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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• Sowing, Harvesting & Big Plot Update 18.07.08

26.01.08 Broad Beans growing strong and Pak Choi running to seed

Today I will mostly be pulling up my Pak Choi which has all run to seed. This means seed or flower heads are forming in the centre of the plant, so now the plant is no longer concentrating on producing leaves for eating, the taste will change as well so they are best composted as they have reached the end of their growing life.

I will add more compost to the Pak Choi area of Plot 1 to return the nutrients to the soil ready for growing the next crop which according to my plot diagram will be spinach, lettuce and radish in february.

My Broad Beans are growing strong and have a good stem and a few leaves after 10 weeks from seed. I firmed the seedlings back into the soil to make sure they continue to grow upright.

New Year Plot Report 12.01.2008

Today I will mostly be thinning cabbages and pulling out my mini leeks which have sucumb to greenfly.

Cabbage Plot 2

Before Thinning (Wk 38 28.12.07)

After Thinning (Wk 40 12.01.08)

My cabbages showed signs of whitefly which is a good time to create some space in the plot by thinning so that the pests don’t infect all plants. I thinned and destroyed the ones that had whitefly. Thinning also encourages growth as we will see in a few weeks time.

Today I will mostly be Sowing Broad Beans and Peas..

Today I was mostly concentrating on sowing in Plot 3. I pulled out the summer lettuce which was running to seed, raked over the bed and sowed 2 small rows of ‘The Sutton’ Broad Beans. This dwarf variety is particularly good for the smaller garden, as it doesn’t require as much staking as other taller varieties.

I also sowed some Pea First Early Douce Provence Seeds in a small quarter in Plot 3 as well.

Week 23 16.09.07 Plot Report

This week I will mostly be harvesting yet more runner beans! and plenty of tomato’s.

My tomato plants dispite looking very dishevelled because I have occassionally forgotten to water them are still producing a harvest of red and yellow fruit.

My Maris Peer xmas potatoes have loved the recent warm weather and have shot up above the pot with just 3 weeks of growth. I have now earthed them up with compost to the top of the pots.

Crops Progress

• Mini Leeks - 10 weeks growth and growing strong as they are protected behind the chicory. Estimated Harvest Date: 27 Oct after 15 weeks growth.
• Chicory - 10 weeks with lots of leaf growth and no slugs!…. yet. Estimated Harvest Date: 13 Oct after 13 weeks.
• First sowing of Autumn King 2 Carrots - 10 weeks growth. Estimated Harvest Date: 13 Oct after 13 weeks.
• Second sowing of Autumn King 2 Carrots – 3 weeks growth. Estimated Harvest Date: 17 Nov after 13 weeks.
• Turnip (Atlantic) - 3 weeks growth. Estimated Harvest Date: 27 Oct after 8-10 weeks.
• Pak Choi - 3 weeks growth. Estimated Harvest Date: 17 Nov after 13 weeks.
• Cabbage – Advantage (spring greens) – 3 weeks growth. Estimated Harvest Date: December after 20 weeks.
• Cabbage – Spring Hero - 3 weeks growth. Estimated Harvest Date: April/May 2008

Reminder of Cold Weather on the way.

After watching BBC1’s Countryfile on Sunday I saw the temperatures over the UK would be tumbling this week which reminded me to buy some fleece. I bought some Horticultural Fleece for the vegetable plot and my potato buckets 3m x 6m for £5.28 incl P&P from Ebay seller ‘All Seasons Gardener’.

Below are the Week 23 picture updates of my 3 vegetable plots.

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• Week 23 16.09.07 Plot Report

Week 21 Growth Report

Week 21 02.09.07 – This week I will mostly be growing…

• Sweet Baby Peppers Sown 31.03.07 have been very slow growing this year but as you can see from the photo growth is finally speeding up.
• Mini Leeks (8 weeks growth),
• Autumn King 2 Carrots (8 weeks growth)
• Chicory (8 weeks growth)
• Turnip ‘Atlantic’ (1 weeks growth)
• Pak Choi ‘Riko F1′ (1 weeks growth)
• Lambs Lettuce ‘Jade’ (1 weeks growth)
• Radish ‘French Breakfast’ intercropped with the chicory (1 weeks growth),
• Runner Beans ‘Red Rum and White Lady’ (still harvesting daily – Week 17 growth),
• Tomato ‘Roma, Tornado and yellow bell’ (still harvesting every few days)
• Xmas Potatoes ‘ Maris Peer’ (1 weeks growth in tubs).

Please click here to see a slideshow of the progress of my seedlings mentioned in the list above.

The pictures below show my 3 back garden vegetable plots on 02.09.07 Week 21.

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This post has now moved to my new site iGrowVeg.com.
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• Week 21 Growth Report