Do you consider the impact your gardening habits have on the environment?
With World leaders going to Paris this December to try to reach an accord over Climate Change it might be time to consider our own habits.
Now living on a Croft, growing my own vegetables, being frugal in my habits may make me feel quite smug but one shouldn't get complacent.
Frugality comes with necessity, I don't have huge amounts of money and it seems counterproductive to grow for the table at a cost which would make the vegetables more expensive than they would be in the shops. But I do use peat, plastic pots, heat in the greenhouse, buy in seed and take my products to market.
Peat is something that we are all being asked to use less of. Peat is a carbon sink, all that plant matter locks in carbon from the air and then our extraction of it is fuel hungry and damages the peatlands with their fragile ecosystem. My use of peat is very targeted, I only use it for seed sowing and then I mix it with some John Innes Seed compost and silver sand. Why do I use peat? Because I know it to be sterile and an easy medium for seeds to germinate in. Most of the multi-purpose composts contain recycled green waste, which is good, but is chunky in its texture, contains a lot of wood and is not always sterile. Adding John Innes and silver sand helps to make the mixture more soil like, easier to wet and gives more nutrients, as well as reducing the peat I use. Also seed is not as cheap as it was and you don't want to lose money with a failed sowing. I have used coir as a peat substitute, it needs more preparation, isn't quite as homogeneous in its texture, but is a good alternative. Unfortunately it isn't as widely available, but as a by-product of the coconut industry it is eco-friendly and worth giving a try if you can get hold of it, and certainly I will use it when I can.
Plastic pots are a necessity these days, clay is beautiful and sustainable but costly and needs more cleaning. Consider also that plants grown in them have a higher requirement for water due to the porous nature of the pots, and in water scarce areas (not the Highlands!) that is a consideration in itself. I recycle my plastic pots, and I get given them from other gardeners for the Nursery. By recycle I mean reuse, there are no facilities to recycle them into other products here. They don't even need cleaning. It has been found that plants grow better in pots that contain traces of soil bacteria etc. from previous use. That is because the compost we use has mostly been sterilised, so soil bacteria and fungi etc. are pretty much absent, yet plants need them to help release nutrients from the soil. Any study that says no cleaning is good by me! Obviously if you have had a serious soil problem you would clean or discard the soil and pots, but I haven't had any problem in all the years I've been gardening.
Heating the greenhouse is something that I can't avoid if I want my plants ready for market in the spring. But I have reduced the amount of heat I use. Our winters have got milder over the last few years. I now don't contemplate any heat until around the beginning of January, when I start seed sowing. I gave up autumn sowing because I found that seedlings in spring quickly caught up, and overtook, autumn sown. With the extra cost of heating and caring for autumn seedlings it didn't make sense. I reduce the size of the greenhouse by insulating it with bubblewrap, now in its 9th year of reuse, and hanging the bubblewrap over a network of wires to lower the height and avoid heating the roof space. I restrict the heat to the propagating benches, using tubular heaters suspended beneath the top bench to provide top heat for the bench below and bottom heat for the one above. At night I use fleece to cover the benches making a cosy duvet for the seedlings. You need to check seedlings daily anyway so this little extra work doesn't impact on time and it's quite fun to peel back the fleece and see what has sprouted in the night! Polytunnels get no heat, but fleece is always to hand and if it is stored away during the summer it lasts for years.
Buying in seed is a yearly expense. I use a number of companies and favour the smaller ones with their minimum carbon footprint. Gardening is big business. Nurseries supplying garden centres and retail stores are using vast quantities of peat, heating enormous greenhouses and transporting plants hundreds of miles. Sadly too often the product is left to languish if over ordered, or sent when weather conditions are unfavourable for purchase, and eventually chucked out. What a waste! Buying from small local Nurseries means that the plants are usually grown hard (like mine!), are ready when the conditions are right, and haven't gone far in their short lives. Most of my plants are seed or cutting raised. The seed has less of a carbon footprint than plants, and I don't have much choice about whether to buy or not, but I do try to be canny about storage and sowing. Use an air tight tub and keep it in a cool place, use silica gel packets to absorb any moisture, and most seeds will last a few years. Work out how many seedlings you want and only sow that many seeds - perhaps a couple extra just in case. Date the sowing, then if there is a failure you will know quickly and be able to re-sow or buy a fresh packet. This year I sowed my French beans from seed that was a little too old, after two weeks when nothing was showing, though the runner beans were up, I bought a new packet and off they went. Looking at the old seed packet I saw that the seeds were 'Use by 2012' - so they had lasted about 3-4 years!
And finally the day comes to sell my precious plants. Most of my customers are local. They come knowing that the plants are garden ready. When I go to the Market I only travel a few miles, the car is packed full, and the bags are reused too! It's not only a green conscience that keeps me local, my time is valuable and spending an hour to drive to the next Market doesn't appeal, and the local market usually takes all that I can grow. When I started the Nursery I was surprised by what the other Nurseries said they threw out each year. In my first year I too threw away lots of unsold plants. I realised quickly that it represented not only cost, compost and a sense of failure, but that it also represented a waste of my time, potting up, watering, caring for each plant. Now I restrict the number of plants that I grow, and fortunately, as most are perennials and grasses, they do grow bigger in the following year if not sold in their first year. But vegetable plants don't keep! I do restrict numbers, and I sow frequent small batches to keep plants at peak readiness rather than one large batch of seedlings that then become pot bound. What I don't sell or use gets recycled. The hens can have the top growth and the roots and compost goes into a separate bin for use in potato pots, as soil conditioner etc. Obviously I make tonnes of compost, but that's another story!
So when you consider your garden and plans next year think about how your habits might be adjusted to reduce your footprint on our Planet. If you have any tips, don't be shy to share!
Friday, 27 November 2015
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Time to review!
This year has been non-stop. It started with a slow cool spring, moved into a damp cloudy summer, and finished with a lovely warm autumn.
The growing season has been mixed: fantastic runner beans in the polytunnel, abysmal onions in the veg patch. Potato blight on some varieties, others in the same patch unaffected.
Fortunately each year gives different results so it is not the time to be despondent. Instead it is the season to review, prepare and plan.
Review means making a note of what varieties you liked (and didn't like), what you need to grow more of and where and when, what you noticed others growing that you would like to try, etc.
For our patch one thing I will make a note of is that my idea that I wouldn't grow summer leeks outside again - because we don't eat leeks then, and they don't last through the winter outside - was valid. But I need to grow more in the polytunnel for the autumn/winter season, which is when we do like eating leeks.
Also though I do like spring cabbage when there are fewer vegetable varieties on offer, by summer I'm not interested in cabbage. But in late summer, autumn and winter I like red cabbage and savoy cabbage. Kale I will eat at any time of year, particularly 'Red Russian' or Black Tuscan kale. These varieties I will grow in the polytunnel and outdoors. All other varieties of kale I've dropped, if the supermarket want to sell curly green kale but none other that's fine by me, that's one of the reasons for growing your own vegetables!
Prepare means getting the vegetable patch ready for next year, cleaning and mending tools, ordering seeds (always one of the best winter tasks). Last winter was wet and my preparation of the vegetable bed was severely hampered. Consequently I was behind when it came to getting things planted (and that was also delayed because of the cool spring). I felt I was playing catch-up well into summer. This year the ground is already mostly snug under black plastic, dug, fertilised (where necessary) and I feel much better and ready to go. Black plastic doesn't look nice I admit, but it keeps the ground drier, stops the weeds, protects the soil fauna so they can concentrate on working the soil and muck, and I just pull it back in spring and plant straight into lovely clean soil.
Plan this means putting your review into effect by make a decision about quantities, varieties, timing. I don't like gluts, I have little time during a busy summer season to do anything other than freeze vegetables or fruit which I know I will use during the winter. If you know you won't eat 20 cabbages why grow them? Think about what you will eat and when and in what quantity and make your plans to that. If you buy vegetable plants you will find that many companies send out quite large quantities of each variety - consider sharing with a friend rather than have 16 broccoli plants all ripening in the same week.
And finally if you find you have spare ground in your vegetable patch don't waste it. You can use a green manure, but it will be prettier and beneficial to insects and birds if you plant or sow a few annual flowers. Cosmos, cornflowers and sweet peas, all will brighten up your patch, provide cut flowers for the house and encourage beneficial insects in to predate on any troublesome pests.
Happy gardening for the next season!
The growing season has been mixed: fantastic runner beans in the polytunnel, abysmal onions in the veg patch. Potato blight on some varieties, others in the same patch unaffected.
Fortunately each year gives different results so it is not the time to be despondent. Instead it is the season to review, prepare and plan.
Review means making a note of what varieties you liked (and didn't like), what you need to grow more of and where and when, what you noticed others growing that you would like to try, etc.
For our patch one thing I will make a note of is that my idea that I wouldn't grow summer leeks outside again - because we don't eat leeks then, and they don't last through the winter outside - was valid. But I need to grow more in the polytunnel for the autumn/winter season, which is when we do like eating leeks.
Also though I do like spring cabbage when there are fewer vegetable varieties on offer, by summer I'm not interested in cabbage. But in late summer, autumn and winter I like red cabbage and savoy cabbage. Kale I will eat at any time of year, particularly 'Red Russian' or Black Tuscan kale. These varieties I will grow in the polytunnel and outdoors. All other varieties of kale I've dropped, if the supermarket want to sell curly green kale but none other that's fine by me, that's one of the reasons for growing your own vegetables!
Prepare means getting the vegetable patch ready for next year, cleaning and mending tools, ordering seeds (always one of the best winter tasks). Last winter was wet and my preparation of the vegetable bed was severely hampered. Consequently I was behind when it came to getting things planted (and that was also delayed because of the cool spring). I felt I was playing catch-up well into summer. This year the ground is already mostly snug under black plastic, dug, fertilised (where necessary) and I feel much better and ready to go. Black plastic doesn't look nice I admit, but it keeps the ground drier, stops the weeds, protects the soil fauna so they can concentrate on working the soil and muck, and I just pull it back in spring and plant straight into lovely clean soil.
