI am happy to hear that the weather is starting to get warmer for you. It looks like you had a couple of productive days. How big is your plot? It looks very large. That's quite a bit to maintain!
ReplyDeleteI supposed it just under a third of an acre Robin which is just about 1600 square yards.
DeleteIt's been quite hot (for us) again today.
I do hope you have some luck with the wild flower seeds. Most are great pollinators and they will add a bright spot of color providing bouquets to take home as well as all the produce from your plot, which seems very substantial to me. A little garden envy here ;-)
ReplyDeleteI hope so too Bren although the mixture was more one of these wild flower type mixes where non natives are mixed in but generally it is supposed to create a meadow look. In our case if it works it will be an extremely small meadow!
DeleteWow it's looking great..I am hoping to get plenty done at the weekend...won't really have much time till then......I still haven't got my peas in..not too worried though..I've planted them later than this before...but I will make an effort to get them in this weekend!!
ReplyDeleteWe'll be sowing more too Tanya. Hoping to manage a decent harvest this year
DeleteI'll be watching with interest to see how you get on with the Celeriac. I found it to be very hard work for scant reward.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't had success with either celery or celeriac in the past Mark. It's one of this year's challenges.
DeleteI would have thought celery would do well for you as it grows best here in the cooler months. That wasn't supposed to be a dig at your weather even if it did sound a bit like one....
ReplyDeleteNot taken as a dig Liz. It's been beautiful weather for the last few days.
DeleteNow it has warmed up there is such a lot to do isn't there - I can't work in the heat so have been doing all my work early morning and evening. I'm exhausted already.
ReplyDeleteThere is Elaine, I am often seen lurking in the shade too - I don't like it too hot.
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