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Vegmonkey and the Mrs.
Campaign for lovely labels! March 5, 2008
It’s the Mrs here – yes I do exist! At last I have actually been trusted to write a blog entry – or in reality had access to the computer long enough to do so – hhhmmm.
Last week when we were planting out the various seeds and the potatoes it was my honourable task to write the labels. Frustratingly we have three different types of labels and with my self-diagnosed O.C.D. kicking in I wish we’d stuck with one type! I am keen to have jam packed full beds but also keen that the garden looks pretty and girly – I’ve got to have some space for candles, windchimes and oh yeah, flowers. Anyhow back to the labels…
We received the green labels as a Christmas gift and I really like the fact that the look quite organic but they don’t seem to be lasting that well. The metal ones were found at a car boot sale but offer a modern and trendy feel - I get quite an urge to put a metal watering can next to them and take a photo for Ideal Home magazine. That just leaves the white plastic labels – well say no more – I’m starting a campaign to get rid of them! I know they’re probably the most functional but surely the veggies and plants should be the focus, not bright white labels littering the beds. I beg you to offer your support!
Planting on Sat 1st March March 2, 2008
As last year we didn’t get anything planted until about the middle of April, we thought we’d start nice and early this year with a few things going into the ground, a few into outdoor pots and a few into seed trays in the mini greenhouse.
In the Brassica bed, i’ve put a row of turnip seeds straight into the ground and planted 8 Brussel Sprout seeds and some ‘All Year Round’ cauliflower in pots in the mini greenhouse. The seedlings should grow nicely if i remember to water them, ready for planting out around mid-April time. I am conscious the Sprouts will take up the space for a long time so have decided to put them out the way at the back. I’ll only be putting in 5 plants, but it’s nice to be able to choose the healthiest.
The Legumes bed had nothing new in it, but as the picture at the top shows, the Feltham First Peas are slowly coming through. Interestingly, the same variety i planted under cover at the same time have come on better, so that shows my cold frame is actually working. The picture is meant to look like that by the way, i spent a little while out in the garden this morning experimenting with the aperture settings on my camera. A nice effect i think.
In the Cucurbits bed, we still have the overwintering onions, which to be honest, i’m not sure will come to much, but nothing needs to go in the space so i may as well leave them alone. We planted the chitted ‘Ulster Sceptre’ Potatoes in here too. There are three rows, each with 4 tubers. 3 tubers have also gone into each of the 2 ‘potato buckets,’ shown top, as an experiment to see which produces more and bigger potatoes. In the third potato bucket, i planted 3 ‘Wilja’ tubers that i picked up at Dundry Nurseries at the weekend. These are a maincrop, so will be ready a lot later than the First Earlies. The plan is that the potatoes and onions are harvested, and the squashes and courgettes go in. This makes the most of the space and allows us to grow more.
In the Roots bed, i have planted a row of purple carrots, a row of orange ones, two rows of parsnips and about 60 onions sets (30 Setton, 30 Red Baron). I have not covered any of them, so am going to keep my eye on the weather forecast to avoid a frost. I’m fed up with the faff of removing and replacing fleece covers morning and evening! The Purple Sprouting is still sitting proudly in the middle of this bed, so when that comes out mid-April, i’ll successionally plant the rest of the onions and another couple of rows of each carrot. I think 150 onions in total will be enough for us, so that is what’s going in! We have decided against Leeks this year as i think carrots and onions are much more fun to grow and we use them more!
Finally, some sweetcorn went into pots to see how it germinates, and a lot of lettucy bits, but that’s a post for another day when we start seeing the first signs of a few leaves.
Rhubarb is something i really wanted to grow this year, but that will have to wait until i have more space. I know the garden centres have some plug plants for sale already but what’s everyone else got in?
When gardening becomes a Blur March 1, 2008
Friday was ‘Green Leap Day’ for the National Trust, a chance for everyone who works there to get the day off, to make an impact on the environmet and reduce their environmental footprint, by doing things such as changing to energy saving lightbulbs or starting a compost heap.
