January midwinter 2016
Sowings of Aquadulce Claudia, made in early November just before full moon, are looking good after 3 months. Sow some now in modules undercover.
In contrast, we sowed some of the same broad bean seeds, as a green manure in early September, between cauliflower. Although they still have some green leaves, the state of their stems suggests these plants are not growing much more, and this bed has garlic coming up between the beans, planted October.
From September…
Cauliflower left had folllowed spring beetroot, was planted mid-July including Romanesco and they were under mesh for the first six weeks. Brussels went in between carrots 17th June.
To January
Beans + garlic on left, Brussels still cropping 14th January, my go-to winter green.
Somehow, these plants keep giving, and after removing the yellow leaves, I'm finding sprouts of a fantastic size and quality, they are Brilliant F1 from Premier Seeds Direct, in my May collection
Time your sowings
Land cress under a mesh of plant matter and in winter this bed's tree roots are dormant. Dry soil meant it struggled to grow squash in summer, but these winter harvests are wonderfully abundant. Sowing in early August was the most important part of this success, see my Calendar of Dates
Nitrogen in compost
I had this question:
We have a garden of 750 m2 in the mid-hills of Nepal at 1500 meter altitude. Some of the beds have had compost dug in 🫣 3 months ago and others only a month ago. We are transitioning to no-dig.
Would a new 3cm compost layer lead to too much nitrogen for the crops?
Just before emptying the compost toilet of 2024
My answer is that compost is not a nutrient food and certainly not a ‘nitrogen food’. The nitrogen in compost is not water soluble, and releases to plants only when they need it, as requested through the biological networks. Adding a little extra compost will not flood your plants with nitrogen. It's more a question of soil quality, whether you need to add more. And whether you have enough compost.
Eight shovelfuls per trial bed of 2 x 1.2 m. It's brown not black, thanks to the wood shavings we drop after each visit. Last year, this bed grew 53 kg squash, see my September blog.
Sow now?
Some of you have good reasons for starting early, such as this.
I'm in the far north, short growing season, much cooler temperatures and found that starting the seeds earlier inside the polytunnel, inside those clear plastic lidded boxes, even with a bubble-wrap layer, and then potting on, still arranged in the boxes, makes the earlier start just possible and extends that growing season by several weeks.
For most of us, however, there is warmth and light ahead which will do a much better job for new seedlings than what we have at the moment. Spring sowings catch up.
But you can do this now:
Charlotte and Jazzy potatoes set to chit in early January, in the conservatory window. Squash have been there since October.
I have many large potatoes in sacks in the shed and they are good for eating until May. Probably, depending on how well the new plants grow.
Every week I'm uploading a new how to grow video on YouTube and this is asparagus. Keep an eye out for many to come, including spinach and cauliflower.
For a smile 😮
Gardening expert shares 'cardboard' method to keep weeds down | Express.co.uk
Daily Express
"I don't use anything on my garden or allotment at all. I don't use any sprays, I just hand-weed." Ellen also employs a method called "no-dig""
Minty checks a rabbit hole in ten week old broad beans. Rabbits are diggers!
Moisture under black plastic, for squash and potato
Smothering weeds with black plastic does not necessarily prevent moisture passing through. In my case, I'm using five year old plastic and there's many small holes in it already. Plus, if your ground is reasonably level, rain will tend to find its way through planting holes.
I water them only for plant establishment. The plastic holds water underneath, as long as it's on the ground before the end of March, even in January.
You could follow them with collards in September, as it in my photo below. They are producing less now, but still give a worthwhile amount, with the mesh over against pigeons.
Collards Hi Crop F1 have been under this cover since planting on 12th September, as three week old transplants
0 comments