Plan this means putting your review into effect by make a decision about quantities, varieties, timing. I don't like gluts, I have little time during a busy summer season to do anything other than freeze vegetables or fruit which I know I will use during the winter. If you know you won't eat 20 cabbages why grow them? Think about what you will eat and when and in what quantity and make your plans to that. If you buy vegetable plants you will find that many companies send out quite large quantities of each variety - consider sharing with a friend rather than have 16 broccoli plants all ripening in the same week.
And finally if you find you have spare ground in your vegetable patch don't waste it. You can use a green manure, but it will be prettier and beneficial to insects and birds if you plant or sow a few annual flowers. Cosmos, cornflowers and sweet peas, all will brighten up your patch, provide cut flowers for the house and encourage beneficial insects in to predate on any troublesome pests.
Happy gardening for the next season!
Monday, 13 October 2014
Polytunnel update: First frost brings summer to an end.
Last night the first proper frost struck. It wasn't expected, the nights have been mild and the forecast didn't indicate that temperatures were going to plummet like they did. However sudden frosts are not uncommon here and we have been awaiting their arrival.
In the polytunnel the early sun was bringing temperatures up again but the damage was obvious. Courgettes, tomatoes and the last cucumbers were unmistakably done for. It has been a good run and the cropping has been good on all but the cucumbers, I think they have found the heat too much for them this year.
So today's job was to clear out the tomatoes, only 4 small punnets of ripening fruit left, so that is good. They can go into the greenhouse to fully ripen. The strawberry plants under the tomatoes are also lifted and repotted ready for their new positions in the spring. I have weeded the bed and added some well-rotted horse manure and replanted it with spring cabbage plants. The ground is very dry because I haven't been watering the tomatoes to encourage them to ripen the fruit, so it is very important to get the hose on the bed and make sure it gets a thorough watering.
The courgettes are in containers so they need only to have the top growth removed and then the containers are stacked and the compost will be reused for the early potatoes grown in pots in the polytunnel in the spring. Saves work and money. Just ensure any reused compost gets some fertiliser added to it and that it doesn't harbour any nasty pests or troublesome weeds.
Now the polytunnel is pretty much ready for the winter. The beds are full of winter lettuce, mizuna and rocket. Winter onions, raised in modules in late August, have been planted out, and the leeks are growing strongly. Kale, spring cabbage and the King of all winter vegetables - purple-sprouting broccoli are growing well. The broccoli plants are nearly as tall as me and promise a bumper crop in early spring. The asparagus is beginning to turn yellow and the fronds will be cut down and the crowns mulched but that is probably the last job I will have to do, apart from some watering.
It remains important to monitor the temperature and soil moisture levels as on sunny days temperatures can rise swiftly and the soil can dry out, even when plants are quite small. Remember that the soil will lose moisture directly to the air so if you can leave a surface mulch of dry soil over damp soil that will help minimise water loss. The best way to achieve this is by watering thoroughly and intermittently. Then water penetrates deeply and over the days when you don't water a surface layer of dry soil will form. Check how wet the soil is by scraping back this dry layer and checking what the soil underneath looks like. As winter progresses you should find that your need to water reduces significantly. Try to water on warm days and avoid opening the tunnel on frosty mornings until the temperature rises. If you have to go to work early, try asking a neighbour to help and reward them with some lovely fresh winter vegetables and salads!
In the polytunnel the early sun was bringing temperatures up again but the damage was obvious. Courgettes, tomatoes and the last cucumbers were unmistakably done for. It has been a good run and the cropping has been good on all but the cucumbers, I think they have found the heat too much for them this year.
So today's job was to clear out the tomatoes, only 4 small punnets of ripening fruit left, so that is good. They can go into the greenhouse to fully ripen. The strawberry plants under the tomatoes are also lifted and repotted ready for their new positions in the spring. I have weeded the bed and added some well-rotted horse manure and replanted it with spring cabbage plants. The ground is very dry because I haven't been watering the tomatoes to encourage them to ripen the fruit, so it is very important to get the hose on the bed and make sure it gets a thorough watering.
The courgettes are in containers so they need only to have the top growth removed and then the containers are stacked and the compost will be reused for the early potatoes grown in pots in the polytunnel in the spring. Saves work and money. Just ensure any reused compost gets some fertiliser added to it and that it doesn't harbour any nasty pests or troublesome weeds.
Now the polytunnel is pretty much ready for the winter. The beds are full of winter lettuce, mizuna and rocket. Winter onions, raised in modules in late August, have been planted out, and the leeks are growing strongly. Kale, spring cabbage and the King of all winter vegetables - purple-sprouting broccoli are growing well. The broccoli plants are nearly as tall as me and promise a bumper crop in early spring. The asparagus is beginning to turn yellow and the fronds will be cut down and the crowns mulched but that is probably the last job I will have to do, apart from some watering.
It remains important to monitor the temperature and soil moisture levels as on sunny days temperatures can rise swiftly and the soil can dry out, even when plants are quite small. Remember that the soil will lose moisture directly to the air so if you can leave a surface mulch of dry soil over damp soil that will help minimise water loss. The best way to achieve this is by watering thoroughly and intermittently. Then water penetrates deeply and over the days when you don't water a surface layer of dry soil will form. Check how wet the soil is by scraping back this dry layer and checking what the soil underneath looks like. As winter progresses you should find that your need to water reduces significantly. Try to water on warm days and avoid opening the tunnel on frosty mornings until the temperature rises. If you have to go to work early, try asking a neighbour to help and reward them with some lovely fresh winter vegetables and salads!
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Abysmal carrots!
Carrots are usually a staple for the summer and into the winter but not this year.
The early sowing was almost a complete failure, there were so few germinating that I pulled them out in the end and sowed again in a different spot.
The second sowing in the polytunnel had a better germination rate but the seedlings have been slow to develop. Later sowings outside germinated reasonably well but, despite a mesh to stop carrot root fly, they are riddled with the worms and I will have to remove the carrots to try and prevent the worms pupating and causing more problems next year.
Why the failures? I had heard that other growers were struggling with germination during early spring, and this was put down to dry weather and it being unusually warm. Certainly with the second sowing in the polytunnel I ensured that I watered more frequently and watered the drill before I sowed the seed. Germination was better but it was a hot summer in the polytunnel and this has not been to the carrots' liking. By now we are usually eating plenty but I pulled one a couple of days ago and the carrot (well-flavoured) was too small to have more than a bite or two.
Why did the outdoor ones get carrot root fly? Unfortunately it can be difficult to judge when the carrot fly is on the wing, and it is a very small fly. Possibly it either got through the mesh or hatched from overwintering pupae underneath, although I think that was unlikely as the carrots were sown in a very different spot from the previous year's carrots. Certainly I have plenty of potential host plants around the croft and carrot root fly has become more of a problem, though never as bad as this.
Next year I plan to grow the carrots in tubs and avoid the vegetable patch to try and break the cycle. Even with removing the carrots and, hopefully eradicating the fly larvae, I would expect a few to slip through. If they are in deep tubs, new growing medium and in the other polytunnel I expect to get a clean crop. I'll let you know!
The early sowing was almost a complete failure, there were so few germinating that I pulled them out in the end and sowed again in a different spot.
The second sowing in the polytunnel had a better germination rate but the seedlings have been slow to develop. Later sowings outside germinated reasonably well but, despite a mesh to stop carrot root fly, they are riddled with the worms and I will have to remove the carrots to try and prevent the worms pupating and causing more problems next year.
Why the failures? I had heard that other growers were struggling with germination during early spring, and this was put down to dry weather and it being unusually warm. Certainly with the second sowing in the polytunnel I ensured that I watered more frequently and watered the drill before I sowed the seed. Germination was better but it was a hot summer in the polytunnel and this has not been to the carrots' liking. By now we are usually eating plenty but I pulled one a couple of days ago and the carrot (well-flavoured) was too small to have more than a bite or two.
Why did the outdoor ones get carrot root fly? Unfortunately it can be difficult to judge when the carrot fly is on the wing, and it is a very small fly. Possibly it either got through the mesh or hatched from overwintering pupae underneath, although I think that was unlikely as the carrots were sown in a very different spot from the previous year's carrots. Certainly I have plenty of potential host plants around the croft and carrot root fly has become more of a problem, though never as bad as this.
Next year I plan to grow the carrots in tubs and avoid the vegetable patch to try and break the cycle. Even with removing the carrots and, hopefully eradicating the fly larvae, I would expect a few to slip through. If they are in deep tubs, new growing medium and in the other polytunnel I expect to get a clean crop. I'll let you know!
Monday, 11 August 2014
Be careful what you wish for!
We have been enjoying a wonderful summer, which has kept me busy outside in the vegetable garden, and watering copiously in the polytunnel.
Little rain has fallen since the potatoes went in and unfortunately the carrots have not appreciated the hot dry days. Onions have thrived with bulbs the size of tennis balls, and all from seed sown in January!
For days now I have watched the forecast in the hope that the showers indicated would help the potatoes, which are beginning to look in desperate need as the soil is dust dry. Nothing has arrived of any note; drizzle which made the foliage damp. I did resort to an earlier watering with the hose but the foliage is so thick that the hose needed to be put underneath it and consequently the watering was patchy. To get decent sized potatoes the plants need a reasonable quantity of water as they start to flower and boy did they get it last night!
The tail end of Hurricane Bertha arrived during the night with squally winds and heavy showers. The potatoes got the soaking they wanted and managed to withstand the wind, but my sunflowers at the end of the brassica patch are prostrate. The rain is unlikely to make much of a difference to the carrots, I should have watered more frequently during June/July, but a prolonged holiday didn't help with that plan.
I recently sowed some spinach, mizuna and rocket outside, and have been watering daily so now I can take a break from that for a few days. Even the polytunnel plants will benefit as water will flow through the ground under the tunnel and get to the deep roots which they are encouraged to develop. (The raised beds are only a few inches above the ground level, and I water well but not frequently, a good soak once a week or so when the plants are beyond seedling stage ensures they seek for water at deeper levels rather than relying on regular light waterings.)
