Seedney continues to grow!

Again, not much to do on Doug.  We did notice quite an abundance of fox prints across various parts of the plot but no damage done.  The exciting bit was the notice to collect our seed potatoes. Before we decided to plant the Purple Majesty, we ordered some Maris Piper and Pink Fir Apple potatoes.   We just didn't realise how many came with our order so when we picked them up today it was a bit of a shock!  If we planted them all, along with the ones we already have, they'd probably take up half of the plot, which clearly isn't viable if we wish to grow anything else :)  We also now have a few of each variety chitting next to Seedney.  There is always a huge discussion amongst gardeners about whether or not to chit before planting.  We've decided to chit some and leave some just to see what happens.

Purple Majesty at the back with some good sprouts already, Pink Fir Apple in the front and Maris Piper to the right.

With such a glut of seed potatoes, Phil therefore thought we'd plant some in Nigel.  We still have the potato planters from previous years, so he has planted one set each of the Purple Majesty, Maris Piper and Pink Fir Apples.  We have nothing to lose and an extra crop of each to gain!  The cold frame in Nigel is still empty but will start to come into its' own very soon.  I had thought of calling it Chris (Martin) but decided that was a little too obtuse, even for me..... 

Nigel still looking a little neglected although he will start to get some tlc very soon.  The cold frame is next to the fence on the right and the potatoes are the three containers in the middle towards the back.

I spent most of my time today repotting and planting seeds.  Seedney's plants last week grew more than I had expected, some of them pretty much bolting.  As a result, I had to re-pot the broccoli, radish and turnip, which are now much more deeply seated in bigger pots.  The peas had also grown very nicely so they each have their own pot in which to develop.  In the place of those seedlings, I have now planted aubergine (Pinstripe - a lovely purple and white striped variety), cauliflower (Graffiti - a purple/pink variety), cabbage (Red Drumhead - a dark red small cabbage) and tomato (Marmande - a large variety which will be good for cooking and passatas).  In another set of modules, we now have a chocolate mint plant - sadly not as delicious as it sounds and merely decorative, marigolds - apparently good for deterring various vegetable pests, sweet peas - a rather fetching purple variety, poppies and echinacea.  All bar the marigolds will be going into Nigel to make him into more of a wildlife garden.

Seedney's new plants - the top left is all the flowers, bottom left the replanted radish, broccoli and turnip, bottom right the peas, middle right the two sets of tomatoes, aubergine, cauliflower and cabbage and behind them the chives and basil.

It's Potato Time!!!!

We made a very brief visit to Doug last weekend but there really wasn't much we could do.

Seedney!

Instead, I used the time to plant some seedlings on Doug's annexe (Seedney the Kitchen Windowsill).  Seedney had been used over winter for chive and basil seedlings, which are doing very nicely already.  They have now been joined by tomato (Black Cherry), pea (Meteor), turnip (Purple Top Milan), broccoli (Summer Purple) and radish (mixed salad).  More will be planted very soon.  Once they've grown a bit, we then have the cold frame sitting in Nigel in which they can harden off before being transported to Doug.

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This week was very different however.  This week was.....

Potato Planting Week!!!!

Last week, we bought what we thought would be two bags of a straw/manure mix.  When we got there this morning, five bags had been delivered (bonus!) Unfortunately, my back was a little sore so Phil gallantly did all the digging.  I managed to hoe inbetween all the brassicas and re-position the netting.  Phil set to and started to dig over the first part of the potato patch and then dug two deep trenches.  Alothough it's early for planting potatoes the guys at the allotment assure us that because of where we are, we can get away with planting early.  

Phil and his potatoes!

We have also lined those deep trenches with some of the manure mix and put the seed potatoes on top of that - helps to increase the warmth and extend the growing season.  We planted a row of Pentland Javelin first earlies and a row of our Purple Majesty main crop.  Lyta also helped by picking out some of the weeds and bits of rubbish.

Phil and Lyta discussing the veg!

The shop was open so we managed to get most of the seeds we need for the rest of the planting and I've ordered the three more unusual ones online. It's starting to get really exciting :) The next few weeks will probably be quiet again until we get to late February / early March when planting out can begin in earnest!  We don't want to plant all the potatoes now, and we have more seed potatoes being delivered later anyway.

New Year - it's going to start getting busy!

We've managed weekly visits to Doug over the Christmas period - there was a little wind damage but generally speaking we were lucky.   We did have to re-lay most of the ground cover fabric (no idea how that gets ripped up so often.)

It's still unseasonably mild so the plants are still thriving.  We decided to take up the cloches for a while - the plants do not need much protection while the weather stays above zero.  We can always put them out again if we think there will be some sustained frosts.

We had our compost bin delivered last week and it was great to finally get this built and put into place.  Lyta did a sterling job turning over the open soil and pulling up lots of weeds.  I re-buried some of the edges of the ground cover fabric to help prevent it being lifted up by weeds.  We've come to the conclusion that of the two types we have, the basic one is much better.  The other has a very loose weave to the fabric and frays too easily.  We then end up throwing away great lengths of  "string" - it gets everywhere!  Phil set to with the hoe and managed to clear two buckets full of weeds.  Everything is now looking very neat again - at least for a week or two!

We have been given some lovely seeds and plants for Christmas and have some spending money saved for our visit to River Cottage at the end of March (more plants will be purchased there....)  We just have a few more to buy and our planting schedule for the next three months should be all set to go.  

This is when it starts to get exciting....  

I also built the cold frame for Nigel today, which means that we can start planting seeds on the kitchen windowsill.  Once fully germinated the seedlings can now go out into Nigel before they are properly hardened off  and then transferred to Doug for growing.  By April, everything should then be in place.  Not long now :)