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Author Topic: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?  (Read 22547 times)

vfr400boy

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • one life live it
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #60 on: March 25, 2017, 10:37:24 pm »

Got both plots rotovated last week both have had a covering of 4 year old cow muck , going to sow parsnips at the week end and get green house set up ,

 STOP ! .... If you sow any long root crops such as carrots & parsnips in freshly( with six months or more )  manured ground they will all become multi rooted , very few if which will go down to any great depth . Brisels sprouts like the same old ground as the carrots & parsnips too . for the richer recently manured spoil will make them grow like mad 7 not from nice tight sprouts .

They grow best is soil that has been quality manured three to four  years previously ,  had spuds that same year , then greens in the next year & your roots in year three .

 Thats why we speak of a minimum of a three year crop rotation  but if you have the land then go for a five bed rotation ..leaving the fifth bed fallow for a year to allow veg crop soil-borne pests to die out a lot .
thanks , I will have to have a rethink

Justin

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Devon
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #61 on: March 26, 2017, 10:28:27 am »
Started on the new 'allotment' on our property. 16 raised beds built then filled with a mix of well rotted horse manure, soil and sand. We're on heavy, non-draining clay so the raised beds should help make a better growing environment.

Planted onions and garlic which are coming up well. Globe artichokes are in along with the early potatoes. Asparagus is in it's first year and just starting to show itself. Planted the peas last weekend after starting on the heat mat in the greenhouse.

Mid and late spuds are chitting in the greenhouse.

The other half of the veg plot currently has 4 weaners working it over and won't be in use till next year.

I've laid out the area for the polytunnel and plan to just cover that with manure and silage sheet for the year then install the polytunnel next spring or later this summer.

Had the tractor and chipper running to get rid of all the spare stuff from laying a hedge and that's now been put between all the raised beds to keep the weeds down and make for less mud underfoot.

I don't know much about gardening so the next few years will be quite the learning experience.

Terry T

  • Joined Sep 2014
  • Norfolk
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #62 on: March 31, 2017, 11:09:05 am »
Just spotted our first early potatoes are up already.  :o
I tried Arran Pilot this year and they chitted so quickly I popped them in the ground a little earlier than normal. They have come up in 2 weeks - it has been warm down here (Norfolk) this spring but I've never had spuds through in March before.
Could require a bit of fleece for a good month yet if the weather turns cold.

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #63 on: March 31, 2017, 11:53:30 pm »
Started on the new 'allotment' on our property. 16 raised beds built then filled with a mix of well rotted horse manure, soil and sand. We're on heavy, non-draining clay so the raised beds should help make a better growing environment.

Planted onions and garlic which are coming up well. Globe artichokes are in along with the early potatoes. Asparagus is in it's first year and just starting to show itself. Planted the peas last weekend after starting on the heat mat in the greenhouse.



The other half of the veg plot currently has 4 weaners working it over and won't be in use till next year.

I've laid out the area for the polytunnel and plan to just cover that with manure and silage sheet for the year then install the polytunnel next spring or later this summer.

Had the tractor and chipper running to get rid of all the spare stuff from laying a hedge and that's now been put between all the raised beds to keep the weeds down and make for less mud underfoot.

I don't know much about gardening so the next few years will be quite the learning experience.


Justin , horse muck  carries tremendous amount of weed seeds if the horses have been field grazed or fed on weedy hay .  Their digestion is not as good as a ruminants so does not get enough acid & enzymes etc to kill off the weed seeds in their guts.

 So this year you may get a heck of a lot of weeds appearing where you have used it.

 A decent patch of potatoes is a good idea in a newly horse manured plot the canopy of leaves  helps suppress a lot of the more delicate weeds in the first year & if they can't grow you won't get so many turning to weed seeds to plague you over the  next year or so .

 Cow, pig ,sheep, chicken ,turkey, goat, duck, llama & rabbit muck with the associated beddings , all composted well & re-mixed to give a even distribution of everything is about the best natural stuff you'll ever find.

