Adventures in growing our own food, raising livestock and beekeeping on less than one acre
What we are currently doing in the fruit and veg plots
ust a quick photo update to show the progress of the onion sets I planed back on the 6th April. I planted two rows of red onion and two rows of white onion sets. Other than keeping them watered they’ve had no other attention until today. I’ve just hoed between the rows to remove weeds this afternoon.
My poor greenhouse has taken a bit of a battering over the winter months. My grounds maintenance company uses a large 15 foot long beavertail plant trailer that we tow behind a transit tipper. Turning this around is quite a skill at the best of times. Reversing it in the dark on our small holding, away from the streetlights is a nightmare.
I love this time of year in the garden. Everything is starting to come together. The seeds we set a few weeks ago are putting on growth and as the risk of frost subsides we can start getting them out into the garden.
I’m still managing to get a few jobs done each day on the small holding around my busy work schedule. Today I’ve planted out my courgettes.
I grabbed a quick 10 minutes today to get the last of the seed potatoes in the ground. My first early’s and second early’s were planted about a month ago but I’ve been busy at work the last few weeks so my maincrop’s have been sat on my windowsill chitting away to their hearts content.
Wow! Our little fig tree planted around 18 months ago on the west facing wall beside our back door has nearly two dozen figs on it this year.
Some seeds are started where they are to spend their lives, such as lettuce, carrots etc, simply sown outdoors and perhaps thinned out as they grow and get too large for their space.. Some seeds are started indoors in seed trays, perhaps with heat.
I think almost every gardener I know has a favorite garden book, or perhaps a favorite gardener who influenced them when they first started gardening. I’ve gardened for as long as I remember. Even as a small child I always commandeered a corner of the garden in every house we lived in. My parents, grandparents and great grandparents all enjoying their gardens and passing on bits of knowledge here and there to me.
Nothing beats the taste of home grown potatoes cooked fresh from the ground. One of my all time favorite feasts has to be freshly harvested new potatoes along with freshly harvested broad beans.
If you don’t have the time or the desire to start your onions from seed then onion sets are the perfect solution, virtually guaranteeing you a successful crop.