Update so far

This topic contains 11 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by  Mal 5 years ago.

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  • #47735

    offwego
    Participant

    Having a really good first year using. No dig
    Onions have never been better all are now pulled followed in the bed with another sowing of carrots and two more rows of beetroot
    Runner beans excellent
    Courgettes plants are huge and cropping well
    Ditto with marrows
    Garlic very big excellent crop

    No bad things to report on the no dig half
    The other half of my plot
    Excellent soft fruit
    Poor rhubarb
    Very poor brassicas cabbage root fly had them
    Good crop of potatoes
    Good beetroot

    Next year with a bit of luck the second half will also be no dig as even with the ongoing drought conditions crops have done well due to the compost base😃😃

    #47737

    Sandra
    Participant

    Good news, and while it isn ‘t good news, it is good to hear that I am not the only sufferer from cabbage root fly! The little beggars are still working here. Going to crop what is still in the ground to fill the freezer and then get winter crops in, which I have never done before.

    I also had the best year with beetroot, onions – surprising when I only put 2 packs of sets in which were bought for 50p as end of stock and went in late. I will be trying seed onions Christmas time this year for the first time as well hopefully.

    Carrots again have been great this year and I have also sown another crop of those, I had no carrot root fly although they weren’t netted as well which was a surprise.

    Making another one bed at least over the winter and hopefully more, I have the room and the area is level there, but reclaimed from rose bay willow herb, so that worries me.

    Perpetual spinach has done well too, proper spinach is going in soon, courgettes and my first ever summer and winter squash are doing well too.

    I need to build more netted frames/hoops now for crops because the pests are not going away. Cabbage whites got under my floating nets but have taken the nets off now and birds are eating the pests, which is good news. I will be using your bacillus next year too Charles. I have never seen so many cabbage white butterflies in my life as this year.

    We are not on mains water here, so I have had a problem watering this year, I save grey water from bathroom and kitchen every year but this year I have used ‘eco eggs’ instead of washing powder for laundry and saved that water for the garden too, which is a back breaking job, but better than watching the lot die. I also resorted to bark peelings around my crops as well, which did pay off. I moved it to one side to plant and sank half bottles into the ground beside plants to water them too. So again, more water storage is planned as soon as I can afford it. We have had 4 days of low cloud and I removed the dry peelings when it rained, or when the cloud settled as a layer of drizzle on the ground, so that the bark didn’t just take up the water. I have also bought more leaky hose which will be buried about 4-6 inches deep into the raised beds over winter. I only had one bed with leaky hose this year, but I have used them before, but because I remodelled the garden this year, I took a lot out. They do work well to save water because when they are 4″ – 6″ deep the roots benefit much more and there is no evaporation. I can link the lot to stored water barrels that way, I cursed myself so often this year for taking it out.

    Sorry that I have rambled so much. Must go and cover the beds again with bark because the sun is back again today.

    Sandra

    #47739

    Hazelky
    Participant

    Pleased to hear of your good news, bet you re looking forward to n even better year next year.

    Have had huge problems With cabbage whites this year; I’ve never seen so many of them before. They have got under my nets or through! Picked hundreds off my Cavolo Nero kale this morning, it’s Cavolo Nero lacework now. The middles are surviving so have cleaned them off and removed the big leaves to let them live another day.

    The sweetcorn love this weather and am harvesting before anything gets there before me. Lost the whole crop to rats last year.

    Calabrese pretty poor this year and the carrots that grew are lovely, but only a third of what I planted.

    Yellow beans great, green beans too. White cucumber very prolific, making dill pickled ones today. Outdoor tomatoes showering me with fruit. The borlotti beans are great, picked the lower ones touching the ground to eat, but most left to dry for winter. Beetroot, fennel, kohlrabi, onions all good. Tried red celery, never again, most galloped to seed and very stringy, not juicy at all.

    Strawberries are over but we had a fabulous few weeks, pounds and pounds of them all sweet and juicy.

    Trying to find room for winter veg now on my small plot.

    Lovely to hear of others veg successes and tribulations, we are having a great time😀

    #47745

    Derek
    Participant

    If the upload works, here are picures of the patch last year and this year. What a difference a year makes!

    Cabbage whites galore, great to see them frustrated by the netting. On the other hand, a few lettuces succomed to wireworms earlier in the year and the rabbits are currently attacking my carrots. Brilliant yield however from a new patch; very pleased!

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    #47750

    Sandra
    Participant

    Brill, great to see your photos. I still haven’t taken any of my plot yet. It is good to see that your efforts have been rewarded isn’t it?

    #47754

    charles
    Moderator

    I am happy to see and hear these fine rewards for mulching soil.
    A lot is about keeping pests off too! That netting looks great Derek, is that 5mm squares?

    #47757

    Derek
    Participant

    Charles, the netting is 7mm square. Described as soft butterfly netting from Harrod Horticulture. A bit more expensive than other available, but I feel the quality is worth it.

    Sandra, I don’t enjoy photography, am not any good at it and don’t have a good camera. I take most of the pictures on a mobile phone or an old compact which should have been retired years ago. However, being able to look back and see how things have changed I find motivational.

    #49458

    offwego
    Participant

    Collected and shredded some seaweed today for the polytunnel no dig beds , still need another two or three trips to complete that side,

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    #49466

    charles
    Moderator

    That looks lovely offwego, your soil is fortunate

    #49480

    offwego
    Participant

    Thanks. Charles.

    I collected shredded and placed another 8 large bucket gulls today which in quantity shredded to a heaped barrowfull
    I now have a three inch covering on three quarters of that bed 😁😁

    Another high tide due next Saturday so weather permitting I may go again

    #49576

    offwego
    Participant

    Beds both sides of the polytunnel now done With at least 4 inches of seaweed, may put 4 inches of horse muck on top this weekend

    #52584

    Mal
    Participant

    Hazelky,

    Could I ask you how you planted your Kohlrabi? I got some out of date seeds at a seed swap and am surprised that I now have several seedlings per module. Do you thin them down to one per module or do you plant multi-sown? Thank you.

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