New Bed

Our beans are doing rather well in their drain pipe, so we decided it was time to prepare a bed for them to go into. To one side of the potato, bean, and cabbage beds there was a space next to the fence, filled with weeds and grass and an old chair. A frame was constructed, the space cleared and a new bed installed.


We haven't put the beans in yet, we are going to let them get a bit bigger, but we sowed some peas in there. Hopefully we will get some autumn peas and beans from that bed to freeze for over winter. We've surrounded the place where we've sown the peas with copper mesh tape to try and keep the slugs off the seedlings.

pea moth

We had loads of peas yesterday so decided to pod them at the plot so that we could fit them into our tupperware. Which is when ended up discovering the pea moth larvae. The cheek! Eating our peas!



Fortunately they were only in a few pods, maybe 6 or 7, but I think it might be time to take in the rest of the peas in case more damage is being done. We'll have to remember to net the peas next year when they flower.

However there were still plenty of peas left.


Along with broad beans, tomatoes, and salad. I think this is the first 'pest' attack we have had really (excepting wood pigeons and slugs), which is incredibly lucky I think.

Sauerkraut

Well, in a few months time anyway.

Today the cabbages and cauliflowers from Gert went in. We thoroughly weeded the bed (bottom left) which means there are probably only a million tiny pieces of whatever evil pervasive root seems to populate out plot. We then heeled the bed down as brassicas prefer well firmed ground. Next we dug holes - we did this a bit closer than the reccomended spacings as we want to harvest them small and young. We also alternated rows of the earlier maturing cabbages with the slightly longer cauliflowers which means alternate rows will come up, leaving more room for the cauliflowers later. Or that is the theory.

Also watching Gardener's World on Friday night finally got us to get round to taking out copper pipe and fixings down to the plot. We had some left over from doing the bathroom and now it is around the cabbage bed to try and keep the slugs off. We need to get some nemotodes too, to try and kill off the ones that are no doubt hiding in there.

We 'puddled in' the cabbages. Once the hole was dug for each plant some compost went in the bottom and then the plants went in. Then the hole was filled up with water and allowed to soak away, and then filled again and allowed to soak away again, before the hole was backfilled and firmed around the plant. I'm assuming this is to send the water down below the cabbage to encourage it to send roots long roots down, but I don't really know.

They now have fleece over them to protect them a little.