Tag Archives: garden plan

The Anaesthetists Allotment – 13th May 2024

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Hello again! 👋

Welcome to the this edition of The Anaesthetist’s Allotment. I hope you enjoy it.

Please feel free to follow, like or comment and I look forward to getting some of your feedback.

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!

General:

This is the 10th post of 2024 in this year’s series of “The Anaesthetist’s Allotment”. It has only been one week since my last posting, but things are starting to move along very quickly now in “The Anaesthetists Allotment”. Lots has been happening over the last week.

The days continue to lengthen. The sun sets today at about 2126 (17 minutes later than last week!), and the evenings stay light until about 2330 dependant on the presence, absence, or thickness of the cloud cover.

At last there has been an improvement in our weather. Day time temperatures have even reached the low 20’s. Wow 😮!

And some sun, double wow!

And, very little rain, triple wow!!!

Ahh 🤔, but don’t be fooled dear gardeners, winter may yet return to bite us on the proverbial! Keep your eyes open!!

We have had a very special week. On Friday night, we were treated to one of the best displays of the Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis) for the last 20 years. Mind you, we did have to wait until after midnight for it to be dark enough for us to witness the spectacle.

I just couldn’t resist sharing a few pictures with you. These photos were taken outside our back door with an iPhone camera and have not been altered or enhanced at all.

The whole sky was a mass of rainbow colours which seemed to emanate from a “corona” directly above our heads (above right). It covered the whole 360’ vista around us. When we have been lucky enough to see the aurora previously, it has only ever been in the North. This time it was everywhere, North, East, West and even South. Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!

Enough about the weather……….

…………. And magical lights in the sky

Let’s get back to the garden then……….

In the greenhouse:

I am pleased to report that that the squash plant survivors (after my attempted genocide) are now doing well. They are all a bit behind, but hey, wouldn’t you be after a near-death experience in ICU!

I have started potting up those which will remain in the greenhouse into bigger pots and have placed them into their final positions within the greenhouse.

As they are all climbing plants, I have erected wooden scaffolds for them to climb up.

Four of the Gemsquash plants have been potted up and placed in their final places in the greenhouse.(left – top and bottom)

The four Butternut survivors are looking good (two of them on the right).

One Pumpkin survivor (right) has been potted up and placed to continue growing in the greenhouse. The other’s will be planted outside in a few weeks time.

Pumpkins were the only type of squash where we were going to be short after the genocide attempt. I managed to get a couple of pumpkins and a chilli at our local B&Q to bolster our harvests. One of the Pumpkins (right) and the Chilli (left) have been potted up to grow on in the greenhouse.

Only one Cucumber (Mini Munch) survived. It has been potted up. I traditionally use grow bags for my cucumbers and tomatoes. It does look a bit lonely in its grow-bag, but fortunately, the resowing has yielded a good germination. So, hopefully, there will be some company for it soon. In fact, the second sowing was so successful that I may have a few spare cucumber plants left over to donate to needy causes!

The second sowing of squashes in the garage has miraculously germinated those varieties of which we were very short! Those we didn’t really need didn’t germinate. How does that work?

All of these plants have developed their true (adult) leaves over the last week. So I have moved them up to the greenhouse to grow on a bit more. I am hoping to pot them up later this week.

The propagator in the garage has now done its job. It has been switched off and has entered retirement until next year.

A few Strawberries are almost ripe in the greenhouse. 😋

Veggie garden:

The Veggie Garden / Allotment is looking rather bare at the moment as shown in the wee video (left).…….

……but, most of the beds have either had seeds sown, or the wee plants from the greenhouse planted. This quite clearly shown in the “garden planner’ (right) where the red ticks indicate those already either sown or planted out.

The apple trees are in full blossom. It is almost over now, but it did attract lots of bumblebees (left) etc.

The “Fruit Cage” is also looking great (right). Lots of apple blossom here too. The strawberry beds (foreground) are looking good with lots of nice leafy growth.

Redcurrants have lots of fruit forming.(left)….

….as do the Gooseberries (right)

The Summer Cabbage (Hispi & Caraflex) have now been planted out into the Veggie Garden / Allotment, after spending a week acclimatising to the local weather in a cold frame (right).

They look tiny compared to the Spring Cabbages (Spring Hero) next to them. These have been in the Veggie Garden / Allotment all the way through winter and are now growing strongly. They are even beginning to form hearts (left). Wont be long until we are munching on these.

