Jim got out the scythe for the first time last week and I have to say I'm very impressed. In just three afternoons he's mown our totally overgrown acre. Things are almost beginning to look tidy! And he's working on his abs at the same time. What a great traditional tool and so quiet.
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| The Jim reaper |
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| Getting tidier all the time |
Meanwhile we've had our first meal from the veg garden: steamed pak choi, with ginger, garlic and soy sauce. The pak choi plant is an attractive purple, which doesn't seem to be attractive to birds, and it turns a nice deep green when cooked. Very versatile stuff and quick to cook. In a risotto, it's almost like spinach. I've decided that I like growing red or purple varities of veg. The seedlings are easy to distinguish from weeds as they come up and the birds here seem to give them a miss, unlike pretty much anything else.
The digging has resumed. It's going to be a race to get the ground prepared in time for our courgettes, squashes and cucumbers.
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| Still a lot of digging to do. More potatoes are popping up every day |
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| The courgettes are going for it |
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| Cucumber flower |
The tomatoes are doing well. In fact, they were growing so many leaves that I finally looked up how to prune them properly. This morning was spent pinching tomato armpits and removing any bottom leaves that were touching the ground. I've also started an outdoor tomato experiment, planting out nine tomato plants just behind the windbreak fabric. Hope they'll survive.
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| Tomato blossoms |
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| The kale's curling nicely |
We've been waging war with the weeds all week. Never knew what a pain bracken could be. Some more black plastic is needed or weed control fabric. Now for a thirst-quenching nettle ale!
Your plot looks huge, lovely weather to get some digging done! Loving the courgette plant and the cucumber plant, they've come on really well! My courgettes have been damaged by the wind and heavy downpour.. Do hope they survive!
ReplyDeleteIt's an acre and a third overall, but not everything is cultivated - yet. Will plant section by section with fruit trees and bushes etc. This year's project is to get the veg garden (8 x 25 metres) back into action. What do you do for hardening off your courgettes? Mine have been in an unheated greenhouse and unheated conservatory ever since they were seedlings. Will they still need hardened off and how do I do it? Just leave them out overnight in a sheltered spot for a few days before planting in the final position or can I just plant them on a warm day and hope for the best?
ReplyDeleteHi Sonja, not sure if you realised but a warning about cucumbers. If you have a variety which produces male flowers (I think your pic is of a male flower). You need to pinch them off EVERY DAY. The problem being that fertilized cucumbers are bitter!!! Horrid to eat. I now buy something like F1 Bella, which is a female flower only variety, and even those have to be checked a bit. The veg garden looks great. Fxx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Fran. Bit confused about this actually. The Veg Expert Book says to pinch off the male flowers if you are growing indoor cucumbers but says that they are essential to leave on if you are growing outdoors (I don't understand why). These are outdoor varieties and I plan to plant them out next month, but presumably you are growing outdoor cucumbers in sunny Mallorca? I've pinched off the male flowers of the three plants that I've decided to keep in the conservatory for early fruit. Hope they haven't been fertilised yet!
ReplyDeleteWell I really wouldn't hope for the best as my attempt failed miserably and I think I have lost two or three courgette plants to that...thankfully I have a few more growing comfortably in shelter! The wind and storms will damage them...so best to harden them off slowly and try and place them in a sheltered position, which should prevent my situation. Although your plants do look a lot bigger...so not quite sure. Never grown the plants before!
ReplyDeleteFascinating about the cucumber growing, I have one plant which has survived after my sister dropped my pot where I had planted ten seeds!!! I will be growing mine indoors and so I think I will pinch the flowers!!
It's a beautiful day and 7 out of my 10 courgettes are going out today. Let's see what happens. The plants are so enormous that they are taking over the conservatory! What variety of cucumbers is yours? I did research it some more and the ridge cucumbers (I have one called Bedfordshire Prize) will need fertilisation so the male flowers need to stay on, regardless of whether they are grown indoors or out.
ReplyDeleteYes I am growing them outside, I didn't know about this in/out thing I just heard about the male flowers.. You will just have to see if the cucumbers develop ok without the male flowers. It should be pretty apparent quite quickly. I do have it easy here though, I was getting 8 a day at one point, so I have cut down my plant numbers this year.
ReplyDelete8 day? That's crazy. How many plants was that? Did you pickle them? One of my German friends brought me a Sauerkraut crockpot, which is also good for making dill gherkins. I have 8 plants, one is closely behind the three that I've deflowered so I hope it will provide a male flower for them.
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