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Weeding mostly
Weeded around the mangetout peas. Weeded a row of emerging runner beans. Cut down some brambles at the back of the plot. Weeded around a globe artichoke (though it may be too late as the weeds were winning). I left the artichoke pretty late as the yield last year wasn't really worth the effort. It didn't taste particularly good and the globe was very small. Mind you, it's in totally the wrong position, so I shouldn't be surprised.
Things to do:
Plant things like radish and beetroot in a fine seed bed.
the rough rule of thumb is that the smaller the seed is, the finer the soil needs to be. A great big runner bean seed can be planted almost anywhere (as long as there's lot of manure or compost). A tiny beetroot seedling won't be able to cope with stones and lumps of soil that are bigger than it is. It can't lift them out of the way.
You could try growing spinach or perpetual spinach. Perpetual spinach isn't really perpetual, but it's a biennial (lasts for two years) and produces a decent crop about now, when almost nothing else is cropping at all. (and it tastes very nice chopped up and cooked with pasta shells and tinned red salmon - she says, having just had this for tea).
Remember that disasters are part and parcel of growing veg. Don't get discouraged if things go wrong. It's a steep learning curve and we haven't reached the top of it yet.
We've lost loads of seedling spinach and turnips to the birds this year, so netting is becoming the order of the day. Either that or lots of strands of black cotton (about six inches between strands and several inches off the ground. The cotton should be tightly strung between pegs or short sticks.)
I was talking to a new plotholder yesterday. He's a retired chap and spending several hours each day on his plot. It looks immaculate. But he hasn't got the knowledge yet. He told me that his peas had been badly attacked by mice, so he'd dug up the small plants and binned them.
When he described the damage (leaves with neatly nibbled scalloped edges) I knew immediately that it wasn't mice. Mice go for the pea/bean seed in the ground. You can trace their progress by the neat little hole where your bean was...
The scalloped edges are caused by pea and bean weevils. They're a nuiscance, but they rarely kill plants. And once the plant is more than about six inches tall, they cease to be much of a nuisance at all. They can't jump high enough to get the top leaves.
It's sad, but if he'd left his peas alone (and given them something to climb if they didn't have that already) then they'd probably have been fine.
My pea plants have lovely little scalloped edges, but they're starting up the netting now and making new growth and before long they'll be well and away. I'll lose a few of them, but not enough to make a serious difference.
I've read that hoeing the soil around pea and bean plants reduces the damage done by the weevils. I don't know why it's supposed to work, but I'm happily hoeing away as it helps keep the weeds down in any case.
Big Tip. don't put off weeding around seeds and small plants. The weeds will grow faster than your seedlings and choke them.
If you've planted your seeds in a straight line (Use a tight piece of string as a guide when planting), then you know that anything not growing in that line is a weed. Furthermore, anything in the line that looks exactly like something you've just removed is probably a weed also.
After a while, you get to know exactly what small speedwell (gosh, I wonder how it got that name...) and small scarlet pimpernel plants look like.
Things to do:
Plant things like radish and beetroot in a fine seed bed.
the rough rule of thumb is that the smaller the seed is, the finer the soil needs to be. A great big runner bean seed can be planted almost anywhere (as long as there's lot of manure or compost). A tiny beetroot seedling won't be able to cope with stones and lumps of soil that are bigger than it is. It can't lift them out of the way.
You could try growing spinach or perpetual spinach. Perpetual spinach isn't really perpetual, but it's a biennial (lasts for two years) and produces a decent crop about now, when almost nothing else is cropping at all. (and it tastes very nice chopped up and cooked with pasta shells and tinned red salmon - she says, having just had this for tea).
Remember that disasters are part and parcel of growing veg. Don't get discouraged if things go wrong. It's a steep learning curve and we haven't reached the top of it yet.
We've lost loads of seedling spinach and turnips to the birds this year, so netting is becoming the order of the day. Either that or lots of strands of black cotton (about six inches between strands and several inches off the ground. The cotton should be tightly strung between pegs or short sticks.)
I was talking to a new plotholder yesterday. He's a retired chap and spending several hours each day on his plot. It looks immaculate. But he hasn't got the knowledge yet. He told me that his peas had been badly attacked by mice, so he'd dug up the small plants and binned them.
When he described the damage (leaves with neatly nibbled scalloped edges) I knew immediately that it wasn't mice. Mice go for the pea/bean seed in the ground. You can trace their progress by the neat little hole where your bean was...
