18 May

Well, Mid May and time to put the child labour to work! Only just dried up enough to do some work. Grabbed a few hours in the sun this week - nice stripy sunburn but at least the plants I bought weeks ago from a nursery are in. Probably cost a lot from being pot bound and drowned in the rain, but nature survives :)

Jumping straight to the end result - beginning to look like a plot again. Winter bed doing ok and has provided a number of lettuces. Brassicas also doing ok - kale lost to variable conditions but some summer cabbages coming along.. Shallots and onions doing well, albeit in small numbers. Ground nearly all prepped for planting and beginning to get some of the bits in.

I've never grown through fabric before but its got to be done - I just can't get down the plot enough to deal with the weeds. This was strawb effort. All runners from last year (nice and cheap ;) ) but will need to buy a few plants to fill the bed. £1.25 per meter of fabric (2m wide) from local allotment association shop - bargin! I bought 10m.

Get some leaves growing...

Just showing shallots, winter bed and brassicas (front to back).

Prepped and ready for planting. I've been slow of the mark with seeds in the back garden but once they germinate (of I find a few in a  garden center ;) ) I'll get my runners in. Some fabric behind waiting for squashes to grow a little for planting out.

Home lawn

Ok... So its not part of the blog, nor am I likely to post pictures. Think moss and mud, with a distinct squelchy quality and you'll be there.

Anyway, last year I spend a lot of time trying to reseed the lawn. This year it looked pretty much as it did at the start of last year, so some more drastic thinking required...

Firstly, I couldn't really give a damn about privacy in our garden. Apart from trying NOT to see next door in their hot tub *shudder* I've no use for tall trees. So they've all come out.

Second, stick a fork in it... Well this went very badly! Some of the dirt is max an inch deep. I could even see the shallower bits after the drought last year, where a brown square over what I assume was a soak away appeared as if by magic. I tested a number of other places and many were the same. Last year I even tried to dig through part of one to plan some sunflowers - it was back breaking! Nearly literally... I dragged a load of crap that I dug out to the tip, but I can't possibly do that for all of the lawn.

So, thirdly, damage limitation. Now there should be more light, so I need to see what it is capable of. So early May I've hand weeded (bloody guinea pig...) raked the moss, dumped a box of seed, 4 bags of silver sand (yes, I know, sharp would have been better) and 3 old tubs of compost onto the top. Crudely raked and brushed in.

Now leave and see what happens. If what happened to my last place happens here I'll kill the lawn and provide a top layer of lovely soil for weeds. Hopefully by throwing down seed under the sand and compost (and a bit of feed - not a great idea with seed, but, hey) I'll have grass coming up rather than weed. Well, hopefully, magic is real and I'll be rewarded by a passing wizard for my effort with a lovely, thick lawn!

Ok, so maybe my early expectation is a bit more realistic.

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Oh shit... A comment on the post... Someone's reading this crap...

Well in that case, as requested, here is a 'before' and 'after' photo. Above, the patchy, just treated moss fest, and below the reflection of a hand (but also the end result of a little TLC).

Over all I think short-term success - very pleased. Just need to keep the lawn thick and have a think about aerating in a slightly more long term fashion.

Record of what I planted and how it went...

2014 will be the first year I actually make an effort to record what went well... I will try to keep updating this to give myself some thoughts.

Apple tree - went very well - probably golden delicious - but did get scab on fruit. Fungicide recommended (Bordeaux mixture?). Can see a lot of damage on leaves late May - can see scab is in leaves and not just fruit so need to treat at budding stage. Tried Bordeaux mid May but likely way too late.

Garlic - solent wight - planted late 2013 and very strong stemmed by March. Still going well May. Out well before weeds so has been easy (so far) to keep weed free). Looking strong late May.

Mixed lettuce - informative, right? - over wintered under fleece. Could have taken in April, definitely will in May.

Kale - fizz - overwintered well where black kale did not! Expect to bolt as planted late and not up to cropping size. Conclusion - bolted and no crop.

Broccoli - not sure - overwintered but planted too late and bolted before reached any size. Broccoli planted later did best of all the brassicas (doesn't need so much lime?). Haven't cropped yet but heads visible in mid June.

Kale - curly - over wintered ok and at good size but got damp and rotted. Should take more off some plants when young Oct / Nov / Dec to ensure not wasted.

Kale - curly - Reflex F1- planted young in April. Not limed but some extra compost. Had rough start with flooding. Didn't really survive rough start. Combo of varied conditions and planting of small plants mean loss of most plants. Would have benefited from potting on before planting out. June - some survived I hadn't really noticed and starting to do better.

Kale - Black kale - as Reflex - rough start!

Winter lettuce - over wintered very well under fleece. Haven't taken much. Should have planted further apart.

Perpetual spinach beet - as with winter lettuce, should have planted wider apart and allowed to grow. Got some kind of infection while under fleece. Many others didn't fleece and probably got better crops. Need to thin and leave some to grow better. Bolted by late April.

Onion - hercules (sets) - to follow... Appears to be doing well May... Ditto June...

Shallot - Vigarmor (French banana), pink - to follow... Appears to be doing well May... Ditto June...

Shallot - Biztro (spicy, bolt resistant) - to follow... Appears to be doing well May... Ditto June...

Little gem - shop bought and row planted out mid May - far too long in pot. Doing fine mid June

Spinach beet - shop bought and row planted out mid May - far too long in pot. Well spaced and looking gd June

Rainbow chard  - as spinach beet.

Squashes - from seed. Variety planted into soil mixed with compost (some raised) mid June.

Runner beans - planted early - mid June as lost first lot (slugs). Pellets keeping them ok although soil might be too wet? Not really growing very well. Those grown from seed in trainers looking really good (but germination rate seemed low - overwatered seed?

May rain...

First off, I just wanted to get some of the winter work uploaded. Here is the shed before and after several coats and re-felting. Plus a pic of the little man who helped me!

Its early May and the temperatures are pretty much ok - still some evidence of frosts on the forecasts, but nothing we're seeing. But there has been rain. And I mean RAIN! The plot has been a swimming pool at times. I got down there yesterday to weed and check it out. Dug out the old brassica bed, strimmed the grass and tilled the bare ground.

Not the best picture but you can see how wet it is. Tiller has been keeping the ground weed free. The back right was an effort digging (tiller no use to help with that sort of job!) and I chose to put it under plastic to stop the weeds. I'm hoping that the tiller will reduce what's there to a plantable surface once its dried a little.

Brassicas going ok under netting, but I should probably have limed deeper (I've bought some to top dress only) and also piled up the soil more (there is a bit of a mound, but there wasn't really enough soil for big mounds!).

The reason the soil isn't prepared quite as I wanted is that, when I came to take apart the lovely compost heap I found:

Bugger... Had I known it was there I wouldn't have touched it. I've tried to cover it back up, but I'm fairly sure it is deserted now. Shame, but not much that can be done. I will wait until the eggs are taken or hatched!

Last but not least... A few pictures of my soggy helpers taken a few weeks ago...