Spring Chicken Fertilizer Pellets

Its finally springtime, the crocus’s are flowering and daffodil stems are shooting up with the first full days of sunshine we’ve had this year. Its a lovely start to the year and for me a few days of sunshine kick starts my growing season and gives me a gentle prod that I should be preparing the vegetable plot for the year ahead.

After 2 years of vegetable growing I have only ever added compost to my plots and I’m sure I need to add some organic fertilizer to replenish the nutrients in the soil.

So its down the Garden Centre, sidestepping new plants for the garden and straight onto the fertilizer section. The huge stack of orange boxes of Organic Chicken Manure Pellets is glowing, its a bargain alert – buy 1 box get one free, excellent just what I wanted. Now what do I do with it?

Organic Chicken Manure Pellets
These are compressed composted chicken manure rich in nutrients and organic matter. This type of fertilizer can be applied to vegetable plots and borders from February to October by scattering the pellets onto moist soil and forking them in.

It can boost areas where greedy crops have previously removed trace nutrients. It improves the soil by making it moisture retentive and by adding organic matter to the soils structure. Apply to the soil 1-2 weeks before planting out seedlings as it may burn them or add to the soil around winter cabbages, broccoli etc for an added nitrogen boost. Please check your box or tub for recommended applications.

Next Week I Will Mostly Be:
- Buying and using Nemotodes (before this years slugs hatch – hopefully),
- Sowing seeds in the mini greenhouse,
- Checking on my chitting Potatoes.
- Updating My Compost Bin contents list and photos.

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• Spring Chicken Fertilizer Pellets

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.
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• 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.
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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

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.
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• Sowing, Harvesting & Big Plot Update 18.07.08