Veggy Plot pictures and pages updated 17.01.09

Finally a break in the weather on a bitterly cold but fine sunny day means I have managed to take some new photos (with my new camera, a xmas present) of my vegetable plots for 2009 to see how they have survived through the winter.

So here goes (click on the pictures to enlarge them):-

Plot 1 Broad Beans and Peas

Plot 2 – Carrots and Onions

Plot 3 – Cabbages

Everything seems to be growing strongly thanks to my homemade fleece cloches – click here if you would like to know how to make your own small fleece cloche.

All my vegetables have survived the winter frosts unlike my poor frost bitten mallow (lavatera) shrub in the plant border.

New Blog Pages for 2009

I have had a bit of a spring clean with my blog and added some new information to the pages. I have setup 3 individual pages for each plot this year to record my sowing and harvest dates with slideshows:

• Plot 1 – Beans and Peas,
• Plot 2 – Roots and Onions,
• Plot 3 – Brassicas.

My About Me page now has details about my vegetable plot and a picture of all three plots.

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This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Veggy Plot Pictures and Pages Updated 17.01.09

Sowing Now – Broad beans, peas, carrots, onion sets, spring cabbage plants and chinese cabbage

Today I have been mostly sowing and planting:

Plot 1
Last year this plot had roots and salads in it, this year I have rotated my crops so that legumes are going to be grown here instead.

1. Broad Bean ‘Super Aquadulce’ (2 rows and 3 rows spare to sow in Nov) Sow Oct – Feb, Harvest June to July. Bought from Garden Organic.
2. Pea ‘Meteor’ (2 rows) Sow Oct to Nov, Harvest June to July. Bought from Garden Organic.
3. Parsnip ‘Countess F1′ (1 row) ready for harvest now to Nov from a sowing in February.

Tip for covering peas and beans:
I cover my peas and broad beans over-winter to protect them from the frost with enviromesh and horticultural fleece if snow is forecasted. I remove all covers in spring when flowers are forming so they can be pollinated by flying insects.

Plot 2
Last year this plot had brassicas in it, this year I have rotated my crops so that roots and onions are going to be grown here instead.

1. Carrot ‘Nantes Frubund’ (1 row and 3 spare to sow in succession) – Sow Feb to October, Harvest April to November. Bought from Gardens4less.
2. Onion Set ‘Red Cross’ (3 rows) – Plant Oct to Nov, Harvest June to July. Bought from Marshalls Seed.
3. Spring Onion ‘Hardy White Lisbon’ (2 rows) – Sow June to Oct, Harvest July – Dec. Bought from Garden Organic.

Onion Set Planting Tip:
I planted my Onion sets out in a mound with just the tips showing, spaced about a hand width apart in the row. This was recommended by an allotmenteer at Joe’s Allotment on Gardener’s World. He said this was better for drainage and sun exposure. Pea sticks or canes have been placed over the bed to protect from birds and cats.

Click here to see Friday 10th Oct Episode of Gardeners World on BBC iPlayer.

Plot 3
Last year this plot had beans and peas in it, this year I have rotated my crops so that brassicas are going to be grown here instead.

1. Cabbage ‘Greyhound’ plants – Plant Oct, Harvest April to May. Bought from Ebay.
2. Chinese Cabbage ‘Tatsoi’ ( 2 small rows) – Sow July to October, Harvest Sept to Dec. Bought from Garden Organic.

Tip on planting out cabbages:
Dig a small hole with a trowel, water the hole well, firm in plants with fingers and then firm in with heel of your foot. Cabbages require firm ground to grow in to support their stems and leaves.

And finally I harvested the last of the french beans and some parsnips for tea.

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This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Sowing Now – Broad Beans, Peas, Carrots, Onion Sets and Spring Cabbages

Sowing, Harvesting & Big Plot Update 18.07.08

Today I Will Mostly Be Sowing:

• Dwarf Beans – ‘borlotto’,
• Broad Beans – ‘the sutton’,
• Peas – ‘ambassador’,
• Pak Choi – ‘riko white’.

Today I Will Mostly Be Harvesting:

• New Potato’s – ‘lady christl’ and ‘charlotte’,
• Cabbage – ’spring hero’ and ‘advantage’,
• Dwarf Beans – ‘borlotto’,
• Dwarf Beans – ‘ferrari’,
• Lettuce – ‘balmoral’ leaves,

Vegetables in Progress

• Tomato’s – ‘Green Zebra’,



• Cucumber’s – ‘Marketmore’,



• Broccoli ‘tenderstem’,

Plot Progress – Week 23

Plot 1
Carrots, red spring onion and beetroot are growing stronger from sowings made on 1st June 2008. Runner beans are slowly wrapping themselves around the canes. Parsnip foliage is going wild. Sowed Pak Choi into the gaps.

