13th May 2018 - Weed Membrane, Pea Planting

After last week when we cleared 86a this week I had to level the 2 big beds that were in the middle of the plot.  They had been raised beds with sides and when we removed the sides the weeds were so thick that the compost just stayed where it was.  I tried to use the spade to effectively slide it off but it took me half an hour to remove 2 buckets of compost so I brought my long handled cultivator to break it up, which then enabled me to rake it across and level the whole thing out.  

As you know I am a no-dig gardener and so it felt a bit weird using the cultivator to break up the compost but it really was unavoidable.  I did pull some couch grass roots out as I raked it across but I didn't bother to go through even inch of it because I then immediately set to work covering it with the weed membrane that I had taken up last week.  Unfortunately because of how tatty a lot of the membrane is there will be some that I can't use but I've done quite a lot so far and I'm really happy to have covered the majority of the area that I had to break up.  

I suspect that by the time I get back to it next weekend I'll need to strim the top half (green bits) again but by then I'm hoping that I'll have another full role of weed membrane so that I can get it finished.  I'm also considering removing the pallet fence because I want to make sure that I get the membrane right under the fence as much as I can; my plan is to replace it with a chicken wire fence to match the rest of it but it is likely to mean that there'll be no fence for a week or so (Littlest L has her cup final match on Sunday so I don't think I'll get up the the plot much on that day).  I really need to be clear about what I'm going to do on Saturday and not overstretching myself or I won't achieve anything!

On 85a I wanted to get some peas planted and I needed to get some supports in for the 2 tomato plants that I have in the terracotta pots.  As I mentioned I am testing a self watering pot but I also have the 2 terracotta pots in a bucket of water which will mean that the compost will pull in water as it's needed and hopefully the tomatoes will never dry out (a big problem I have with not being able to get to the plot as regularly as I'd like).  So far they seem to be working well, the compost felt nicely damp even after no water being added to it for a week.  In addition to the watering tests I've decided to also test some different ways of supporting the plants.

The self watering pot has support included which is a stake up the middle with a halo at intervals from the bottom to the top which should stop the plant from falling over, I'm going to use a soft tie to secure the plant loosely to the middle stake.  In the picture are the 2 other methods of support that I'm trying.  On the left is a traditional 3 stake wigwam; I've fastened it at the top with the plastic wrap that the bamboo was held together with when I bought it (a little bit of recycling there lol).  On the right is a single bamboo stake with an extending string that you attach with a little hook to the bottom of your plant and then wrap it around the plant securing it by pushing the top into the bamboo.  This holds the plant securely against the stake but you do have to be careful that you don't damage the stem with the string.

I have tried 2 different methods of supporting my peas this time.  I want to try and grow lots of peas this year because they are something that we all like, unlike the beans that I grew last year!  It's difficult to see what I've done but I've fashioned 3 rows with chicken wire and bamboo for the peas to grow up.  I planted lots of peas together in there and I'll thin them out as I need to.  Next to it is a more traditional wigwam, which I've planted 2 peas at the bottom of each stick with the intention to removing the weakest as they germinate.  I will put a pumpkin in the middle of it which means that there will be no wasted space.  I will be interesting to see how they get on (whether the mice get to them before they grow) and which method gives the biggest yield.  I am a dope though, I intended to plant the taller peas on these two structures and after planting them I realised that I'd mixed them up and the ones I planted are quite small so I don't think they'll need this much growing space!  I am bothered that I've not protected the seedlings from the birds and it's very possible that the plants on the outside of the chicken wire and in the wigwam will be picked out by the birds, they won't be able to get into the middle of the chicken wire because it's quite close together so hopefully I'll still get peas even if the pests get some too!

The other job I need to get done soon is planting out my potatoes and sow my root veg.  I've decided I'm only going to do 1 row of potatoes this time to see if I get a better result in terms of size of the potatoes.  I'm primarily planning to grow carrots and do some more swede because that was very successful last year.  

I hope that you all have a great week, until next time - happy gardening :-)