22nd April 2018
I bought a few packets of seeds on-line which arrived a couple of days ago, so I made the most of the good weather today to get some into the ground. Today I've planted wild rocket, carrots (F1 Match) and Land cress, 1 row of each. I've not grown Land cress before, but I understand it's a cross between rocket and watercress. I'm hoping that by putting the carrots between these two, the carrot fly may be put off by the smell.
As a deterrent to the local cats, and sparrows, I put a few sticks over the planting area as protection. These were last year's forsythia prunings. I used a few of them to support netting last year and one of them rooted itself. When we replaced the wooden beds, I dug it up and put it in a pot. Today, I've chopped the top off and put that in the same pot. Hopefully I'll get 2 new plants for free!
They may have been small (and not quite perfectly formed) but I managed to harvest a few fresh carrots and sprouts for our Christmas lunch! The carrots had been got by carrot fly larvae, but I managed to cut those bits out and once I'd added some shop bought veg we had a feast (although mine definitely tasted better than those I bought!) The aim for next year - keep some parsnips and potatoes as well...
Wow, what a change in the weather - sunny and mid 20s!! I cleared out the first sowing of salad leaves and rocket a couple of weeks ago (see here) which left some space for more. So this morning, I made the most of the sunshine and sowed a wide row of mixed leaves (not spicy this time - a more traditional mix of lettuces) and another of basil.
Having watched Gardener's World last Friday, I'm feeling quite smug about my carrots - Monty Don only managed to harvest 3 tiny ones, whereas I've already pulled a few and have got lots more nearly ready. We love carrots, so I've put in some more today (Autumn King). Rather than a narrow row, I've sown the carrots in a wide row (as Monty Don did!) to see if that works better. I also put in the last 7 red onions that were still in pots. They've gone in next to the carrots in the hope that the smell keeps the carrot fly away.
We found the purple radishes a bit too strong to eat raw, so I've sown some traditional pink ones today (French Breakfast). Let's hope they're more palatable!