Beetroot (Boltardy and Burpees Golden) have now been planted out into their final positions in the raised bed. They have done their time in the cold frame and should now grow away nicely.

The Chard plants, which have spent a week in the cold frame, have also been planted out into their raised bed. (Right)

However, when I came out the next day, somebody had been feasting on my baby chard! I suspect the blackbirds, pigeons or pheasant.

A hastily erected cage should hopefully put an end to that! (Left)

The Celery plants have been planted out into their raised bed in the allotment (left).

Also in this bed are the Turnip – Golden Ball which I grew from seed from the Advent Calendar (right).

The turnips are the reason for the netting over the bed, as they are susceptible to the dreaded cabbage white butterfly!

The tomatoes, from the Advent Calendar, have now been planted out into the Veggie Garden / Allotment into their final positions.

All of this planting out has left the cold frame looking rather abandoned, with only the leeks left in it.

The Leeks are looking really good. They continue to grow on nicely. I am trying 3 varieties this year: Below Zero; Oarsman; and Autumn Mammoth. Hopefully I should get them planted out in the next week or so.

Early in the week, I noticed some compost lying on the path next to the raised bed in which I planted the pea seeds last week. (Right)

Closer inspection showed that someone had been digging up exactly where I had planted the peas (left)

Who could the thief be, I wonder?

Well, blackbirds are always digging for worms etc and make a similar mess. Must be high on the suspect list!

Pigeons? More likely to eat the greenery.

Much to our delight, we have had a young pheasant visiting our bird feeder recently. However, I did see it in the Veggie Garden / Allotment just before the incident, so maybe. He has disappeared since then, which may be a sign of guilt!

Squirrels 🐿️ would do this, but we haven’t seen a squirrel in the garden for many years, so unlikely.

So, I put a wire mesh over this area to protect it (as shown in the pictures above.……

…….and it seems to have worked, as I now have a great crop of peas sprouting (left)

I do think that the thief got away with a good number of pea seeds though, as the dug-up area is rather sparse in terms of growth compared to the rest. (Right)

Thinking back – for the last few years, my first sowing of peas has not germinated well and I have usually had to re-sow. Perhaps this thief has been here longer than I thought. He / she only got caught this year because he / she got sloppy and scattered the compost onto the path, or I would never have known!

Suspiciously, I closely inspected the other plantings in the Veggie Garden / Allotment following this criminal activity……..

….and there we go, almost undetectable, and only because I was looking closely, I noticed…..

…..little areas of disturbed compost where I had planted the Runner Beans at the base of each stake.

I hastily erected a protective net to keep the thief away.

Much to my delight, later in the week, the Runner Beans appeared next to their climbing poles. The thief had not stolen all of the seeds. Yesss! (Left)

However, looking closely….

….some of the beans which had germinated outside the protective netting…..

…… and been dug up by the vagabond (right)!!!!!!!

……he / she is still around

The Potatoes – Winston have just sprouted and are peeping through the soil this week.

The Rhubarb has been savaged even more severely than last week!

Do not panic, dear readers, it will regrow.

Quite quickly, in fact!

Haa! I have found where it’s gone!

Into the kitchen (Top)

…….then lovingly prepared, according to secret recipe, cooked and delicately placed into wee manikins (centre left)

……..an oat “crumble” is added on top 🤤, cooked and frozen.

……..et voila! Rhubarb Crumbles for many months to come! 😋 (centre right)

……..but there’s more!

……..my favorite! Rhubarb and Ginger jam. (Bottom)

……..Oh my! 😊

Things are starting to move forward at pace now and I look forward to keeping you updated regularly on developments in The Anaesthetists Allotment.

See you next time!

The Anaesthetists Allotment – 6th May 2024

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Hello again! 👋

Welcome to the this “spring” edition of The Anaesthetist’s Allotment. I hope you enjoy it.

Please feel free to follow, like or comment and I look forward to getting some of your feedback.

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!

General:

This is the 9th post of 2024 in this year’s series of “The Anaesthetist’s Allotment”. It has only been one week since my last posting, but things are starting to move along quite quickly now in “The Anaesthetists Allotment”. Lots has been happening over the last week.

The days continue to lengthen. The sun sets today at about 2109 (15 minutes later than last week!), and the evenings stay light until about 2300 dependant on the presence, absence, or thickness of the cloud cover. However, the weather remains very changeable and moody.