I'll stop wishing for rain now as I have yet to assess the impact that the wind has had on the fruit trees, and if wishing for rain brings hurricanes, even if they are at the end of their strength, then I'll put up with watering by hand.
Little rain has fallen since the potatoes went in and unfortunately the carrots have not appreciated the hot dry days. Onions have thrived with bulbs the size of tennis balls, and all from seed sown in January!
For days now I have watched the forecast in the hope that the showers indicated would help the potatoes, which are beginning to look in desperate need as the soil is dust dry. Nothing has arrived of any note; drizzle which made the foliage damp. I did resort to an earlier watering with the hose but the foliage is so thick that the hose needed to be put underneath it and consequently the watering was patchy. To get decent sized potatoes the plants need a reasonable quantity of water as they start to flower and boy did they get it last night!
The tail end of Hurricane Bertha arrived during the night with squally winds and heavy showers. The potatoes got the soaking they wanted and managed to withstand the wind, but my sunflowers at the end of the brassica patch are prostrate. The rain is unlikely to make much of a difference to the carrots, I should have watered more frequently during June/July, but a prolonged holiday didn't help with that plan.
I recently sowed some spinach, mizuna and rocket outside, and have been watering daily so now I can take a break from that for a few days. Even the polytunnel plants will benefit as water will flow through the ground under the tunnel and get to the deep roots which they are encouraged to develop. (The raised beds are only a few inches above the ground level, and I water well but not frequently, a good soak once a week or so when the plants are beyond seedling stage ensures they seek for water at deeper levels rather than relying on regular light waterings.)
I'll stop wishing for rain now as I have yet to assess the impact that the wind has had on the fruit trees, and if wishing for rain brings hurricanes, even if they are at the end of their strength, then I'll put up with watering by hand.
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Asparagus!
Northern Scotland probably isn't the best place to grow asparagus but I've always promised my husband that I would try it.
My first experiment involved expensive crowns planted in late spring and carefully nurtured through the year, some reappeared the following spring but they were weak and failed shortly after.
I then heard about growing from seed and treating like a biennial. It was considerably cheaper to buy the seed and it germinated well. I potted up the seedlings regularly all last year and eventually planted 10 out in the narrow bed in the polytunnel after harvesting the sweetcorn. Now they are emerging and at least 9 have started with good thick shoots. Not quite as thick as my finger but they would out compete a pencil. I haven't harvested yet (it would be cruel not to wait for my husband to come back from working away!) and the shoots need to be at least a few inches tall, but it is looking very promising and these are only a year old.
The remaining seedlings have been left in their pots and have only sent up thin shoots. I am considering planting these into a separate bed and letting them grow on for next year.
Interestingly I also tried some in a large tub trug in the polytunnel and these started earlier than the ones in the ground, I think that was because the tub trug was warming up in the sun. They also have grown well and reasonably thick but not enough spears to make much of a dinner! I'll let them continue there and see how they do next spring. During the summer they can be put outside which means they won't take up valuable space, and that might be a suitable option for people who can't afford a permanent asparagus bed.
The only problem was some early slug damage with the first emerging shoots. I had to resort to slug pellets in the end but now they don't seem to be affected.
Looks like my promise has been kept in the end!
My first experiment involved expensive crowns planted in late spring and carefully nurtured through the year, some reappeared the following spring but they were weak and failed shortly after.
I then heard about growing from seed and treating like a biennial. It was considerably cheaper to buy the seed and it germinated well. I potted up the seedlings regularly all last year and eventually planted 10 out in the narrow bed in the polytunnel after harvesting the sweetcorn. Now they are emerging and at least 9 have started with good thick shoots. Not quite as thick as my finger but they would out compete a pencil. I haven't harvested yet (it would be cruel not to wait for my husband to come back from working away!) and the shoots need to be at least a few inches tall, but it is looking very promising and these are only a year old.
The remaining seedlings have been left in their pots and have only sent up thin shoots. I am considering planting these into a separate bed and letting them grow on for next year.
Interestingly I also tried some in a large tub trug in the polytunnel and these started earlier than the ones in the ground, I think that was because the tub trug was warming up in the sun. They also have grown well and reasonably thick but not enough spears to make much of a dinner! I'll let them continue there and see how they do next spring. During the summer they can be put outside which means they won't take up valuable space, and that might be a suitable option for people who can't afford a permanent asparagus bed.
The only problem was some early slug damage with the first emerging shoots. I had to resort to slug pellets in the end but now they don't seem to be affected.
Looks like my promise has been kept in the end!
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Well-rotted horse manure
One of my New Year tasks was to collect a large quantity of two year old well-rotted horse manure from a neighbour.
This stuff is full of baby worms and the dark rich colour of black coffee. It probably has the same kick-start effect on the garden as coffee has on people. It is concentrated goodness which will be used sparingly. Because it is from the stable and well-rotted it has few weed seeds, perfect for the polytunnel borders.
Adding manures and compost to the polytunnel beds is always slightly problematic. Fresh stuff from my poultry is too hot and not sterile enough. The compost from my compost heaps can be good but rarely weed seed free. I tend to concentrate this in trenches where the weed seeds won't get light and germinate, or in the base of large containers for beans and courgettes. But concentrating compost in trenches doesn't spread the goodness and if you are cropping the polytunnel year round then you will soon exhaust the soil. Although I do use pelleted poultry fertiliser to feed the plants, I noticed that the soil was beginning to lose it's colour. The outside vegetable patch was a deep brown but in the polytunnel the soil was beginning to look more grey. The organic matter in the soil was being taken up by the plants and soil life, and wasn't being replaced fast enough.
We have cattle ourselves, but they are not housed, so collecting and rotting their dung wasn't going to be easy. You can buy (and previously I have) well rotted farmyard manure in bags from the garden centre, but it is costly if you need a good quantity. Resting one of the beds after giving it a good helping of compost from the heap wasn't an attractive option, when space is a premium, and weed seeds could come through for years to come (dock seeds can persist in the soil for up to 50 years). I have got the polytunnel to a position where the weeds are not difficult to keep under control and keeping it like that is a priority. So the offer of well-rotted horse manure from the stable was too good to refuse.
How to use? The easiest way is to add to the surface around the plants if they are big enough, like my presently growing purple sprouting broccoli and kale. The worms will take it down and as you water it will also be washed into the soil. The feeding roots of most plants are close to the surface and they will take in the goodness quite easily from a surface mulch. Another way is to dig in when preparing the ground for a crop, or add to a trench or planting hole. I will avoid adding it to the bed which will have the next crop of carrots but once they are growing strongly I will add a small amount to a watering can and water it on the soil near the plants. This suits carrots, beetroot, turnips, onions etc. Gradually the organic material in the soil will build up again and this benefits everything. The soil structure retains water and nutrients better if it has a good quantity of organic matter. The soil life has more organic material available to break down and they release the nutrients making them available to the plants. Healthy plants mean a better crop and arguably a more nutritious crop.
This stuff is full of baby worms and the dark rich colour of black coffee. It probably has the same kick-start effect on the garden as coffee has on people. It is concentrated goodness which will be used sparingly. Because it is from the stable and well-rotted it has few weed seeds, perfect for the polytunnel borders.
Adding manures and compost to the polytunnel beds is always slightly problematic. Fresh stuff from my poultry is too hot and not sterile enough. The compost from my compost heaps can be good but rarely weed seed free. I tend to concentrate this in trenches where the weed seeds won't get light and germinate, or in the base of large containers for beans and courgettes. But concentrating compost in trenches doesn't spread the goodness and if you are cropping the polytunnel year round then you will soon exhaust the soil. Although I do use pelleted poultry fertiliser to feed the plants, I noticed that the soil was beginning to lose it's colour. The outside vegetable patch was a deep brown but in the polytunnel the soil was beginning to look more grey. The organic matter in the soil was being taken up by the plants and soil life, and wasn't being replaced fast enough.
We have cattle ourselves, but they are not housed, so collecting and rotting their dung wasn't going to be easy. You can buy (and previously I have) well rotted farmyard manure in bags from the garden centre, but it is costly if you need a good quantity. Resting one of the beds after giving it a good helping of compost from the heap wasn't an attractive option, when space is a premium, and weed seeds could come through for years to come (dock seeds can persist in the soil for up to 50 years). I have got the polytunnel to a position where the weeds are not difficult to keep under control and keeping it like that is a priority. So the offer of well-rotted horse manure from the stable was too good to refuse.
How to use? The easiest way is to add to the surface around the plants if they are big enough, like my presently growing purple sprouting broccoli and kale. The worms will take it down and as you water it will also be washed into the soil. The feeding roots of most plants are close to the surface and they will take in the goodness quite easily from a surface mulch. Another way is to dig in when preparing the ground for a crop, or add to a trench or planting hole. I will avoid adding it to the bed which will have the next crop of carrots but once they are growing strongly I will add a small amount to a watering can and water it on the soil near the plants. This suits carrots, beetroot, turnips, onions etc. Gradually the organic material in the soil will build up again and this benefits everything. The soil structure retains water and nutrients better if it has a good quantity of organic matter. The soil life has more organic material available to break down and they release the nutrients making them available to the plants. Healthy plants mean a better crop and arguably a more nutritious crop.
Tuesday, 7 January 2014
A Happy New Year .... seed sowing starts NOW
Sorry to all you shivering in America, and soggy in southern Britain, but today was perfect in this often overlooked corner of Scotland for the start to be made to the monumental task of seed sowing.
Monumental because I have nursery and annual flower seeds to sow as well as my ever expanding range of vegetable seeds. To make an early start helps to lift the winter blues and I can begin to look forward to the light and warmth of spring. I start with the rugged seeds, those that don't mind the lack of heat. Broad beans and early peas will happily fit that bill, as will sweet pea seeds and some hardy annuals, sown early they make substantial plants and start the summer off nice and early.
