Love will find a way

I discovered bees flying casually in and out of the net surrounding the broad beans today.  It seems like flower power is strong enough to encourage them through.  How reassuring. 

I had to replace the plastic hoops on the broad bean bed though, as they were too short for the rapidly developing plants.  One in particular looked very uncomfortable, all the new growth crushed right up against the net.  I cut some longer lengths, but the hoops still need to be higher.  It is an extraordinarily vigorous broad bean.  I'll make sure to collect beans for resowing from it.  I might be wiser to collect seed from a low bushy one really though. 

safely bedded in

Once I had a fully glazed greenhouse, I could safely plant the tomatoes inside it knowing they wouldn't be eaten by animals or damaged by the fitting of the glass.  

I moved the table so I now have quite a good space for growing them. The ground was surpisingly hard, like concrete.  Luckily tomato roots don't go deep.  I dug compost in and edged the bed with bricks, so I can add more compost and have a slightly raised bed.  An earth bed is more practical than using tomato compost bags, as the plants will be able to source moisture from outside, and won't be so dependent on me watering them.  I have noticed how well the weeds grow inside the greenhouse, and I've even had self sown violas thriving in there, so I am optimistic.  

I'm growing Roma tomatoes, the traditional Italian variety they grow for sun dried tomatoes and in cooking generally.  My haul from the seed swap included Chocolate Stripe, which is striped chocolate and red, and Peacevine Cherry, which apparently make you relaxed when you eat them. 

I left room for the luffah seedlings.  They are developing nicely in their seed tray.  I want to grow luffahs to see if they will be good for plant pots.  I already use them as cleaning pads, so it will be useful to have a home grown supply. 

I think I will extend the bed to run along the end of the greenhouse, but that involves moving the shelving, which is bound to lead to disaster if I try it presently. 

Bean feast

Today I planted out my barolotto beans.  I wanted to get them away from the potential slug menace in the greenhouse, and they had outgrown their seed tray. 

I dug a trench all around the wigwam support and lined it with comfrey leaves.  I then lay all the plants in it and filled it back up with earth again.  It was easier than digging holes really.  The comfrey lining will hold in moisture and provide nutrients for the roots. I can imagine how the whole structure will look very fine once the plants have matured and I've added a few sweet peas.

It's time to make some more nettle fertilizer. 

I fenced the plants in with chicken wire, as I've learnt the hard way that a whole crop can fall prey to slugs and rabbits over night.  I thought that would be enough, with the chippings as well.  How wrong I was.  I returned the next day to see significant slug damage on some of the leaves.  I think the rain makes a big difference to the effectiveness of the chippings.  I resorted to slug pellets.  They are organic, but the trouble is that mice eat them, so it's a bit of a waste of time putting them down outside a netted environment.  I'm going to have to make a proper net fence for these beans before they whole lot ends up in the stomachs of vermin. 

Dazed

I can't actually believe I have a fully glazed greenhouse once more.  It took some doing, like some kind of Herculean quest. 

I found the glass for free on Gumtree last year.  I thought I would wait until after the winds of March to replace it.  I measured up and labeled all the panes, took them to the glass cutter, and enthusiastically set about putting them in the frame.  It was only then that I discovered I had measured wrongly, and so most of the panes were too big. 

It took a while before I felt ready to try again.  I spent an intense morning measuring and remeasuring to be sure I'd got it right this time.  Luckily the Fates and my brain were with me, and my Dad and I spent a profitable afternoon fitting all the pieces in their appropriate slots.  I immediately felt the difference in temperature level in the greenhouse, as it was a hot day.  I'm now keeping the door propped open with a piece of plywood, to keep it well ventilated so the plants don't asphyxiate. The plywood will stop animals coming in and helping themselves to the vegetation. 

Slug proof

I have conclusive proof that wood chippings deter slugs.  I planted out my sunflowers, and around each one placed a circle of chippings.  Or so I thought.  A couple of days later I discovered one plant totally ragged from a slug attack.  That's when I discovered that I'd forgotten to put chippings round it. 

It was sad to see a young plant suffer, but it is good to know I have found an effective barrier for slugs. 

After a period of 24 hours continuous rainfall though there was evidence of slug damage on some of the plants, so I suppose chippings are slippery when wet. 

I plan to surround the beds in my long plot with it, but gradually, as I think I've rather overdone it lately with the barrowing of chippings.  They are surprisingly heavy, and I am inclined to forget that I have the build of a pixie.

Another problem I have with growing sunflowers in my plots is that the earth in a large part of it contains a fungus which attacks their roots, and then works its way up to the base of the flower head.  It makes the head droop sadly, and prevents it from developing.  It is a horrible thing to see happen to a sunflower, who love to turn their heads to the sun.  I have discovered though that if you leave them they do grow more flowers, and they don't seem to be affected in the same way.

This year I've experimented with planting rhubarb leaves around the root ball of each plant.  I've read that this is a way to prevent fungal diseases attacking potatoes, so I thought I would try it with sunflowers.  Time will tell if it works. 

The resilience of parsnips

I was relieved to discover that the parsnip seedlings hadn't all rotted in the period of heavy rain after all.  I have 21 of them, and while they were still small enough I spaced them out evenly and applied slug pellets.  The chippings really keep the slugs down, but there are still baby slugs in the earth of the beds. 

The radishes in the same bed have proved to have an age related problem.  Only a couple of the roots have swollen up into bulbs.  Apparantly this is to do with using old seed.  The seed I used was supposed to be sown by 2012, so that explains it.  Never mind, I can now use this space for the dwarf French beans, which need all the protection they can get from slugs and rabbits.  They have already suffered a snail attack in the greenhouse, and I lost half the plants.  I now have organic slug pellets placed strategically in every pot.  I think I discovered the culprit, which was in fact a rather small and cute looking snail.  I had evidence of its true nature, so sent it airborne into the maze in the hope that the ley lines there will give it super slime powers with which it can defeat vandals. 

Flying high

I bought a wind sock for my long allotment, to discourage pigeons.  It is so cheery!  I feel like it is my standard, and I am declaring my guardianship of the land with it. 

Perhaps I need to, as I found a surprising and unwelcome interloper the other morning

It appeared to be a very large and heavy branch of a cherry tree.  I found it weighing down the net protecting the onions and garlic.  It had crushed some leaves, and pierced a hole in the net, but it could have been much worse.  I managed to lift it off, and wandered around the allotments, trying to work out where it had come from.  It looked like someone had thrown it javelin style from one side of my plot.  In the end I put it down to the strong winds we have had recently, but could not find the tree it came from. 

Then there was news of the vandalism in the maze bordering my plot.  Three trees had been ripped down at their bases, and one other had just a couple of feet of stump remaining.  The picture of it on the website made everything fit together, as the angle of the ripped stump end was a perfect match to the ragged severing at the base of what was presently languishing in my plot.  It turned out it was not a branch, but a whole tree, and it had been thrown there.  It must have been thrown with some force, as it cleared the fence by a good 12 feet.  I'm just glad it didn't damage my apple trees. 

I was saddened by both the damage to the peace and plants of my plot, and the damage to the trees in a place which is used by the whole community.  I hope it doesn't happen again. 

The man who looks after the maze area kindly removed it for me.  It was funny to see him casually lift it onto his shoulder and walk off with it like it was no weight at all.  He is the same person who gave me the wood ash, so I am now doubly grateful to him.