Clearing and re-planting

Runner beans

Over the weekend I've got up most of the King Edward potatoes and disposed of the plants in the bin - not wanting to add blighted material to the compost heap. I did the same with the pea plants, which had developed black spots on the leaves and remaining pods, and then died off.

That left a fair bit of space in bed one, where there are just a few French beans growing, so I dug round them and planted more French beans there and in half of the potato overflow bed. The other half has been planted with lamb's lettuce. In bed two, where the Epicure potatoes were, I've planted two rows of kale and one of rocket.

I also did a bit of scything and shearing, partly just to keep the place tidy, but mostly to feed the ravenous compost heap. I noticed some earth sticking out halfway up the heap, which I thought odd, and on investigating found that it was full of ants, so they've evidently taken up residence in the compost. I don't know if this is a good thing or not - possibly they'll stir it and keep it aerated, but possibly they'll drive away the red composting worms who do most of the work.

The runner beans are doing well, and I picked just over 6 oz for supper.

Blighted potatoes

Epicure (L) and King Edward (R)

I dug up one of each variety of the potatoes - shown left. There were a reasonable number of spuds, but they were quite small. Unfortunately there are unmistakable signs of Potato Blight on both. One of the King Edwards was squashy and disgusting, but the rest were unblemished. All the Epicure had the beginnings of rot on the surface, but were OK in the middle. Once I knew what to look for, I went over all the plants and snipped off blighted leaves and stalks, hoping to reduce the number of spores drifting down onto the soil. I hope this will slow the effects of the disease on the crop.

I think I'll harvest them as needed now - the potatoes won't be full-size, but I won't run the risk of the whole lot being ruined. I hope.

Legumes developing, basil dead

Growing French bean

Runner bean flower buds

There are now several French beans on the way, even though the plants are tiny - I knew they were a dwarf variety, but I expected them to grow to more than a foot tall before flowering.

Several of the runner beans have reached the top of the cane wigwam, and are starting to flower. I'll have to pinch off the tops soon to make them bushier.

The broad beans have almost all died, and the surviving plants are looking brown and unhealthy. I think I've had a net loss of broad beans this year - planted about thirty, and got to eat about twelve.

And the last basil plant has been critically injured by a snail. It was doing OK, with about six proper leaves, but a snail somehow climbed up the inside of the greenhouse, across a wire mesh shelf, and shredded it. Annoying. No home-made pesto for me this year.

French beans planted out, slugs attack broad beans

Legume bed - peas, broad and French beans

The last batch of French beans were showing good enough root growth to go into the ground, so they have gone into bed one - the seven seedlings just fitted into the available spaces left by dead broad beans. That makes ten dwarf French beans planted now, with the three in the overflow bed. That should be enough.

While doing this, I noticed that some of the developing broad bean pods have been nibbled, and the culprits left behind a slime trail. Now I'd like to garden organically, but I'm not going to mess about with crushed eggshell, sharp sand, copper foil, or any of the other traditional, ineffective anti-slug measures. And as for wasting good beer... that goes against my religious beliefs.

 It's Blue Chemical Death time.

I have built a replica of the Millenium Dome

Bed three cage

Bed eleven cage

Today I built cages to protect the brassicas from pigeons, using chicken wire. The cage over bed three is suspended from wires attached to a stake and the fence, the other one is a wood-frame structure. They are both pegged to the ground around the edges, and the separate sections of chicken wire are 'sewn' together with more wire.

I planted out the new batch of kale into bed three before building the cage, and I hoed round the surviving plants. There are still a few gaps for cabbages, which will be somewhat difficult to plant without taking the cage apart.

Your move, pigeons!

Pigeon damage

Pigeon-pecked cabbage

Some of the cabbages and kale plants in bed three have been pecked by pigeons. I'll have to make a cage out of chicken wire or plastic mesh to keep them off. Grrr!

However, there is a nice row of carrots appearing, and the first sowing of spring onions has shown a few seedlings. The radishes are coming on nicely, too, and the spinach and turnips in bed five are putting forth true leaves. Also in bed five, the six replacement broad beans are all growing well, but the replacement broad beans started in pots and transplanted to bed one are not so healthy-looking. I think the roots poked out of the bottom and either got damaged or dried out before I could transplant them.

Murdah, Holmes!?

Just before I left on Thursday, a parcel containing ten strawberry plants arrived in the post. I followed the instructions and soaked the roots, then placed them in shallow holes loosely covered in soil, to keep them damp until I got back.

Sadly, there wasn't anything left when I went to plant them out - a few shreds of leaf was all that remained. Something had dug them all up and eaten them.

Cabbages pulled out

Half a dozen of the cabbages - which are still barely more than seedlings - were pulled out overnight. I replanted them as best I could, but they may have been too damaged to survive. The culprits are almost certainly pigeons - they like brassicas, and there are now very few berries for them to eat. I will have to protect the cabbages with netting or they'll be eaten.

Mulch

Leaf mulch on allium bed

After the last lot of damage to the allium bed I mulched around the plants with cherry leaves, and this seems to have prevented further digging.

The plate of green goo is a harmless preparation with a strong citrus smell, which is supposed to keep cats and dogs away. I'm not convinced that it works, though.

Kale planted out, onion damage

Uprooted onion

Seems that the squirrels have been busy - there were quite a few holes in the beds, mostly in unplanted areas, but some in the allium bed, despite the wires I strung over them. One of the onions had been completely dug out (but not nibbled). A couple more onions had been knocked or trampled. Grr.

I put the onion back as best I could and firmed up the soil round it - it should continue to grow, but it will have to spend energy repairing root damage that could have gone towards further growth.

I also planted out some kale seedlings in bed three. They've been growing from seed since the 5th October, starting indoors, then spending the afternoon in the greenhouse, then moved to the greenhouse full-time. I'm not sure if they're advanced enough to survive the winter and grow to full size, but I might get some winter greens from them.