Leeks

WHAT:





HOW 1:




HOW 2:




WHERE:

June Update - Pictures

Some snapshots of the current state of play:

OTHERS



ROOTS



BRASSICAS



The "others", despite looking so bare now has 5 rows of leeks planted out and 5 rows of Dwarf French Beans (Canadian Wonder) sown yesterday.

More pics to follow but I think I've exceeded the capacity of the blog entry!

The Good the Bad and the Ugly

An hour at the plot tonight and my spirits are lifted:

I replaceed the runner bean plant, planted cabbages in between those attacked by the SAS pidgeon and another row for good measure, watered and planted out one of the two pots of leek seedlings. ....and I weeded and weeded.

It was so dry that planting the leeks proved to be a problem. Each hole I made with the dibber just caved in with loose soil. So I watered and tried again, only to find the wet soil stuck to the dibber and the dry soil still caved in. I muddled along, all the same.

The Good:




The Bad and the Ugly

So this is summer, and what have you done...

It's summer so why be glum?

The planting plan was going well but... in the meantime the weeds are still growing, so instead of a weed free seed bed I've got, 6 inch high weeds. Everything is dying of thirst. Despite fencing off and netting the brassicas and strawberry patch some rodent is dragging off the strawberries and a pidgeon got under the wire and demolished an entire row of cabbage seedlings. (Those Primo must be tastier than the rest).

On the plus side the runner beans have settled in under their wigwam. Out of 12 plants 11 are fine. The fox took a dislike to one and dug it out. In addition some mange-tout I sowed as an afterthought have come up nicely - and I've had the foresight to provide some protection for them.

The early potatoes have burst into flower, and I've got around to mounding the last two rows.

I shouldn't complain because Monday last week was the first non-weekend, non-bank holiday visit (after 4 days of blazing sunshine and soaring temperatures). Unfortunately everyone else was on a water run too. Tonight was my second weekday visit, spurred on by the prospect of picking strawberries, only to realise that things are getting out of hand.

My target, which I haven't given up on yet, is to get the whole place planted up and weeded by the end of the month - More weekday vists beckon.

Photos on hold for now.

Taking Stock

Remember this?



Here's a snapshot of where we are now. It's the end of May and the last frost should be past so, although the plot looks half empty, those gaps will soon fill up with beans, courgettes, leeks and cabbages (not to mention some pak choi I am trying for the first time.)

Keeping a record pays off, and invariably I fall short on this, but with my digital camera to hand to supplement my notes I have managed to piece together exactly what I have sown where.

I would add a couple of lessons that have been driven home this year:

1. Keep a record of what you sow, where and when.

2. Don't even think about using out of date seed.

3. Remember to put down weedkiller on the paths before the weeds and grass get a grip. At least that frees you up to concentrate on growing things.

4. Keep an eye on the weather forecast - and move plants indoors overnight when appropriate.

Bank Holiday Brassicas

Most of the holiday has been spent weeding, but I'm in high spirits because I started planting out the brassica patch! That may seem a small deal but before you plant out brassicas there are several key steps you have to have in place. It's a bit like a military campaign:

Here's the advance party



and here's 'Desert Storm'



We don't send the troops out there without training them (growing them on under protection), waiting for the right weather conditions ('summer'), protecting them from arial bombardment (nets to keep the pidgeons off), and keeping them supplied with water and food. In addition brassicas are susceptible slugs (pellets required), root fly (see collars below) and that's not even mentioning clubroot!



I tell you it's a brassica field!

Maybe I've over hyped that, but when I didn't have the time to take care of everything the brassicas were the first thing to go, because they are so fussy.

Bank Holiday Battle Stations

It's been two weeks since I last visited the plot, and at this time of the year, that's bad news. So It's battle stations...

...and here's the front line troops:



Three jobs to do today, mounding the potatoes, netting the brassica patch (in readiness for the army above) and ....weeding, weeding, weeding.

Here's some mounded potatoes:



















And here's the new netting in going up:




...and in place:



Phew, with the weeding that was a three hour stint, that's enough for one day.