Crunch time again

Squashes, etc, May 2023

So many things to do!  It's nearly summer--and after a cold spring, the past week or so has actually felt like summer--and I need to get it all done.

The son and I have been sheet mulching and transplanting at the allotment;  the grass there is nearly waist high in places, thick and lush.  I've given up trying to dig it out, so sheet mulch is the way;  though the grass still manages to come back every year, at least it's knocked back long enough to grow other stuff.  It's mostly cardboard topped with used stable bedding, obtained from the on-site stables;  I have used my precious own-made compost in little pockets just for the transplants themselves.  

Nearly all the summer crops are in now, though I am still keeping up a succession of beets, lettuce and kohl rabi in trays for continuous planting out.  And I've just made a start on sowing seed for winter veg too (mainly brassicas), which will continue through early summer. 

Spring cabbages not quite ready, May 2023

 Other jobs include keeping the new transplants well watered until they are well established, and tying/supporting growth such as for beans and tomatoes.  Speaking of well established, my previous experiments with using waste wool as a planting medium seem to be working very well!  Every transplant growing in wool has simply kept growing, no transplant shock at all, compared to those not grown in wool.  The root balls even seem more robust, with thicker roots and more roots altogether.  

Let's keep going, at get it all done.  Maybe this will be the year for me!

Weaving a fence

Keeping the ducks in, May 2023

 The old roll of chicken wire which enclosed the duck yard was finally deemed beyond repair and chucked out;  I bought it many years ago and it had been disintegrating slowly but surely after the first few years.  Rather than spend money on another roll of wire, I spent time and effort instead and made myself a bit of free fencing.

I pruned my narrow-cane bamboo plant fairly hard this spring;  it's a clumping variety but still pretty fast growing and produces a lot of new canes every year.  I think it was about 10 cm tall when I first planted it, but now it's taller than me, and the clump was wider around than I can encircle with my arms--I pruned it back to about that width.

I then took the longest, thickest canes--between the thickness of a drinking straw and a pencil--and started weaving them in an open diamond shape weave fence.  To keep the structure secure I tied each place where two canes crossed each other.

To make the ties, I collected a bunch of too-small/holey black socks from my son, and cut them into little strips:  stretchy and durable.  I don't know how many I used, but each cane had around eight ties on it (but obviously each tie connects two canes).

To begin with, I worked the first meter or so of fence laid flat on the ground, as it need some length before it could support itself;  after this, I put it upright and wove the remainder in situ.  It took me several days of work, although I spread it over several weeks, mainly depending on the weather (this was in early spring).  I think it should last as long as the chicken wire did, and hey, it was free.

Last year's fennel regrowing, May 2023

Dirty fingernails

In the last few days I've planted out half the tomatoes, sowed some dill and two packets of dwarf French beans, and sowed a couple more seed trays of beets and kohl rabi--all these at home.  At the allotment I've planted out purple climbing beans, corn, kohl rabi and beets, and laid down more sheet mulch.  I've got some tomatoes and red kale up there just waiting to be planted out later today or tomorrow.

Later this week or at the weekend I've got some more climbing beans to go out, along with the last of the tomatoes and I'll be sowing more trays for winter veg, particularly winter brassicas.  I want to get a few more rows of root veg seeds sown too:  more carrots and parsnips (some already up and growing), as well as daikon radish, turnip and swede.

I've been a whirlwind of planting out and sowing seeds, and my fingernails are perpetually dirty;  not ideal for a food worker!  Though I keep them as short as possible (I cook at a local school).  Every day, whether at home before work or at the allotment after work, I've got my hands in the soil. 

Planting out at last

I've started transplanting out my first seed trays, both at home and at the allotment.  Recall I've been trying out a new-to-me method using waste wool sheets under a layer of compost in my trays.  I have been playing around a little with this, as it's kind of awkward to cut the wool sheet apart once the seedlings are growing in it;  I've tried putting a little ball of wool inside individual pots, and also have tried tearing up the sheets into smaller wispy bits and using these as the first layer in a tray.  I haven't yet transplanted any of these additional experiments.

However my first transplants, a small row of lettuces growing in wool, have taken remarkably well and seem to have begun growing immediately upon planting out--no sign of transplant shock.  Perhaps I helped them along slightly by covering the row in mesh (to protect from bird damage), but I think it was probably more due to the wool.

I have transplanted my first tray of corn too, but these I did slightly differently;  they were sown into modules instead of trays, with no space for wool.  When planting out, I put a little wad of wispy wool in the bottom of each hole before placing the seedling on top.  These are also covered in mesh until they find their feet, but I hope they'll be up and running by the end of the week.  I have one more tray of corn to go up at the allotment (within a few days hopefully).

There are lots more trays to go, including beets, kale, cabbage and more;  plus the indoor grown modules/pots such as beans and tomatoes--like the corn, these have been gradually hardened off outside as it's grown warmer;  they are ready to go as soon as I can snatch a few minutes.

At the allotment, May 2023

A bit more work has been done at the allotment, rather than just a once a week visit to pick kale, my winter routine.  The past few weekends the son and I have been emptying compost bins (and beginning to refill with horse bedding from the onsite stables), sheet mulching, and even a small amount of weeding--mainly thistles and a few nettles.

The husband repaired the wire around the chicken yard and I did a few adjustments to their coop, and now all five hens are up there, taking care of the rampant grass covering their yard.  I hope they can clear it all away by June;  if so, I'll bring them back home and plant it up with squash and/or zucchini.  If not, they can stay up there until it gets too hot, like when we had a 40C heat wave last summer.

I have a few trays of seedling here at home just about ready to transplant into the new sheet mulch;  I know the beets will be fine and I'm going to try the kohl rabi this year too.  While there are almost no slugs and bugs in the kitchen garden (thank you ducks) the allotment is teeming with them--I make sure the most vulnerable crops stay at home but I have to balance this against crop rotation too.  Last year I grew mostly brassicas including kohl rabi at home;  I have to rotate them to the allotment this year, or not grow them at all.

I'll also try the corn at the allotment again this summer--last summer something pulled it all out and ate it just as soon as I transplanted it.  This year I sowed double the amount and will keep one tray back--and I'll cover the rows with mesh to hopefully prevent any digging.