We have now entered the busy period as far as the allotment is concerned and the focus has been predominantly on planting and sowing.
The first lot of broad beans - de Monica - that we planted are now flowering and so it was time to plant the second batch.
The second lot are Masterpiece Green Longpod. Both produce green beans which we prefer.
Whilst I planted the broad beans, Martyn was busy planting three varieties of leeks namely, Musselburgh, Oarsman and Porbella. It only seems two minutes ago that we were harvesting the last of the previous year's crop. Such is growing your own.
Our first lot of peas are growing well and so as with the broad beans it was time to sow a second lot. We sowed a row of Onward and a row of Sugar Snap.
It seems to have been a week for second batches of things as we also planted our second lot of brassica plants. This time these were all seed raised and club root resistant varieties, Savoy cabbage - Sabrosa, calabrese - Monclano, red cabbage - Red Lodero and cabbage - Kalibro. These were of course safely ensconced under enviromesh.
As we still hadn't had any rain at this point we also had to make sure that newly planted crops and newly sown seeds were well watered. It did rain at the weekend to give us some respite but on the down side it meant we stayed in and no doubt the slugs and snails ventured out.
It wasn't all planting of edibles though as we also planted the overwintered dahlias which had been growing on in the greenhouse.
After planting up the plants that we recently bought for our revamped garden flower bed, it was revealed that we needed more plants so we had to force ourselves to visit the garden centre to buy more plants. As we visited at lunch time and as the garden centre has a large restaurant area we also forced ourselves to stay for lunch.
The plants were duly planted but there may still be some gaps! I made a video on the progress of this garden bed prior to planting the last lot of plants. If you are interested it's posted here.
There was plenty to do it the rapidly filling up greenhouse. Lots of pricking out and potting on.
The potting on included a banana plant. There was a nasty shock awaiting Martyn when he tipped the banana out of it's pot. He filmed what he found which is not for the squeamish but if you dare you can view his film here.
Some of the tomato plants are now in there final position in the garden greenhouse. There are three varieties, Shirley, Albenga and Sungold. Three of each variety are planted in each of three growbags
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More tomatoes are patiently awaiting their turn to be planted in their final homes. These will be planted in the plot greenhouse, in a bed on the plot, in the case of bush tomatoes in pots in the garden greenhouse and some will be distributed to my sister and some friends.
We did managed to gather a small harvest this week. Of course we had some rhubarb although small isn't really an appropriate adjective to use in conjunction with this rhubarb!
We have a salad bar and pots of herbs in the cold frame area in the garden and so have been able to freshly gather salad leaves and radishes for lunch.
Finally, I picked the first cut flowers of the season. The hardy annuals that I sowed last September are now flowering.
The calendulas had aphids lurking between the petals and the poppies and would be short lived in a vase so I contented myself with some cornflowers and some self sown rocket. The bees were loving the cornflowers too so I make sure that I left some flowers for them to browse.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
Posts
When did you sow the calendula? September? Do you overwinter them in a greenhouse?
ReplyDeleteLove the garden so far!
Hi Kari. I sowed the calendula the poppies and the cornflowers directly in the ground and just left them over winter without any protection. I sowed them in a trench of compost which is kept well watered until they germinate that is if it’s dry. Thanks for commenting
DeleteEven a small harvest is better than no harvest. Do you ever grow flowers to eat?
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is Deborah. No we’ve never grown flowers for eating. Strangely I’m a bit reluctant to eat flowers that is unless it’s a cauliflower or broccoli. :-)
DeleteOh my you must be busy! Several things I picked up from your blog post. I should use branches to cover my beds to keep the animals out. Also, you seem very diligent about succession planting. I need to get in the rhythm of that.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you found some pieces useful Sue
DeleteI've been busy planting here too, and weeding. That rhubarb is giant! I wish I had better luck with it here but I've given up for now.
ReplyDeleteA bit like us with peppers, Dave we all seem to have some things that just don’t do well.
DeleteWow, it certainly is a busy time for you. Lovely to see all your progress. Those ants certainly made themselves at home.xxx
ReplyDeleteThey certainly did, Dina and we think we have more in the apricot pot. At one time we rarely saw any nd now thy are everywhere.
DeleteI think you've accomplished more in a week than I have in an entire month, I'm really off my game this year.
ReplyDeleteIt’s just as well, Michelle as at the moment rain is putting a halt on things
DeleteWe are also going to be 'forced' to attend the garden centre to buy some begonias for our slightly shaded tubs this week.
ReplyDeleteAs to season's flashing by- it gets worse!
You must be very rich to buy all those tomato seeds?
Some of them are Albenga that you introduced us to, Roger. By the way one of our alstroemerias is flowering.
DeleteI rather fear we may have another drought this Summer. I have had to resort to watering my garden with the hose, several times already. I see your Broad Beans have been nibbled by weevils again - that is something that I have never had in my garden.
ReplyDeleteThe weevils always pay us a visit each year, Mark. Our dry weather has broken and we have had three days of rain, we were watering previous to that though.
DeleteI often have a similar ant infestation behind pots in one of our sheds each spring. Usually, I simply move the pot(s) from the shelf and in less than an hour, all of the ants and their eggs are gone as they relocate. It's actually quite fascinating to see them dragging around those huge eggs (comparatively speaking).
ReplyDeleteHa - I too have noticed that I'll be needing a few more plants and will have to "force" myself to head to the nursery for a tiny bit more shopping :)
Ants are fascinating, Margaret but I have suffered bites a few times and they are really nasty.
DeleteI love your first harvest, Sue. Cornflowers are always pretty especially in May.
ReplyDeleteThe bees love them too Nadezda
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