Although I started the summer squash and cucumbers rather early this year, April is a more sensible month in which to sow. I waited a little longer to start the winter squash and melons. The melons are destined for the cold frames, but really do not like cold conditions. The winter squash will be planted… Continue reading Spring sowing – winter squash, melons, alpine strawberries, seakale, and assorted herbs
Tag: melons
Sowing and planting this week
This week saw a mixture of sowing and planting out. First, we prepared our second outdoor potato bed and planted a favourite late main crop Pink Fir Apple, along with more of second early Wilja and a few left over early Sharpe’s Express. The Wilja and Pink Fir Apple will go into the store once… Continue reading Sowing and planting this week
Sowing this week
With April just around the corner, it was time to sow some of the tender crops, to be planted outdoors in early to mid May or in the polytunnel or glasshouses as soon as large enough. First were the French beans, Meraviglia di Venezia, a yellow climbing bean, and Beurre de Rocquencourt, also yellow, but… Continue reading Sowing this week
Recent sowing and planting
The blog has been rather slow lately, with nearly one month since my last post. Partly, at least, one must blame this lazy blogger. In my defence, we have been busy with various other things, and the garden has reached that maintenance phase where the mad rush of propagating and planting out slows down to… Continue reading Recent sowing and planting
Sowing this week
Regular sowing is necessary for regular cropping without gluts. We try to sow a few things every week or two throughout the growing season. This week we started with the cucurbits: summer and winter squash, melons, and cucumbers. I used a mixture of a free draining soil based seed compost with some organic peat free… Continue reading Sowing this week
Seed list 2014 – part 5 – cucurbits
The fifth article in the series looking at our sowing plans for the coming season covers the cucurbits – cucumbers, melons, summer and winter squash. Whilst melons are a somewhat marginal proposition, we have a great harvest of cucumbers and summer squash, both of which are prolific. We also reserve one of our large borders… Continue reading Seed list 2014 – part 5 – cucurbits
Replanting cucurbits and some general maintenance
A little light work was carried out today in the glasshouses and polytunnel. A few remaining winter squash plants were potted on, as the outdoor bed is still choked with weeds and will not be ready for a couple of weeks yet. This is running late, but Sweet Dumpling is a smaller bushier variety and… Continue reading Replanting cucurbits and some general maintenance
The furry fiend has been spotted
Whilst doing my morning rounds – opening the glasshouses and polytunnel, feeding and watering the chickens, checking on seedlings, etc. – the menace that has all but wiped out my cucumbers and glasshouse melons was spotted, if but briefly. It was small; definitely not a mouse, and I think not a shrew either, but most… Continue reading The furry fiend has been spotted
The hidden menace strikes again
From 19 plants, only two have survived unscathed. The rest have been decimated by some unknown, yet particularly hungry, pest. Bait blocks and slug pellets remain untouched, yet more cucurbits have been reduced to mere stalks. Once again, with a lack of slime trails, slugs or snails are looking increasingly unlikely suspects. The damage has… Continue reading The hidden menace strikes again
Winter squash planted out but a menace lurks under glass
After a weekend of heavy weeding, the smaller of the ‘wedge’ beds was cleared of the worst of the explosion of spring growth. A nasty assortment of annual and perennial weeds had taken over, including thistles, nettles, couch grass and the ever present creeping buttercup and some as yet unidentified but not quite so invasive… Continue reading Winter squash planted out but a menace lurks under glass