At the school i teach at, we have good links with Hidcote Manor Gardens, a beautiful National Trust site in the Cotswolds, not far from Chipping Campden. Definately worth a visit if you are in the area.
It was arranged that we would have a visit from Dame Fiona Reynolds, who is the Director General of the National Trust and from Alex James, who used to be in Blur and is now a farmer. The head gardener, deputy head gardener and a mix of other soily people came to help us out too.
A few carefully selected children spent the morning talking to Alex and Dame Fiona, and planting a variety of things including Early potatoes, broad beans, onion sets and herbs. We began by digging over the beds, which was followed up by a lot of time counting the worms and working out whose was longest and whose was fattest!
Alex then did and assembly all about how we could be more ‘green.’ A fantastic day morning was had by all, the beds got half planted up too, and one of the compost bins got turned too. Before i was interviewed on camera, Alex recommended i grow Artichokes at home, but sadly here i don’t have the space for something like that, however if i ever do get an allotment, they will be top of the list! We also discussed how veg gardening usually ends up being more expensive than buying it in the supermarket…you can’t beat the taste or the fact that you know exactly where they’ve come from and what they’ve got on them! I couldn’t resist a photo…i think he’s cheering as he thinks it’s a publicity photo though, not ‘cos it’s Vegmonkey, but heh, i can dream!
Quite how he has gone from iconic indie superstar, to being involved in the Beagle Space mission, to being Artist in Residence in Astrophysics at Oxford, to a Cheese Making Farmer, i don’t know, but he’s using his fame to raise green issues and living the ‘good life’ by the looks of it which is where i expect we’ll all end up in the end.
How to improve veg garden soil in Spring February 27, 2008
Since most of our soil in the raised beds is from compost bags and is mixed with sand, i thought it about time to check the ph of the soil (apparently that means ‘potential of hydrogen’ – it’s the water in the soil that is measured, not the soil itself). Something i didn’t know up until last week.
I’ve previously used ph soil mixtures, where soil is put in a small testube with water and shaken. The resulting colour is then measured against a chart. I am guilty of losing the charts and measuring instructions, recently, but in the past have never been truly enamoured by the green sludge that i end up with.
I decided that i would invest in an electronic ph meter as (another!) little luxury. Sticking it into the soil, it seems the ph of most places is about 8. Neutral is 7 and the best ph for veg growing is between 6.0 and 7.5 as that is when the soil has the most nutrients available for the plants growing in it. Being ph8, the soil is Alkaline, where to grow most veg it needs to be slightly acidic.
I realised i needed to do something about lowering the ph of my soil so set about researching on the net. I new already that animal manure is slightly acidic and had added planty of that, but needed to know more. I found a lot of information on adding lime, including application rates for different soils etc, but this sadly is the method for increasing the ph of the soil. Not good. I eventually found some information about the addition of yellow sulphur to the soil. So, i popped down to Robery Youngs, the local garden centre and picked some up. I duly sprinkled it on the beds at the recommended rate, but it seems it takes about a year to work after being dug in! I would have liked a quick fix, but there doesn’t seem to be a safe one!
So, it’ll just have to be chicken pellets or something of the like next year if nothing improves. Or maybe i’ll just have another amazing crop of veg and not worry about it!
The ph meter is actually quite interesting as it also has a light meter on it (not that i can move my beds!) and a moisture meter (could be useful?!).
After applying the sulphur i spent some time looking at what ‘goodness’ the soil actually needs replacing after a year of having things grown in it.
The three main things the soil needs for good plant growth are nitrogen (good that i left the bean roots and the green manure roots in the soil to leave their nitrogen then!), potassium and phosphorus. These are sometimes known as NPK. It seems manure is good for this…rabbit being quite good (how would you collect so much?) and bat being particularly good apparently! I’ve stuck with good old fashioned horse manure. Nice and simple.
