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The Veg Plot.
There were a few people here posting last year about their veg gardening efforts. It's about that time again, so let's see what progress folks make with their veg plots this year.
One of my daughters and I are getting busy with our veg gardening now. I got two of my three terraced beds back into production last year after an eight year layoff. We're busy getting the third bed back up and running again, and preparing a large fourth bed. Lot of work to do yet but progress is being made. I've just placed our seed order with Garden Organic and on Saturday a group of us went to a potato day organised by Shropshire Organic Growers. We were expecting a fairly small, low key event. We were pretty astonished to find the carpark rammed and several hundred people in the hall. Excellent event, we bought our seed potatoes there. We're doing tyre towers this year as an experiment. It takes up less space growing spuds vertically rather than horizontally, so we'll see how we get on. We're also hoping to put up a polytunnel this year, and we're going to remove two unproductive pear trees and make the area a soft fruit bed. Progress should accelerate once I have the money needed to by the timber to repair existing beds and build new ones. Pictures to follow once I get the chance. Anyone else starting yet? |
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Also makes it a lot easier to "dig" them up. :D I was just thinking the other day that I always leave it too late to get seeds planted etc and this year I'd start early. Then I forgot again so this thread is a good reminder. Subscribing to help remind myself to get on with it. |
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Went out on Saturday afternoon and got my seed potatoes, onion sets and all my packet seeds, so I've made a start. Spuds are in the dining room in egg box trays chitting and the onions are out of their retail poly bag so they don't sweat to death. Just need to find time to get out and empty the compost bin onto the raised beds and give them a rough dig over. Oh, and clear out the greenhouse and wash it down with disinfectant as it's not been done for a couple of years.
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It's that time of the year again. Sioned and I are starting seeds off now. We're sowing quite a bit of stuff indoors in plug trays and toilet roll tubes to get things off to an early start.
Garlic chives, cucumbers, two different types of courgette, (Golden Zucchini and Zucchini), and giant sunflowers. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...341da4a5_b.jpg Seed sowing by garynortheast Tomatoes and cucumbers in the plug tray, broad beans and leeks in the toilet roll tubes. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3d01d764_b.jpg Seed sowing by garynortheast More leeks. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...29c3572b_b.jpg Seed sowing by garynortheast Sioned sowing leeks. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...60de03e6_b.jpg Seed sowing by garynortheast |
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You're a bit further ahead than me Gary. I normally get tomato plants from a nursery nearby but the last couple of times it has been obvious that they don't take much care with the labels as two plants allegedly the same give very different fruits... Have gone for a packet of seeds this year and will probably set those off in another week or so. If the soil has drained enough after the deluge of the last three weeks I'll dig the raised beds over tomorrow ready for the first of the planting/sowing - the parsnip seeds and early spuds will go in sometime in March depending on the weather.
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I've never had much luck with leeks and cucumbers.
Struggled with peppers too until last year then managed to grow some small orange peppers. Chopped them up and put them in a salad only to find out I'd grown small orange habanero chillies. That was a fun evening! Hoping to get some sugar snap peas and courgettes planted in pots inside this week. Possibly some runner beans too as I really like the flowers on them. |
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This is the first time I’ve grown tomatoes from seed but a friend grew all hers from seed last year and they were very successful. Quote:
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We’ll pot on all the stuff in the plug trays once they’ve got going properly, then they’ll go out into the beds as soon as the last frosts have finished. The stuff in the toilet roll tubes will go straight in the ground, again once it’s warm enough. |
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Adam - cucumbers and peppers like to have just the right heat and humidity so can be tricky to grow depending on the variety. I had a go for several years but found the results poor but it was nice to try. Had poor results with leeks too out in the garden which is odd as onions grow very well in my soil. Hopefully you'll have better luck with the peas, beans and courgettes as they're all very easy to grow.
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That's why I grow them as they mostly just grow themselves and we get to watch the progress. :) |
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Had a good day on the veg plot in the sunshine today.
