Companion planting

I managed to find a few minutes yesterday to plant out my sweetcorn and courgette plants. I lost a few of the sweetcorn seedlings to the gastropods, but I still had 11 to plant out. I've interspersed these with 6 courgette plants. In order to make space for these, I harvested a good few Spring onions.

Spring onions that were planted around last year's runner bean wigwam

Sweetcorn interspersed with courgettes

More sowing

Today I have planted some courgettes (All Green Bush). They did really well last year after a complete wash-out in 2012, so I'm trying again this year. I wasn't sure where I'd plant them out, but have now decided that under the sweetcorn should work. I tried the "Three Sisters" approach a couple of years ago, but it wasn't very successful - the pumpkin plant grew massive, but the fruit rotted before it ripened and the beans pulled the sweetcorn over. Hopefully I'll have better luck this year.

I have also sown some salad leaves, directly into the raised bed - spinach "Toscane", Rocket, lettuce "Little Gem" and a "spicy oriental mix"  from Suttons seeds.

Meanwhile, some of the chillies have germinated along with one of the pea shoots. The French beans and sweetcorn are doing well in the greenhouse, so I've started opening it up a bit more to harden them off.

The beetroot has germinated well, but not much sign of the parsnips or carrots yet. Time will tell.

Time for some more salad

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!

Sweetcorn

Just planted out Amy's sweetcorn (Sally and friends), along with it's companion planting - her broad bean (sadly, only "Biggy" made it), the single runner bean that grew in a toilet roll tube, and a trio of French beans (nicknamed "The triplets"!) that we bought from the outdoor education table at school. I've also put in a few more runner beans at the base of the sweetcorn, in keeping with the "Three sisters" planting method.

Tomatoes

Finally, the sun has returned and looks like it's here for the week! And, it's British Tomato Week, so when better to put in some tomatoes? This year I'm growing Alicante (a medium sized cordon type), Gardener's Delight (another cordon, cherry sized) and Sweet Million (again, a cordon and cherry sized).

Tomatoes are pretty much the only veg I've grown previously with any success. In the past they have been in a grow bag against the house, on the patio. But I've always struggled to keep them sufficiently watered. So, where to put them this year? After much debate, I've decided to stick with the grow bag, but have invested in a pack of 3 tomato grow-pots.

These are supposed to help by encouraging 2 types of root - the deeper, water-seeking roots go down into the bag, while the shallower feeding roots develop in the pot. I've sited the bag against the south facing fence so they should (British summer willing!) get plenty of sun.

Finally, a bit of companion planting - a pot marigold (Calendula). I've also planted some basil seeds today (free with Innocent Smoothies), which will be planted out in front of the tomatoes when they're big enough.

 In the meantime I've put out the pot of basil that has been sitting on the windowsill since I bought it (the best before date is 02 Nov 2011!!).

More sowing

We had some spectacular weather last week, with lots of hailstones and plenty of thunder rumbling around. Dodging the showers, I managed to get out and plant a few more rows of veggies.

I'm trying a different way of planting the parsnips this time. I've used the dibber to make deep holes, which were then back-filled with potting compost. Into each hole I have put either 1 or 2 seeds and covered them up with more compost. I'm assuming that a few won't germinate, so the doubled up ones can be thinned into the spaces. My Dad tells me that Joe (his father) used to grow his this way and it does make alot of sense. I've also put in another row of carrots along with some garlic chives - supposed to be good to deter carrot fly! Finally a row of rocket and some more lupins (as green manure where the cabbages will go later on in the year).

More sowing

Having spent the morning tidying, I spent the afternoon sowing more seeds yesterday in the glorious sunshine.

Bed 5

In raised bed 5 I planted a row each of Spring onions, Red onions and Spinach, and a wide row (approx 10cm) of Mixed salad leaves.

Bed 2

Lupin seed

In bed 2, I planted Cabbage, Lupins and Brussel sprouts. The cabbage managed a whole row, but the Lupin packet turned out to only have 6 seeds in and the sprouts only had enough for half a row! The lupins were a freeby, given away as a soil improver, so I can't really complain, however, the sprouts I'd bought myself. Not having bought many seeds in the past, this year I've got them from all over the place. The sprouts came from Wilkinson and so far I'm not impressed - not many seeds and poor germination of the ones sown 3 weeks ago. I may have learned the hard way to spend a bit more on better seeds...

Greenhouse growing

In my mini-greenhouse, I planted Aubergine, Peppers, Courgette and Chillies (Joel's favourite!). I had intended to do half a tray of each, but there weren't that many courgette seeds so I ended up planting them all, which meant fewer chillies (I'll plant more later). The courgettes were 1 per cell, but the others are much smaller seeds to doubled up.

Sweet peas

I found some old peat pots in the shed, so filled these with sweet peas (mostly 1 per pot, but a few ended up with 2 to use them up). Sweet peas are one of my favourite flowers and can't be bad for companion planting - can they?

What to grow?

Now the raised beds are in, I can start to think about what to grow. I've read magazines, asked the family and listened to friends to come up with the following list (so far!):

• Sweetcorn (a must for Amy)
• Potatoes (how hard can they be?)
• Carrots (so much tastier than anything you buy)
• Parsnips (Joel's favourite)
• Beetroot (my choice, but I'm hoping to convert the rest of the family)
• Brussels sprouts (hopefully for Christmas dinner)
• Runner beans (fond childhood memories of pinching Grandad's fresh from the plant)
• Courgettes (Grandad's always ended up as marrows)
• Tomatoes (again, so much more flavour than shop bought)
• Chillies
• Peppers
• Spinach
• Cabbages
• Red onions
• Spring onions
• Garlic
• Salad leaves
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Rhubarb

I've been given some lupin seeds as they're apparently good to grow with slow growers like cabbages and sprouts to enrich the soil. I know they can be poisonous, but I think my lot are old enough and sensible enough not to eat strange flowers and seeds! I might try some marigolds to keep away the pests, although in the past they've always become slug magnets in my experience - maybe I should see them as sacrificial plants? I think I've heard that coriander is a good pest deterrent as well, so that may be added to the list.


So, the next job should be a planting plan...