This led me on to find out about how much goodness the manure actually contains…i know it does lots of good to the actual soil structure, but what about the innards! This website http://gardening.wsu.edu/stewardship/compost/manure/manure0.htm contains some useful information. It describes manure as being like introducing thousands of tiny little sponges into the soil to hold in the moisture and make the nutrients more available. It also says that manure does contain a relatively small amount of nutrients and should not be relied upon alone as a soil improver.
This website http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/growing_show_vegetables_1/organic-matter-humus.php says that farmyard manure can be over 80% water and as a soil food, it is best ignored.
So where to get the nutrients from? I’ve decided to use a blood fish and bone mix. This has an N-P-K ratio of 6-7-6 and will be applied at the rate of 4oz per square yard before planting. It is organic, a balanced fertiliser and will release its goodness slowly, however it does need to be reapplies every 6 – 8 weeks.
There are many other organic and inorganic fertilisers available i’m sure but i think this will do the job nicely. This is getting complicated…
What’s still in the ground? February 23, 2008
Next Saturday will be amazing fun! I know it already. It will be the first main planting day for us at Vegmonkey and the Mrs. Not much will go straight in the ground apart from the potatoes, but a lot of things will be going into seed trays and the ‘greenhouse’. Last year we planted a lot of beneficial plants that encourage insects such as limanthes douglasii (poached egg flower) in the beds, but found it made the beds untidy, cluttered and took away valuable growing room. This year, the aim is for the garden to be a lot tidier and more organised.
As the previous post showed, the stupidly long and annoying purple sprouting broccoli is really getting in the way as i want to be planting the onions where it is, next weekend. I’m sure there’s a way round it. It does look like it’s a few days from producing – i will find it very difficult not to post on it when i crop the first bunches! We’ve also got some beautiful rocket that has sat in the ground for about six months, slowly growing happily and not bolting. The japanese onions that we planted back last year are also growing well, although i have read on a few other blogs that these have not been hugely successful, i’m going to leave them to see what happens as the space for the cucurbits isn’t needed until at least June.
Finally, the Winter Walcheren cauliflower planted last July/August sat in seed trays before being transplanted into the brassica bed. I have since moved the three plants that survived the winter winds into this years brassica bed. They seem to have survived the move, and hopefully will grow really bushy soon – that’ll mean cauliflower by April! Here’s hoping. There’s a pic of the Senshyu Japanese Onions and the Winter Walcheren Cauliflower at the top.
Next job: tidy garden and clean seed trays ready for next weekends planting!
Growing ‘Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli’ – update February 15, 2008
As this is our first year (almost over!) at Vegmonkey and the Mrs. and one of the biggest lessons we have learnt is not to grow early purple sprouting broccoli in such a small garden as ours, as it takes over and needs a huge amount of space. We planted it in April, and it is just beginning to sprout from the main head as can be seen from the picture. I posted previously about the plant and the battering it has taken over the year. It really is a very hardy plant! I’ll cut this main head as soon as it grows a little more, then hopefully lots of little side spears will appear and we will have lots of broccoli.
The ideal scenario with Broccoli is to grow lots of plants and take a little off each one so not to exhaust each plant too much in one go. A bit like you would with rocket. We don’t have this privilege sadly so will have to be careful.
Now at the start of this post i said our lesson learnt was to not grow early purple sprouting in such a small space. It also doesn’t fit into our rotation (crops March to May) as i will need the bed space very soon for the roots and onions and i loathe to take out a producing plant.
HOWEVER, being a stubborn sod i want to make it fit!
The plan is to grow:
Summer Purple – Sow March to April. Harvest June to October (this is very early and will enable us to have this delicious vegetable in the middle of the summer!)
In pots ready to go i the ground when the summer purple stops producing
Rudolph – Sow March – May. Harvest Nov to Feb (putting it in at the start of October will also hopefully produce smaller plants than the monster we have at the moment.)
In pots to plant out in Feb after Rudolph has stopped cropping as a bit of an experiment.
