Pushing up the daisies

I am starting to wonder, as maybe that would explain why I was down the allotment at 6.15 pm last night, in office trousers and a pair of wellies planting out a handful of beetroot plants kindly given me by my neighbour, in addition to the rhubarb chard that was sown in the coldframe but was now poking alarmingly out of the top of it. It rained a good portion of the night so they will be well established.
Beetroot is a curious case - I have several patches around the allotment this year, Boltardy and Cheltenham greentop and yesterday I sowed modules of Monoruba, a late bloomer. This is all a great experiment to see which variety works best and whether it should be sown in situ or if it does indeed do well from modules. I always thought the roots should not be touched or disturbed but seems this is not necessarily the case. I followed my neighbour's advice to trim both roots and leaves. We'll see what result that gives.
I also could not resist the temptation to weed the onions a little, they were getting a bit invaded by thistles, fat hen and groundsel and a bit of bindweed too. Seemed easier to rip it out than to hoe. They all seem to be doing well, even the spring onions (which will be summer onions now of course), although the garlic is getting a touch of rust and looking distinctly yellow. Time for it to be harvested methinks. I will have to wait for a dry spell, as harvesting in the rain is a no-no.
I also had the good idea of emptying out the water barrel that is under the overflow to fill the one next to it, as last night we had steady rain and with a bit of luck, both barrels will soon be generously filled. The growth on the plot is quite startling, and Sunday it is going to take a bit of work to weed it all, mulch the tomatoes and peppers and tidy the path and edges. The leeks also need planting as they are now pencil sized and will start hankering for the open ground. Roll on the weekend!

Labels: beetroot, chard, onions, rain, spring

A mixed weekend down the allotment. We have gone from brilliant sunshine to overcast to freezing winds and frostiness.
I had two sessions down there this weekend: a very quick one on Saturday afternoon to plant some plug plant lettuces I had bought (I think I will give up altogether on sowing lettuce, it is a waste of time and money). OK I admit I went and splurged at the garden centre. I bought lettuce, 15 summer cabbages (Cabus, the pointed ones), a nice rhubarb plant (the 2nd one), a rosemary shrub, some mint and tarragon (which I didn't have in the herb bed) and some cornflower seeds.
Then on Sunday all of us went down (miraculous, a family outing to the allotment!) and hubby and Biggest One fixed up the collapsing compost bin for me and also weeded and put a nice border around one of the flower beds. It was freezing! But teh sun came out after a while and warmed things up a bit+
While they were doing that, I planted my cabbage, mint and tarragon, resowed some peas (they just aren't doing well) and sowed some beetroot and radishes. I also tidied up the flower beds a little (not really as much as I would like to, but time was running out) and sowed a variety of mixed flower seeds, the cornflowers and some zinneas.
The rhubarb is doing well, soon we will be able to pick some I think, and I noticed something very cute with the artichokes: a tiny artichoke head starting to develop inside the centre of the plant!! So I guess I will have artichokes soon (my neighbour says they get multiple heads from the centre of the plant).
The onions and echalotes seem to be doing well, lots of green shoots all over the place, and the scarole lettuces are finally growing! No sign of the spuds yet but I noticed lots of "mystery potatoes" starting to shoot when I dug over the bed for the cabbages so I think I might see spud growth soon.
As for the fruit, they are getting their new growth. The raspberries have made new shoots all over the place!! And the strawberries have got some good foliage coming. Even the new ones planted in the autumn.
Now for a seedling update:

• Tomatoes look brilliant! I am very pleased. Now I need to repot them all, I am sure I will have over 20 plants.
• lettuce and silverbeet (chard) are very leggy so I will try potting on and see what happens.
• Leeks looking good, I am going to prick them out into a bigger bed now, and the brussel sprouts are also looking great.

I feel quite happy with progress so far, even though the bindweed is starting to come up again, there seem on the whole to be less weeds than last year. However I am still unsatisfied with the edges of the lot, it seems so messy compared with other lots but I can't afford to edge it with timber like a lot of the others have done. Perhaps I should try stones??
Pictures soon, it's a promise.

Labels: artichoke, cabbage, chard, flowers, lettuce, planting, rhubarb, sow, spring, tomatoes

Just a wee update on the seedlings.
The tomatoes are going great guns, quite tall but once I pot them on they will do well.
Once again the lettuce is terrifically tall! I don't know what to do about it, maybe indoors is too hot for it?? Again, maybe potting on will do the trick.
I was starting to despair for the sweet peppers but I moved them nearer to the radiator and last night noticed a little bump under the soil so I think they are just coming up now.
The first leeks are now about 7 cm tall and the second lot are just rearing their heads.
Also good germination on the brussel sprouts, the rhubarb chard (red silverbeet I would say) and my dwarf marigolds are looking splendid. I couldn't get them to come up in direct sowing last year but maybe this is the wayto do it. I want to use them as companion plants to the tomatoes.
I am hoping that some of these bits and bobs will be ready for a cold frame by the time I need to sow the courgettes and squash otherwise the windowsills are going to be under great strain!

Labels: chard, leeks, lettuce, seedlings, spring, sprouts, tomatoes

Back at home, safely in from the wind and rain, I set to work on some more seed sowing.
The seeds from last week are starting to show signs of life - I can see a few leeks popping up in the pot. So time to sow some more...
Last night I set out:

• more tomatoes (Marmande and Harzfeuer), oh interesting info about this tomato variety, Harzfeuer, that I got from Lidl for next to nothing... "(69 days) Amazing selection from from Germany. Dependable, disease resistant, beautiful and flavorful, it produces huge clusters of fruit. A hybrid Hellfrucht type tomato that translates to "Resin Fire" in english. Fruits weight 3 to 4 ounces and are a highly popular variety for market or home in Europe. Determinate." Hmm 3 to 4 ounces, so medium sized fruit of about 150 g. 69 days - is that from sowing to harvest I wonder? that doesn't seem long enough... that's 10 weeks. If they are sown now that means tomatoes in June...surely not?
  
• red swiss chard, called rhubarb chard,
• another tray of leeks (De Carentan winter variety),
• the first Brussel sprouts (Sanda variety, harvest starts in September it says),
• spring Batavia type lettuce (looks more or less like this...),
• and a tray of red and yellow dwarf marigolds (these are said to be useful planted throughout the veg garden to repel some pests, oh well they look pretty at any rate...).

I guess that is the last lot of sowing now until it is time to do the melons, squash and corn.
Also put out the second lot of potatoes (Bernadette, second earlies) to chit. Up on the high shelves in the pantry seems to be a good spot - not too warm and filtered light. The earlies had developed nice solid sprouting bits, perhaps a little long on some of them but they seemed firmly attached.They will go in the ground in a week's time, Easter Monday with a bit of luck.

Labels: chard, flowers, leeks, potato, seedlings, sow, tomatoes, winter