Today I planted the broad beans individually in little pots, these will sit on the bottom shelf of the greenhouse staging. They will get a little heat when the heaters are on, but at present it is warm enough to keep the greenhouse heaters off. Cornflowers and marigolds are already germinating and the autumn sown sweet peas are going to be pinched back now that they have true leaves, this will encourage then to send up a number of stems and bear more flowers.
Oregon sugar snap peas will be sown next, 5 to a 9cm pot. These first pots will be planted out in the polytunnel for a crop by May. A small number of brassicas will also be sown extra early for raising in the polytunnel, there are a number of varieties now available for close cropping or small spaces. Some will crop in quite small containers if space is at a premium.
Onion seeds are also sown this month, red and yellow onions, spring onions and shallots. They may be a little more work than sets but are cheaper, rarely bolt and have always given good results. My largest seed sown 'Red Baron' onion was the size of an orange, and all in a few short months of growth from a tiny black seed!
Monumental because I have nursery and annual flower seeds to sow as well as my ever expanding range of vegetable seeds. To make an early start helps to lift the winter blues and I can begin to look forward to the light and warmth of spring. I start with the rugged seeds, those that don't mind the lack of heat. Broad beans and early peas will happily fit that bill, as will sweet pea seeds and some hardy annuals, sown early they make substantial plants and start the summer off nice and early.
Today I planted the broad beans individually in little pots, these will sit on the bottom shelf of the greenhouse staging. They will get a little heat when the heaters are on, but at present it is warm enough to keep the greenhouse heaters off. Cornflowers and marigolds are already germinating and the autumn sown sweet peas are going to be pinched back now that they have true leaves, this will encourage then to send up a number of stems and bear more flowers.
Oregon sugar snap peas will be sown next, 5 to a 9cm pot. These first pots will be planted out in the polytunnel for a crop by May. A small number of brassicas will also be sown extra early for raising in the polytunnel, there are a number of varieties now available for close cropping or small spaces. Some will crop in quite small containers if space is at a premium.
Onion seeds are also sown this month, red and yellow onions, spring onions and shallots. They may be a little more work than sets but are cheaper, rarely bolt and have always given good results. My largest seed sown 'Red Baron' onion was the size of an orange, and all in a few short months of growth from a tiny black seed!
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
The Brassica Patch
Balmy weather today for working in the garden, after the storms, snow and frost the ground remains remarkably warm and is very easily worked.
The black plastic in the vegetable garden needed tidying up after the strong winds. It was mostly in place but smoothing it out brought me to the vegetable garden and the fact that the brassica bed for next year still needed working. Some of the plot (used for legumes this year) had been dug over and freshly manured with straw and sawdust from the hen and goose sheds. This has been protected by plastic and needed more weights on it to ensure it stays put, but other areas were still waiting to be dug over. The weeds are enjoying this warm (for the most part) late autumn and early winter. The vegetable plot is a favoured spot for buttercup and they are growing as vigorously as if it were spring. Digging them out is very satisfying, and nice and easy with no plants in the way.
Putting fresh manure on the brassica patch has always given good results. I only put it on the ground at the beginning of the winter, and not too thick, it is strong stuff. It is then protected under plastic. By the spring much of it has been worked down into the soil by the worms and I can plant directly into the soil without further digging. Each plant is pot raised and planted deeply with a dusting of lime to sweeten the soil. The plants grow huge and healthily, and I have no qualms about bacteria if the plants are to be cooked.
However I am more cautious if I want to grown leaves for salads. Many of the salad leaves are brassicas; rocket, mizuna, red mustard etc. To keep to your rotation plan they should be grown in the brassica patch; lettuce, beetroot, chard and spinach can be grown wherever space is available as they are not usually part of any rotation group. If you are growing one of the mixed salad seed packets on offer, for cut-and-come-again, these usually include brassicas and therefore should be in the brassica patch too. In the open plot I therefore need to keep a patch manure free, which can then be dedicated to these salad varieties. Near to the path is best for ease of access. Alternatively consider sowing these in a container, which could be outside. They don't need much depth of compost because the plants usually are harvested when very small. A grow bag can be used successfully for raising cut-and-come-again salad and can be put somewhere convenient and away from slugs etc.
The black plastic in the vegetable garden needed tidying up after the strong winds. It was mostly in place but smoothing it out brought me to the vegetable garden and the fact that the brassica bed for next year still needed working. Some of the plot (used for legumes this year) had been dug over and freshly manured with straw and sawdust from the hen and goose sheds. This has been protected by plastic and needed more weights on it to ensure it stays put, but other areas were still waiting to be dug over. The weeds are enjoying this warm (for the most part) late autumn and early winter. The vegetable plot is a favoured spot for buttercup and they are growing as vigorously as if it were spring. Digging them out is very satisfying, and nice and easy with no plants in the way.
Putting fresh manure on the brassica patch has always given good results. I only put it on the ground at the beginning of the winter, and not too thick, it is strong stuff. It is then protected under plastic. By the spring much of it has been worked down into the soil by the worms and I can plant directly into the soil without further digging. Each plant is pot raised and planted deeply with a dusting of lime to sweeten the soil. The plants grow huge and healthily, and I have no qualms about bacteria if the plants are to be cooked.
However I am more cautious if I want to grown leaves for salads. Many of the salad leaves are brassicas; rocket, mizuna, red mustard etc. To keep to your rotation plan they should be grown in the brassica patch; lettuce, beetroot, chard and spinach can be grown wherever space is available as they are not usually part of any rotation group. If you are growing one of the mixed salad seed packets on offer, for cut-and-come-again, these usually include brassicas and therefore should be in the brassica patch too. In the open plot I therefore need to keep a patch manure free, which can then be dedicated to these salad varieties. Near to the path is best for ease of access. Alternatively consider sowing these in a container, which could be outside. They don't need much depth of compost because the plants usually are harvested when very small. A grow bag can be used successfully for raising cut-and-come-again salad and can be put somewhere convenient and away from slugs etc.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Is vegetable gardening a worthy occupation?
You may think what a silly question for a blog about vegetable gardening to ask but sometimes we do need to check that we are doing something for the right reasons.
When I first started vegetable gardening in Scotland it was primarily because I had a large enough garden, time, a keen interest in gardening, and the local shops had very little to offer in the way of fresh vegetables or variety. As a vegetarian that restricted the meals that I could cook. Therefore the answer was simple, grow your own or restrict your diet/travel a long way to get ingredients.
Since then we have moved to the Croft (even more space to grow) and have more mouths to feed, but supermarkets have opened up not so far away and the variety on offer is much better.
So does it continue to be a necessary occupation to grow my own vegetables? No, but....
I still get more variety by growing my own - from potatoes to salads, I grow varieties which are not marketed by the supermarkets.
It is cheaper (not counting my time), the amount I spend on seeds is tiny to the return I get from my crops and since the spring I have bought almost no vegetables from the shops.
The products are fresh, from being picked to eaten is often less than an hour, how many can say that the salad in their sandwich was picked ten minutes previously?
The taste is better, obviously fresh salad has more appeal but also tastes nicer, and as for sugar snap peas or beans, even cabbage, I would argue that they all have more flavour than any bought from a shop.
All the vegetables are chemical-free, I grew them and they didn't need any chemicals to keep the bugs off or prevent them deteriorating on their way to market.
Pride comes into it too, how much more satisfying to serve your family with food you have grown yourself.
But is this a worthy thing? Ah, now we get to morality and whether it is a good thing. In short, yes.
My 100 square metres of vegetable garden are the most productive part of the Croft, the food they produce, even when only operating for 6 months or so, is of more value than would be gained by the land being put to grazing etc.
In addition a large proportion of the food we eat has no food miles and, because most of the food I buy from the shops is dry food, I make fewer trips to the supermarket. One monthly supermarket shop for the main items, and local shops for the milk etc. Agriculture and associated transport of agricultural products and fertilizers, chemicals etc. contributes hugely to carbon dioxide emissions. Individually I cannot make an impact that would make any difference but collectively we could.
I accept that I need agribusiness for cereals and other foods I cannot grow myself, but my dependence on them is less than it might otherwise be. Often you will decide to make meals that use your homegrown ingredients in preference to reaching for commercially made products or bought-in ingredients.
We waste very little, partly because I only harvest what we want to eat, when we want it, but also because any 'waste' is put in the compost bin and then back on the soil.
Pleasure. I enjoy gardening, I enjoy growing food, I enjoy sharing the results with my family. I accept that some people don't find it appealing, I feel sorry for those who do and don't get the opportunity, and I think we all need to share the pleasure as widely as we can.
When I first started vegetable gardening in Scotland it was primarily because I had a large enough garden, time, a keen interest in gardening, and the local shops had very little to offer in the way of fresh vegetables or variety. As a vegetarian that restricted the meals that I could cook. Therefore the answer was simple, grow your own or restrict your diet/travel a long way to get ingredients.
Since then we have moved to the Croft (even more space to grow) and have more mouths to feed, but supermarkets have opened up not so far away and the variety on offer is much better.
So does it continue to be a necessary occupation to grow my own vegetables? No, but....
I still get more variety by growing my own - from potatoes to salads, I grow varieties which are not marketed by the supermarkets.
It is cheaper (not counting my time), the amount I spend on seeds is tiny to the return I get from my crops and since the spring I have bought almost no vegetables from the shops.
The products are fresh, from being picked to eaten is often less than an hour, how many can say that the salad in their sandwich was picked ten minutes previously?
The taste is better, obviously fresh salad has more appeal but also tastes nicer, and as for sugar snap peas or beans, even cabbage, I would argue that they all have more flavour than any bought from a shop.
All the vegetables are chemical-free, I grew them and they didn't need any chemicals to keep the bugs off or prevent them deteriorating on their way to market.
Pride comes into it too, how much more satisfying to serve your family with food you have grown yourself.
But is this a worthy thing? Ah, now we get to morality and whether it is a good thing. In short, yes.
