7th April 2019 - Preparation for planting out

Two of the jobs I had on my list to do this year was to clear the fairy garden pot and to pot on the foxglove seedlings.

When I first got 85a I made a fairy garden pot.  It was one of the first (pretty) things I did.  I had a small bay and a small arborvitae that I used as 'big trees' behind the fairy house and then planted ivy and various flowering plants with little fairy accessories.  In reality a pot like that should only last a year or so but I've had my fairy garden for a lot longer and so I needed to clear it out.  I have managed to save the bay, arborvitae and the ivy and planted them all separately.  I may still make another fairy garden with them but for now I'm going to give them a rest and let them re-establish themselves.  The arborvitae may well become part of the hedge in 86a.

I also had a large pot with self-seeded foxgloves growing in it.  The year before last I had a beautiful and quite majestic foxglove growing in the pot  When it set seed I just left it alone and hoped to get seedlings.  Last year I noticed that some foxglove were growing in the pot and so this year I needed to pop them out into individual pots.  I ended up with 16 seedlings of varying sizes.  Some should flower this year and the smaller ones will probably flower next year.  It is very likely that some of them will probably end up in the plant swap at my site in June.

I have also been busy preparing my pea and brassica beds.  I'm going to use willow wigwams for the peas this year.  I think they look pretty and there's lots of space for growing the peas.  My plan is to plant on the inside and let the peas amble up and around the wigwams.  

For the brassica bed I have now laid a good mulch of manure and used the blue pipes to make a frame for the netting.  I will need to think about the netting because I haven't been successful with it so far.  This has been partly due to the fact that I have netted them without being able to easily get into them to check for pests.  I have in the past used enviromesh but I may just use normal netting against the pigeons and then take the time to pick off any cabbage white caterpillars once they're established.

In the polytunnel I have a good number of white and red cabbage waiting to go outside and I also planted some peas into modules this weekend.  I am hoping that I'll be able to get some established in the polytunnel and then plant some directly outside later to create succession cropping.

I've also got some tomatoes, cucumber and aubergine growing on in the polytunnel.  The 2 largest tomatoes I've already planted into their final pots.  I've planted them very deep (down to their 2nd set of true leaves) and they're right in the middle of the polytunnel where they'll be warmest.  Once I've moved the things out that I've been overwintering then I can sort out their final positions and supports.  I've never been successful with aubergine but I'm determined to try again and I'll be keeping everything crossed for this year.

I have a very cheeky rat that has taken up residence on my plot!  It has been attracted by the bird feeders and it's very likely that I'm going to have to remove them which is a shame because I really enjoy having the birds on the plot.  My plot is in the middle of a park and on the edge of a wood so it's inevitable that we will get rats occasionally.

My general feeling on animals visiting the plot is to live and let live but I also know that rats will make nest and multiply very quickly.  Even if I remove the feeders I'm in the process of planting out all of my crops which will be more than enough food for a family of rats and so I've taken the very difficult decision to lay traps.  I don't have an air rifle (and I wouldn't be a good shot anyway), I don't know anyone with a jack russell and I'm not sure I'd want one running around and digging up my beds anyway.

I'll keep you posted on results!

Until next time...
Happy Gardening x