Last week, the “weather-man” told us that it was going to warm up. Well they were right, to an extent! The very low sub-zero temperatures have indeed gone, for the moment, anyway! It has warmed up, but to a highest temperature of 15’C – I can hear those of you outside Scotland shivering and putting on extra jerseys at that temperature 🤭 . The first couple of days it rained, heavily! Then the sun came out, but it was accompanied by quite a strong wind, which kinda took the “feels like” temperature down a peg or two. For the last day or two we have descended under a cloud, literally. The “haar” (a lovely Scottish term for a cold sea-fog) has arrived and it certainly no longer feels like spring / summer, although it remains 15’C! There is still the chance that we may get another proper cold snap, with further sub-zero temperatures. Obviously, as gardeners, that is one of our biggest fears at this time of year as it is lethal to the tender wee plants we have just grown and planted out.

Enough about the weather……….

Let’s get on with it then……….

In the greenhouse:

Two weeks ago, I had a terrible disaster in the propagator in the garage. This was where I had successfully germinated and grown all of my “squash” plants for this coming year. Unknowingly I had committed genocide by allowing too much moisture to build up inside the propagator. This led to rotting of the stems and fungus growth which killed the majority of my wee plants. 😢

Yes, I am still sulking!

But…….

There have been no more fatalities 🥳

The four Butternut survivors are looking good (left). 3 more plants have grown from the second sowing in the garage, so that should be plenty for us this year.

The four surviving pumpkins are also looking good (right) – well, apart from one of them, which still looks a bit dodgy but seems to have put out a new leaf this week. Will keep an eye on it!

Only one more pumpkin has germinated from the second sowing in the garage, so…..

I have been to the local garden centre, who had nothing. Ended up at the B&Q, who at least had a great range of veggie plants. I managed to get a couple of pumpkins and a chilli there (right) to bolster our harvests.

Only one Cucumber (Mini Munch) survived. But fortunately, 3 new plants have sprouted in the garage, so again we should be ok for cucumbers this year. The survivor looks really good and will be able to head into the grow bag soon.

The three Courgette Goldmine (yellow courgettes) which survived are also now starting to look quite good.

Fortunately the Courgette Zucchini (green courgettes) have sprouted well in the garage from the second sowing and we now have 4 seedlings coming along.

So, we should be ok for both green and yellow courgettes this year.

The six surviving Gemsquash look great and are also growing away, just fine. We have only had one more Gemsquash germinate from the second sowing in the garage. But, fortunately this should be enough for our needs this year.

In the Garage:

The second sowing of squashes in the garage is showing signs of life! At last something good is happening 😊.

There is not a hint of excess moisture and the seedlings are now starting to form their true leaves. It will not be long until they can get potted up and moved up to the greenhouse.

Those of you with very keen eyesight will have noticed that several of the planted cells have not germinated at all. This could have been a major disaster for us. But, fortunately, a higher power seems to have been smiling on us, and the seeds which germinated were those that we desperately needed. So, all will be well in the Anaesthetists Allotment this year.

Back to the greenhouse:

Potatoes (Winston)

I had planted some of these seed potatoes into grow bags in the greenhouse to give us an early potato crop. They have grown well, been topped-up with compost, and continue to look great. They have been outside the greenhouse day and night for the last week and are looking amazing.

The Celery plants have been potted up into their own individual cells and are looking amazing. They will soon be ready to plant out into the Veggie Garden / Allotment

The outdoor tomatoes, leeks, Cabbage, Kale, Brussels Sprouts, Beetroot and Chard were moved into a cold frame outside the greenhouse last weekend.

The ideas behind this is to acclimatise the plants to the cooler temperatures outside before they get planted out into the Veggie Garden / Allotment. This gives them less of a shock 😳 and apparently they do better!

The roof of the cold frame is closed at night in case the temperatures drop too much!

These plants will be planted out into their final positions in the Veggie Garden / Allotment next week.

The cold frame contains Summer Cabbage (Hispi and Caraflex); Kale (Nero di Toscana); Winter Cabbage (Tundra); Beetroot (Detroit Globe); Brussels Sprout (Maximus and Brodie); Turnip (Golden Ball); Chard (Rhubarb Leaf and Rainbow Mix); Beetroot (Burpee’s Golden and Boltardy).

The Leeks are looking really good. They continue to grow on nicely. I am trying 3 varieties this year: Below Zero; Oarsman; and Autumn Mammoth

The three lots of tomato seeds which I received in my Christmas Advent Calendar are looking good 😊. I will plant them outside in the next week or so.

The Second mini-greenhouse has been removed from the greenhouse. As has the mini-greenhouse in which the bonsais were successfully over-wintered. This gives a lot more space in the greenhouse.

