Monthly Archives: May 2010

Sewelly garden on the last day of May

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We’ve been busy over the past few weeks in the garden weeding (never ending), pricking out, transplanting, mowing and sowing hence the lack of blogs.

Everything’s still quite small but the rain over the past couple of evenings will help to bring it all on and it lifts the soul when we walk around in the late evening observing how the plants have grown in just one day.  (I guess that’s why we say it’s “soul destroying” when the slugs come and eat them all!)

The Red Duke of York early potatoes are coming on a treat and seem to have missed the blight warning last week. I was relieved to see the first signs of the Sarpo Mira potatoes too only a week or so ago.  They’re a blight resistant main crop potato that we planted unchitted at the end of April.  They proved their worth last year so we’re giving them another go.

Moving along the row is the onion bed.  I only weeded this two weeks ago and already they’re sprouting again so it’s next on my job list.  Here we’ve planted Garlic Arno, Shallots Red Sun and Sutton Onions.  The borage that self seeded prolifically last year is still popping up all over the place!

The last bed at the top is supposed to be my ‘other’ bed – carrots, parsnips, chard, beetroot etc.  However, the PSB (purple sprouting brocolli) is still producing loads of shoots so I’m slightly restricted with my planting until it’s all lifted!  So far we’ve sown Gladiator parsnips, Chanteney carrots, mixed lettuce, rainbow chard and Boltardy beetroot and a few White Lisbon scallions. I’m itching to successionally sow some more carrots but will have to be patient! 
In the middle bed I’ve sown the green manure Phacelia tanacelifolia.  It’s recommended to dig in green manures before they flower but bees love this one and the flowers can be cut. I’m therefore planning to leave it for as long as it’s okay and probably curse the fact in the autumn (or Ian will be cursing me as the main digger in the household!)  The middle bed has been heavily used over the past few years and it also has a tendancy to flood, hence the rest.  In the autumn we’ll add some more topsoil and organic matter to it, bringing up the level.
The next row of beds include the runner bean in waiting bed (seedlings are still a bit small), with companion plants nasturtium and tagetes planted at the end, then the legume bed with late sown broad beans and Kelvedon Wonder peas. I’ve planted a few sweet peas at the end of this bed to attract pollinating insects to this end of the garden.
Moving along we have two brassica beds crammed full.  I’ll have to thin them out as the year progresses but I’ve left a few extra plants in place in case of slugs “one for the slug, one for the snail, one to keep and one to fail”!  As I’m planting directly into the soil I like to hedge my bets.  In this bed we have curly kale and brussels sprouts interplanted with three different varieties of radish and some mixed salad leaves.
The second bed has five rows of swede that have just germinated and I transplanted several varieties of PSB and spring greens today and more companion plants have been planted at the end of the row.
We have two more beds full of flowering strawberries and some rhubarb and then a further two rows containing a mixture of berries – rasberries, goseberries and currents.
Apart from the weeding there’s still lots to do.  We’ll be netting the strawberries to keep the birds off them and definately netting the brassicas this year to avoid the hundreds of caterpillars experienced last year! I’ll also be mulching the soil once the plants are a bit bigger too.
So that’s it outside in the veggie garden for now.  The polytunnel is full of various veg and we’ve also been busy creating a more ornamental front garden as well as decorating the small bathroom!  Life’s never quiet in the Sewelly household!
Oh, and the great news this week is that I’ve just been included on the VEC list of adult education tutors in Carlow.

Watering Vegetable Plants & Seedlings

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You may have noticed how all the plants started growing again recently after a few days of rain. Most vegetables benefit from a good soaking of the soil as water is taken up by the roots and then evaporated through the leaves. However, too much water can result in nutrients being washed out of their reach and encourages shallow, surface rooting. If you’re wondering if you’re watering your vegetables correctly, these tips might help.