The scalloped edges are caused by pea and bean weevils. They're a nuiscance, but they rarely kill plants. And once the plant is more than about six inches tall, they cease to be much of a nuisance at all. They can't jump high enough to get the top leaves.
It's sad, but if he'd left his peas alone (and given them something to climb if they didn't have that already) then they'd probably have been fine.
My pea plants have lovely little scalloped edges, but they're starting up the netting now and making new growth and before long they'll be well and away. I'll lose a few of them, but not enough to make a serious difference.
I've read that hoeing the soil around pea and bean plants reduces the damage done by the weevils. I don't know why it's supposed to work, but I'm happily hoeing away as it helps keep the weeds down in any case.
Big Tip. don't put off weeding around seeds and small plants. The weeds will grow faster than your seedlings and choke them.
If you've planted your seeds in a straight line (Use a tight piece of string as a guide when planting), then you know that anything not growing in that line is a weed. Furthermore, anything in the line that looks exactly like something you've just removed is probably a weed also.
After a while, you get to know exactly what small speedwell (gosh, I wonder how it got that name...) and small scarlet pimpernel plants look like.
no subject
Things planted
Raspberries up against the sunny fence
Marigolds round where the seeds will grow to keep off slugs ( an old trick of my gran's that my Mum remembered)
Lettuce in terracotta pots
COurgette in large terracota tub
Herbs - Dill, Parsley, Tarragon in a herb bed at the back of the new veg patch
Nasturtiums along the front of the terrace - my Mum likes them.
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Well done on the dandelion digging. Getting the roots out is very important.
Sounds like a good place for raspberries. You'll need some posts to fasten horizontal wires to when the raspberries are taller. Then you use soft string to tie them to the wires. Protects them from falling over in a strong wind.
Make sure you give the courgette plenty of food. It's good to have two of them as it increases the chance of pollination.
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Is there any truth to the idea that my Mum had, again from her parents that veg from seed is harder to grow if there are trees nearby? - nothing to with shade, something to do with the trees taking everything out of the soil..
The rasps have been fastened to the fence
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The rest of my garden is occupied by flowers and decorative plants.
My pride, a row of young hornbeams, looks nice - it will (I hope!) screen our open garden from a nearby road. I will make a picture for you. It is quite laborious to keep the small trees tidy, I have to cut the grass among them with special scissors - I think they are not shears, just big flat scissors, and one has to kneel and cut and cut and cut...*thud*:-)
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Mum's right about trees. Shade, competition for water, etc. Means you have to water more often and add more compost. We have trees around one corner of our plot.
I hope you haven't fastened the raspberries too tightly to the fence. They aren't climbers.
It's not good to have the roots too close to the fence either, as they'll get less water. (Some of them may grow right up to the fence over time, but no plant (especially hedges and climbers) should be planted right against a fence. A foot of space is a good idea. (Don't dig them up, but bear this in mind if you get any more in the future)
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Shears - yes, that's the right name.
I don't like celeriac on it's own, but I like it grated in with other stuff. (or did you mean celery) Celeriac is a root veg, but celery has long stalks to eat.
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With the raspberries growing out of their intended area, I'm planning to uproot some young 'escaped' canes and fill the gap. They grow along the back fence, which backs onto an allotment; the canes form a useful deterrent for anyone daft enough to want to climb the council's wire fence and rusty spiked railings and my barbed wire atop the former.
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Goulash:
Most people agree that the best meat is beef and from it, gristle. Generally, I try to use as "low" meat as possible.
Again, some people say that as much meat, as many onions. Well, I do not do it exactly but I cut onions in small pieces and it is usually approximately 2/3 of meat amount.
Then I put two tablespoons of larder in a stewpot and melt it, add the onions and let it roast until they are slightly brownish on the edges. Then I add the pieces of meat. Add salt, sweet paprika(powder) and stir again until the juice from the meat appears, and let it almost fry dry. Then I pour HOT water, and let it stew until the meat is soft. This is a moment I also add fefferone paprika but if you don´like it hot, don´t. You can add pepper powder.
When the meat is ready, I thicken the sauce - we have got a special thickener, and we like bred crumbs too. This is not possible with your bread, we have got utterly different, fermented bread which gives the meal a special (yummy)taste. And I let it boil shortly.
I cook mostly by the ear, and I can tell you that my goulash is different every time. We eat rolls or bread or pasta with it.
Sorry for my clumsy language!
When the meat is ready, I add
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When you say 'low' meat, do you mean offal or leg meat?
'larder' = 'lard'? (Or do you mean 'suet'?)