The seed trays (right) planted in February are looking amazing now. The lettuce is ready for munching and the carrots will not be too much longer.

I have planted the next lot of salad leaves. They have started to sprout. (Left)

Bonsai

My bonsai have all decided that spring is here and had started growing quite vigorously. They look quite good despite their spring haircut a week ago!

They are loving being out of their cramped winter home.

My two Jacaranda Bonsai (far right) are both looking really good. They have now survived two Scottish winters! Amazing! I never would have believed it.

Alexander’s Fig Bonsai (left) looks lovely. It is starting to get some real character now.

My Juniper Bonsai (right) is also looking great. I designed it in a “Windswept” style and am still trying to decide whether to remove the left main branch or not.

Veggie garden:

It’s time to get the Watering System set up.

The pipes and controllers have been stored in the garage (right) over winter to prevent frost damage.

Batteries are inserted into the controllers. All the bits are linked up and connected to the mains water supply (left) and WiFi.

Each pot in the greenhouse has a feed to it. (Right)

There are two sprinklers which cover the whole of the Veggie Garden / Allotment.(left)

The controller’s are connected to WiFi……..

……. And the whole lot is controlled from an app on my phone! (Right)

Technology is wonderful!

Two of the raised beds in the Veggie Garden / Allotment have been weeded this morning. Where do all these weeds come from? They have then been hoe’d vigorously and a nice thick layer of manure added to the top.

These are now ready for me to plant out the brassicas (cabbages, Kale, and Brussels Sprout which are currently hardening off in the cold frame outside the greenhouse. I will get them planted out during this coming week.

And, that’s them with their netting on. All ready for the assault of the dreaded cabbage fly. More about that pest later in the season!

Similarly, the remainder of raised bed into which I had sown the Beetroot – Boltary (red) and Burpees Golden (yellow) seeds a week ago, has also been weeded, hoe’d and mulched with manure. All ready for the first sowing of the beetroot to be planted out this week. They are currently also in the cold frame.

The rest of the bed for the Spinach has also been prepared, as above. Again these plants will be planted out from the cold frame to their final position next week.

The apple trees have finally decided to bless us with their full blossom. It is beautiful, but particularly so in the twilight, when the blossom seems to shine.

Pink apple blossom for the “cooker’s” (right).

And, white apple blossom for the “eater’s” (left)

The Rhubarb has been savaged!

Haa! I have found where it’s gone!

Into the kitchen (Top)

…….then lovingly prepared according to secret recipe, cooked and delicately placed into wee manikins (centre)

……..an oat “crumble” is added on top 🤤

……..into the oven 🤤 😋

……….et voila!

My Rhubarb Crumble is ready! My favorite!

……..It was absolutely wonderful, as expected 😋

Rest of the garden:

Sweet Peas – planted and ready to climb up the wall hopefully to produce a spectacular burst of colour in summer.

Pansies and Petunias starting to provide some spring colour.

Things are starting to move forward at pace now and I look forward to keeping you updated regularly on developments in The Anaesthetists Allotment.

See you next time!

The Anaesthetists Allotment – 30th April 2024

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Hello again! 👋

Welcome to the this “spring” edition of The Anaesthetist’s Allotment. I hope you enjoy it.

Please feel free to follow, like or comment and I look forward to getting some of your feedback.

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!

General:

This is the eighth post of 2024 in this year’s series of “The Anaesthetist’s Allotment”. It has only been one week since my last posting, but things are starting to move along quite quickly now in “The Anaesthetists Allotment”. Lots has been happening over the last week. However, I really need to feed back to you after my attempted genocide of the entire squash population, and provide you with an update on that situation.

The days continue to lengthen. The sun sets today at about 2055 (15 minutes later than last week!), and the evenings stay light until about 2230 dependant on the presence, absence, or thickness of the cloud cover. However, the weather remains very changeable and moody. It has been near zero for most of the last week and falls of snow continue on the nearby hills and mountains. The short nights are still going sub-zero every night, which can be lethal for tiny plants! There has also been lots of rain and wind. Apart from the lengthening days, one would hardly dare to call it spring!!!!! The “weather-man” tells me that it will warm up from tomorrow. Yeah right! I will believe when I see it! Don’t get excited, mind, it is only going to get to 15’C! Although this may be classed as warm in Scotland, many other places would class this as winter temperatures!!! And will there be any sun???? I bet it will be rain and wind to go with the slightly warmer temperatures! I think I am starting to become a Doubting Thomas! Come on! Where’s the proper Spring, for goodness sake!