My 100 square metres of vegetable garden are the most productive part of the Croft, the food they produce, even when only operating for 6 months or so, is of more value than would be gained by the land being put to grazing etc.
In addition a large proportion of the food we eat has no food miles and, because most of the food I buy from the shops is dry food, I make fewer trips to the supermarket. One monthly supermarket shop for the main items, and local shops for the milk etc. Agriculture and associated transport of agricultural products and fertilizers, chemicals etc. contributes hugely to carbon dioxide emissions. Individually I cannot make an impact that would make any difference but collectively we could.
I accept that I need agribusiness for cereals and other foods I cannot grow myself, but my dependence on them is less than it might otherwise be. Often you will decide to make meals that use your homegrown ingredients in preference to reaching for commercially made products or bought-in ingredients.
We waste very little, partly because I only harvest what we want to eat, when we want it, but also because any 'waste' is put in the compost bin and then back on the soil.
Pleasure. I enjoy gardening, I enjoy growing food, I enjoy sharing the results with my family. I accept that some people don't find it appealing, I feel sorry for those who do and don't get the opportunity, and I think we all need to share the pleasure as widely as we can.
And now there's snow...
Snow in the Highlands is not unusual, but to have a snowfall in November is uncommon, especially at our level.
Today we woke to a good centimetre of the white stuff, and a fold of cattle who were eager to see us break into the hay store. A complete contrast to two days ago when Chris and I were emptying out the compost bins and spreading the lovely friable compost over the potato patch. Then the sky was blue and it was warm enough to strip down to a t-shirt.
Autumn is a good time to empty the compost bins; the contents had been quietly breaking down over the summer and were now a dark, rich, crumbly material full of organic goodness. I forked over the bed making sure I removed any stray potatoes, stones and persistent weeds (mostly docks). The worm count was tremendous, and it was nice to see how moist the soil now was after the very dry summer we have had. Then we spread the compost over the surface, and covered it with black plastic held down with tyres and old fence posts. All the time being carefully not to walk over the freshly tilled soil. Over the winter the worms will work the compost into the soil and I will have a perfectly ready bed to start growing the beans and peas in next year.
It is very satisfying knowing that you have achieved a job that leaves you gardening-ready, but the sight of plastic covered ground does make you think about the productivity of the vegetable garden.
Today we woke to a good centimetre of the white stuff, and a fold of cattle who were eager to see us break into the hay store. A complete contrast to two days ago when Chris and I were emptying out the compost bins and spreading the lovely friable compost over the potato patch. Then the sky was blue and it was warm enough to strip down to a t-shirt.
Autumn is a good time to empty the compost bins; the contents had been quietly breaking down over the summer and were now a dark, rich, crumbly material full of organic goodness. I forked over the bed making sure I removed any stray potatoes, stones and persistent weeds (mostly docks). The worm count was tremendous, and it was nice to see how moist the soil now was after the very dry summer we have had. Then we spread the compost over the surface, and covered it with black plastic held down with tyres and old fence posts. All the time being carefully not to walk over the freshly tilled soil. Over the winter the worms will work the compost into the soil and I will have a perfectly ready bed to start growing the beans and peas in next year.
It is very satisfying knowing that you have achieved a job that leaves you gardening-ready, but the sight of plastic covered ground does make you think about the productivity of the vegetable garden.
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Stormy weather..
I feel very sorry for the people of the Philippines, we are having wet and stormy weather here but it is insignificant to what they have endured.
As winter and stormy weather approaches we take sensible precautions to prevent as much damage to the polytunnels etc. as we can. When I put the first tunnel up I set it out in a south-north direction to get the sun on both sides. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of how strong the winds from the west could be at the Croft. They get funnelled down the valley and come sweeping across our land. One year we had a particularly bad storm which whipped up from nowhere and took the tunnel and a 150 year old oak tree. I managed to save much of the tunnel but it needed a new cover and re-siting.
We reorientated the tunnel to run east-west, hugging close to the bank, and exposing it end on to the wind. To further reduce the wind we built a simple slatted fence, with gaps between the uprights to allow the wind to filter through. This makes a huge difference to reducing the wind speed and also provides a sheltered area just beside the polytunnel. The second polytunnel lies in the same direction in line with the first tunnel. Now the tunnels have been up a number of years and are well embedded into the ground. Even in a strong wind they feel quite safe to work inside.
Outdoors all plastic sheets are weighted down with tyres and posts. Even bags of rocks etc. Any plants in pots are put in sheltered areas, sometimes within old fish boxes etc to stop them being blown over and rolling around. My young blueberry plants (originally planted but then the cows got to them and they needed remedial care) have been buried in their pots in part of the vegetable bed to keep them from becoming frozen solid. Most perennials are less prone to being caught by the wind because their foliage disappears over the winter. These are placed in areas of the Nursery where they won't become waterlogged or frozen to the benches.
Generally the winter isn't too bad, you expect poor weather, winds, rain, snow and ice. Problems generally start once spring is expected, then the fluctuations in weather can cause more difficulties, especially when you are nurturing young vulnerable plants. I understand many farmers in the Philippines have lost all their crops, many mature coconut and banana plantations. Recovery from that makes our vegetable gardening problems pale into insignificance, particularly when it isn't our livelihood at stake.
As winter and stormy weather approaches we take sensible precautions to prevent as much damage to the polytunnels etc. as we can. When I put the first tunnel up I set it out in a south-north direction to get the sun on both sides. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of how strong the winds from the west could be at the Croft. They get funnelled down the valley and come sweeping across our land. One year we had a particularly bad storm which whipped up from nowhere and took the tunnel and a 150 year old oak tree. I managed to save much of the tunnel but it needed a new cover and re-siting.
We reorientated the tunnel to run east-west, hugging close to the bank, and exposing it end on to the wind. To further reduce the wind we built a simple slatted fence, with gaps between the uprights to allow the wind to filter through. This makes a huge difference to reducing the wind speed and also provides a sheltered area just beside the polytunnel. The second polytunnel lies in the same direction in line with the first tunnel. Now the tunnels have been up a number of years and are well embedded into the ground. Even in a strong wind they feel quite safe to work inside.
Outdoors all plastic sheets are weighted down with tyres and posts. Even bags of rocks etc. Any plants in pots are put in sheltered areas, sometimes within old fish boxes etc to stop them being blown over and rolling around. My young blueberry plants (originally planted but then the cows got to them and they needed remedial care) have been buried in their pots in part of the vegetable bed to keep them from becoming frozen solid. Most perennials are less prone to being caught by the wind because their foliage disappears over the winter. These are placed in areas of the Nursery where they won't become waterlogged or frozen to the benches.
Generally the winter isn't too bad, you expect poor weather, winds, rain, snow and ice. Problems generally start once spring is expected, then the fluctuations in weather can cause more difficulties, especially when you are nurturing young vulnerable plants. I understand many farmers in the Philippines have lost all their crops, many mature coconut and banana plantations. Recovery from that makes our vegetable gardening problems pale into insignificance, particularly when it isn't our livelihood at stake.
Friday, 1 November 2013
Keeping the greenhouse warm.
1st November and we have had a couple of cold nights on the row. Grass frost and thin ice on the water tubs.
The tender plants are in the greenhouse now, some will be allowed to go completely dry and dormant, like the dahlias, but a few will need to be kept in a frost free environment waiting for the warmer weather to return.
With the cost of heating bills very much in the news it makes sense to take various measures to reduce the costs.
The first thing I do is to reduce the internal volume that needs to be heated. As I am needing most of the staging my way of doing it is to reduce the height by creating a false ceiling with training wire and bubble wrap. It is always a relief when this is taken down in the spring (the training wires remain in place), but there is no point in heat going into the roof space. The walls of the greenhouse also get an internal skin of bubble wrap, not only does this cut down the draughts but it stops the heat going straight through the cold glass. If you don't need all your greenhouse consider creating an internal division so that you are only heating a small area. Alternatively consider investing in one of those cheap, plastic-fabric freestanding 'greenhouses' which can be put inside the greenhouse, and then only heat that space.
The next thing is to group the plants that need protection. Try to raise them off the ground - cold air will sink and the ground will suck any heat out of the pots. On cool nights it may be enough just to put some fleece over them, but if the temperatures fall lower then you may want to ensure that any heater is placed close to those plants that really need the warmth, with the hardier ones on the edge of the heated area.
I use electricity to heat the greenhouse. I have a fan heater with various settings which I do not use all the time, and two tubular heaters which are suspended underneath the metal staging. These cost little to run and provide a gentle, non-drying background heat. They provide base heating for those plants on the top, which is perfect for propagating in the early spring, and also radiate heat to the plants on the lower shelf. On a cold night I can safely drape fleece over the benches and keep the heat in more efficiently. I do have a back up paraffin heater, but I am glad not to have had to use this as it requires frequent visits to the greenhouse during the night and is hard to regulate.
The greenhouse has a double door, and I can only insulate one side, but that is better than nothing. The main problem with all this internal insulation is that it restricts ventilation, on warm, sunny days I do try to open the door and ensure a change of air.
Of course all this only works if you do spend time checking on the plants and heating regularly. It does mean that you can't completely forget about gardening over the winter, but it won't be long before you will begin sowing seeds and a warm greenhouse will mean an early start.
The tender plants are in the greenhouse now, some will be allowed to go completely dry and dormant, like the dahlias, but a few will need to be kept in a frost free environment waiting for the warmer weather to return.
With the cost of heating bills very much in the news it makes sense to take various measures to reduce the costs.
The first thing I do is to reduce the internal volume that needs to be heated. As I am needing most of the staging my way of doing it is to reduce the height by creating a false ceiling with training wire and bubble wrap. It is always a relief when this is taken down in the spring (the training wires remain in place), but there is no point in heat going into the roof space. The walls of the greenhouse also get an internal skin of bubble wrap, not only does this cut down the draughts but it stops the heat going straight through the cold glass. If you don't need all your greenhouse consider creating an internal division so that you are only heating a small area. Alternatively consider investing in one of those cheap, plastic-fabric freestanding 'greenhouses' which can be put inside the greenhouse, and then only heat that space.
