Apr 5th, 2009
April 2009 – update
1-4-09
Bought some comfrey root cuttings via ebay and planted all 5 out today. They are in an unused area near the compost bins. They are Bocking 14 so should not take over too much, they will be very handy next year onwards for plant feed, the potato trench and on the compost pile.
4-4-09
Started to dig the area for the beans and sweetcorn, getting ready to build the bean frame mentioned in last months update, more to follow on this.
All 4 sweet pepper seedlings have germinated so my little one is happy. Sowed some Basil Sweet seeds into pots today for the wife, shame I’m the only one who hates pesto! Potted on half of the cucumbers and San Marzano tomatoes, the cucumbers looked great but I think I should have left the tomatoes in the pot for another week or so to build up a better root structure. Will leave the other pot of tomatoes to develop a bit more before potting on.
16-4-09
Seedlings still doing well, left them alone for 5 days while we went away and no ill effects so far. Popped up the plot and dug another 3 feet of the bean bed, starting to hit the clay pan at one spit depth now – this will need some work to sort out the soil. Potted up the rest of the cucumber and San Marzano tomatoes. Tonight is paper pot night, lots to make for runners, sweetcorn, beetroot and French beans. Actually only made 23 pots as I spent a long time investigating if it was ok to use newspaper with coloured ink, seems to be ok as long as you avoid the glossy stuff, most papers use soya based inks. The pots are standing proudly in a seed tray waiting for compost and a bean!
18-4-09
The paper pots were used today! 23 runner beans (Red Knight) were potted up and stood in a tray. Put some cling film around the pots to hold them together as a group and also to stop them drying out too quickly, they are now on the window sill. It was nice to try something new, free and instant with the paper pots so I had another go, this time with climbing french beans (Blue Lake). Potted up 22 but this time I used paper clips to hold the pots together which made the structure more robust. Also I put the cling film around the pots before watering, much easier this way as the pots are still relatively rigid.
19-4-09
Picked up a load of free pots via freecycle, most are very usable so I’m quiet pleased, will prick out the cherry tomatoes and peppers tomorrow into some of the pots.
20-4-09
After 3 weeks and no sign of the comfrey I investigated to see if any of the root cuttings were growing, sadly none of them had done a thing, they were the same as when they went in. This means one of two things: 1) They are dead, 2) They are nearly dead and need a better place to grow. I’ve gone for option 2, dug them up and potted them in compost indoors. If nothing happens then I will give the bloke who sold them to me £3 worth of verbal abuse.
Thinned the peppers and cherry tomatoes into individual pots. Sowed a tray of radishes and a module tray of spring onions, left them in the greenhouse. The radishes are sowed in a uniform way to create a low maintenance consistent crop, this post gave me the inspiration and I have to say I really enjoyed sowing them and look forward to seeing the result!
21-4-09
Finally fitted the auto vent on the greenhouse window. Checked the parsnip row and I see seed leaves coming through, have no idea if they are weeds or parsnips yet. Weeded a bit of the bed next to the parsnips where the carrots will go. Sowed 4 courgettes into 3″ pots, if they all germinate will plant all 4 even if we get a glut all at once we can freeze or give them away, might look into some chutney recipes at some point too.
22-4-09
Sowed a tray of beetroot, 1 seed into each module, 24 modules. Apparently beetroot seeds are actually a cluster of seeds so more than one seedling should appear. You then have the choice to thin the seedlings or leave as a clump, thinning out will allow for a bigger beetroot to form or leaving as a clump will form small (baby) beetroot’s, which is what I’m going to do. Put the cucumbers and tomatoes outside for the day to begin hardening off a bit.
Tractor Update – The tractor mentioned last month will not be arriving until the 5th of May. This is a bit later than expected so I have updated my plan of attack…
As digging new beds in May with the tractor and then the rotovator is a bit late to prepare the soil properly I’m going to do it this way :- use the tractor to cultivate the large areas of the plot that are uncultivated, this will also level the plot a give me a blank canvas. Rotovate the rough ground to as fine a tilth as can be expected. Instead of preparing the whole bed for planting I will prepare just where the plants will go, small areas where I can put in extra compost/muck/whatever to improve the soil and growing conditions for each plant. As each crop goes in I will focus on getting that area in as good as condition as possible and not waste time working the soil that is not directly used or close to the plants.