Sooooo……….

Let’s get on with it then……….

In the greenhouse:

Last week, I described the disaster with my squashes which had germinated well in my propagator in the garage. I thought all was well with them as they had looked lovely and green. However, last week, when I went to take them out of the propagator to pot them up: Disaster!

The moisture in the propagator, which I had noticed the week before, and negligently done nothing about, had caused the stems of the young plants to rot, and fungus to grow which further attacked the young seedlings. Several of the plants were irretrevably damaged and dead. ☠️ 😢

So, making the best of a bad thing, whilst struggling to see through my tears, I potted up what I could and moved them into the mini-greenhouse (far left).

🤔 RIP! 🪦

There have been further non-survivors during the week!

It is so sad 😞. Normally, this area within the mini-greenhouse is jam-packed full of little “squash” plants after they have been potted up for the first time. This year, the stark gaps are clearly obvious. It looks like a war zone!

(Right) Pumpkins, butternuts and cucumbers – well what’s left anyway! They look horrible, but, believe me, they look better than last week! 🤞

(Left) Gemsquash – again, horrible compared to normal, but they do look better than last week 🤞

In the Garage:

We have some new growth from the seeds I planted last weekend after the disaster. At last something good is happening 😊. Perhaps, I may not have to rely on the Garden Centre entirely for salvation!

They are detailed below:

Please rest assured that I am keeping the lid partially open and there is not a hint of excess moisture anywhere to be found! I have learnt my lesson – hopefully I will remember next year! 🙊

Casualty Count:

In both the greenhouse and Garage:

Cucumber (Mini Munch):

(Only one probable survivor!) ☠️ 😢

2 new plants have grown in the garage, so that should do us for this year! Phew!

Courgette (Zucchini): A green courgette

(No survivors!) ☠️ 😢

4 more plants have grown in the greenhouse. Again that should do us for this year!

Courgette (Goldmine): a yellow / golden variety of courgette

(All 3 have survived!) 🥳 😊

Pumpkin (Wicked):

(No survivors!) ☠️ 😢

1 more plant has grown in the greenhouse.

Pumpkin (Jack of all Trades):

(Only three survivors!) ☠️ 😢

That gives a total of only 4 Pumpkin plants for this year. We may struggle for pumpkins this year as I would normally have 6 or so plants. I have also run out of seeds. May have to buy a couple of seedlings at the garden centre, if they have any!

Gemsquash: A veggie well known to those of us from Southern Africa, which grows surpringly well in our cold, very northern climate. We usually get huge crops of delicious “gems”.

(Only six survivors!) ☠️ 😢

1 more plant has grown in the greenhouse. Again that should do us for this year, might be one plant short outside, but should be ok.

Butternut (Walnut) and (Hunter): I

(Only four survivors!) ☠️ 😢

3 more plants have grown in the greenhouse. Again that should do us for this year! I have only been able to get decent butternut crops inside the greenhouse in previous years – I think the growing season outside is too short here.

Back to the greenhouse:

The three lots of tomato seeds which I received in my Christmas Advent Calendar are looking good 😊.

I will plant them outside when the weather warms up a bit more. To get them ready for that, I will put them into a cold frame (see below).

Potatos (Winston)

I had planted some of these seed potatoes into grow bags in the greenhouse to give us an early potato crop. They have grown well, been topped-up with compost, and continue to look great. (Right)

Today is supposed to be the start of some warmer weather, so that’s the potato’s outside the greenhouse now!(left). I hope the weather-man is correct!

The poor celery seeds were one of the biggest casualties of the warm period we had just before we got back from holiday in March.

The little celery plants have now been potted up into their own individual cells and are looking amazing, especially considering their ordeal.

This celery is a first for me 😊. Looking forward to seeing how this goes! Thank goodness disaster has been avoided!

Second mini-greenhouse

This contains Summer Cabbage (Hispi and Caraflex); Kale (Nero di Toscana); Winter Cabbage (Tundra); Beetroot (Detroit Globe); Brussels Sprout (Maximus and Brodie); Turnip (Golden Ball); Chard (Rhubarb Leaf and Rainbow Mix); Beetroot (Burpee’s Golden and Boltardy). It has been unheated and is allowing these plants to gradually acclimatise to our temperatures. They will be moved into the cold frame soon (see below).

Again three weeks ago, I started the summer planting of Leeks. They have all sprouted and are already looking really good. They continue to grow on nicely.

