Holiday veg update - The Accidental Smallholder

Posted: Wednesday 26 May, 2004

by Dan at 11:08pm in Growing 2 comments Comments closed

We've been on holiday the past 2 weeks which explains the lack of entries here (counter-intuitive I know, but we've been busy!). The veg garden has had a good bit of attention, this week I've planted out leeks, sweetcorn, beetroot, sprouting brocolli, 3 varieties of cabbage and a couple of courgette plants. The brassicas are under fleece this year for the first time. In previous years they've been ruined by aphids, so we're going for the barrier method this time around to see if we can defeat them.

Early spuds are well up, the mains showing well too. The Douce Provence early peas are flowering, but are a little stunted with the effects of the damned weevils. Next year it's raised beds all round for the peas. I'm late sowing runner beans, fennel and mangels (for Smokey and the pigs) but all will go in tomorrow.

Tomatoes, peppers and aubergines are doing well in the greenhouse, and the lettuces and spring onions continue to be a source of fresh food from the garden for us. The soft fruit bed looks fantastic this year, with raspberries and strawberries both covered in flowers, the blackcurrants heavy with fruit and the gooseberries almost sawfly free. The only slight disappointment is the blackberry which has much less growth than it did last year at this time. I think it's being shaded by one of the blackcurrant bushes, so that one will be hoiked out next year to give the blackberry a bit more light.

At the moment it looks like being a reasonable year for the productive garden - as ever next year will be better!