Cardinal – Sow April to May. Harvest March – April
So hopefully we will have a cropping plant of some description for 10 months of the year, which is pretty amazing in my book. I’ll make sure i post on how it’s doing as it seems to be the second most popular search that my blog is ‘found’ on, behind the planting planner. If anyone has any trouble tracing the varieties, let me know and i’ll hunt out the seed packets.
How to build raised beds…by popular demand! February 11, 2008
As a lot of people have enquired as to where the raised beds came from, i thought i’d develop that into a post about raised beds, and how to create them. It was quite a long process which we went through, when we first decided to make the beds, and even purchased the house based on the fact we could fit four in. If that’s not dedication to ‘growing your own,’ i don’t know what is!
We started looking at these raised beds but decided they were too expensive for what they were, didn’t look amazingly nice and didn’t look like they’d take the battering we were probably going to give them! We then thought about old railway sleepers like these but were concerned about chemicals such as tannins affecting the veg as we wanted to be completely organic. We finally decided on oak boards which are actually only available within a certain distance of Herefordshire but if you live in Kent you can also buy them. These were a hundred times better than any scaffold planks we found. Email me and i’ll send you the link.
The cost was quite a lot but i think the initial investment was important as we intend to be in the house for a good few years. The beds were delivered on a large lorry, and took me and my best man (this is 12 days before our wedding!) two days to put together, using a very big drill bit, but a drill that really wasn’t fit for purpose!
The size of the beds are: 1.2m by 2.4m (the area in the middle being slightly smaller). The height is 250mm and the thickness is 60mm. They were very heavy, but untreated, from a sustainable source and organic. The bolts supplied were 4” long.
Once it all got together, it looked nice, but needed something putting in it. For the filling (i’m making this sound like making a sandwich!) we put about five 120 Litre bags of Westland Multipurpose compost in each bed, on top off a layer of cardboard to stop the weeds, and then the cardboard eventually rots down. Mixed in with this we put 2 big 20kg bags of sharp sand to help drainage and dug in some slow release organic fertiliser. The thinking behind this was that garden topsoil, which we could have got free from freecycle would have suited, but the quality wouldn’t have been as good as bagged compost and it would more than likely have been littered with weed seeds…which would have needed weedkiller etc!
After being on the ground for almost a year, the beds have held up very well. They are slightly damp at the moment but are beginning to dry out nicely with all this sun we’ve been having.
The picture below shows what the beds looked like back in April.
Build – a – ball Brassica cage February 10, 2008
After the cabbage white butterfly decided to lay a load of eggs all over the purple-sprouting broccoli which led to an invasion of yellow and black caterpillars, i have decided to provide some protection.
The initial idea of something homemade really wasn’t very good (i got a bit confident after the creation of the cold frame!) so i splashed out on the Build-a-ball system from harrod horticultural. I think it cost somewhere around £40 for the balls and the metal parts. It was quite complicated to order, but i was happy with what i purchased. The size was 2.4m x 1.2m which is the size of our beds so i had to get the hacksaw out and chop the equivalent of the boards that surround the soil…if that makes sense.
The cage will be covered with enviromesh to prevent any beasties. We’ve tried fleece in the past to cover beds, but the enviromesh is a lot finer, so keeps more out, and is a lot tougher, so will last much longer.
I’ve since been looking on other websites and at other peoples’ pictures and have seen that some people have substituted metal poles for stiff rubber tubing or garden canes. I can see how this would be cheaper but i don’t know if it would be as sturdy considering we get quite a lot of wind in our garden (insert pun here!) or be strong enough to take the weight of the enviromesh at full height. I suppose it will also depend on if the canes fit into the holes on the balls.
Taking that on board though, i’m going to use garden canes to make a smaller cage for when the plants are young, building up to the full size one with the metal poles as the Purple Sprouting Broccoli grows. The pictures show how the build a ball as i originally installed it and the ‘new’ adapted smaller version which will still enable the greenhouse to get some light…until things start to grow…!
