20th May
Today I enclosed section 6 with the netting. The
reason I did not go for all 3 sections at once was to allow for some degree of
accessibility but mainly for 2 years time when the rotation system means that
I’ll have brassicas back in sections 7, 8 and 9 and there will be a much larger
gap between sections 8 and 9 (and a high one too with the apple tree there).
Forward planning hey? I also popped into Hilliers to buy 16 metres of small
meshed netting to go over the top of the brassica enclosures – the builders
stuff would be too heavy. That set me back £11.20 plus I got a red wired
hanging basket for our one and only tomato plant for £2.49.
Later in the evening I potted up 3 basil plants each
for two ladies at work and for us. I also potted up the basket with the aforementioned
tomato and hung it up over the strawberry bed. This coincided very nicely with
it suddenly being significantly warmer yesterday and today and thus appropriate
for the plant to come outside. I am itching to get the brassicas in the ground
to make a bit of space in the greenhouse as I need to pot on a few lemon balm
seedlings and the laurentias. I also need to get the sweet peas out too. I have
been waiting for the spring bulbs to die back which they have done to a fair
degree. I gave the border a good clear up of weeds and assorted debris and I
will attempt to plant out the sweet peas over the weekend. I will take some to
the allotment as well as they are good bee attractors. As far as plants on the
allotment are concerned I have seen neither hide nor hair of the poppies I
sowed. I still have some cornflowers to sow which I’d better get a move on
with, not to mention sunflowers both there and at home.
21st May
I made an extra trip to the allotment at lunchtime to
sow the carrot seeds. In section 1 I sowed 2 rows of chantenay and 2 rows of
autumn king and 1 row of tendersnax as that was all the seed I had left over.
Apart from the 4 x 3 seeds each for the family in our tubes at home, that is
250 tendersnax seeds used up. How? Last year I actually sowed seeds 2-3 inches
apart so as not to disrupt the soil when thinning which can attract carrot root
fly – and also to save money. As well as being very stingy, it doesn’t help
when you have a low germination rate. This year it is no expense spared as the
seed was sown thickly, will be thinned and covered with horticultural fleece
for all of £1 from the Pound shop. Back home there are the sure signs of
germinated carrots in our tubes, as well as the first carnation flowers out.
On my second trip to the allotment I tried to sort out
how I was going to secure the light netting over the top of the brassica
enclosure. My idea of stitching the 2 materials together is more than possible
however it is rather fiddly and incredibly time consuming. After a length
completed which was about as long as my arm, I gave up in a bad tempered
frustration and came home, cheered by my adoring family and the latest addition
of Gardeners’ World Magazine having arrived in the post today.
22nd May
Pegs are the answer! Armed with 4 packets of clothes
pegs bought for a total of £2 from the supermarket, I managed to close off the
top of the brassica enclosure. I also sowed 3 rows of cornflower seeds in
section 1.
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