Up until the start of this month, work done on the plot has mainly been tidying or carrying out overdue projects which I have posted about in previous posts.
Now we have actually started planting. The first 'planting' job was to get some potatoes in. We have used two slightly different methods. Both methods involve using a trowel to dig a hole for each tuber but the first earlies - Casablanca - are not planted through weed control fabric. The reason for this is that we dig the first earlies as we want to use them, before the tops have died down completely and the fabric is a hindrance to this. This fabric-less bed will be earthed up as the potato shoots come through. This not only helps prevents the crop from greening but it also keeps the weeds down.
The potato crop that is harvested after the tops have died down are grown through weed control fabric. The fabric has cross slits cut at appropriate spacing and is moved into whichever bed is due to grow potatoes.
The potatoes planted in the bed above are our six trial varieties - Cara, Innovator, Isle of Jura, Osprey, Rooster and Saxon.
Back at the beginning of March we planted some Casablanca tubers in containers - a bag in the garden greenhouse and four air pots in the plot greenhouse. Three seed potatoes were planted in each container. These are now pushing through the compost which will be topped up as the tops grow. Hopefully this will give us an earlier harvest. Once danger of frost has passed the containers will be moved outdoors.
Back at the beginning of March we planted some Casablanca tubers in containers - a bag in the garden greenhouse and four air pots in the plot greenhouse. Three seed potatoes were planted in each container. These are now pushing through the compost which will be topped up as the tops grow. Hopefully this will give us an earlier harvest. Once danger of frost has passed the containers will be moved outdoors.
We put together a video of our potato planting if you are interested.
We regularly update our planting schedule for April here . There's usually far too much going on to write blog posts for everything, so if you want to keep up to date with our planting and sowing here's the place to do it.
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A great idea to grow some extra early ones in containers. I've done that before, in dark pots against the warmth of our south-facing wall and they did brilliantly. Anything in your bird box this year? We had great tits nest building in ours this morning for the first time ever. So excited! Wished we had a nest cam though to see what was going on - then I thought of you.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason for the last couple of years, CJ, the birds have avoided the box with the web cam. This is even when we switched it's position with a box they used the previous year. If anything we have either great titis or blue tits in one of the holes in a sparrow terrace,
DeleteThe pot is so unusual, but I like it.
ReplyDeleteThey are supposed to be for growing trees in, Endah and can be taken apart to ore flat
DeleteAh, Sue - I see you are a perfectionist as well, moving that potato over a couple of inches from where Martyn placed it ;)
ReplyDeleteIt made all the difference, Margaret
DeleteSuch a positive time of year! It's one of the best times to be a plotholder, isn't it?!
ReplyDeleteIt is, Belinda along with fruit picking time.
DeleteIt's planting time I guess! Hope you have a lot of harvest later part of the year Sue!
ReplyDelete