Plot 2
Tenderstem Broccoli nearly ready to pick, cabbage resolution savoy and golden acre are growing well after transplanting, still a few sacrificial cabbages of ‘advantage’ variety to attract the cabbage white butterflies to lay their eggs on (and not on my newly transplanted ones – seems to be working so far).

Plot 3
Broad Beans and Mange tout removed after harvesting. New sowings of peas, broad beans and dwarf beans under cloche (mainly due to cats digging bare soil). 2 x butternut squash plants doing well after transplant. Brussels sprout plants wedged in between dwarf beans but are growing steady.

Tomato and Cucumbers (outdoors)
Tomato’s have been tied to the canes and pots placed into upside down propagator lids. This has helped as this fence is a sun trap and dries the plants out daily, I pour water into the lids so the plant takes the water from its roots when necessary and doesn’t dry out. All tomato plants are flowering and some are fruiting. Cucumbers are rambling over the decking and are producing flowers and fruit.

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This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Sowing, Harvesting & Big Plot Update 18.07.08

Week 16 Update – Overhaul, Transplant & Harvest

Plot 1 – Overhauled

Today I was mostly overhauling Plot 1 as I have a lot of empty space now the slugs have been in and eaten my carrots, spring onions and beetroot. However I will not be beaten, I will just have carrots to harvest later in the year.

I used a hand fork to break up the soil as the topsoil and compost had been compacted together. I forked around the lettuce, spinach and parsnip rows careful so not to disturb their already established roots. I then raked the soil to a fine tilth and sowed 1 row of red and white spring onions, 3 different varieties of carrots (amsterdam forcing, james scarlet and autumn king) and beetroot (boltardy).

I also thinned the parsnips, holey lettuce and spinach and set up 4 sunken cider traps for the slugs.

Plot 2 – Transplanted

I definitely have cabbage fever this year!

• Spring cabbages are hearting up nicely,
• Unfortunately the tundra and golden acre seedlings died as the leaves of the the other cabbages were overshadowing them. Still have pots of golden acre cabbage in mini greenhouse,
• Savoy cabbage ‘resolution’ plants were transplanted from plot 3 to gaps in plot 2.

Plot 3 – Harvest

This is the most productive plot packed full of beans and peas.

• Broad bean pods growing larger,
• Pea pods being harvested,
• Mange Tout out grown bamboo cane supports,
• Borlotto beans producing lovely lime coloured leaves and climbing well,
• Tender stem broccoli plants transplanted into plot temporarily until room in Plot 3.

Plot 4 – Slugs

• Runner bean lower leaves eaten by slugs but are still growing, they will not be beaten either!

Today I was mostly harvesting….

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This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
Please view the new post on the link below:

• Week 16 Update, Overhaul, Transplant and Harvest

Week 12 – 04.05.08 – Plot Report

The weather this week has been more favorable to gardeners with a mix of sunshine and showers. This is the perfect weather for seedlings to put on a spurt of growth and tender plants can be planted out without fear of frosts.

My lovely dwarf beans will be planted out soon on Plot 3. I’m growing varieties Ferrari (same as last year) and a new one – Borlotto. I can’t wait to see the mottled red and white pods on this variety. Then my runner beans won’t be far behind.

Below are some comparison photos of my plots so you can see the progress in just 2 weeks. The first picture is 2 weeks ago on 19.04.08 and 2nd is a current picture of my plots on 03.05.08:-

Week 6 – 22.03.08 The Wind, Rain and Snow of Spring

Last week we endured the gale force winds and heavy rains, of which my mini greenhouse door snapped under the force of the wind and is currently being propped up. The heavy rain however did seem to help my peas, broad beans and cabbages put on a spurt of growth. I did manage to transplant a few of the tomato and calabrese seedlings that survived the onslaught of the weather and my clumsy handling.

I also couldn’t wait and sowed the rest of my tomato seeds last week and bought some more cucumber seeds (variety: marketmore) and sowed them as well.
Somehow in the wind I managed to tip up my tray of pepper seedlings, however I have saved most of them and sowed some more just in case the current ones don’t survive!

This weekend the wintery weather has continued with heavy snow showers here in Essex, it did settle briefly on my broad beans and then turned to slush.

Update on Raised Beds on Week 6