First May sowings


 Courgettes, French beans and sweetcorn sown in their final location will germinate quickly. Water the ground with warm water before sowing.

Beetroot, spinach and small salad crops will germinate and grow very fast.

It's time to plant tomatoes and cucumbers - warm water before planting. Sweet Million, Bejbino, Bottondoro, Sweet Olive and Miele are good cherry types; Vanessa is our favourite slicing tomato.



 Salad on May 2nd from February sowings










 Sow your favourite cherry tomato now for a delicious and prolific harvest in September and October. The cherry types are good frozen for cooking in the winter.



May 2nd sweet peas sown in October.

Also picked first strawberries

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

J.A.M. in the polytunnel

Just about managing. The long days with maximum sunshine have produced rampant growth. Careful management is needed. Big healthy plants should lead to big crops. If all tomato flowers are allowed to fruit, the plants will be overloaded, fruit size reduced and a glut in August will leave exhausted plants with little late yield. I'm removing complete trusses of tomato flowers and reducing the size of the rest. A strong low sideshoot can remain, and be nursed to continue flowering when the main plant is stopped at about 5 feet. This will give tomatoes in October. Cucumbers easily overcrop - and then give up early. Allow fruit only on the main stem and remove every other small fruit. The same discipline suits courgettes. A weekly feed will keep the swelling fruits supplied with resources. Leaves in the shade do little good - a sharp knife is best for all pruning or trimming. Choose a day when clothes are drying well.
Read more

Mid-April sowings

Image
Tomato plants  will be ready in May.They won't cast much shade for weeks. I'll fill the whole area now, sowing  (not thinly) rows 5" apart of spinach, rocket, mustard, radish,  beetroot, mixed lettuce, mizuna, cress and oriental leaves. We,ll pull some seedlings every week or so from early May to  mid-June and use as salad. These are seedlings from a March sowing November sowing   I sowed chard, spinach, lettuce, rocket and peas in  november. First flowers on the peas; cabbages are hearting up.
Read more

Keep caring-and controlling fast Summer growth

             As the earliest crops finish - lettuce, French beans, peas, spinach, cabbage, broccoli etc., new sowings can fill the spaces. I'm sowing Cobra - a climbing French bean - mangetout and sugarsnap peas for Autumn eating. Salad leaves sown now have a long eating season.           Tomato and cucumber plants respond to careful management. An adequate and regular water supply is essential - no drying out! Developing fruit benefit from regular liquid feeding. Reducing the number of flowers per tomato truss ensures healthy development of all the crop. I open vents and door to maximum - better draughty than too humid.                                                                                                                                                    
Read more