Kitchen Garden Forum

Back to normal bus service tomorrow & so looking forward to going down. Just hope the pesky slimy things haven't found my brassica's but I did sprinkle some sluggo down, but I do sometimes wonder if these attract & not deter them. Fingers crossed!

Plan is to get these in tomorrow, the new structure is for the taller ones & the rest will be in beds with just be mesh over canes with hoops tied to support the mesh higher. I actually doubt I will get them all in as got to give the smaller beds a dig over as walked all over them mucking around putting up the frame but we did get a fair bit of drizzle so could be OK & I have too many as well as like a lot of my seeds they sulked for ages without showing so I re-sowed more & they all came up then! I kept the excess as they won't be wasted & when ready can go in the food bank box.

Taking 1/2 the toms down as well but they can go on the staging until they are all down there.

Funny how big difference a couple of miles make in regards to weather. Nothing untoward at home, not even a brisk breeze, but when I went down the plot looked like a mini tornado had hit it! Lots of things blown around but biggest casualty was the new mesh tunnel. 3 of the support canes had snapped completely & they were the thick ones. I know why as they are in plastic pointy things buried in the soil but I shove little bits of canes all around them to stop any rocking against the plastic & some squidgy tape around them as well to cushion. I'm kinda wondering as the mesh is so fine it prevents the wind blowing through..maybe? Every plant in pots waiting planting survived though!

Anyway with a fair bit of cussing I sorted it & they have been replaced with even thicker fatter canes & each pole given 2 angular supports hammered & tied above the outside plastic tubes....& lot's of bricks around the edges to keep the pegs in. I did get all the brassica's in the ground, both the ones in the tunnel & the others in an outside bed with hoops secured over canes for height. I will change outside from canes to stakes when I get some more, but seems sturdy enough for now as the canes were the really fat ones cut in 1/2. I am leaving it alone now, it's had too much attention! Next visit will be some sows & sorting the raised bed & building the new one..Kit form not DIY!

Sorry to dampen your enthusiasm but I am not really surprised your mesh tent failed. I do wonder why you are using mesh for brassicas as, as you have said, it catches the wind with being so dense. I think that density is only required for the tiny carrot flies (or maybe leek moth, not familiar with how small they are) and butterfly netting with its much lower wind resistance is fine for brassicas.

Hi Geoff, I also use veg mesh for brassicas, or they get covered in green & whitefly, not just a few, but enough to damage the plants.

Thank you for responding Geoff & retropants,

I don't normally use it, just 'normal mesh' but got a deal on this so got loads. (1/2 price due to a bodge up on another order & a whinge to them). I don't have many issues with the butterflies, nor many whitefly but do go on caterpillar watch when they are around & tend to eradicate them by doing this regularly & raise & widen the bed so the leaves don't touch as they grow. The location of the brassica bed is exposed from 3 sides, about the only patch that is. This fine mesh may be more suitable for the leeks as they are against the fence, smaller growing height but bigger width. We have no big winds coming so I will measure up again & order some new normal mesh as mine is years old & still got birthday/Xmas money left in the pot. I'll recover the structure before another big blow...or when delivered. Mind some leek moth larvae do go underground but at least will lessen the numbers above.

Plan tomorrow is to start sowing the squash & pumpkins, runners etc tomorrow on the staging before I need to use the staging space for the sweet potatoes. My back will thank me for doing something just standing up!

I've had the afternoon crawling about pulling away, as I call it, dart grass. Blessed stuff has grown like mad after that 16mm rain we had the other day...

To my pleasant surprise I found one plant of "Markery", a little remnant of the former bed of it that I thought I had totally lost. I manged to fork it out enough that I could break it in to three bits so that has planted up three new stations in my old pond site. It ought to absolutely fly in the super compost and 'top soil' of the pond infill...

I last managed to have a feed of 'Markery' in the first lockdown times of 2020...and the area has totally deteriorated since...but I'm pleased to have rescued a little bit to maybe...given that I can keep trying to nibble away at the garden, winning bits back....have a bed of Markery again

No 'Markery' for tea tonight though...it's fish and chip night

C.

Glad you have managed to divide the last bit of Markery, Clive….must be a good feeling indeed.
Hope your fish and chips fill a gap too…
Got a bit late with it this year, but got to hand weed the Asparagus bed at the Big House this morning…not a bad job as only annual weeds.
Then late this afternoon, managed to get the grass edged over the allotments…always makes it look so much neater when that job is done.

We are awaiting delivery of just enough asparagus for two short display rows in the big garden. There used to be one huge bed and two smaller ones but have dispensed with them..as it wasn't just annual weeds in the big one....
Had a game with the aaparagus beetle in the last of the smaller beds...the growing on 'fern' was being bark ringed and it was a case of diminishing returns as it was just getting weaker.
Have gone for two modern varieties in a relocated new well fed mound and hope to see some renewed vigour...

It was also an option I considered for my old pond bed...but the 'markery' is a real old family friend.

C.

Sorry I’ve not posted much recently, I’ve been reading everyone’s posts with interest but didn’t really have much to input myself.
However, I had recently sent off for some comfrey root as I decided it might be good to grow at the back of my plot (which these days is my garden) which is north facing and it’s quite shaded with a couple of acers, a photinia etc and lots of empty space. Anyway these pieces of what looked like wood arrived, and I was a bit sceptical that they were what they were supposed to be to be honest. Anyway I put them in a pot of compost and kept watering them wondering whether I was just wasting my time.
Well, today, 2 shoots that look very like small comfrey leaves have appeared! So I’m very pleased (as well as a bit relieved).

Comfrey is as tough as old boots….i’ve dug roots of it out, that were in the wrong place and just chucked them on the ground, where thy have dried out completely in the sun, but as soon as they have had some rain on them, they try rooting into the soil again.
Pleased you have got some shoots showing on yours.

Didn't take long to sort the new brassica cage, no wind & still it collapsed in a heap! Spent more time removing the cable ties. No canes broken, it just fainted gently fortunately away from the plants. Just standard netting over hoops currently & I'll get some stakes from the site shop to raise as necessary & a visit online to get wider width netting so I don't have to muck around joining it.

Obviously diverted from the plan but managed to weed the carrots & parsnips in the frame & split & halved the bed which will be 1/2 for chard & long standing winter plants & the other half will be for the courgettes. I aways grow the upright courgettes & their cousin pumpkins & squash try to suffocate them, so their going solo.

Plan is deffo sowing on Saturday. All the toms etc made it down to the plot without mishap in the carry bag so they are on the staging to acclimatise a bit more but with all the predicted warm weather & sunshine they won't take long to be ready to go in. I do have to re-prep the soil in the tunnel as it has got a bit compacted as the fencing not up yet & dog prefers to walk in the beds rather than the path & I have to put my hand up & say I just stomp anywhere when weeding as well.

I looked out this morning to white frost on the lawn....I thought it was heading down cool last night when I went to close greenhouses and frames..

C.

Good frost in the little grass paddock, just behind our house too!

Looking pretty good outside today (stuck at work currently) Chesham Local Produce Market tomorrow, lets hope we have a lot of customers, then Sunday sowing bean and sweetcorn seeds and pricking out the tomatoes. Peppers, cucumbers & aubergines done already and looking good. Kalettes on the bench outside, luckily the mollusc population hasn't found them yet, they were too busy noshing the lettuce seedlings

You like to keep busy Retropants, don’t you!

Do you ever do any markets out Woburn, way?