April 2008
April
What a busy month, things have really got underway, especially with the weather getting a little warmer in the last half of the April.
I’ve potted on the brassicas I sowed last month and they are now outside in a cold frame. So too are my tomatoes (Red Alert) which will be planted out when the risk of frost has passed. I have two large pots of leeks that are doing very well indeed, and these will be planted out in the summer. I will miss my leeks when I have used up the last from my plot. What a wonderful vegetable they have been since the Autumn, lasting through the wind and frost of the winter months. They have been so nice, I am wondering whether I have planted enough this year, despite having two varieties! (Is it too late to start some more just in case?). Can’t wait until the new batch begins to mature.
The onion sets have also gone out and many have already started to sprout little green shoots. I’ve been popping up the plot each day to replace those pulled up by the birds. They don’t eat them, just pull them up, the little beggars!. They will be fine once rooted in. I still have a few pound of onions stored away – they have lasted very well indeed. Early this month I sowed a row of salad onions (White Lisbon) under a cloche and they are beginning to show now. Last year they seemed to develop very slowly so I thought the cloche might give them some extra protection and help them get going.
At the end of this month I planted out some early lettuce too. These were sown early March in a cold frame and, after potting them on, I’ve popped them outside under an open-ended cloche. I hope they survive the slugs! I have a row of radish coming up too, always a handy barometer to see if it’s safe to sow direct.
I find that sowing directly into the ground can be a bit precarious and doesn’t give the same results as starting the plants off in modules and pots. I think I’m going to experiment this year with putting some crops, usually sown direct, into seed trays first. I’ll then transfer the plants into the allotment when they are large enough to handle.
Beetroot and carrot a crops are supposed to go straight out but some people say that they have started them off in trays with great success. As my carrots were poor last year, I’m going to try the tray method but the dreaded carrot root fly might be attracted to the smell of the transplants. I might cover them with a light fleece to initially protect them. In addition to the ‘Early Nantes’ I’m going to try ‘Parmax’, a round carrot!
My beetroot was fine last year, the ever reliable ‘Bolthardy’, I still have some pickled in jars, lovely. I’ll give it a go in trays this time to see if I get even better results. Also, I’m going to try another batch of spring onions in trays to see if they end up healthier and larger than those sown straight into the ground.
An experiment that was interesting last year was the sowing of sweetcorn into cardboard tubes (such as kitchen or toilet rolls). Apparently sweetcorn doesn’t like to have their roots disturbed so transplanting them from pots and modules can hamper their growth. To see if this was true I planted some in cardboard rolls and some in plastic modules. The ones in cardboard tubes were planted out still in their sodden cardboard jackets but with minimal root disturbance compared to the module/pot sweetcorn. There is no doubt that the sweetcorn in the tubes grew over a foot higher than the others and produced bigger cobs. This year, all my sweetcorn has gone into degradable tubes so I won’t disturb them when planting out. These little experiments are a very good way to find out what works and what doesn’t, especially if you can compare two different raising methods.
A few days a go I planted cucumber, courgette, squash, pumpkin (3 forms) and runner beans into pots (see January 08 entry for full list of this year’s crops) – they are basically all up already. All these are such vigorous and large plants it’s worth leaving them until a bit later to sow. After all, they can’t really go out until the end of May at the earliest and they develop so fast! Start them off any sooner and they will literally take over. I’ll give them a few more days then will put them out in the cold frame.
My potatoes are already showing and, fearing the odd night frost I’ve tried to cover the tops with earth but they seem determined to push through. Nearly all the garlic is up as well. The gooseberries are forming flower heads which will turn into fruit (fingers crossed), so too the current bushes. The strawberries seem to look less ‘leggy’ and are bushing up. Hopefully I’ll get my first real crop of strawberries this year, though I did get the odd one last year a few months after putting them in. The raspberry canes I planted out as bare roots are shooting well but as they are summer fruiting species ‘Glen Moy’, ‘Malling Jewel’ and ‘Glen Clova’, they won’t fruit until next year. However, I did buy one or two basic plants last year (can’t remember the species) that have produced long canes and I’m hoping for a handful of raspberries this summer at least!
Next month should be equally busy with most of the plants ready to be put out into the plot by the end of May. One thing I haven’t done for a while is get out and about in the local woods and fields with my camera. As there is the odd Bank Holiday coming up I’ll have to make the effort to get out there and see what’s going on. I’ve noticed loads of Dandelions too, always a welcome addition to my wine stocks.
See you in May.