The next thing is to group the plants that need protection. Try to raise them off the ground - cold air will sink and the ground will suck any heat out of the pots. On cool nights it may be enough just to put some fleece over them, but if the temperatures fall lower then you may want to ensure that any heater is placed close to those plants that really need the warmth, with the hardier ones on the edge of the heated area.
I use electricity to heat the greenhouse. I have a fan heater with various settings which I do not use all the time, and two tubular heaters which are suspended underneath the metal staging. These cost little to run and provide a gentle, non-drying background heat. They provide base heating for those plants on the top, which is perfect for propagating in the early spring, and also radiate heat to the plants on the lower shelf. On a cold night I can safely drape fleece over the benches and keep the heat in more efficiently. I do have a back up paraffin heater, but I am glad not to have had to use this as it requires frequent visits to the greenhouse during the night and is hard to regulate.
The greenhouse has a double door, and I can only insulate one side, but that is better than nothing. The main problem with all this internal insulation is that it restricts ventilation, on warm, sunny days I do try to open the door and ensure a change of air.
Of course all this only works if you do spend time checking on the plants and heating regularly. It does mean that you can't completely forget about gardening over the winter, but it won't be long before you will begin sowing seeds and a warm greenhouse will mean an early start.
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Potatoes in containers
Last years potato crop was extremely poor, and the few potatoes raised were mostly kept back for planting this year. This years crop has been very good, despite the dry summer and I have plenty safely stored away.
However last year I had quite a number of small potatoes which weren't worth cooking and really didn't merit being planted in the potato patch. What to do?
Normally I'll boil them up and feed them to the hens, but by the spring some of these had gone rather green.
At the beginning of the year I usually plant a few salad varieties for raising in the polytunnel for an early crop. These are planted in tubs and I use the compost out of containers planted in the previous summer to save cost. The fertility of the compost can be easily raised with the addition of suitable fertiliser. Usually these are harvested from early May and then the containers are vacant. (See "Early Potatoes" February 2012)
This year I decided to reuse these containers and plant them up with these small green potatoes. I had plenty of compost to use out of the compost bins and it was an easy enough job to fill up the containers, set them on a piece of ground which I wasn't using, and plant in the potatoes. After that they got only the occasional watering.
Today I emptied them out. Yes, they should have been done earlier, and they have been on the list of jobs to do, but other things have got in the way. The compost was tipped out onto the potato patch and I was very pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of the crop. A good size, few blemishes, hardly any are green and with a quick hose down they are good enough to take to the kitchen.
Most are salad varieties but one is a good second early potato with a deep red skin, 'Maxine', a variety I haven't been able to get easily any more, so I'll keep that back for planting next year. Certainly the salad crop will make a pleasant change from the main crop which we are eating at present.
The other benefit has been the number and size of the earthworms that have been living in the containers. Many were probably small worms or eggs when they were emptied from the compost bin. They have now gone into the potato patch for the winter.
Was it worth doing? Yes, if you have suitable containers - they don't need to be very big, up to 40cm tall is deep enough, and a supply of compost. They were no trouble to keep over the summer and easily harvested. The crop was good for the size of the tubers that were planted. Main crop potatoes would not be the most suitable variety to use, unless you wanted to bulk up a few tubers for seed potatoes. Definitely worth doing if you've got an excess of small green potatoes and don't know what else to do with them.
However last year I had quite a number of small potatoes which weren't worth cooking and really didn't merit being planted in the potato patch. What to do?
Normally I'll boil them up and feed them to the hens, but by the spring some of these had gone rather green.
At the beginning of the year I usually plant a few salad varieties for raising in the polytunnel for an early crop. These are planted in tubs and I use the compost out of containers planted in the previous summer to save cost. The fertility of the compost can be easily raised with the addition of suitable fertiliser. Usually these are harvested from early May and then the containers are vacant. (See "Early Potatoes" February 2012)
This year I decided to reuse these containers and plant them up with these small green potatoes. I had plenty of compost to use out of the compost bins and it was an easy enough job to fill up the containers, set them on a piece of ground which I wasn't using, and plant in the potatoes. After that they got only the occasional watering.
Today I emptied them out. Yes, they should have been done earlier, and they have been on the list of jobs to do, but other things have got in the way. The compost was tipped out onto the potato patch and I was very pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of the crop. A good size, few blemishes, hardly any are green and with a quick hose down they are good enough to take to the kitchen.
Most are salad varieties but one is a good second early potato with a deep red skin, 'Maxine', a variety I haven't been able to get easily any more, so I'll keep that back for planting next year. Certainly the salad crop will make a pleasant change from the main crop which we are eating at present.
The other benefit has been the number and size of the earthworms that have been living in the containers. Many were probably small worms or eggs when they were emptied from the compost bin. They have now gone into the potato patch for the winter.
Was it worth doing? Yes, if you have suitable containers - they don't need to be very big, up to 40cm tall is deep enough, and a supply of compost. They were no trouble to keep over the summer and easily harvested. The crop was good for the size of the tubers that were planted. Main crop potatoes would not be the most suitable variety to use, unless you wanted to bulk up a few tubers for seed potatoes. Definitely worth doing if you've got an excess of small green potatoes and don't know what else to do with them.
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Slugs in the polytunnel
The weather may be getting colder but the slugs are still active, particularly in the polytunnel.
I am fortunate to live on a beautiful croft, with a wide variety of wildlife. Many of these help to keep the slug population down but unfortunately they do not always have access to the polytunnel. During the summer the tunnels often have a resident toad or two, but at this time of the year they tend to find a hibernation spot. This leaves any plants more vulnerable to slug predation, and with growth slowing down slugs can make a big impact.
Because of the natural slug and snail predators I am generally loath to use pellets. However during late autumn and early spring, when the tunnels are generally closed most of the time and the predators are hibernating, I do admit to scattering a few organic pellets around vulnerable plants.
Today I was planting out some winter lettuce, having just cleared out the tomatoes. The lettuces have been waiting patiently in the greenhouse and are a fair size now, but as I was forking over the soil I couldn't help but notice the quantity of baby slugs and snails there were. They would be delighted by my new offerings and after all my careful nurturing of the lettuces I could not afford to lose them overnight.
Last week I picked over the purple sprouting plants and took a good handful of slugs to the hens. Pellets here are no good, the slugs are not interested in leaving the canopy of the broccoli. The only way of reducing their impact is careful hand picking and waiting for the colder weather to set in, when they will seek the warmth of the soil. Then as things begin to warm up again, a few pellets or some beer traps will catch quite a few returning to the feast.
In the spring pellets are judicially employed to protect seedlings. I never use them outside, but the polytunnel provides too good an environment for slug and snail breeding. They can often have three generations in a year in the tunnels, and the baby ones, hard to spot but ravenous, are the worst. Beer traps don't seem to interest them, so using pellets to mop up a few just hatching from the soil seems to be the best method.
In the summer, if you feel things are getting out of hand, try nematodes. These natural predators of soil living slugs will make a significant impact when the soil is warm. You get the nematodes from a good gardening product supplier and add them to some water in a watering can and water them over the soil. They will increase the natural population of these nematodes and will continue to be active during warm weather for a number of years.
I am fortunate to live on a beautiful croft, with a wide variety of wildlife. Many of these help to keep the slug population down but unfortunately they do not always have access to the polytunnel. During the summer the tunnels often have a resident toad or two, but at this time of the year they tend to find a hibernation spot. This leaves any plants more vulnerable to slug predation, and with growth slowing down slugs can make a big impact.
Because of the natural slug and snail predators I am generally loath to use pellets. However during late autumn and early spring, when the tunnels are generally closed most of the time and the predators are hibernating, I do admit to scattering a few organic pellets around vulnerable plants.
Today I was planting out some winter lettuce, having just cleared out the tomatoes. The lettuces have been waiting patiently in the greenhouse and are a fair size now, but as I was forking over the soil I couldn't help but notice the quantity of baby slugs and snails there were. They would be delighted by my new offerings and after all my careful nurturing of the lettuces I could not afford to lose them overnight.
Last week I picked over the purple sprouting plants and took a good handful of slugs to the hens. Pellets here are no good, the slugs are not interested in leaving the canopy of the broccoli. The only way of reducing their impact is careful hand picking and waiting for the colder weather to set in, when they will seek the warmth of the soil. Then as things begin to warm up again, a few pellets or some beer traps will catch quite a few returning to the feast.
In the spring pellets are judicially employed to protect seedlings. I never use them outside, but the polytunnel provides too good an environment for slug and snail breeding. They can often have three generations in a year in the tunnels, and the baby ones, hard to spot but ravenous, are the worst. Beer traps don't seem to interest them, so using pellets to mop up a few just hatching from the soil seems to be the best method.
In the summer, if you feel things are getting out of hand, try nematodes. These natural predators of soil living slugs will make a significant impact when the soil is warm. You get the nematodes from a good gardening product supplier and add them to some water in a watering can and water them over the soil. They will increase the natural population of these nematodes and will continue to be active during warm weather for a number of years.
Thursday, 26 September 2013
Storing onions
Last night there was the second frost, a slightly sharper one which left its traces on the stile to the vegetable garden and gave the leaves of the lettuces a shimmering rime.
The onions have been in the polytunnel drying off prior to storing but now the nights are cold in the tunnel, even though the days have been very hot - up to 35 degrees two days ago! This fluctuation, plus the humidity in the early mornings, will start to harm the keeping qualities of the onions and they need to be prepared for longer storage.
Today is perfect for that, sunny, warm, with a slight breeze; it makes working outside the polytunnel cleaning off the onions a very pleasurable task.
Preparation is simple, wearing gloves makes it less mucky and means that you can rub off the soil and loose outer skin quite easily. Don't be tempted to remove too many layers, as long as the skin is dry and clean it will protect the bulb.