AFTER:
Next job: Move August planted Winter Walcheren Cauliflowers from current Brassica bed to new one.
Where to put a veg plot? February 6, 2008
A friend of mine has a nice, grassy, back garden which is just begging for a veg plot, so that he can grow some veg with his littl’un. After asking for my advice…(i do what i can!) i went round and tried to give him the benefit of my knowledge. There are a couple of pics of the space above that show the space.
I would like any advice that i can pass on to him about where would be good to put the plot and what to grow, would be much apreciated, as it’s always good to get a few opinions! It’s important to know that his other half doesn’t want the plot to impinge too much on the garden and that the patio will be covered with a greenhouse, pretty soon. Plus he doesn’t want to spend a huge amount of time on it as he works long hours!
Now there’s a challenge!
‘Feltham First’ Peas Planted February 3, 2008
I thought i’d take the opportunity to sow some peas today. I know they won’t come up yet but it’s nice to get them in the ground and get a plant label in (i got some nice new wooden ones for Christmas..which will slowly disappear as the plants grow!). I planted a variety called ‘Feltham First.’ It can be planted in Autumn but i have chosen to put it in prior to Spring and I’m keeping it covered until the weather warms up a little. Either way, another row or two will go in, in March. I’m assuming that as the temps warm up, that won’t take long to catch up.
I planted 2 rows of the peas 5cm apart and about a metre between rows. The theory is that the rows should be the same distance apart as the plants grow high…if that makes sense. I also planted a few seeds in some old guttering so that if i have any gaps, these can be filled by the spares. I’m not sure how i will support the plants yet. I think it will depend on if i can get hold of some sturdy hazel sticks, otherwise it will just be canes i feel, with some sort of netting strung between them.
As you can see from the delicious waste above, before i planted the peas, i dug a nice deep trench and filled it with the a mixture from our kitchen caddy. This has been slowly rotting over the last week and filled the trench nicely. It’s mostly veg peelings, crushed eggshells and teabags. I added some organic fertiliser slow release pellets to this. The roots will have a nice supply of goodness as they grow as peas like a deeply dug rich soil.
I really wanted to put the mange-tout in but am going to hold off until the start of March i think so that i don’t have to give them any protection.
Mad English weather / What we are planting… February 1, 2008
Mad English Weather
When will this weather end! I do like the rain and i don’t really mind the wind or cold temperatures but not altogether! My homemade greenhouse met a sticky end as it was ripped from its home attached to the wall and unceremoniously hurled towards the Senshyu Onions, who, up until then, were growing quite happily! Soil was thrown everywhere, pots upturned and Spring onions evicted from their plastic trays after overwintering well. Looking on the brightside, it made me think about the organisation of the garden…if the greenhouse won’t stay, then i’ll move it!
It ended up being the coldframe that got moved, from the back wall to the side wall. Here it quite bizarrely fits quite nicely and will be a lot more easily accessible. The greenhouse is homeless at present.
What we are planting
I thought i’d post what i’m planting too. A lot of the varieties are ideal for a small garden for one reason or another, whether it be the short growing time, long cropping, winter hardiness or small size. I’ve grouped them by bed for each of reference. The planting plan is here for cross referencing if need be. I’d be very interested to hear if anyone has had any successes or failures with these varieties.
Brassicas
Brussel Sprouts - Bedford – Winter Harvest
Radish – Sparkler 3
Swede – Magres
Turnip – Purple Top Milan
Cauliflower – All Year Round and Winter Walcheren Pilgrim
Purple Sprouting Broccoli – Summer Purple and Rudolph
Cucurbits
Pumpkin/Squash – Jack-be-little, Uchiki Kuri and Burgess Vine Buttercup
Courgette – Defender (long ones) and Tondo di Piacenza (round ones)
Legumes
Peas – Feltham First
Runner Beans – Some Navy Blue ones from next door! and Painted Lady
Dwarf French Bean – Borlotto Firetongue
Mangetout – Oregon Sugar Pod
Roots
Leek – Musselburgh Improved
Spring Onion – White Lisbon and Laser
Onion Sets – Sturon and Red Baron (not heat treated – worried may bolt!)
