Disclaimer: I’m a professional anaesthetist, not a professional gardener. I do a bit of gardening and cycling in my spare time. I have grown veggies for many years and have learnt what works for me (sometimes!). These are my ramblings! I would be honoured to be corrected / advised by those with more knowledge than me!
Hello again! Welcome to this week’s update
Firstly, in the Greenhouse:
The early potatoes (Casablanca) in the growbags continue to grow really well and are looking very healthy indeed.
I’m now starting to give them some “outside time” during the day when the weather is not too cold or windy. They still need go back in every night.
The Casablanca Picasso potatoes in the growbag are now starting to get going.
The herbs in the greenhouse are also looking really good. We have mint, parsley and chives. They have already been added to salads and the mint, of course, so special with Easter lamb.
Strawberries in the greenhouse are also way ahead of the ones in the garden and have many more flowers this week. Might have some delicious strawberries soon!😋
A week makes all the difference!
Two weeks ago, I showed the photo at the left top of seed trays in which I had sown various seeds.
In these seed trays, we have: Beetroot (Boltardy = red and Burpees Golden = yellow) and some peas (Early Onward) to, hopefully give us an early crop of peas.
Last week, I showed the bottom picture above of the miracle of germination. This week, on the right, the wee plants are starting to develop their true leaves. Once they have the true leaves, hopefully later this week, I will thin them out to leave only the strongest in each cell. This will allow them to grow on strongly ready to plant out into the garden later when the frosts have gone. Natural Selection 🤔 ! It is not a job I enjoy, as you feel kind-of like a three way cross between Darwin, the Creator and the Yorkshire Ripper💀! It seems such a shame after all the effort they have put into germinating. The wee plants which are murdered are not wasted and can be added to salads as delicious micro-veg.
Again most of the Brassicas have moved on well during this week.
The Brussels Sprout (Marathon) and summer cabbage (Caraflex) are both looking great, with most starting to develop their true leaves. They will also be ready for thinning out later this week. The winter cabbage (Tundra) is a bit slower – but has now started to sprout 😁
In this seed tray, to the right, there is also a row of Chard (Bright Lights) and a row of Perpetual Spinach.
The bowl of Spicy Lettuce which I sowed last week has sprouted 😁
The Broccoli plugs I received in the post two weeks ago were looking really grubby when I potted them up on arrival (left). They are now looking fantastic (right).
So much so, that I have set up a couple of cold frames outside and moved the young broccoli into them to harden off for a couple of weeks before planting them out into the veggie garden. Hopefully this will allow them to transition gently and not get a very rude shock when planted out. This is a new experiment again this year. Will be good to see if it makes a difference.
I order my Tomato plants, Gardiner’s Delight, from online retailers as grafted plants. They arrived on Saturday in the post, looking not too bad after being dumped through the letter-box in the front door.
They were planted out immediately and will take off quite quickly. They will be ready for planting out into their final position in grow-bags in the greenhouse after a week or two.
In the Garage
Yes! In the garage……
………. because I have run out of space and electrical outlets in the greenhouse, I am trying an experiment this year.
I have sown all of my squashes etc in their propagator in the garage. I would normally put the propagator in the greenhouse. But, because it is dark in the garage, I have added special plant lighting to the top of the propagator. Here goes: 🤞
It is working! 😂🤣 Give that man a star ⭐️! Most of these squashes are developing their true leaves as well. They are all looking really healthy. So much so that I have had to raise the mini-greenhouse roof with the lights on it – hence the wooden slats at each end. It’s called improvisation! Fairly soon, I will have to repot these seedlings into bigger pots to allow them to continue to grow. When that repotting happens, they will have to relocate to the greenhouse for more space. I’d better make a plan in the greenhouse as there’s not much room left in there.
In the Veggie Garden (Allotment)
Potatoes – Two varieties Casablanca and Picasso, same varieties as in the grow-bags in the greenhouse, have been chitting in the greenhouse since late January. Chitting is a process of forcing the seed potatoes to start growing early indoors, or in my case, the greenhouse. Keeping them in a light dry area encourages those seed potatoes to start putting out sprouts and gives them a head-start when it comes to the potato growing season.
As you can see, these potatoes have super little green shoots and are ready to be planted out
In last week’s blog, I described how I had prepared the beds for the potatoes.
This week, I have now cut holes in the garden fabric, appropriately spaced (I hope), and use my trusty potato planting tool to make a hole and drop the potato into the hole, preferably with the majority of the shoots facing upwards. This is easier said than done, as the seed potatoes seem to have a mind of their own and flip over no matter how hard you try!
Three beds of tatties planted.
My back has now ceased complaining and is now on strike full-time.
The next day………………
…………………..when my back has recovered somewhat
It’s time for the onions. The onion sets were planted in the greenhouse a few weeks ago. They have all germinated nicely and are now growing strongly and need to be planted out.
This is the onion bed after winter (left). Not too bad, a few weeds etc.
After a full hand-weed, then a good hoe-ing, a layer of compost is added to the surface.
The bed is now ready for planting – this is the no-dig-technique (right). Good for my potato-knackered-back!
The young onion plants have developed a really good root system and are ready to be planted out.
And that’s all of the onions planted out into their final position in the raised bed (right).
And, yes, the back is complaining much better again!
Carrots – Amsterdam Forcing.
I have always had major problems with carrot fly in my veggie garden / allotment. These nasty little devils can, and do, destroy a carrot crop entirely. I have tried everything – mesh fences, mesh netting, timing the planting correctly, even nematodes!
Last year I tried an experiment and planted some carrots between the rows of onions in the hope that the smell of the onions would reduce the ability of the carrot fly to hunt out my carrots. It worked! Ok, I must admit that, in addition, I regularly sprayed the carrots with nematodes, but we had lots of lovely carrots last year.
So here we go again.
I am laying tape sown with carrot seeds into drills between the onion rows. The seed tapes is a very convenient way to plant seeds. I tend to be very heavy handed when I am sowing seeds. This is bad news, especially for carrots, because it means that the young seedlings have to be thinned out once they have germinated. The young plants don’t like being pulled out and emit a strong carrot odour which attracts the carrot flies in immense numbers. Carrot tape spaces the seeds correctly and means they don’t need thinning out.
So there we are: Onions and carrots planted ✅
Protective netting over the top to keep the birds away. Blackbirds seem to think that if I’ve been digging, they should too. To be fair, they are probably after all of disturbed worms, bugs etc. Only problem is that the little *******s dig up half my wee plants and leave them lying, and dying, on top of the soil. Hence the net! Keep off ✋!
It’s a busy, but exciting, time for veggie growers. Lots happening!
See you next time!
Dr Doug (Douglas) McKendrick 
All looking very successful well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person