Planting out at the plot (part 3)

Well, it has been a while since my last plot update, so here we go...

(If you haven't already, you can catch up by reading parts 1 & 2)

I had the opportunity yesterday morning to go over and plant out my cabbage and fennel seedlings... but first thing on the agenda was to have a look at how the existing plantings were doing...!

These are my beetroot seedlings under the netting... they are now flying! Each one has at least doubled its number of leaves, and they are lovely mix of rich red and green. I'm in serious reach of actually producing a decent crop of these - slugs and snails, please extend some mercy now...

The french beans are still growing... not as tall as I was expecting, but perhaps leaf loss earlier in their life has stunted their growth a little... they have started to produced little mauve flowers which is an encouraging sight.

Not doing so well are the peas - one plant has managed to grow reasonably, but the other (above) looks like it has been shredded! I had this problem when growing them directly from seed earlier in the year... looks like I will have to leave pea growing to the back garden at home.

Anyway, onto planting out the new subjects...

Thanks to some sage advice from my friend Maggie, the section of the plot that I had planned for brassicas would have been overrun had I not covered it a while back with a length of carpet. Lifting it yesterday I was amazed at how well it had prevented any weed growth.

After a little forking and tilling, I planted the five seedlings in a zig-zag pattern... I'm now just hoping that the netting I've put in place around them will stave off cabbage whitefly and anything else that would take a fancy to them.

Finally, I also managed to plant my fennel seedlings... I was in a bit of a rush before work to get these done (as the cabbages took ages to net), so I quickly dug over the soil and got them in... four in a row. Then - sensing how delicate and feathery they were - covered them with a length of heavy duty wire mesh as a quick means of protection. 

And there we have it - a semblance of order has returned to the plot. You can see in the wide shot above the wigwam of netting over the cabbages at the back, and the wire mesh over the fennel. The beetroot are under the netting front left, and the various beans and peas along the right-hand side.

That's pretty much it now for things to plant out, unless I decide to get some winter potatoes in some of the empty space - of all the things I've grown over my short experience, they're pretty forgiving, so it may be worth a shot.

Planting out at the plot (part 2)

Yesterday I was back out at the plot getting the beetroot planted out...

I've opted to plant them in the same place as originally planned back at the start of July. I had ten seedlings in all, of varying quality... they look good planted out though in two rows of five... just hoping that they can flourish before it gets too cold.

The picture above was taken before I covered them with copious amounts of netting - the local wildlife is apparently partial to beetroot leaves... Maggie gave up on hers earlier in the season after they were pretty much all eaten!

I also took along a few other seedlings that had grown well over the last few weeks. I was given a mixed variety of beans and peas - so, with all the naivety of Jack, I planted them to see what beanstalks would grow...

I can identify peas of course... apparently these are also on the local wildlife's most wanted list, so I wrapped them in netting too.

I also added what look like a couple of french bean seedlings on the end of the existing row of beans I have growing... probably a little young to plant out, but nothing to lose now really...

The beans planted last week have wound their way around the short canes, and don't appear to be too adversely affected by the leaf losses...

And finally, as a reward for my progress, it was time for my only radish to be harvested:

The sum of this year's plot crop thus far...

After a wash, it was quite a dark colour... it also smelled like sweaty feet - not the most appetising odour...!

The radishes I planted in year one of my grow your own adventure were sweet and crunchy... I did a taste test of this one, and boy was it hot! My tongue was on fire, and my mouth ulcer was raging...!

If the French have these for breakfast, goodness knows what they eat the rest of the day long!

Part three to follow soon - more radish(!), and some fennel and cabbage seedlings...

A new project - part 2

So, here's the plan for the first plot...

The plot a few days ago...

I'm still a novice when it comes to gardening, but I understand a little about crop rotation. You wouldn't usually do that within a single bed, but with a busy life, you never know how much time you will actually have until you get going...

I'd like to think I could do three or four plots, but even just the one is taking some time... so I've decided to try a bit of everything rather than do a whole bed of just a few vegetables.