Add add bits of rotted fish or trimmings or add them to water , stir every day for a week or more to get them to rot to make an emulsion & pour that into the compost mix too .  As well as a bucket full of worm casts & you'll be able to grow most UK producible crops  very easily .

 March & April normally see the brandling type muck worms  hatch in their zillions in compost bins & heaps . 
If you fill a few strong plastic bags with this home made compost  and drop a dozen or so worms in each bag  & close . Use a zip tie to fold the top over & point the open end down to stop any more moisture getting in . Then place the bags against a sunny wall for a year , this will see most of the compost go through the worms & leave you a with afantastic " Black Gold " fertilizer
 
 But like all composting it should have be started in the autumn last year so it is ready for this years crops
If you can , stay clear of commercially made so called composted manures & soil improver's .  Bitter experience has told me time & time again that most are not even worth the cost of the bag they are sold in .
Plus a lot have crap from council waste dumps added ..then you'll never know what toxins or garden chemicals / poisons etc you'll be putting in your garden.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2017, 11:33:43 am by cloddopper »
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #64 on: April 01, 2017, 08:53:22 pm »
I've planted all my squashes and pumpkins - 4 of each of 5 varieties of winter squashes, 4 courgettes (less than last year as we were fed up with them), 4 delicata squash (which are the same species as summer squashes but usually eaten as winter ones) , 7 cucumbers (gherkins),  some rows of peas and barlotto beans.
Potatoes inside the polytunnel are growing very well so are the salads and radishes.
Sweetcorn is sprouting! Always liked growing them.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2017, 08:57:22 pm by macgro7 »
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

Alex_

  • Joined Jul 2016
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #65 on: April 04, 2017, 11:26:58 am »
I am running a bit behind at the moment.
I have planted out the sweet corn and am trying a new method of building mounds of earth and putting 3 - 4 corn plants in each mound. I will have to wait and see how that turns out.

I am acclimatising the courgettes  right now for planting out later this week  and I have a load of tomato plants to put out.

The giant achochas are in the new greenhouse and I am hoping they are gonna explode upwards

 :farmer:

Justin

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • Devon
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #66 on: April 26, 2017, 11:36:19 am »
Justin , horse muck  carries tremendous amount of weed seeds if the horses have been field grazed or fed on weedy hay .  Their digestion is not as good as a ruminants so does not get enough acid & enzymes etc to kill off the weed seeds in their guts.

 So this year you may get a heck of a lot of weeds appearing where you have used it.

 A decent patch of potatoes is a good idea in a newly horse manured plot the canopy of leaves  helps suppress a lot of the more delicate weeds in the first year & if they can't grow you won't get so many turning to weed seeds to plague you over the  next year or so .

 Cow, pig ,sheep, chicken ,turkey, goat, duck, llama & rabbit muck with the associated beddings , all composted well & re-mixed to give a even distribution of everything is about the best natural stuff you'll ever find.

Add add bits of rotted fish or trimmings or add them to water , stir every day for a week or more to get them to rot to make an emulsion & pour that into the compost mix too .  As well as a bucket full of worm casts & you'll be able to grow most UK producible crops  very easily .

 March & April normally see the brandling type muck worms  hatch in their zillions in compost bins & heaps . 
If you fill a few strong plastic bags with this home made compost  and drop a dozen or so worms in each bag  & close . Use a zip tie to fold the top over & point the open end down to stop any more moisture getting in . Then place the bags against a sunny wall for a year , this will see most of the compost go through the worms & leave you a with afantastic " Black Gold " fertilizer
 
 But like all composting it should have be started in the autumn last year so it is ready for this years crops
If you can , stay clear of commercially made so called composted manures & soil improver's .  Bitter experience has told me time & time again that most are not even worth the cost of the bag they are sold in .
Plus a lot have crap from council waste dumps added ..then you'll never know what toxins or garden chemicals / poisons etc you'll be putting in your garden.

thanks very much for all that, very useful indeed. First crop of potatoes are doing well so far, more going in this week once the frost danger is past. Building up the compost heaps for the summer and see how well it does for next year.

big soft moose

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #67 on: April 26, 2017, 03:18:14 pm »
I've had a busy few weeks on the veg plot (which is most of the garden), built a polytunnel, built some SQM garden beds, built an extension to the fruit bed. Laid a bunch of slabs (you could say bits a waste of ground, but the ground round here is full of weeds, with slabs I can always stand stuff on them)

The metal bins in the foreground are for peas and beans, they have a good thick layer of rotting veg and manure in the bottom.

