Sorry for the lack of updates. As there has been a lack of posts this month you are getting the whole lot all at once!
April is one of the busiest months in the gardeners calandar, unlike this time last year we have been able to concentrate on the growing rather than the digging, yay! It has also been unseasonably dry, adding watering to my already long job's listl
The module sown peas, beetroot, turnip, brussel sprouts, cauliflowers and onions seedlings I have been growing at home the past couple of months have all been planted out on the plot and seem to be doing well, nothing has been demolished by slugs and snails thankfully and they are all hardy enough not to be bothered to much by the frosts this week.
I was also thrilled to see that the early carrots have germinated as well as the rainbow carrots the children sowed on their beds. Although the carrots germinated last year, every single one got munched by slimmies. They were sown very late though so I am hopeful this year that as we are on time with the sowings we should get better results.
I have also directly sown half of the maincrop carrots and the parsnips as well as the onion sets. I am really enjoying sowing directly into all that lovely compost, it was tough trying to make drills in the dry clay last year, I am hoping to see a difference in the germination rate with the no-dig approach.
The potatoes are in but did get a little frost damage, we ran out of compost to earth them up any more, something to remember next year and make sure we have a few bags ready. The plants should recover though, it will possibly just set them back a few weeks.
The asparagus crowns I ordered back in winter arrived this week. There is 4 'Guelph Millenium' and 8 'Gijnlim'. I broke all of the no dig rules and dug a trench for them in the traditional way. I just didn't have enough compost to bury them. It all turned into a bit of a disaster actually. The company I purchased them from hadn't paid enough postage meaning they sat at the post office for a week before I could collect them. They were looking a little worse for wear so I hurried to get them planted and possibly rushed the job a little (oops.) I was using two wheelbarrows but possibly forgot to make sure they were level. After slogging away for a while digging the trench one fell over and tipped it's load straight back into the trench. I may have gotten a little huffy and the husband stepped in to help. Ten minutes later the other one fell and also tipped it's load straight back into the trench. I actually properly lost my temper, for the first time EVER at the plot and had to have a cuppa to calm down. Oh well I won't do that again in a hurry and the asparagus is now in, yay. Shame we won't get a harvest for 3 years!
 |
| Apsaragus crowns being planted. |
We also welcomed some new strawberry plant additions, 10 'Honeoye' an early cropper (this featured in James Wong Grow for Flavour book so I am expecting a great taste from these) and 10 'Florence' a late cropper. Obviously we won't get a harvest til next year but I am so excited, stawberries are the childrens absolute favourite fruit- I will only buy them in season much to their frustration. But strawberries in January? Not in this house haha!
Mr Husband is looking at the stawberry patch as one of his next projects actually, he had decided that some permanent mini fruit cages will be much better than canes and netting, watch this space.
 |
| New strawberry patch extension. |
Speaking of fruit cages, he also finished fixing up the fruit cage! It is standing proud, has a roof that won't fall on my head and the door opens without doing Hudini tricks, hurray. We just need to empty it of rubbish before marking out beds and preparing it for lots of fruit in the winter.
 |
| Fruit cage close up! |
The sowing at home has been super busy too, with most of the squashes, courgettes and cucumbers freshly germinated and tomatoes, peppers, dill, sunflowers, leeks, kallets and calabrese growing nicely and waiting for their turn to be planted out.
I cannot wait for May to arrive with it's hopefully warmer temperature's and a bit of rain. Then I get to play with, what has turned out to be my favourite veg to grow- beans, I am already dreaming about the teepee's full of pods!
 |
| Plot overview end of April. |