What a busy month, things have really got underway, especially with the weather getting a little warmer in the last half of the April.
I’ve potted on the brassicas I sowed last month and they are now outside in a cold frame. So too are my tomatoes (Red Alert) which will be planted out when the risk of frost has passed. I have two large pots of leeks that are doing very well indeed, and these will be planted out in the summer. I will miss my leeks when I have used up the last from my plot. What a wonderful vegetable they have been since the Autumn, lasting through the wind and frost of the winter months. They have been so nice, I am wondering whether I have planted enough this year, despite having two varieties! (Is it too late to start some more just in case?). Can’t wait until the new batch begins to mature.
The onion sets have also gone out and many have already started to sprout little green shoots. I’ve been popping up the plot each day to replace those pulled up by the birds. They don’t eat them, just pull them up, the little beggars!. They will be fine once rooted in. I still have a few pound of onions stored away – they have lasted very well indeed. Early this month I sowed a row of salad onions (White Lisbon) under a cloche and they are beginning to show now. Last year they seemed to develop very slowly so I thought the cloche might give them some extra protection and help them get going.
At the end of this month I planted out some early lettuce too. These were sown early March in a cold frame and, after potting them on, I’ve popped them outside under an open-ended cloche. I hope they survive the slugs! I have a row of radish coming up too, always a handy barometer to see if it’s safe to sow direct.
I find that sowing directly into the ground can be a bit precarious and doesn’t give the same results as starting the plants off in modules and pots. I think I’m going to experiment this year with putting some crops, usually sown direct, into seed trays first. I’ll then transfer the plants into the allotment when they are large enough to handle.
Beetroot and carrot a crops are supposed to go straight out but some people say that they have started them off in trays with great success. As my carrots were poor last year, I’m going to try the tray method but the dreaded carrot root fly might be attracted to the smell of the transplants. I might cover them with a light fleece to initially protect them. In addition to the ‘Early Nantes’ I’m going to try ‘Parmax’, a round carrot!
My beetroot was fine last year, the ever reliable ‘Bolthardy’, I still have some pickled in jars, lovely. I’ll give it a go in trays this time to see if I get even better results. Also, I’m going to try another batch of spring onions in trays to see if they end up healthier and larger than those sown straight into the ground.
An experiment that was interesting last year was the sowing of sweetcorn into cardboard tubes (such as kitchen or toilet rolls). Apparently sweetcorn doesn’t like to have their roots disturbed so transplanting them from pots and modules can hamper their growth. To see if this was true I planted some in cardboard rolls and some in plastic modules. The ones in cardboard tubes were planted out still in their sodden cardboard jackets but with minimal root disturbance compared to the module/pot sweetcorn. There is no doubt that the sweetcorn in the tubes grew over a foot higher than the others and produced bigger cobs. This year, all my sweetcorn has gone into degradable tubes so I won’t disturb them when planting out. These little experiments are a very good way to find out what works and what doesn’t, especially if you can compare two different raising methods.
A few days a go I planted cucumber, courgette, squash, pumpkin (3 forms) and runner beans into pots (see January 08 entry for full list of this year’s crops) – they are basically all up already. All these are such vigorous and large plants it’s worth leaving them until a bit later to sow. After all, they can’t really go out until the end of May at the earliest and they develop so fast! Start them off any sooner and they will literally take over. I’ll give them a few more days then will put them out in the cold frame.
My potatoes are already showing and, fearing the odd night frost I’ve tried to cover the tops with earth but they seem determined to push through. Nearly all the garlic is up as well. The gooseberries are forming flower heads which will turn into fruit (fingers crossed), so too the current bushes. The strawberries seem to look less ‘leggy’ and are bushing up. Hopefully I’ll get my first real crop of strawberries this year, though I did get the odd one last year a few months after putting them in. The raspberry canes I planted out as bare roots are shooting well but as they are summer fruiting species ‘Glen Moy’, ‘Malling Jewel’ and ‘Glen Clova’, they won’t fruit until next year. However, I did buy one or two basic plants last year (can’t remember the species) that have produced long canes and I’m hoping for a handful of raspberries this summer at least!
Next month should be equally busy with most of the plants ready to be put out into the plot by the end of May. One thing I haven’t done for a while is get out and about in the local woods and fields with my camera. As there is the odd Bank Holiday coming up I’ll have to make the effort to get out there and see what’s going on. I’ve noticed loads of Dandelions too, always a welcome addition to my wine stocks.
See you in May.
0 comments:
Post a Comment