The four high stacks of tyres are hotboxes for squash, while the threes are potatoes

All I need now is some seeds - i'm having a nightmare with nondelivery from the organic garden catalogue .. i won't be using them again.  Having got heavy with them they ere redespatching by 1st class post today (aledgedly).  fortunately otter nurseries is just down the road so I have a plan b

sabrina

  • Joined Nov 2008
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #68 on: April 27, 2017, 01:49:22 pm »
All my seedlings are still in the pollytunel. I would have lost them all if I had planted them out. We have had a week of snow, hail, strong winds and rain. Going to be a late season yet again !

Scotsdumpy

  • Joined Jul 2012
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #69 on: April 27, 2017, 05:19:27 pm »
Nothing much outside - freezing rain, wind, hail and snow for the past few days. The polytunnel is sheltering my outside plants and the hotbed is providing salads leaves and radishes.

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #70 on: April 27, 2017, 10:50:33 pm »
I'm wondering when it will be safe to plant my tomatoes in the greenhouse so that I have room indoors for the next lot of sowing.

Terry T

  • Joined Sep 2014
  • Norfolk
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #71 on: April 28, 2017, 10:11:27 am »
I just got my last batch of toms into the polytunnel. The first batch went in three weeks ago, I have fleeced at night if I suspected frost. The temp in the tunnel has been going down to -1 on a cold night and they have coped. I'm in a bit of a frost pocket but in Norfolk so frosts aren't as cold as in the North.
I used to live in York and a friend who worked in horticulture said a greenhouse should be frost free up there from end of March.
I think keeping the frost crystals off is more important than the temperature, so my potatoes and french beans have coped with -1 without fleece in the polytunnel whereas the potatoes outside are damaged by 0 and below.

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #72 on: April 28, 2017, 10:40:55 pm »
Most of the runner beans have outgrown the propagator so are now just on the window sill. Time to sow the French beans now. And squash if I have room.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #73 on: April 28, 2017, 11:15:35 pm »
A tip from, I think, Bernard Salt:  Shut the tunnel early when frost is expected, so it steams up.  The condensation then freezes to form an extra layer of protection, and reduces heat loss by radiation.


We planted out our broad beans today, which had been raised in 4" pots in the tunnel.  I grow them in a baker's tray suspended from the crop bars, so the mice can't get them.
We also planted out two types of peas which we had grown in deep guttering, also suspended from the crop bars. You just slide the whole thing out into a shallow trench the same length as the guttering.  In the winter I cut lots of pea sticks from hedging brash, and they look perfect along the row.  I've never been organised enough to do that before.
I sowed the climbing beans a couple of days ago and this year I have sown a few extra to try them outside.  I'm not expecting climate change to smile on me, but I have had outdoor beans work a couple of times before here - usually they are demolished by wind.
 :garden:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

big soft moose

  • Joined Oct 2016
Re: What's going on in your veg plot at the moment?
« Reply #74 on: April 30, 2017, 08:18:28 pm »
Today I have been planting seeds (which finally arrived). Because the weather is horrible I've been concentrating on the polytunnel. In the propagators we have Runner beans Enorma Elite and Firestorm, French beans Blauhilde, and Leeks Hilari and Musselburgh. In the pots we have Squash Spaghetti, Yellow Scallop, and Petty Pan, Corgette Black Beauty, De Nizza, and Golden Griller, Pumpkin Jack Be Little, Tomatiloes, and Tomatoes Gardeners delight and Costulo Fieronino. Out of shot we have Cucamelon, and Cucumber.

 

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