Veg beds are go!

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). 

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.

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). 

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.