I gather the three main groups of veg are brassicas, root veg and legumes/onions/salad, and so I have divided the plot up like so:

I have then opted for the following arrangement:

As I've mentioned before, I've never done peas to any great volume, so I've given a generous slice of the legume section over to those (Kelvedon Wonder). I am then finishing off with a small patch of rocket (wild), and then onions (Ailsa Craig) and probably spring onions... I've put the onions in the middle as they're supposed to be a deterrent to some pests.

On the root veg side, I'm going for beetroot (Boltardy), two types of carrot (long (Autumn King 2) and short (Atlas) varieties), fennel (Florence Chiarino) and radish (French Breakfast 3).

I've put the rocket and radish up in the middle of the plot, because there are a few trees nearby that will provide some shade during the hottest part of the day. Once the peas and fennel have grown a bit, that should also add to the shade in the middle there.

Finally, for the brassica section I'm a little undecided - this will be the first time I've tried them and to be honest I'm not sure what will work, especially seen as I'm halfway through the season... I am considering cabbage and perhaps kale...? If anyone has any suggestions from their own experience please do let me know.

I've then finished off the brassica section by sneaking in a small section of dwarf beans (Tendergreen) - which aren't brassicas I know, but I ran out of room elsewhere and as they tend to be quite tall, it makes sense to have them at the back.

Master of all he surveys...?!

At the moment the peas, beans, rocket, beetroot, fennel, onion, one sowing of radish and both carrots are in (the netted areas)... just waiting to finish the rest of the plot off... then let the battle of wills begin with the wildlife!

Some rich pickings...

For all the disheartening moments... the 'what's happened to those leaves?', 'what's been picking at that?' or 'why is it turning that colour?'... every so often there are some victories that make it all worthwhile...

Exhibit one - my two pea plants in the garden came up trumps!:

OK, it's only a handful - but what a tasty handful!

Well pleased with that result - not a bad haul from just the two plants. If I get a return like that from the new plot I will be very happy indeed.

I put some of the success down to the fact that I put a bed of mashed up nettles underneath the pea shoots as I transplanted them into a bigger pot, and that seems to have given them the boost they needed - they were the strongest looking pea plants that I've grown.

Exhibit two: After a hard day's work in the garden the other day, I thought it was only right to reward my efforts with my prize strawberry (this photo is not edited!):

Delicious!

Give peas a chance...

This is the third year now that I've been growing peas. I've gone for the Kelvedon Wonder variety, which are short plants that are pretty easy to grow in tubs in the garden.

My current pea plants

I've not been growing on any kind of scale, so I couldn't expect to make a decent bowl of pea soup even if I had a high yield! Year one results were pretty good - I had eight plants and got a couple of handfuls. They taste amazing straight from the pod - in fact, if you get there while they are young the pods taste great too...

Year two, my yield was pathetic - from six plants I got less than a handful. Branching out I'd taken to growing pea shoots for adding to salads - easy to grow and they bring a subtle pea flavour to the mix.

It's probably down to overwatering, but I also have had trouble with the plants turning brown at the bottom, looking like they are dying from the base up... perhaps some of you more experienced grow-your-own bloggers will know why that is...?

Year three, and I've only got two plants on the go at the moment, but look at the beauties (pictured above)! Not a more satisfying sight than the sun shining through the pods revealing the developing peas.

I was amazed though when I went over to my mini-greenhouse yesterday. I had a number of seedlings in there which I've pretty much let run to seed, due to a lack of time to care for them.

Amongst the wilting dwarf beans and flowering radishes, were some of the most sorry looking pea plants I have ever seen...

...but lo and behold! Pods! Couldn't believe that the plants had managed to grow any, given I hadn't watered them for a couple of months. You can see the plants to the left... bereft of care and attention...

I popped the pods and turned out the best peas I've produced thus far...! I confess to devouring them shortly after the photo was taken.

It makes me wonder why I bothered with all the fancy cane work, training them tenderly up supports, and finding the best spot for them in the garden... looks as though the most productive method is hard labour!

Still, I'm waiting on my couple of tenderly cared-for plants to produce, and hopefully enough of a yield to compliment a meal for two.