My Tiny Plot

The brassicas are all tucked up in their new home. We planted two Broccoli plants, three red cabbage plants and three cauliflower plants. Mtp has a bit of club root problem so we needed to add some lime to each hole and dig it into the soil before we planted them. Then each plant received its own brassica collar to deter cabbage root fly from laying its eggs around the stem and then the whole patch was covered in fine grade mesh to keep the butterflies out. Man, brassicas are hard work! I’m amazed anyone grows them.

Oh no, they’ve started early this year – the cabbage whites I mean. This poor little cauliflower seedling is playing host to a spongy green visitor. The first tell-tale sign was the folded over leaf. Then I saw the cotton wool like residue and after a few pokes he finally popped his head out. I didn’t have the heart to kill him so I popped him underneath my deck – there’s plenty to eat down there and by the time he can fly the brassica seedlings will be far, far away. The only way to stop this is to keep your seedlings covered but I thought as it’s so early I would be okay. The next caterpillar I come across may not be so lucky.

This little fella, I’m reliably informed, is a 22-spot Harlequin ladybird. They’re non-preditory and ‘eat the mildews and other microscopic fungi that grow on plant tissues’. Quite rare apparently but often found wandering around in my cutting garden seedlings.

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 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).

Yes – at last, some frost. I must have been the only one celebrating while everyone else was busy scraping their windscreens with their credit cards.

Last year my lettuce were attacked by lettuce root aphids (like normal aphids but they attach to the roots instead of leaves). I’m told they are a fairly rare pest but once they are in the soil you’re pretty much stuck with them unless you take action. Some of the lettuce varieties I chose last year (Little Gem, and Lobjots Green) seem to have little will to fight the aphids. While others (Salad Bowl, Four Seasons and Webs Wonder) seem to be able to withstand the attack to some extent. Although, later in the season the pests got to be too much even for the fighters and made their leaves go limp and yellow. I absolutely love salad in the summer and can’t let anything jepordise my leisurely summer lunches with fresh crunchy salad. So I’ve done a bit of investigating and have found that there are two varieties of lettuce that have resistance to lettuce root aphid. They are Mohican and Sunny. They’re available in Moles Catalogue but since they are a trade supplier you can only buy them by the 1000′s! In the photo you can see my attempts at growing early lettuce this year – too leggy and not enough light I think.

Firstly let me me apologise for the graphic photo. This is one of my butternut squashes harvested in October along with some Futsu and Uchiki Kuri varieties that I grew last year. Although, I took great pains to dry them out properly and harden their skins, two of the three types have gone to rot (the Futsu already rotted a few weeks ago). The only one still going strong is Uchiki Kuri. It’s interesting to see which varieties last longer than others. The Futsu pumkins seem to have been the most vulnerable of the three as their skin didn’t harden very much. The butternut squashes lasted well and we only had to waste one of the 8 we harvested. But the Uchiki Kuri are the winners in the race for the longest storage. Three months and going strong! They’ll definitely make it onto the growing plan next year.

Last year my carrots were an embarrassment. Most were stunted, all were invaded by carrot fly and consequently none of them made it to the dinner table. This year will be different because I have devised ‘The Carrot Plan’. Armed with information garnered from many sources I have put together a watertight plan designed to fool the enemy (carrot fly) and enable mtp to produce long, straight, sweet, whole carrots. Here’s the plan. Choose a spot that is the most free from stones (on mtp that is the middle diamond). Dig in some sharp sand (carrots like drainage). Plant garlic, shallots and onion sets all around the chosen site. Cover intended carrot patch with black polythene to warm the soil for 2 weeks before planting. Secure with heavy stones after black polythene attempt number one is swept away by weekend tornado (dur…). Up to now my plan is on track. Part two will deal with germination issues, and fly guards.

Look at the wee cauliflower! To be honest I thought the Cauliflowers I put in were a non-starter. The seeds I sowed directly in the soil came up all gangly and long (I sowed them too near to each other). And as a result they looked a bit sickly and came in for every virus and pest under the sun. I sowed some at home in the propogator and they faired a little better. But all had their roots munched by evil grubs and showed minor infestations of Cabbage white catepillar at various intervals. So you’re with me when I didn’t expect much from them? But when we came back from holiday three of the cauliflowers showed white curds, two of them are quite bit (enough for a decent sized Cauliflower cheese bake for two!) and this is the runt of the litter. As he’s so vertically challenged I thought I’d make an internet star of him instead. He’s barely a floret! It will be a shame to eat him (but eat him we will)…