Check over for soft spots, particularly at the neck and root plate. Remaining roots can be easily twisted off and, if the foliage is dry, that can be easily twisted off too. Any bulbs that have bolted need using first and should not be stored.
I grow my onions from seed and don't have many that run to seed, even in this hot summer they kept on growing and I ensured that I watered them well when they were small to encourage them to put on weight.
Once cleaned they need to be stored in a dry airy space which keeps a reasonably constant temperature and doesn't freeze. I hang them in mesh bags from the roof of my potting shed, with the larger ones made up into ropes using their foliage and some string. The ones that I think won't last well are taken straight into the kitchen.
Once the onions are in for storage it's probably time to start thinking about planting the garlic. Originally I purchased named garlic bulbs from a reputable seed merchant but now I use the saved bulbs, as long as they are healthy. These will be planted next month in what was this year's brassica patch.
The onions have been in the polytunnel drying off prior to storing but now the nights are cold in the tunnel, even though the days have been very hot - up to 35 degrees two days ago! This fluctuation, plus the humidity in the early mornings, will start to harm the keeping qualities of the onions and they need to be prepared for longer storage.
Today is perfect for that, sunny, warm, with a slight breeze; it makes working outside the polytunnel cleaning off the onions a very pleasurable task.
Preparation is simple, wearing gloves makes it less mucky and means that you can rub off the soil and loose outer skin quite easily. Don't be tempted to remove too many layers, as long as the skin is dry and clean it will protect the bulb.
Check over for soft spots, particularly at the neck and root plate. Remaining roots can be easily twisted off and, if the foliage is dry, that can be easily twisted off too. Any bulbs that have bolted need using first and should not be stored.
I grow my onions from seed and don't have many that run to seed, even in this hot summer they kept on growing and I ensured that I watered them well when they were small to encourage them to put on weight.
Once cleaned they need to be stored in a dry airy space which keeps a reasonably constant temperature and doesn't freeze. I hang them in mesh bags from the roof of my potting shed, with the larger ones made up into ropes using their foliage and some string. The ones that I think won't last well are taken straight into the kitchen.
Once the onions are in for storage it's probably time to start thinking about planting the garlic. Originally I purchased named garlic bulbs from a reputable seed merchant but now I use the saved bulbs, as long as they are healthy. These will be planted next month in what was this year's brassica patch.
Wednesday, 18 September 2013
The polytunnel in September
This is the month of the equinox and just as the days get shorter so the polytunnel grower needs to make plans for the winter.
Many people don't use their polytunnel intensively during September to March, which is a huge shame considering the investment that has been made.
In my polytunnel I have now got purple sprouting broccoli which is a metre high and looking well. Whilst the soil remains warm it is worth feeding these plants and getting them to be as big and healthy as possible before the start of the worst cold weather.
As space becomes available sow spinach now, this will grow into small plants which will overwinter and produce a good crop early in the spring. Keep it well watered during the warm days but reduce watering as the weather gets colder.
The overwintering onions are in their modules waiting for the space to become available for them to be planted. Although the seed merchant says don't transplant I have never had a problem. I transplant the seedlings when they are very small, and try to get them planted before mid October. They then usually have a good month of reasonable weather to put on some growth, but don't expect them to look too substantial. It is quite astonishing how even quite wispy seedlings will tolerate extremely cold weather and go on to produce good sized onions.
Winter kale plants and lettuces get planted as space is cleared. The kale needs to be planted in the area reserved for this season's brassica plants, but lettuces and spinach can be planted wherever you like because you do not need to worry about rotation for these vegetables. However I still try to avoid areas which have been growing these plants recently. I tend to leave the labels in the ground so that I have a means of checking what has been recently grown in that area - this only works if you put the date on the label and the writing doesn't fade! I find pencil lasts longer, and then when you do lift the label you can rub out the writing and reuse.
This year I sowed some leeks much later than usual (June), and these were put in the polytunnel. They are a nice pencil thickness now and growing strongly, I plan to use them as baby leeks during the winter. The outside ones don't overwinter well here and are difficult to lift as the ground becomes more frozen. I expect they will be used up by December, and then my indoor leeks should be a reasonable size and much easier to harvest!
My latest experiment involves asparagus. I have been promising my husband that I would grow asparagus for years. Fresh asparagus is incomparable to shop bought. Unfortunately the first crowns I bought struggled to survive and were finished off by the winter 3 years ago. I am reluctant to permanently give up significant space in the polytunnel to one crop, so I am trying a more ruthless method of production. This involves seed raised plants (I've chosen 'Connover's Colossal'), potting them on (now they are in 3 litre pots), and planting them out into their harvesting position this month. They are going into the sweetcorn bed. They are handsome looking plants with a number of ferns each, some of which are about the thickness of a pencil. The protection of the polytunnel and the slightly raised bed should mean they come through the winter quite easily, allowing you to harvest whatever grows. They grew very easily from seed, so much so that I have 10 to plant this year but some others will be kept in their pots, overwintered in the greenhouse, and grown on as 2 year old plants to be planted in the polytunnel next autumn. I will report on the success (or otherwise) of this experiment.
The carrots grown this year will remain in the ground and be used as required. Generally at least one row of them will have been finished by February which is when I will be looking for space for the first of the sugar snap peas. They will be started in pots in the greenhouse and then we are swinging around to the next season and the March equinox.
Many people don't use their polytunnel intensively during September to March, which is a huge shame considering the investment that has been made.
In my polytunnel I have now got purple sprouting broccoli which is a metre high and looking well. Whilst the soil remains warm it is worth feeding these plants and getting them to be as big and healthy as possible before the start of the worst cold weather.
As space becomes available sow spinach now, this will grow into small plants which will overwinter and produce a good crop early in the spring. Keep it well watered during the warm days but reduce watering as the weather gets colder.
The overwintering onions are in their modules waiting for the space to become available for them to be planted. Although the seed merchant says don't transplant I have never had a problem. I transplant the seedlings when they are very small, and try to get them planted before mid October. They then usually have a good month of reasonable weather to put on some growth, but don't expect them to look too substantial. It is quite astonishing how even quite wispy seedlings will tolerate extremely cold weather and go on to produce good sized onions.
Winter kale plants and lettuces get planted as space is cleared. The kale needs to be planted in the area reserved for this season's brassica plants, but lettuces and spinach can be planted wherever you like because you do not need to worry about rotation for these vegetables. However I still try to avoid areas which have been growing these plants recently. I tend to leave the labels in the ground so that I have a means of checking what has been recently grown in that area - this only works if you put the date on the label and the writing doesn't fade! I find pencil lasts longer, and then when you do lift the label you can rub out the writing and reuse.
This year I sowed some leeks much later than usual (June), and these were put in the polytunnel. They are a nice pencil thickness now and growing strongly, I plan to use them as baby leeks during the winter. The outside ones don't overwinter well here and are difficult to lift as the ground becomes more frozen. I expect they will be used up by December, and then my indoor leeks should be a reasonable size and much easier to harvest!
My latest experiment involves asparagus. I have been promising my husband that I would grow asparagus for years. Fresh asparagus is incomparable to shop bought. Unfortunately the first crowns I bought struggled to survive and were finished off by the winter 3 years ago. I am reluctant to permanently give up significant space in the polytunnel to one crop, so I am trying a more ruthless method of production. This involves seed raised plants (I've chosen 'Connover's Colossal'), potting them on (now they are in 3 litre pots), and planting them out into their harvesting position this month. They are going into the sweetcorn bed. They are handsome looking plants with a number of ferns each, some of which are about the thickness of a pencil. The protection of the polytunnel and the slightly raised bed should mean they come through the winter quite easily, allowing you to harvest whatever grows. They grew very easily from seed, so much so that I have 10 to plant this year but some others will be kept in their pots, overwintered in the greenhouse, and grown on as 2 year old plants to be planted in the polytunnel next autumn. I will report on the success (or otherwise) of this experiment.
The carrots grown this year will remain in the ground and be used as required. Generally at least one row of them will have been finished by February which is when I will be looking for space for the first of the sugar snap peas. They will be started in pots in the greenhouse and then we are swinging around to the next season and the March equinox.
Winter kale in the polytunnel
Preparing the polytunnel for the winter season is a bitter-sweet experience.
The abundance of the summer season gives way to a somewhat sparser look, and it is a recognition of the end of summer when you make the decision to strip out plants that are no longer performing or worthy of being kept.
Deciding exactly when to do this is a bit of an art and really requires some forward thinking. The impetus is usually a change in the weather, but some plants need to be produced in advance for this changeover. Kale is one of those.
Kale sown early in the year will generally overwinter well as large plants outside. There are a wide variety on offer and some are hardier than others. If you have outdoor space, your rotation plans are not affected, and you don't have winter hungry pests (deer or rabbits) then you may not bother with a crop of kale in the polytunnel. However if you like your kale softer, able to be picked without a frosting or covering of snow, or basically need to protect it from pests, then growing in the polytunnel may be something to consider.
During the summer there is no space for kale in my polytunnel and I have plenty growing outside. The polytunnel is also too hot during the summer to suit the kale plants which are happier with cooler conditions. However to have reasonable sized plants to put in now requires sowing in pots in mid-summer. These plants will need potting on as they grow so that they are not checked and then planted in the polytunnel when space is available.
Once in they require watering well during hot spells and good ventilation. If you have outdoor kale then you will probably finish that off (if the deer haven't got to it first) before you start on your poytunnel kale. During the coldest months you will probably find that growth is slow, but will quickly take off as the weather warms up from February onwards. This early spring kale will be soft textured and a very welcome addition to the kitchen.
The abundance of the summer season gives way to a somewhat sparser look, and it is a recognition of the end of summer when you make the decision to strip out plants that are no longer performing or worthy of being kept.
Deciding exactly when to do this is a bit of an art and really requires some forward thinking. The impetus is usually a change in the weather, but some plants need to be produced in advance for this changeover. Kale is one of those.