Sioned and I were out there from late morning. We've sourced lots more well rotted horse poo, so we got a good layer of it onto the two lower beds where we hadn't already mucked. Left an area without though as the carrots are going in there and too much muck makes them fork. I just need to go and get a few bags of bark chippings tomorrow morning to mulch the bits we haven't yet done. These two beds are ready for planting now. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...04cf5bc6_b.jpg Two lower beds ready for planting by garynortheast The larch boards I need were delivered earlier this week. These are going to be used to repair the top bed and build a long new bed. I'm just waiting for the timber for the posts to be delivered now https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...515085b2_b.jpg Larch boards for the new bed and repairs to the top bed by garynortheast This is how the top bed looks at the moment. Sioned and I have started digging out the weeds, but we can't do too much until the new boards are in place otherwise the whole bed will collapse. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...346af1a3_b.jpg Top bed - work in progress by garynortheast Sioned at work digging the edges of the new bed. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b7a843f7_b.jpg Sioned digging the new bed by garynortheast I'm going to grow the potatoes in tyre towers to save space, so this afternoon I sorted out where they were going. I have access to a large mound of old tyres: I have half of what I need but I need to go and get the rest this coming week. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bd15bf3c_b.jpg Start of the potato towers by garynortheast We had the last of the kale today, before pulling out the old plants and consigning them to the compost bin. This is Sioned's friend Eli harvesting the kale for us. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4aec929d_b.jpg Eli harvesting the last of the Kale by garynortheast |
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Finally got a few seeds planted. Not much as it looks like most of what we had in the box is very out of date and having to make do with what we have at home at the moment as we're still quarantined. So, just sugar snaps and a few courgettes for now.
We have a bet on to see which will arrive first, the first signs of green breaking through the soil or our home food delivery that we can't get before April 6th at the moment. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...eee7e9ef_c.jpg |
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Good luck getting the rest of your supplies Gary, now we're all being told to stay home.
Adam - see if you can get some seeds from the supermarket in your delivery. Most of them sell seeds so it's worth a try. |
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Busy couple of days yesterday and today.
The pear trees I was going to take out have had a reprieve. They're getting a last chance, so yesterday both my daughters went out and weeded most of the area surrounding the tree in the worst shape. It was falling over gradually and struggling for food and moisture, so it's now been weeded, soil loosened, a good feed of well rotted horse poo, and pulled back upright(ish) and staked. I'll give it a spray with a liquid seaweed solution soon and mulch the whole area with bark chippings. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e5a5b79d_b.jpg Peartree by garynortheast I have another pear tree and two apple trees all needing the same treatment, so that'll be one of the jobs for the next couple of weeks. I have three gooseberry bushes which are starting to be similarly dealt with. I'm keen to keep these going as they are cuttings I took 23 years ago from a bush which was then at least 50 years old. They are dessert gooseberries; big, fat, pink fruits and very sweet. I eat them raw quite often straight off the bushes. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b43b028c_b.jpg GooseberryBushes by garynortheast I have a few of these growing under my fruit trees. They come up dead reliably every year. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...03cdb88f_b.jpg Fritillary by garynortheast The bulk of the work today has been this. Finally starting to get the top bed into shape. The timber I was waiting for to make stakes with arrived this afternoon so we were able to make some progress. Tomorrow, Sioned and I are going to get one end completed first so the the rather tall broad beans I have in toilet roll tubes can be planted out. Hopefully by the end of the day we'll have the whole bed finished. Sioned also put together the narrow bed behind the sleepers and planted lots of bulbs and some wildflower bombs in it. We'll plant loads of stuff in there to attract pollinators and predators to the garden. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6a2a2366_b.jpg TopBed by https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...550aaedd_b.jpg TopBed by garynortheast |
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Fantastic Gary. Makes my effort so far seem puny. My first lettuce seeds have come up in pots on the utility room windowsill and it looks like the tomato seeds are just about to push through as well.
Early spuds and parsnip seeds will go in this weekend for me. |
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I bought this great little mini greenhouse affair from Aldi a few days ago. Perfect for hardening off stuff before it goes into the veg plot. It's much fuller with seedlings now than it is in this picture!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bc0376ac_b.jpg Aldi mini greenhouse by garynortheast Sioned planting bulbs yesterday. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...81ca08e2_b.jpg Sioned planting bulbs by garynortheast This is where we had got to with the top bed by 2pm today. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6c010df5_b.jpg Top bed - first part done by garynortheast Then by 6pm this evening the first part of the bed was dug, mucked, and ready, so the broad beans went in. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...133105c7_b.jpg Broad beans by garynortheast Quote:
I'd not thought about lettuce in pots but now I'm thinking I might get some going in toilet roll tubes to put out when they are bigger and better able to withstand the advances of the slugs and snails! Quote:
We have quite a few potatoes chitting on various window sills at the moment, and the Charlottes will be going into one of the tyre towers shortly. Sioned and I need to go and harvest a load of the dead bracken off the allt first though to pack the tyres before we put the compost in. |
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I always start the lettuce off on the windowsill after so many got "slugged" when I tried direct sowing. I have a small heated propagator as well but this seems to work best for lettuce. Just hope it's not quite as cold as predicted this weekend.
Great work on the top bed by the way. |
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Close to finishing the construction work on the top bed now. Another hour tomorrow should see it finished then I just need to dig it over.
I ran out of stakes before I could finish it, need to cut some more in the morning. I suppose you could say that by the end of the days work the stakes were rare. I'll get my coat..... https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e2e2df94_b.jpg Top bed, nearly there by garynortheast https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...62190e73_b.jpg Top bed, nearly there by garynortheast |
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Gary, looking good. Nice work.
