Gardening Journal International - Wales, UK

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Friday 30 March 2012

Molly's Lotment - Potatoes and Things

Ground at mill

The weather has been glorious in sunny Wales for the last few days but the weather forecasters tell us that all is set to change come the weekend. If it's not quite 'Make hay while the sun shines' time of year it's certainly been busy here on Molly's Lotment. We have been busy preparing the veggie patch down at the mill and planted our main crop of potatoes (all four rows of them). I bought the seed earlier on thinking that they were the early variety only to get home and find that I'd picked up 'Desiree' and 'Pink Kerr' which every gardener knows are not the early variety at all. However I set them out in a card board box and they chitted well. Also sowed a row of Early Onward peas. I have sown a few boxes as well. Little critters are quite partial to freshly sown peas so a few to fill in the gaps is a good idea.

Pink Kerr and Desiree

It's been 'all systems go' in the poly tunnels too :-

Broad Beans are growing

Autumn King in a flower bucket

Discovered a brilliant tip from Gardeners click - sow carrots in a flower bucket. (I had an old one destined for the recycle centre - rescued it and banged drainage holes in the bottom) The variety I've sown are Autumn King. The great thing about sowing them in a container is that they can be lifted out of the way of the dreaded carrot fly. Looking forward to some nice juicy grub free carrots.

Hispi

The Hispi cabbages are ready for cutting and I've already made vegetable stir fry and coleslaw with a couple of them - 'out of this world mmm.'

Strawberries

My strawberry plants in the top poly tunnel are just starting to come into flower. They were a complete mess a few weeks ago. The runners had run everywhere and I had to thin them with a vengeance. The plants that came up with my cultivator have been planted outside. They're doing okay as well, but will fruit a week or two later than the ones inside.

Asparagus

And finally .... the icing on the cake - I bought two asparagus plants past their sell by from the garden centre a couple of years ago. They were throwing them out for the princely sum of ten pence. Not having grown asparagus before, I read on the packet that they needed to be planted on ridges of compost rich soil. I hit on the idea of planting them in an old potato planter which I filled with garden compost and then a layer of soil on the top. Two healthy little shoots poking through. You can't ask any more than that for ten pence can you?

Happy Gardening
Molly

6 comments:

Elizabeth Colley31 March 2012 at 21:59
You know Molly, the fact that you bought a different variety of potato than what you intended, but still 'took a chance' with them, reflects your experience of gardening. You know that 'taking a chance' is what gardening is all about. The fascination of finding out what will happen is exciting and rewarding - and what makes for a good gardener.

The same is true for the carrots. You are willing to try knew things, with the knowledge that you have nothing more than a few pounds to loose (if that).

I have numerous plants that were just about to hit the garden centre's compost heap, it's a great challenge isn't it? My biggest success was a buddleja for 50p, which has now produced fifteen identical plants through cuttings, and thirty assorted shades through seed (which I sold for £2.50 each). Happy times are to be had with bargains.
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Bill S1 April 2012 at 17:10
I have to say Molly that your flower buckets are far superior to mine, metal indeed, mine are cheapo plastic ones from Morrisons 8 for £1. If you look at my photo you will note that I sow my carrots in rows, just shows what a sad person I am !

I am very envious of your veg plot, what a super size, I bet that keeps you fit.
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