Greetings!
This week the garden really seems to be coming into its own: my compost bins are overflowing with the results of last weeks weeding, the potatoes and broad beans are growing well and I have planted out the Brussel Sprouts and started eating the first of this years crops!
I have added an Archive of previous editions, if you want to catch up on any that you missed here
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What to do this week
Planting and sowing Brassicas (the Cabbage family)
Brassicas are a wonderful food crop and good planning can provide you with greens to eat throughout the year.
This weekend I have planted out my Brussel Sprouts which I grew from seed in February (you could buy a few plants at the garden centre now). I have planted them foot apart, as my soil is heavy clay I dug a good hole for each plant and added compost and some blood fish and bone meal for each plant. I also checked the Acid/Alkaline balance of the soil (pH value) as Brassicas like an alkaline soil to grow in. You can buy a soil testing kit from a garden centre or online.
I also added a root collar to each plant to stop the Cabbage Root fly laying eggs, as you can see from the photos mine is made out of an 8 inch square of old carpet with a slit cut in it.
You will also need to consider other pests:
- pigeons will nibble your brassicas and do a lot of damage in winter, netting is the only effective way to keep them off, but no need to erect this until the winter
- cabbage white caterpillars devour brassica leaves causing serious damage, the Butterflies can be prevented from laying eggs by the use of fine netting or you can pick the caterpillars off by hand.
I am also growing two types of Kale, Purple Sprouting Brocolli and Calabrese. I have started these off in modules. Fill the module with multipurpose compost, use your thumb to make a small depression in the centre of each module and place two seeds in each, then cover over with a little more compost and wait for them to come up. Keeping well watered of course.
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What you could be eating now
This week I am eating the first Mizuna salad leaves that I sowed six weeks ago when I wrote the first newsletter, they really do grow quickly.
I am also eating rhubarb, sorrel, parsley and chives; bit of a lean time still.
If you are wondering what to do with the rhubarb, you could make a Rhubarb and Orange Cake
Photo of Scarecrow I made last weekend.
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Your questions answered
"What is
the best way to tackle an overgrown plot initially? I have just taken over
an allotment which has probably been neglected for just a year as some of the
previous owner's plants are still visible. It is not in too bad a condition. The
soil in the parts we have dug so far seems quite good so we have planted
in those areas. The rest of it is covered with weeds, mostly
dandelions, couch grass and grass. My husband wants to dig as much as
possible whereas I would like to cover the worst parts with mulch and the black
sheeting and leave it for the winter. Do
we really need to dig out the worst pernicious weeds first? Eventually I want
to work with permaculture principles such as no-digging but is this idea
practicable in the initial stages?"
Mrs LY of
Horsham
It really
is worth digging out any pernicious weeds, ordinary grass and flowers are not much of a problem. I have covered overgrown
areas with old cardboard in the past, maybe sprinkle some lime first to help
grass etc break down (check soil ph first) then if you were practicing no-dig
you could add manure and compost on top of that. I would not use black
sheeting as that will not break down like the cardboard (find someone who is
having a new kitchen fitted to get lots of cardboard!)
The Lazy Kitchen Gardner by John Yeoman has some great ideas for these situations.
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