Polytunnel Planted Up (nearly)

 This year I'm trying to go for lower effort in the veg garden. I want a year to get on top of the weeds, they're really taking hold in some beds and having imported bindweed (unwittingly) I need to do something to stop their advance. So I've sheeted over a few outside beds and will sow some green manure on others. 

I'll still grow loads of beans, peas, sweet corn and squash, but might not go to my usual levels this year. 

The same is true in the polytunnel.

 Last year I enjoyed having loads of different crops in there, but we've gone for easy productivity this year. I've covered the beds in black plastic, to keep the weeds at bay and to help retain moisture. The plastic in the rest of my garden has been in use for years now and is still looking good. I didn't buy any more in, just used what I have. 

I've gone for just a few crops in there, all with similar spacings. Tomatoes down both sides, 51 plants in total, then some melons, about 16 cucumber/gherkin plants and about 10 ground cherry plants. So not the sheer number of different plants this year, but with the automatic watering, easy weed control and a good trellis system that I've wired up I'm hoping the hardest bit will be deciding what to do with all the tomatoes! 

There's about 20 types in there as well as some grafted ones I bought in. I'm really pleased with the plants I grew from seed and love their root system. I have also got 5 "storage" type tomatoes that are supposed to harvest on the vine and eat as they ripen up to Christmas. 

I think the two greenhouses will have a year without tomatoes because of the sheer number of them in the polytunnel, I plan to fill this with cucamelons, and maybe try to grow some strawberries in there - or at least get some plants strong enough to grow well next year (I never do well with strawberries). 

Anyone else go their undercover growing sorted in this terrible spring we're having?

The Garden In April

I've never spent so much time in the garden in April before. 

This was just as a much needed rain storm broke

The lock down coupled with the glorious weather has meant I'm on top of it all for once! Well in the veg garden at least... Everywhere else still looks a mess!

Permaculture Soft Fruit?

I've been toying with an idea in my head for a few years now and wanted to experiment.

I garden with many different methods and never really stick to one, but if you're into organic gardening then sooner or later you're going to come across permaculture.

The wikipidia definition of permaculture is:-
"Permaculture is a set of design principles centered around whole systems thinking simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and resilient features observed in natural ecosystems. It uses these principles in a growing number of fields from regenerative agriculture, rewilding, community, and organizational design and development."

New Growing Areas Created

Well not completely new it must be said.

I'm going to show you all a picture of what was my soft fruit garden and you have to promise not to laugh!

ARGH! You promised!

This is my not so little corner of shame in my veg garden. It's a real shame because the veg garden, with it's 32 even beds and cordon apple trees down the side is looking pretty good these days, then as you get to the bottom you see this overgrown mess.

Autumnal Veg Box

Put together a veg box for a friend this week. 

I really was pleased with the colours and the selection.

Clockwise from left to right:

Celeriac,

Lovage,

Patty Pan Summer Squash,

Swiss Chard,

Carrots,

Florence Fennel,

Globe Artichokes,

Tomatilos,

I love how much is available this time of year! 

What would be in your dream box for October?

Dig It Up, Plant Again

Last week I mentioned about double cropping beds. 

Here is a good example of that:

This bed has produced around 35 kohlrabi so far but as I harvested the last one last week it was time to get it producing again. 

I pulled up  the plastic, scattered some blood, fish and bone powder, a bit more compost and raked it over. 

Then I got my Earthway seeder out and drilled five rows of carrots (two times on each row to make it nice and thick) over the 30 inch bed. That's another 50ft of carrots to harvest in a few months time. 

Hopefully the plastic will have killed off lots of the weed seed that was near the surface and because I haven't turned the soil it should have brought any more to the surface. There will be weed pressure but it should be minimal now and by the time the crop grows it, planted close together like this it should form a canopy to keep other weeds suppressed. 

I should say that I also heavily watered this bed before I planted the carrots as it had been weeks without rain and the surface was very dry.

Pea Supports

Call me lazy but I lately I hate growing climbing plants. It's the extra effort of putting up the supports, tying them in and making sure they stay up. 

Trouble is there's lots of plants I want to grow that are not dwarf varieties. These two peas as are a good example, Bijou mange tout and a Latvian soup pea, both grow big and need good supports (seed bought form The Real Seed Catalogue) so a few sprigs of hazel weren't really going to cut it! 

I had a look a bout the place and found some lengths of concrete reinforcing bar about 8ft (2.4m) long. That was going to take some bending from the weight of a few peas! I had six lengths, perfect for two beds. 

Stood on one of my saw horses I knocked them in with a sledge hammer. I kept going until they were stood six feet out of the ground. 

Then with the aid of two young assistants I tied string every six inches up the bars (they held the string for me), I'm hoping this will prove strong enough for them, I've not grown climbing peas before, normally I stick to dwarf ones, so I've no idea how it will hold up.

What do you use for pea supports? 

How big do your climbing varieties get?

Do you think my supports will be strong enough or should I upgrade the string?