Waterlogged Vegetable GardenWaterlogging can result in plants dying as their oxygen source will be cut off. Generally, however, more water is lost through evaporation than through bad drainage.

  • As a guide water thoroughly and gently. Don’t be tempted to put the hose on full blast on each plant for a few seconds or you risk damaging seedlings and young plants. You’ll also notice if you check the soil (stick your finger in it) that the surface area might be wet but the area you’re trying to reach (where the roots are) is still dry so aim to keep the top 20 cm of soil moist.

watering tomatoes

  • Soaking the soil with about 10 – 15 litres per square metre per week will really benefit Brassica crops in a drought. Water directly to the base of the plant – an upturned cut off plastic drinks bottle propped in the soil next to an established plant (especially squashes and tomatoes) is great for sending water directly where it’s needed.
  • Watering in the evening is also the preferred method, as the plants will absorb the water rather than losing it to evaporation, however this may attract slugs. In the morning the soil will be soft making for easier weeding. Make sure that the leaves are dry before nightfall however.
  • Germinating seeds need water so always sow into moist soil or compost.
  • One of the biggest killers of seedlings is watering incorrectly. They prefer to be watered from the base so stand them in trays and water the trays if possible. Alternatively use a watering can with a very fine ‘rose’ to prevent swamping the compost or try using a mister. Once compost has dried out it’s very difficult to wet it through again.
  • Fruit and flowering plants such as tomatoes, beans and cucumbers need water to encourage their fruits to swell so heavy watering at this stage will increase yields.
  • Root crops need a steady supply of water – too much will result in more foliage rather than big roots so only water if the soil starts to dry out, increasing the frequency as the roots start to swell.
  • Crops that are grown for their leaves – spinach, lettuce, cabbages, etc., need more water than root crops.
  • Plants are more prone to fungal diseases if their leaves are watered rather than their roots.
  • Dig in as much bulky organic matter (compost or well-rotted manure) to increase the water-holding capacity of the soil.
  • Mulch the soil surface after watering to prevent evaporation (add a layer of straw, compost or leaf mould on top of the soil and spread it around the plants).
  • Avoid cultivating soil in dry weather, as it will bring moisture to the surface, which can then evaporate.
  • Keep the soil as weed free as possible as the weeds will compete with the plants for water.
  • Put up wind breaks. Wind dries the soil quickly, again increasing the rate of evaporation.

wind break fabric

Harvesting vegetable crops in early May

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Great excitment in the Sewelly polytunnel & garden as veggies are almost ready for harvesting!

The peas and broad beans that were planted before Christmas are starting to appear so I’ll be digging out the recipe books soon as picking fresh produce always makes me want to try out a new dish.  This early harvest will help to fill the ‘hungry gap’ when the only other fresh veg we have to eat at the moment is purple sprouting brocolli.  I almost pulled it up after the snow as it was looking so downcast, but decided to give it a feed of fish, blood & bone and this is the result - five plants full of delicious florrets (that were especially tasty in this evening’s stir fry). There are loads more tiny florrets starting to appear beneath the large leaves in the next few days too.

The plan this year is to keep the polytunnel as productive as possible so that it earns it’s keep!

With that in mind we have shallots planted behind the peas & beans and the plan is to plant cucumbers once they’ve all been harvested.

I haven’t quite cracked full productivity yet though as the bed waiting for the tomatoes is still empty, and there’s a big space where the courgette is slowly growing.

My experiment of planting sweet corn early too hasn’t quite worked out – only three germinated (!) so I planted another packet last week in the hope that they’ll catch up soon now the temperatures are rising (there’s obviously a good reason why seed packets recommend a month for growing and late March wasn’t it).  The french beans have all germinated and are starting to grow rapidly too. We never had much success growing these outdoors as it just never seemed warm enough so hopefully will have better luck inside this year.

Meanwhile outside the strawberries are showing signs of flowering and the Red Duke of York first early potatoes are coming along nicely too.

I love this time of year!