Parsnip – Countess F1 (last years seeds so may not be viable)
Carrot – Autumn King 2 and Purple Haze F1
Leafy Stuff
Lettuce – All year round, Pandero (Cos) and Granada
Spinach – Oriental Mikado F1, Tirza F1, Emilia
Rocket – Skyrocket (looks brilliant) and wild rocket
Endive – Bianca Riccia da Taglio
Mizuna – Mizuna
Swiss Chard – Bright Lights
Herbs
Rosemary, Sweet Genovese Basil, Coriander Delfino, Plain leaved parsley, Envy Parsley, Chives, Coriander
Oddbods
Tomato – Oregon Spring, Ailsa Craig and Gardener’s Delight
Pepper – Pretty in Purple Rainbow Chile Pepper, Sweet Orange Baby and Californian Wonder
Sweetcorn – Lark F1
Anything not on the planting plan will be either in pots, hanging baskets or attached to a bed in a currently unknown place! Bring on the warmer weather!
Potatoes – buy, chit, plant, earth up, eat – with weetabix!? January 27, 2008
This is the first year of us attempting to grow potatoes. Due to the lack of space we have plumped for a variety called ‘Ulster Sceptre,’ which is a first early. ‘Ulster Chieftan’ and ‘Swift’ were the other options i thought about but the former has relatively poor resistance to disease (not usually a problem with earlies as they aren’t in the ground long enough) and the latter i think is too common!
The first step to home grown potatoes is debatable. Chitting involves putting the seed potatoes in a light frost free place such as a covered greenhouse or a windowsill so that they begin to sprout. The purpose of this is to give them a head start so that when they go in the ground, they have more of a chance. The sprouts appearing should be green – not white as this indicates they have not had enough light, and should number no more than 3 or 4. If they do appear too early or are white, according to www.gardenaction.co.uk they can be rubbed off up to 5 times before it has any adverse effect on the sprouts that replace them, which is interesting. Timing is everything! However, through reading i have done myself and discussion with other gardeners, it seems it is only necessary if you want a really early crop. It’s also interesting to note that commercial potato growers don’t chit at all.
I am using an old apple holder whatsit that was no longer needed by Morrisons to chit mine in as i didn’t have the foresight to save egg boxes. Silly, i know!
Potatoes should be planted in early March. I am going to dig a trench about 10cm deep, and place the potatoes in the trench about 25cm apart with about 50cm between each row. This will then be covered over by hand, so not to damage the sprouts. The recommended distance for earlies is 30cm by 60cm but i really do not have the space to plant any closer, and don’t mind the smaller potatoes that will result. As the potatoes grow, they will need to be earthed up – the RHS describe this as the drawing up of soil around the plant to prevent the greening of tubers by light and to prevent the onset of blight. I am aware that i may have to build some sort of structure to enclose the soil around the plant as it grows, as the beds aren’t hugely deep – a chance to buy more tools methinks!
We will also have some in large black pots that i purchased at the potato event last weekend. They have drainage holes in the bottom, and will each take 3 of the egg-sized tubers, producing no less that 15lb’s per tub! That’s pretty good going in my book. I need to remember to add some slow release organic fertiliser at planting as i always forget ‘in the excitement of planting…’
In the grand scheme planting plan wotsit, the potatoes will be occupying about a quarter of bed 2, the one that houses the roots. I have already manured most of the bed and will be ’sorting’ the PH at the beginning of the Spring. When they are removed in June, Leeks or Parsnips will go into their space, depending on which have been the most successful in the mini-greenhouse. From past experience, it’ll be the Leeks!
The only problem with earlies is that they don’t store hugely well. Might have to find some interesting ways of cooking them…potatoes with weetabix anyone?
