Direct seeding experiment

My direct seeded beet experiment at the allotment seems to have worked!  I prepared a fresh sheet mulch over the very grassy/weedy garlic and broad bean beds once they were harvested in June:  a layer of cardboard topped with several cm of compost.  I then marked rows, sowed beet seed, and enclosed the whole thing in fine insect mesh;  I even buried all the edges so in theory nothing could access the bed from the outside.

Both beds (sown about two weeks apart) had the same treatment though I had less seed for the second bed--it's not as thick with leaves as the first.  Beets are not particularly attractive to most of my local pests except as very young shoots;  the first bed is definitely past this stage and the second bed is also probably safe by now however I'll not take its net off for a little while longer just in case.

But on the strength of this start, I'm attempting a slightly more slug-attracting plant:  radishes.  In particular, mini daikon and black Spanish radishes--both bigger than the typical red salad radishes, and intended for cooking.  I've already started the newest sheet mulch and I'll take the net off the first bed of beets when I'm ready to sow.  Now is a good time for radishes as they prefer it a little cooler but are pretty quick so will still have time to make roots.  I had some success with both kinds in my own garden last autumn so we'll see if I can get any at the allotment too.

(I keep sheet mulching my allotment in order to keep the grass at bay, but it's starting to emerge through the beet beds already--I've been sheet mulching for years now and it's enough to get a crop growing to harvest, but not enough to kill the grass.  Without sheet mulching, my plants can't compete with grass, even if I've dug over a bed thoroughly.)

Planting for kimchi

Though I did not post any official garden goals for 2024, I did write a couple down in my personal notes;  for one, I want to grow my own kimchi (a recent delicious obsession).  For me, the ingredients I can grow will be: cabbage, daikon radish, leek, garlic, apple (I will buy ginger, chili flakes, salt and fish sauce to complete my recipe).  I've got all of these going, though I have a somewhat disappointing amount of cabbage this year.

But I recently found a recipe variation calling for pak choi instead of cabbage, and this may be the answer to my problem!  Pak choi is much quicker to grow, doesn't take up so much room, and is softer/crisper than the ball headed cabbage variety I have--authentic kimchi is made with Napa cabbage, closer to pak choi in texture and shape (I wasn't able to find Napa seed).

The half-empty cabbage bed has now become the pak choi bed, planted out with about 25-30 small seedlings, and the very end of it has three short rows of daikon radish (actually a miniature daikon variety, carrot size rather than those full sized monster roots).  The whole of the bed is fully netted, thanks to the help of the mother, here for a short visit.  We carefully enclosed the entire bed in insect mesh in the hopes of protecting it from cabbage butterflies, pigeons and ducks alike.  So far so good.  

If I get acceptable cabbages, they will go into kimchi, and hopefully I will get some nice pak choi for it too.  Here's looking forward to some excellent kimchi.

Cool weather: bad and good

After a promising start to May, summer has rather fizzled out, turning cool and wet again.  It was cold and wet in spring, and my plants are still behind schedule because of this--the cold meant everything got a later start than usual. 

It doesn't look so good for my corn, squash and zuc;  and my tomatoes look a bit iffy as well, though these I've been growing and saving seed from these for years so I think they might still pull through for me (being somewhat adapted to a cooler summer).  My cucumbers are also doing their best and putting out some tiny flowers but the vines are still very short.  Last year (hot but not excessively dry) I got a bumper crop of all of these, greatly increasing my year's grand total of veg--it looks like it will not be repeated this year. (Note: at least half of 2023's squash were eaten in 2024, and will go on the record for this year's grand total.)

Conversely, my cool weather crops are loving it: including my lettuce, sugar snap peas, beets, kohlrabi and other brassicas.  The pea plants were so small and spindly when I first put them in--I didn't have much hopes for them actually--and now they are cranking out about two pounds of peas per week with no sign of stopping.  Maybe they'll keep it up all summer.  The beets and kohlrabi are bulbing up much more quickly than last year, and the lettuce just keeps on coming no matter how much I pick--we're eating a salad pretty much every day.

My perennials produce whatever the weather;  whether hot or not, the raspberries, currants, rhubarb, artichokes, figs and herbs are pretty reliable.  The other fruit trees are affected but obliquely, such as if the bees are out when they flower, or if the cherries get sufficient rain in spring before the fruit matures. 

I'm used to a washout summer though--it happens frequently on this soggy island.  I've learned to plant for both scenarios:  hot and dry or cool and wet.  This way I'll at least get something!  My preference?  I like both kinds of crops really, but when it comes me personally I'm not good with heat.  I'm more of a sugar snap pea than an ear of corn.

Finished yet?

Little cucumber plants with even littler zuc between, July 2024

Pretty much every seedling in trays and pots has now been planted out, barring one small tray of late sown beets.  I've only just planted out the Savoy cabbages--not as many as I'd hoped--and the second batch of lettuce at home, leaving me just about half a bed unplanted.  Although it should have been all cabbages, never fear, I still have a plan for this:  the pak choi (broadcast into a large pot and just newly sprouting) and daikon radish (to be sown directly) can go in this small space. 

Houseplants having summer vacation (I put the rest out later on: aloes and spider plants), July 2024

Up at the allotment I've newly sheet mulched over the spent broad beans bed, with the son and husband's help.  I've put down one last sowing of beets, and like the bed next to it, have completely enclosed it in insect mesh including burying all the edges.  This is in the hopes of excluding slugs and bugs long enough for the beets to sprout and grow a bit.  

