Friday, June 24

More planting

We have continued to find gaps in the showery weather during which to work on the plot. Not only did things need to be planted but beds needed preparing for them.

The seeds sown last week have come through quickly and have also germinated well. If the slugs leave them alone we will have some thinning out to do. The last potatoes to be planted are also pushing through.

This year we covered the seed beds by just draping enviromesh over them rather than creating a 'tent'. Last year carrots grown in this way suffered less from slug attacks on young seedlings. It may have been a coincidence but we are repeating the method this year. There are gaps in the rows of seedlings but nothing like last year's complete annihilation
Other slug treats planted out were the low growing sunflowers - Music Box. These were the strongest looking young sunflower plants that we have ever grown but will they survive Slugmageddon?
I also planted the last lot of annuals in mud! The earlier ones are growing but I always wonder at this stage whether I will eventually have a flower display. This year seems more in the lap of the gods than ever.

We planted leeks which always look pathetic at this stage. Usually we are complaining that the soil is too dry and the holes made for the plantlets fills in before we can plant - not so this year!



The sweet corn is also now in the ground in the necessary block formation to aid wind pollination. Once the flowers have formed I usually brush the plants with my hand each time I pass their bed as a little extra help. Some of the modules had two plants growing so these were split and planted separately.
The garden and plot greenhouse now are planted up with as many tomatoes as they can comfortably accommodate so the remaining plants have been installed directly in the ground. Last year was blight free and the outdoor plants did very well. If blight hits we could have a wipe-out but as the plants would probably end up on the compost heap if not planted out we may as well take a chance.
The winter brassica plants have been waiting patiently in the cold frame and are now planted on the plot protected under enviromesh.
As you can see from the photos above most of our planting is through weed control fabric which I wish we had 'discovered' when we were still working  - paid working that is - as it has greatly cut down on plot maintenance but the way we use it doesn't mean that we have no weeds in the covered beds.

For some crops and for sowing rows of seeds, a channel is cut into the fabric and weed seedlings will germinate in the gaps as they will in any mulch used. Weeding these areas though tends to be quick and easy. Far easier than weeding under the fruit bushes after which I ended up with a large itchy bite on my neck. Usually I would just hoe any uncovered beds to remove the weeds but the soil is too wet.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

14 comments:

  1. Sweet corn rarely works for me-but it is our most anticipated crop. Wishing you much good luck with yours--and so sorry those slugs continue to be a problem.
    Have a great weekend, Sue

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    1. Thanks Sue - our sweet corn didn't do very well last year

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  2. I am not unduly bothered with slugs (though I certainly have some), but my biggest problem this year is low light levels and lack of proper sunshine. I think that weed-suppressing stuff you are using is getting very popular - I see it on several blogs.

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    1. Low light has been a problem here too, Mark

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  3. You certainly have been busy.
    This "enviromesh" does it have any other common name? I've been looking for something like this to protect my plants from deer chewing but it seems like there's nothing like thing sold here.

    As for weed control fabric- how I wish I could use it here. I had it one year but due to my garden being so steep the soil under it was either too dry or too wet, it lasted 3 months then after one summer storm it washed off the bed together with my carrots :D

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    1. The covering is sold ole as Ultra fine insect mesh Leanan

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  4. It was a hard work, Sue covering beds with control fabric but I think it's useful thing, I'd like to have this one too. Now I have to go weeding...

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    1. It is hard just once in the season Nadezda but pays off later.

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  5. We are relatively slug free this year but the snail population is more than making up for it. When my new raised beds are built I'm going to use the weed proof membrane.

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  6. Looks like things are coming along in spite of all the rain. Do you re-use the weed control fabric? It seems like you have to cut it in different ways depending on the crop so it wouldn't be that easy to re-use unless you use it for the same crops every year.

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    1. Yes we reuse the fabric - we move it with the relevant crops. Margaret. The pieces where we cut channels frays most but we have still reused for several years now. It's good to remove it each year ti feed and refresh the soil.

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  7. It's a terrible year for slugs, they've eaten almost everything in my veggie patch, but left the hostas alone1 My leeks are looking pretty similar to yours,they do look fragile at this point for sure! I do hope everything grows and survives slug attacks!xxx

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    1. Conditions over winter and so far this year have been ideal for them, haven't they Dina?

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