I am trying 3 varieties this year: Below Zero; Oarsman; and Autumn Mammoth

The outdoor tomatoes, leeks, Cabbage, Kale, Brussels Sprouts, Beetroot and Chard have today been moved into a cold frame outside the greenhouse.

The ideas behind this is to acclimatise the plants to the cooler temperatures outside before they get planted out into the Veggie Garden / Allotment. This gives them less of a shock 😳 and apparently they do better!

The roof of the cold frame is closed at night in case the temperatures drop too much!

These plants will be planted out into their final positions next week.

The seed trays (left) planted in February are looking amazing now. The lettuce is ready for munching and the carrots will not be too much longer.

I have planted the next lot of salad leaves. They have started to sprout. (Right)

Last week, we had the first flower from my silver anniversary rose. We now have 3 roses. Beautiful 😍!

This rose has now been potted up into a larger pot ready to move outside soon.

Bonsai

My bonsai have all decided that spring is here and had started growing quite vigorously. I took them out this week and gave them a spring haircut!

They are looking good. It will soon be time to pack away their winter home (the mini-greenhouse) and move them out into the greenhouse itself.

Veggie garden:

The spinach (Perpetual Spinach) sown directly into the soil has now sprouted. This will give us a later harvest, which will follow on from the Spinach and Chard started in the greenhouse. These greenhouse grown early-croppers will be planted out into this same bed next week.

Runner beans (St George) have been sown next to their support stakes which have been tied together in a “wigwam” for strength.

A nice thick layer of manure has been added on top for food.

Peas (Early Onward): The first crop of peas has been sown directly into their location in the Veggie Garden / Allotment. A frame has been erected for them to grow up.

A second planting will be sown on the other side of the bed in about a month’s time. This will hopefully give us a nice harvest of peas over a longer period.

Beetroot – Boltary (red) and Burpees Golden (yellow) have been sown directly into the soil in the Veggie Garden / Allotment. (Left)

These sowings have been covered with a nice thick layer of manure which should provide some fantastic food for the plants as they grow.

This direct sowing should give a second harvest which will follow on after those plants which have been started in the greenhouse and are currently growing away nicely. These will be planted out into this same bed next week.

Right: The Onions (Rhumba) seem to have settled in nicely after having been planted out. They are looking good.

Left: Garlic (Solent Wight & “Granny’s”) are both looking good after sprouting during the depths of winter

A UK TV program and magazine, “Gardener’s World”, suggested that if I grow carrots together with onions or garlic and in very short rows, it will reduce the chances of carrot fly infestation. Carrot Fly has destroyed virtually every crop of carrots I have ever planted in my garden. It is a nightmare! To the extent that I had given up on growing carrots entirely. After reading this advice, I thought that I would give it one last go. So, I have planted some very short rows (one foot maximum) of Carrot Sugarsnax in between the rows of garlic and onions. I kinda feel like a sucker for punishment, but who knows, maybe this time! I must be the eternal optimist!

I use an on-line Garden Planner to plan which crops go into which raised bed every year. The main point of this is to ensure a good crop rotation, thereby ensuring that the same type of crop is not planted year after year on the same soil. Theoretically this will reduce diseases etc. My crop rotation means that there is usually 3 to 4 years between similar crops being planted in a raised bed.

I have ticked off the crops which have already been planted / sown in the Veggie Garden / Allotment. As you can see, the vast majority of the crops are now in. Those which are not ticked are in the greenhouse and will be planted out after the risk of frost is over.

Things are starting to move forward at pace now and I look forward to keeping you updated regularly on developments in The Anaesthetists Allotment.

See you next time!

Last free weekend

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Well here we are on my last weekend before I start call again. And what is it doing? Pouring rain. What’s the weather report? More of the same all weekend. Oh well at least my back is saved from having to weed in the garden!
The good news. There are 3 international rugby matches on this weekend. Can any of the Northern hemisphere teams save some face and win on their Southern Hemisphere tours. What of Scotland? The only Northern Hemisphere team to win. Twice, so far. And we don’t even get to watch any of the games!!!!!! It’s been kept so quiet I don’t even know when the last match is being played!
I have a new gardening app which can plan my veggie garden for me called Garden Plan. Really looking forward to trying it out.
GPC is off in Chicago holding the flag high for Health Web Sci at the Web Science world congress. I’m following him & the congress (#websci12) on twitter. We have some work to do on our Twitter paper when he gets back so that we can meet the re-submission deadline.