I've also planted out the very newly sprouted cucumber seedlings (four in total) in containers to replace ones lost to slugs.  Not only did I take the precautions described in my previous post, I even took a tub of vaseline with me and smeared the rim of the pots with it to be doubly cautious.

Self-seeded in my veg patch, July 2024

But I'm not finished yet.  I'm done with the spring and summer sowing/planting, but now I'm moving on to autumn and winter.  Luckily in my climate I can have veg growing year round;  while it's somewhat limited in winter, if I want anything growing then I have to get it going now--in fact the window of opportunity is gone for some things already:  Brussels sprouts for instance (I decided against them this year but may try again next).  My other long season crops are in now:  leeks, cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli.  Now it's time to start daikon radish, turnip and fennel, along with regular sowings of pak choi and lettuce.  And later on it'll be cauliflower and spring cabbage too.  No rest for me yet--winter's coming, and that's when I'll rest.

A tour of my allotment, 30 June, 2024

Let's have a look at my allotment.  Photos to follow!

At the very top of the allotment (not pictured) is a small bed of beets, some of which have been harvested already.  But it's also getting weedy/grassy again so the empty parts of the bed have had some cardboard laid down in anticipation of more sheet mulch.  I just keep on sheet mulching!  There is also a stack of semi-usable wood and other bits of allotment detritus at the very back against the perimeter fence, and to one side is the very grassy/weedy raspberry bed;  we've been picking plenty of rasps over the past week, mostly to freeze.

Then further on is the chicken yard (seen obliquely in a couple photos below), currently not occupied.  I was excited to see some self-sown squash in it but that disappeared about a week later--so disappointed.  I was going to plant it up but maybe I should just put the chickens back in instead.  There is a small bed on the side of the chicken yard, newly sheet mulched and planted with some purple sprouting broccoli.  Slugs love this, but they don't love the new sheet mulch, so I'm hoping it'll grow enough by the time the slugs work out where it is.  Also on the same side (at the very edge of my allotment) are a couple each of:  redcurrant, gooseberry, rhubarb (shown below: broccoli at the very top left in rings, leafy rhubarb top right).

Snap peas at the very front, small squash and corn in the bed, rhubarb and raspberries at the back right, June 2024

The bed pictured above is towards the middle/back of my allotment and has been newly sheet mulched.  The plastic rings are surrounding some of the corn seedlings to protect them from getting stepped on (as they are still pretty small) but also to keep them a little moist and warm as they grow on.  I really like putting one of these rings around all of my transplants if possible, to ease the transition from pot to ground.

Leeks and grass, with climbing beans to the back right, June 2024

This is the other side of the same bed, now fully planted with leeks.  The furthest rows of rings I only just planted out at the weekend;  the ones around the other three perimeter sides are there to prevent us accidentally stepping on them, as these are even smaller than the corn.  This bed has some grass growing through the sheet mulch but I can't deal with it as it will disturb my precious leeks.  I do know through experience that most of my plants will still grow reasonably well while swamped with grass, so long as they get a good foothold before the grass takes over.  There are also my climbing beans at the top right, some starting to grow up their supports.

Broad beans to the front, a climbing bean structure behind (and the chicken house and yard at the back), June 2024

Moving on.  Closer to the front of the allotment is this bed of broad beans which I've been picking every day for a week, but think they're about done now.  I'll sheet mulch over it as soon as I've got every bean.  Next to it (to the right), where it looks so grassy, is a smaller bed of snap peas which have also come into their own.  We've been eating these (and freezing most of the broad beans) and they are still flowering/producing well.  

At the very front of the photo is a bit of insect mesh covering a newly sheet mulched bed I sowed with beet seeds at the weekend.  The son helped me lay the mesh and bury all the edges in the hopes that no slugs and bugs will penetrate it.  I've found they don't care much for beets--even smaller seedlings--but will eat the shoots just as they emerge;  I hope my fortifications are sufficient to keep the beets alive long enough to pass this stage.

Lots of artichokes, all of them tall with small heads, June 2024

Again moving forward (the other side of the broad bean/snap peas bed are more squash, climbing beans and corn, not pictured) is my row of artichokes, stretching across the width of the allotment.  I think there are about 12 plants?  They are very tall:  the artichoke heads at the top are out of my reach entirely and I have to grab the lower stems and bend them over to cut them.  These are coming in at about ten heads every two or three days;  I expect this sort of production over the rest of the summer.  But it's not much to get excited about:  these ten heads give about 3 oz total of edible hearts--not a lot of produce for a whole lot of plant.  Luckily I like the flavor and I have a fairly quick method of extracting the hearts (don't bother washing, just dump in slow cooker and when soft: let cool and peel);  and it's free food after all, being a perennial with basically no maintenance other than harvest. 

Cherry toms and pickling cucs, June 2024

And last on my tour is the front of the allotment, sporting my collection of motley containers and shed.  There are more containers on the other side of the shed (slightly visible behind);  also beyond are my black plastic composters.  The other side of the bed itself has my in-ground plum tomatoes (one white tomato support is just barely showing at the top left corner).  Some of these containers lost their first planting of cucumber seedlings to slugs.  I will be replanting them with a later sowing:  the son emptied out the old compost (and mounded it around the toms, so as not to waste it), gave them a very thorough spray with the hose inside and out--and we moved them to a new spot just to be on the very safe side.  I hope to replant by the weekend.