Sowing more carrots

The carrots that I sowed a few weeks ago have not been a massive success - maybe 4 or 5 have germinated. But I can't see any of the landcress or rocket that I sowed at the same time either. I wonder if they were affected by the very cold snap of weather between the hot spells? Anyway, I thought I'd sow some more, but this time I've put them in toilet rolls ready to plant out when they're bigger. There are a few shoots beginning to show on the kale and mangetout, so I've covered them in netting to keep the birds/mice away.

Innocent seeds update

Back in the Spring, I collected quite a few seeds from Innocent Smoothies and duly planted them (see here and here) and watered them. Unfortunately hardly any of them germinated (1 single carrot, no tomatoes). I followed the instruction on the first few packets, but the basil packs split open when I removed them from the packaging. I planted  the seeds anyway and this is what they look like now (after I pinched out a few of the growing tips for pizzas!). The seeds came in thinnish cardboard, but my feeling is that it was too thick for the seedlings to break through. I think I'm going to leave them in pots now, as all my bedding plants and the pot of basil I planted out have all been either eaten by pests, or washed away!

Sunday 15th July

Well, today is St Swithun's Day, so according to the legend, whatever the weather does today will continue for the next 40. If that's the case, things are finally looking up - we've not had a drop of rain today (the first in far too long!). As a result, I managed to get out in the garden again. Our back garden is completely sodden and incredibly muddy - and that's just the lawn!

The tomatoes are growing nicely, although without a bit of sun they're not going to ripen very well.

I cleared the foliage from the Kestral potatoes in bed 6 today, and dug up most of the spuds. The foliage was beginning to go yellow and I was worried about blight setting in. I need to go through the bed a bit more thoroughly tomorrow in case I left any behind. I did find a couple of rotten ones today, along with alot of red ants - they were soon scurrying around to protect their eggs, and the sparrows had a feast! We had quite a few roasted for lunch (potatoes, not ants!) and the rest are in the salad drawer of the fridge for another day. I've never tried roasting new potatoes before, but I was following a recipe in "River Cottage Veg Everyday" - they were yummy, definitely one to do again.

I also harvested/thinned the spring onions today - we had this lot sliced on pizzas -another success!

Looking good

A little bit of sun yesterday and things are looking up.


The 1st potato flowers are opening, as are the lupins. 

A few strawberries are developing - I think they may need netting to prevent the birds/mice getting them.

The salad leaves I planted a couple of weeks ago are also growing well and it looks like I might get some flowers on the courgettes in the next few days.

The mange tout are looking good too - might have to pick some for tea tonight!

Pests!

Arrgh! I lifted the fleece on my carrots, parsnips and beetroot to discover hundreds of ants have set up home. I remember hearing that ants like warm, humid conditions so putting the fleece on must have seemed like heaven to them. Do they actually do any harm? I'm not sure, but don't want to risk my precious seedlings. Maybe the birds will eat them?...


Having left the bed uncovered, I retreated to a safe distance to watch the flocks of birds appear, only to see the sparrows descend on the next bed over and start eating the cabbages!


The solution? I don't want to use chemicals, especially as I'm not sure the ants will actually do any harm, so for now the cabbages are going to be covered up and the root veg will stay uncovered. Watch this space...