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Thanks Martin.
Feeling pleasantly tired now after all the digging. Really looking forward to seeing this bed finished and ready to plant up. Once this bed is finished we can start on the job of the new 25ft terraced bed. |
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GROOOOAAAN! But good work! Quote:
You're a sucker for punishment aren't you?! |
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I've tried to order more seeds. Nothing available locally as all indie places are closed. Tried to get some from B&Q as they're able to do click and collect in our local one still. Only the option to buy them is greyed out on the website as they're seen as not essential? Surely they're future food (?) and B&Q is still open to sell other stuff anyway.
Then went online to other sellers to find that people are now charging £8 for 10 courgette seeds and other crazy prices and most don't have stock until an estimated September time! |
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I've planted all my courgette seeds now Adam, but I'll have a look around and see if I can find any around here for you.
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Cheers. Seller is away until 24th April. Probably longer I'd imagine if the lockdown continues.
I have planted a few courgette seeds I found in the box from last year, but from memory they weren't that great last year. Hopefully we'll have more luck with them this year and they weren't just dodgy seeds. We do have lots of homemade compost that is good to use this year, so that might be a help with the few seeds we do have. |
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Reasons to be cheerful....
1. Twelve bags of well rotted horse poo. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d906fc30_b.jpg HorsePoo by garynortheast 2. A nicely filled compost bin. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c42ffdd5_b.jpg Compost Bins by garynortheast 3. Top bed built, dug, and raked. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...29ea0fae_b.jpg Top Bed - Dug and Raked by garynortheast |
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The Range near us had seeds today, don't know if you have one near you? I don't know when we'll need to go back there again but I can see if there is anything left and try and grab you some. Same offer for anyone, just don't hold your breath as we've got enough stuff for a while. Ste |
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Cheers. I'll check the one in Bristol.
My wife did find a packet of courgette seeds today that she'd got me for Christmas, so we have at least 10 in date courgette seeds. No sign of life yet with the sugar snaps. |
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Glad you found some seeds Adam. They need to go in this weekend really, give you the longest possible growing season.
Sioned and I were out doing these this afternoon. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...29d8c30d_b.jpg Potato towers by garynortheast https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...81189791_b.jpg Potato towers by garynortheast https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9c97d175_b.jpgPotato towers by garynortheast Our potato towers. We were only going to do three of them originally, but I was given more seed potatoes and we now have six towers with another two to be added tomorrow. Great space saver for growing spuds. Pack the tyres with dead bracken or straw first, then plant the seed potatoes in a mix of well rotted horse poo and compost. Cover with more of the same, and when the shoots come through add another tyre treated the same way as the first one. I reckon we'll get to about six or seven tyres high before we harvest the spuds. Sioned potted on all the tomato plants today and my little greenhouse is getting a bit full. I may need to buy another one at this rate! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7a366471_b.jpg Full! by garynortheast Planted two rows of beetroot this evening with a row of radishes sown over the top of each row of beetroot. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...578e871e_b.jpg Beetroot and radishes by garynortheast |
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I'll be sowing the parsnips seeds this weekend. My toms are already nearly ready to pot on but not quite but I set mine off later than you Gary.
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The first courgette plants are appearing. So they've won over the home delivery of food we've waitied 3 weeks for so far.
More seeds to plant today from the stash that we found hidden since Christmas. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...93e4d296_c.jpg |
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Always a relief to see those seeds germinating!
Been very busy on the veg plot, up there pretty much all day, every day at the moment. The three main beds are all ready now with stuff going in. Onions, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, and radishes sown on the lower bed, and Broad beans on the top bed. Brassicas will be sown probably tomorrow in the middle bed. Today I was building the new fourth bed. It's a long job as I am having to dig out vast quantities of bracken, and hogweed root. I have the front timbers in place now, a couple of hours more digging out the back and the back timbers can go in. I have a load of pictures of progress over the last couple of days. I'll try and post them up tomorrow. |
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I got the pack of 10 (15) courgette seeds planted and then found loads of runner beans in the border that must be there from last year. A few of them seemed decent so potted those up too in hope they might come to something. I think the sugar snap peas I planted are all duds. So now it's just the beetroot seeds to sew.
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Re: The Veg Plot.
An update on progress.
