I'm sat here on my sofa
watching a Bond film feeling a bit achy and a bit hung over
(unrelated ) but feeling a bit smug because this weekend I finished
my veg beds. April was really busy, people coming over and us going
away, so I didn't have a lot of time to spend in the garden. One
weekend I managed to build the beds, last weekend I finally got them
filled (and boy, I hurt after that).
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| And that is a beautifully trimmed hedge, if I do say so myself. |
We've got a lot of cats
living around us and they are frequent visitors to the garden, and
last year the only bed I had was routinely disturbed by they cats and
very little has the chance to grow. I knew I needed some cages/nets
if my poor little plants were going to survive so that's what I've
done. And what a massive pain in the arse it was too. I thought I'd
got it sussed, trying to keep the netting tight meant the bamboo
canes were contorted in all sorts of directions, and there was so
much spare over the top the cages had a roof but there was also a lot
of excess. And when I made sure that there was enough netting by
pinning it out around the base, when I pulled it up to cover the
sides, lo! It didn't meet at the sides :( I think the cages flair
slightly so although it all meets at the bottom it can't meet further
up. I managed to fix this by only having the netting cover the sides,
leaving the top open, if a cat climbs a 2m high net just to shit in
the veg patch then I'd be impressed enough to let it happen. One bed
still isn't completely sealed, but the sides that wouldn't meet are
now closed about half way up which should be deterrent enough.
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| Might be wonky but working well. |
The pop up green house
has been looking a bit over run as the plants have got bigger, so
against Monty Don's advice I've planted out my various squashes.
We're not the most dedicated of viewers, but sometimes on a Friday
evening there just isn't much else on. Dear old Monty was saying it
was too cold to plant out the courgettes yet, but the veg beds are in
a very sheltered area, and the last couple of frosts we've had
haven't touched the ground there so I think they'll be ok.
In addition to the
courgettes, patty pans and buffy ball squashes, I also planted out
the Egyptian Walking Onions which I'm really looking forward to see
mature and move about the beds in the future. I got mine from The Real Seed Co, the site says they like to send 4 bulbs to guarantee
one germination, but I think I got about six and all of mine
germinated, although some are still very small. To save you googling,
the EWOs, also known as topsetting onions, look a bit like chives in
spring, become more spring oniony towards summer and eventually
produce a set of tiny onions at the top of a stem which you can
harvest. The bubils can bend the stem with their weight and plant
themselves and grow in a slightly different place from the original
bunch, hence the walking. Seemed like a bit of fun anyway. Each bed
also got a couple of nasturtium plants, for a splash of colour, a bit
of pest protection and as a salad crop.
I've also sown some
seed tapes I got last year from Suttons for veg that'll be ready later in the
year; fennel, celeriac and chiogga beetroot. Seed tapes are designed
so that you don't need to thin seedlings as the seeds are impregnated
onto what looks like loo roll at the optimum spacing, so really easy
to plant out. I didn't have much luck with them last year, but that
was mostly because the cats disturbed them, but when I cleared the
bed from last year of weeds I found lots of little beetroots and
colourful chard that managed to survive.
The green house is
looking a bit clearer now, the tomatillos are doing well, but not
quite big enough to go out, good thing too as I don't have anywhere
for them yet. Melons are still going too, I think the recent cooler
weather has slowed them down a bit but I'm positive they'll pick up
when the weather does. I've got two types, musk melon and a
cantaloupe that is meant to be good for the UK (I've had a few people
give me funny looks when I said I was growing melons).
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| The before. More space in here now I've emptied two trays. |
I've managed to fight
through my achy head to plant some container potatoes and garlic this
afternoon, so now I'm happy. Nearly everything I wanted to do this
weekend I have done, I didn't sow any more tomatoes (I've had really
low germination from the last batch I put in), but it might still be
a bit early for them, and waiting another week won't hurt if I don't
get out one evening.
