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

Bumper September Harvest

Unfortunately since my last post, my cabbages finally succumbed to the caterpillars so my brassica bed is now bare and I left all my plots to their own devises whilst going away on my hols to Canada.

So whilst I have been away my veggy plot has fended for itself very well with my runner, climbing and borlotto beans sown on 18th July 2008 now ready for harvesting in their droves which is fantastic.

My carrots (amsterdam forcing, james scarlet and autumn king) sown on 1st June 2008 are also now ready for harvesting.

Parsnips
I couldn’t help myself and had to pull up a parsnip to see how big they were, not a bad size either, can’t wait until October when I can dig up the rest.

Potatoes
I still have 2 big pots of Picasso Potatoes left to dig up as and when I need them.

Seeds and Sets to be purchased now to be sown/planted between October and December are:

1. Broad Bean seeds – Over-wintering varieties include: Super Aquadulce (organic) (from The Organic Garden catalogue), The Sutton (dwarf plant) and Aquadulce Claudia.
2. Pea seeds – Over-wintering varieties include: Meteor (from The Organic Garden catalogue), Douce Provence (organic), Feltham First and Pilot.
3. Onion ‘Red Cross’ and ‘Radar’ sets (from Marshalls Seeds)
4. Note to self – Look into buying crop fleece for the frosty season soon.

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• Bumper September Harvest

Cucumber Harvest and Glut

Its the first time I’ve grown cucumbers (marketmore) this year outdoors and I am very impressed with the results. I do love cucumber but I am the only one in my house that does so apart from having cucumber salad every day I was hoping to find other ways of using cucumber.

When there’s a glut I usually eagerly wait for another veggy blog on my google reader to post some recipe ideas and hey presto Greenfolks came in on target – thanks for that. Here is the recipe for Cucumber, Pepper and Onion Relish.

Below are a few other recipes to use up your cucumber gluts:-

• Val’s Recipe for Cucumber and Pepper Relish,
• Cucumber and Green Tomato Relish Recipe,
• Joanna’s Cucumber and Mint Salad,
• Jo’s award winning Cucumber Pickle Recipe at the Cottage Smallholder,
• Cooking with Cucumbers Recipes by the Cucumber Growers Association,
• BBC Good Food – Cucumber Recipes,
• Preserving Equipment and Jars – UK.

Also Harvesting on my plot this week:-

• New potatoes – charlotte and lady christl,
• Gardener’s Delight tomatoes,
• Lettuce Balmoral.

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• Cucumber Harvest and Glut

Broad Beans – Yum Yum

I had a few broad beans just about ready for harvest a few days ago and I just couldn’t help but try them. I twisted the pods off the plant and brought them in for tea.

This is the first time I have ever tried broad beans (I know the general advice is don’t grow something which you know you may not like) but what the heck, growing veg is partly about trying things you’ve never done before and the other part is improving on things you have done before.

So I harvested some broad beans pods and pea pods, shelled them both and boiled in 2 cm of water for 5 minutes until soft. I then added the beans and peas to pasta for a light evening meal. It was delicious, broad beans are definitely for me! good job really as there’s quite a few more pods on the way!

Heres my harvest:
1st Picture – Broad Beans (Sutton) on left and Peas (Douce Provence) on right,
2nd Picture – closeup on broad beans.

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• Broad Beans Yum Yum

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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• Week 16 Update, Overhaul, Transplant and Harvest

Happy Birthday Plot – 1 Year Old Today

Just a quick message, I sowed my very first seeds in my newly built timber raised beds on 10th April 2007 which was 1 year ago!

I’m hoping for an even better crop this year and look forward to a new set of experiences when I try growing different vegetables like butternut squash, beetroot, mange tout, parsnip, savoy cabbage and broccoli.

Heres my very first blog post about seed sowing on my 3 raised plots on 10.04.2007: Blog Posting 10.04.07.

Please click here to view my harvest of vegetables over the last year.

Current growth on Plots 1 to 3 – 10.04.2008

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• Happy Birthday Plot 1 Year Old Today