Kale sown early in the year will generally overwinter well as large plants outside. There are a wide variety on offer and some are hardier than others. If you have outdoor space, your rotation plans are not affected, and you don't have winter hungry pests (deer or rabbits) then you may not bother with a crop of kale in the polytunnel. However if you like your kale softer, able to be picked without a frosting or covering of snow, or basically need to protect it from pests, then growing in the polytunnel may be something to consider.
During the summer there is no space for kale in my polytunnel and I have plenty growing outside. The polytunnel is also too hot during the summer to suit the kale plants which are happier with cooler conditions. However to have reasonable sized plants to put in now requires sowing in pots in mid-summer. These plants will need potting on as they grow so that they are not checked and then planted in the polytunnel when space is available.
Once in they require watering well during hot spells and good ventilation. If you have outdoor kale then you will probably finish that off (if the deer haven't got to it first) before you start on your poytunnel kale. During the coldest months you will probably find that growth is slow, but will quickly take off as the weather warms up from February onwards. This early spring kale will be soft textured and a very welcome addition to the kitchen.
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
A bean feast!
What a summer it has been!
This has been our hottest, driest, sunniest summer for a good 6 years and the vegetable garden has responded accordingly.
We have been harvesting different beans for months now. I grow most varieties in the polytunnel. The only reliable outdoor beans are the broad bean and they have cropped in abundance. The freezer has copious containers of podded blanched beans which I will use in vegetable curries, stews etc.
French beans are eaten as fast as they are produced and rarely, even in a good year like this, do I bother freezing them. I tend to grow the purple podded forms, they taste good and are so much easier to find and pick! Most of the colour disappears on cooking but they do look a nice dark green when on the plate.
Runner beans in the polytunnel have been cropping since July. This year I was more circumspect with my choice and number of plants. Runner beans can produce an abundance of foliage and this then smothers the flowers and encourages mildew. It is important that the plants are grown in a well ventilated spot. I chose 'Red Rum' and was initially concerned whether so few plants would produce enough of a crop. Instead I have had a steady supply over the last two months with a sudden surge in production at the start of September. It is likely that I will be freezing some of this later harvest.
I suspect that the very hot weather through late July and August, which took temperatures in the polytunnel above 30 degrees on most days, probably slowed production down. Now we are getting cooler weather and this is suiting the runner beans which are looking healthy and have plenty of flowers and beans setting. (We have already had a slight grass frost, so had the beans been outside I suspect they wouldn't be looking quite so happy.)
The borlotti beans are always a bit of a indulgence. I love the colour of their pods and really, for the space they take up, the crop isn't that good. You need to let the beans swell inside the pod and this requires time. Eventually a day comes when you know the harvest has to be taken and you have to accept that it is the size it is. In previous years I have been able to take two or three small harvests, this year it has been one larger one. I think the hot weather stopped new flowers coming and therefore the harvest is mostly beans which all set at the same time. However it's not a bad result and now the space can be cleared and I will put in some kale for the winter months.
What do I do with the borlotti beans? Rather than dry them, and risk losing them at the back of the cupboard, I cook and freeze them on the day of harvest. It is a perfect way of combining beans and perishable vegetables to store as the base for a winter stew. Use an onion or shallot that you think might not keep, add some celery, courgette, fresh tomatoes from the greenhouse, aubergine etc. and add the podded beans. Cook for a while, allow to cool, bag up and freeze. The flavour of this stew base beats anything you can get in a tin!
This has been our hottest, driest, sunniest summer for a good 6 years and the vegetable garden has responded accordingly.
We have been harvesting different beans for months now. I grow most varieties in the polytunnel. The only reliable outdoor beans are the broad bean and they have cropped in abundance. The freezer has copious containers of podded blanched beans which I will use in vegetable curries, stews etc.
French beans are eaten as fast as they are produced and rarely, even in a good year like this, do I bother freezing them. I tend to grow the purple podded forms, they taste good and are so much easier to find and pick! Most of the colour disappears on cooking but they do look a nice dark green when on the plate.
Runner beans in the polytunnel have been cropping since July. This year I was more circumspect with my choice and number of plants. Runner beans can produce an abundance of foliage and this then smothers the flowers and encourages mildew. It is important that the plants are grown in a well ventilated spot. I chose 'Red Rum' and was initially concerned whether so few plants would produce enough of a crop. Instead I have had a steady supply over the last two months with a sudden surge in production at the start of September. It is likely that I will be freezing some of this later harvest.
I suspect that the very hot weather through late July and August, which took temperatures in the polytunnel above 30 degrees on most days, probably slowed production down. Now we are getting cooler weather and this is suiting the runner beans which are looking healthy and have plenty of flowers and beans setting. (We have already had a slight grass frost, so had the beans been outside I suspect they wouldn't be looking quite so happy.)
The borlotti beans are always a bit of a indulgence. I love the colour of their pods and really, for the space they take up, the crop isn't that good. You need to let the beans swell inside the pod and this requires time. Eventually a day comes when you know the harvest has to be taken and you have to accept that it is the size it is. In previous years I have been able to take two or three small harvests, this year it has been one larger one. I think the hot weather stopped new flowers coming and therefore the harvest is mostly beans which all set at the same time. However it's not a bad result and now the space can be cleared and I will put in some kale for the winter months.
What do I do with the borlotti beans? Rather than dry them, and risk losing them at the back of the cupboard, I cook and freeze them on the day of harvest. It is a perfect way of combining beans and perishable vegetables to store as the base for a winter stew. Use an onion or shallot that you think might not keep, add some celery, courgette, fresh tomatoes from the greenhouse, aubergine etc. and add the podded beans. Cook for a while, allow to cool, bag up and freeze. The flavour of this stew base beats anything you can get in a tin!
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Modular sown beetroot
I confess that I have had mixed results with beetroot over the years. Sometimes it is to do with the weather at sowing, occasionally I will admit that the seed has not been fresh. But as someone who has a fondness for beetroot as a vegetable it really wasn't good enough.
A couple of years ago I decided to stop sowing the seed direct and try raising the plants in modules and this has given more consistent results.
Beetroot is an amenable vegetable in that it does not need to be sown in any particular rotation group but can be slotted in to a planting plan wherever space allows.
The individual seeds are in fact a cluster of seeds, so one seed can produce a number of individual seedlings. It therefore means that one seed per module will result in either 1, 2 or more seedlings per module. I don't bother separating them at planting. As long as there are fewer than four they will push each other apart and usually have enough space to grow to a good size.
This year I sowed 4 x 12 cell trays at the end of March in the greenhouse as the weather was very cold then. Once they had germinated they got moved to the polytunnel. There they got rather forgotten about as other plants and the nursery stock demanded attention. Once space became available in the polytunnel bed I planted one of the trays out, nestled between spinach rows. I confess they got rather overshadowed by the spinach and must have taken a deep breath when it was removed and they could see the light again. Progress here was, and remains, slow.
In early May, in a fit of desperation that we would ever get weather suitable for planting outside, I turned to my trusted fish boxes in the other polytunnel and filled them with lovely compost from one of the compost bins. I then planted out one of the other trays, and pushed in some more beetroot seed in between the young beetroot plants. Here progress has been rapid. The beetroot have grown enormous healthy leaves and beneath are lovely round beet. They are close to harvesting and the seed is coming on fast too. They have obviously really enjoyed the rich moist growing conditions and the heat of the polytunnel.
Whilst I was weeding the chickweed from the outside planted beetroot, finally put in around mid-May, the advantages of modular sown beetroot really became clear.
It was so easy to weed around them, no need to thin, they were significantly ahead of the chickweed and well rooted so there wasn't the fear that I would inadvertently pull them out when weeding. In addition they were coming on well, much better than they would have been if I had waited for the weather to sow them direct.
The final advantage is that I can sow another batch to follow on from the autumn sown onions when they are harvested shortly from the polytunnel bed. But I think I will take a lesson from my fish box beetroot and make sure I enrich the bed with some more of my lovely compost before I plant them.
A couple of years ago I decided to stop sowing the seed direct and try raising the plants in modules and this has given more consistent results.
Beetroot is an amenable vegetable in that it does not need to be sown in any particular rotation group but can be slotted in to a planting plan wherever space allows.
The individual seeds are in fact a cluster of seeds, so one seed can produce a number of individual seedlings. It therefore means that one seed per module will result in either 1, 2 or more seedlings per module. I don't bother separating them at planting. As long as there are fewer than four they will push each other apart and usually have enough space to grow to a good size.
This year I sowed 4 x 12 cell trays at the end of March in the greenhouse as the weather was very cold then. Once they had germinated they got moved to the polytunnel. There they got rather forgotten about as other plants and the nursery stock demanded attention. Once space became available in the polytunnel bed I planted one of the trays out, nestled between spinach rows. I confess they got rather overshadowed by the spinach and must have taken a deep breath when it was removed and they could see the light again. Progress here was, and remains, slow.
In early May, in a fit of desperation that we would ever get weather suitable for planting outside, I turned to my trusted fish boxes in the other polytunnel and filled them with lovely compost from one of the compost bins. I then planted out one of the other trays, and pushed in some more beetroot seed in between the young beetroot plants. Here progress has been rapid. The beetroot have grown enormous healthy leaves and beneath are lovely round beet. They are close to harvesting and the seed is coming on fast too. They have obviously really enjoyed the rich moist growing conditions and the heat of the polytunnel.
Whilst I was weeding the chickweed from the outside planted beetroot, finally put in around mid-May, the advantages of modular sown beetroot really became clear.
It was so easy to weed around them, no need to thin, they were significantly ahead of the chickweed and well rooted so there wasn't the fear that I would inadvertently pull them out when weeding. In addition they were coming on well, much better than they would have been if I had waited for the weather to sow them direct.
The final advantage is that I can sow another batch to follow on from the autumn sown onions when they are harvested shortly from the polytunnel bed. But I think I will take a lesson from my fish box beetroot and make sure I enrich the bed with some more of my lovely compost before I plant them.
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