The three original beds are now all operational, with several rows of seeds in the bottom bed and broad beans in the top bed. I'll be sowing lots more this month. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a07f239a_h.jpg Veg beds by garynortheast The leaning pear tree is now staked upright, weeded, mucked, fed with some wood ash (potash), and mulched, as are the gooseberry bushes. I've also planted in the bed, a fourth, self set plant which I grew on over the course of last year. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4caae5c7_b.jpg Gooseberry bushes, pear tree by garynortheast The bulbs at the far end of Sioned's border, up behind the top bed are all coming through, although it's too late for them to flower this year. It looks like the daffs we transplanted have survived too. At the near end of the border are a sowing of purple globe artichokes. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cf4c34b9_b.jpg Globe artichokes, Sioned's bulb and wildflower border by garynortheast The potato tyre towers are all planted up. I need some more timber to build retainers around the platforms, so I''ll get that ordered next week, along with the timber I need to build my fruit beds. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...714eb658_b.jpg Potato towers by garynortheast This was the new bed a couple of days ago. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...25a959a9_b.jpg New bed in progres by garynortheast This is where I've got to by this evening. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...502e4728_b.jpg New top bed by garynortheast It's taking a long time to dig it over as this is what I'm having to get out. There are five or six large piles of this stuff, drying out around the veg garden. Almost every fork full turns up a large mass of bracken, bramble, and hogweed roots. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...463250e2_b.jpg Weeds n' Roots by garynortheast All this as well. It came out of the top bed. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...34cdb5a9_b.jpg Weeds n' Roots by garynortheast All of it will go in these when it's dried out properly. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cbd216e0_b.jpgCompost bins by garynortheast Hopefully, one more day of digging will clear the new bed, then I'll go and get another dozen bags of horse muck to dig in, and to lay in the bottom of some trenches I'll dig and backfill, ready to plant runner beans over. Still to do are proper footpath construction (essential on the slope my veg plot is on), fruit beds to build, rescuing my 2nd pear tree and the three apple trees, and a polytunnel to buy and build! Enough to keep me well occupied for what could be a long haul under restrictions. |
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Seriously good activity levels Gary. I'll hopefully get the onion sets in tomorrow if my knees will let me. I did very little today after knackering myself yesterday cutting the lawn before scarifying it, weeding the herb garden and then washing all the windows around Trev Towers.
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Finished digging over the new bed today, so now it's all raked and ready for an application of horse poo. Feeling the effects of running this morning and then spending most of the afternoon digging! I'm going to make a start on weeding the second pear tree tomorrow, ready for an application of muck and a mulch of bark chippings. Off to get another dozen bags of muck from the monster horse poo heap on Monday! |
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Very productive day today. Started with Sioned and me heading around the side of the allt to collect a few bags of bracken litter, ready to stuff the next layer of tyres on the potato towers. Just in time too, as I noticed this evening that the first shoots are now breaking through the compost, so I'll need to add more tyres this week.
Then, while I potted on the last 7 or 8 acorns we've germinated, Sioned sowed cabbages, Romanescu caulis, and sweetcorn into modules and toilet roll tubes. Then I headed up onto the plot and sowed early purple sprouting, and green sprouting broccoli, and chard. Just had dinner now and it included a crumble made by Sioned, which used up the last of the previous years soft fruit - gooseberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, and rhubarb. Just pulled the first of this years rhubarb as well. That's now trimmed, chopped, and bagged up in the freezer. |
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I sowed some rhubarb seeds a week or so ago in the greenhouse and they're now showing through. We inherited an overgrown crown when we moved in but something clearly go to it as it suddenly died off last year and has not come up this spring, hence sowing more.
I do have raised beds but only with 8x1 boards from the builders merchant. Enough to improve drainage and let me add in a few barrow loads of compost each year. I have six 10ft x 4ft beds so plenty of options for crop rotation. The good drainage does however mean the top layer can be a bit dry and friable sometimes so beetroot never germinates very well. As a trial I sowed some in newspaper pots in the greenhouse and they're showing through now too so I may keep doing that from now on before transplanting out when established. The biggest issue I have though is the local cats. Since we lost our black lab Jackie three years ago they now strut around the place. They also use my raised beds as giant litter trays so I have to go out every evening and wet them down to dissuade them. Doesn't always work... |
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Trev, if you want to improve the water retention in the beds make them a bit deeper and dig in loads of organic matter - leaf mould, well rotted manure etc.
Frames of chicken wire laid over the beds will keep the cats off. |
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Bit of a gentler day on the plot today. First mission was to go and bag up another 14 bags of horse manure and bring it back.
Second job was to start preparing the new bed for planting runner bean in a few weeks time. I'm doing six rows of them this year, so started digging the trenches to put a layer of muck into and then backfilling them. Ran out of daylight at trench 4 so back out tomorrow morning to do the last two. I may do the same thing for the climbing French beans as well as neither they nor the runners like to have the roots drying out. Sioned and I went up onto the plot yesterday and made a rough plan of where we want the fruit beds to go. Tomorrow we'll go and measure up so that I can order the timber I need for the job. I'll also start on the weeding and feeding around the second pear tree. |
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