There’s nothing better than following some firmly laid plans - even the ones that don’t even last out the sowing season. Some may say that my masterplans are a tad overboard, frivolous or at the very least a damn idiotic waste of a good evening. But I say no! I put it to you that all gardeners should partake in the drawing of masterplans, in the childish yet comforting sketching of tiny vegetables, in the use of felt-tip pens. It can be highly illustrative and informative, or just plain beautifully practical. Come on, show us your masterplan! You know you want to…
The Undergardener is getting ideas above his station - he wants his own bit of mtp. I must admit I didn’t see it coming. I know he enjoys his little jaunts to the plot, and of course he’s a good digger but he’s never once expressed an interest in actually growing anything; eating yes, but growing no!
At first I was horrified. Mtp is TINY (as the name suggests) and so the idea that I have a ’spare bed that isn’t really being used’ is simply insane. I mean, it’s all being used, at least in my head anyway.
Of course my selfishness didn’t last long and I caved in. I’ve given him a bed that is roughly 3 metres by about 1.5 metres. He’s already decided what he’s going to grow - Cauliflower and Pak Choi (not sure exactly why those two, but hey…). All I know is that it’s painful giving away part of your garden (even for love!) and I’m already jealous of his shiny new seedpackets.
Today I planted my drainpipe peas up at the allotment. I read a tip somewhere that if you give them a good water they should slide in like a dream. It worked! I’ve already sowed another row into another bit of piping ready to go in a couple of weeks time. Keen, I know.
I sowed some carrots in the coldframe yesterday. My carrot plan (part 1 & part 2) last year just didn’t work. The few carrots that I did harvest were small and infested with the usual carrot fly. Neither the sand nor the fleece worked (the later being blown away by the windy conditions at mtp summit). Sooo… not being easily discouraged I am embarking on my third attempt to grow some edible carrots. This year’s harebrained scheme involves a coldframe (without lid - again due to wind) and some sneakily fly-resistant seeds (F1 Flyaway). The plan should work thus: sow F1 seed now to enable it to germinate before the first wave of flies hatch in early May. Sow seed in soil below the level of the cold frame to confuse flies that only travel in either horizontal or vertical directions (stupid flies!). Cover cold frame with fleece (or polythene) in May once weather has settled down. This HAS to work. Bottom line - I’m running out of ideas and I HATE losing!
I’m in Austin (Texas) right now for the SXSW Interactive Festival. That may explain why I haven’t posted anything over the past few days. Not only have I been sat in darkened rooms absorbing all kinds of geeky info that will help me be more ‘interactive’ but I’ve also been on a one-girl mission to break the world record for eating the most American diner breakfasts in one week. Austin is cool! Apart from the fact that it’s warm it also seems to be a city that is full of bars and restaurants and no shops (which is great since I’m very poor this month). There’s not much greenery in Austin (since it’s so darn hot I guess) but I did find a little piece of spearmint heaven in one small coffee shop.
And they even provide toys for the local wildlife - bless!
This year’s pea crop is growing well already. I sowed these a couple of weeks ago from the seed I saved last year so I’m very excited to see them sprouting. It feels great to know that this crop will be completely free. I have just sowed another row in guttering to keep the succession going. I expect I’ll be putting them in the ground up at mtp in a few weeks. Last year I sowed my peas on March 26th so this year’s sowings are significantly earlier than last. However, they seem to be pretty hardy. I have had them under fleece since I sowed them but last night I forgot to put them back under fleece and they are still fine. Although I did notice a big paw-shaped print in the middle of the dirt. Hmmm….
At last - the purple sprouting broccoli is ready. I thought I would die waiting for it. I mean, it’s only taken a full year to mature, quite a reasonable time to wait for meal that took us all of 30 seconds to eat. Crikey! It’s a good job we’re not broccoli farmers, we’d be out of business in a season. I do know that calabrese takes around 3 months to mature (which cunningly is what the ‘actual’ broccoli farmers grow - see, they’re clever). But apparently it doesn’t taste as good as purple sprouting broccoli which, by the way, tastes amazing. So I’ll be growing it again this year, and I’ll be waiting another 12 months to harvest it and eat it all over again.
The sun is shining - what better reason to head down to the plot. As you can see I had various tasks in mind. The blood, fish and bone is to scatter around the strawberries, which are starting to grow again and you can see the last of the broadbean plants to be put in the ground. Also in there I have some shallots and some red onion sets which are due to go in the ground. And finally some carrot and spinach seed - as it’s still a bit early I only sowed one row - just to see.
I decided to plant my radish in a small wicker tub in the back garden. There are too many problems with flea beetle up at the allotment so I thought this would be the safer option. I sowed some seed around a week ago and the seedlings are up already. However, it seems that I’m not the only person interested in the tiny seedlings. Yesterday I found that half of them had been dug up by a certain grey and white kitten. So much for ’safer in the backgarden’. So.. I’ve tried cat pepper (it doesn’t work), I’ve also tried those freaky glow in the dark gel things (they don’t work either). This time I meant business - time to crack open the wooden skewers. It worked. Now the little sh*$! can pee somewhere else (of course I love him really).
