Growing on in the kitchen garden

Compare these photos from last month's post.

The transplants are growing but the seeded rows aren't quite, June 2022

Kohl rabi growing furiously, June 2022

I took these photos at the beginning of the month and the plants are even bigger now;  the spaces between the rows are no longer visible in the kohl rabi and I have since taken off the cabbage netting--it was to deter a pesky wood pigeon who was nipping off leaves.  I think the same bird was nibbling my swede seedlings;  I planted out my (small) second batch of corn seedlings in the gaps in their rows and threw a mesh over to protect them from disappearing again--and the swede seedlings are looking much healthier now too. 

In other gaps in various rows I've transplanted some lettuce seedlings, including where it looks like some of the herb varieties I put down were just too old to germinate;  only dill and coriander have come up.  The carrots are also pretty sparse even though it was new seed, but surprisingly I have a few parsnips coming up (I've never managed to grow them before).  There are only a couple fennel too, unfortunately.  

I may use the fennel row as a holding bed for my winter brassicas, to allow them to grow on a bit more before transplanting to their final places at the allotment;  I need them to be as big as possible to survive the slugs and bugs there and they don't mind being transplanted--right now they're still in a tray.

The tomatoes are all putting out their first trusses of flowers and have all had sideshoots pinched and have grown enough to need a second tie to their support poles.  The green kuri and yellow crookneck squashes however are still somewhat small, though have grown a little since transplant (unlike their counterparts at the allotment which seem to have mostly disappeared).

The husband put down some marigolds and geraniums (bought on the cheap), and cranesbill (transplanted from the front garden) around the perimeter of the beds;  I put down some California poppies and a few dahlias too.  I've been hoeing and hand weeding the multitude of poppies that self seed prolifically, along with most of the nasturtiums though a few of these have been allowed at the very edge of one bed, to climb up a small support I wove out of laurel trimmings.