I have been a bit lazy in updating the blog with the latest sowing and planting. Over the last few weeks, sowing has been a bit neglected too, but there has been a lot to plant out. We did manage to sow another three lengths of gutter with peas, the reliable Hurst Greenshaft and the… Continue reading Sowing and planting this week
Tag: cucumbers
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
Finnish Christmas recipes – Riitta’s dill cucumbers
This post is, for this blog, uncharacteristically unseasonal. Fresh dill cucumbers are more properly prepared in the summer months, when cucumbers are naturally in season, and one would turn instead to the gherkin at this time of year. However, mother-in-law Riitta prepares such delicious dill cucumbers that we make this one unseasonal concession here and… Continue reading Finnish Christmas recipes – Riitta’s dill cucumbers
Sowing this week
This week was more about planting out than sowing. Here in a sheltered spot in the south, with the help of some warm walls, frosts in May are unusual, and rarely harsh. I am not ready, quite, to risk planting out the winter squash as they are a precious crop, not to mention that the… Continue reading Sowing this week
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
Seeds at Amsterdam’s Bloemenmarkt
Among the many sights of Amsterdam, there is the floating flower market, although one is not really aware that the row of large stalls is floating alongside one of the many canals, being so securely fixed in place. Its claim to be the world’s only floating flower market is, then, not nearly as impressive as… Continue reading Seeds at Amsterdam’s Bloemenmarkt
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
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