May Review

We were down at the patch early this morning just to see what had grown since Friday !

In between the showers Heather sowed some more lettuce and I took the opportunity to earth up the potatoes as the soil was damp and easy to manage.

May is a month full of anticipation and promise, so here is a review of what is happening :

• Potatoes : Cara, Desiree, International Kidney and Anya are producing plenty of top growth and have been earthed-up. There are one or two gaps where the seed has failed, but so far looking good.

• Three Sisters : The sweetcorn plants are not looking very happy... maybe planted out too early ? We will sow some more seeds and use these if the plants do not show any great improvement.

• Brassicas : Cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, calabrese, kale, savoy and purple sprouting broccoli plants have all taken after being transplanted. There has been some evidence of slug damage and we have taken the necessary steps to address this !

• Leeks : Seedlings of the two varieties are coming along well and these will be transplanted to their final positions when they reach the thickness of a pencil.

• Peas and Broad Beans : These are now producing pods from October sown plants and will be ready to pick by next weekend... we can then utilise the crops from the Spring sown plants.

• Celery : Healthy looking plants are putting on strong growth inside their protective tubes.
  

• Onions (Autumn planted) : Senshyu Yellow sets have developed into nice bulbs which should be ready to harvest next month. Those bought from Dobies have performed better in terms of germination and growth than those bought from Homebase.

• Shallots : Griselle sets from Dobies have developed really well, but even those grown from our own kitchen stock have produced good, albeit smaller, clumps.

• Garlic : All 4 types are developing nicely, with Solent Wight from Dobies outperforming the others.

• Fruit : I will write a review all how our fruit stock is performing later in the month.

• Asparagus : All ten crowns have produced spears which we will leave until the foliage dies back.

• Fennel : Only about a 70% germination rate on the seeds sown in April, but these were sown in a spare strip near the path so we will take whatever comes up !

• Carrots : Both varieties (Autumn King & Purple Haze) have germinated well and are putting on growth inside the protective mesh.

• Onions & Shallots (Spring sown) There are some gaps in the rows, but we have enough seedlings which we will transplant to fill those gaps.
  

• Parsnip : Some erratic germination, but transplanting has given us a full row of well-spaced seedlings that should develop into strong plants that will not require any thinning.

• Swede : A late sowing has produced a good row of small seedlings,.
  

• Celeriac : The plants have taken well and we have some more at home which we will transplant when the first row of beetroot has been cropped.

• Beetroot : The first early sowing has produced strong healthy plants. The monogerm seed means that we do not need to thin them out. Another row has been sown and the first seedlings are now poking through.

In addition to these main crops, we have catch-crops (radish, spring onion, spinach) and also some plantings in odd corners... lettuce, borlotti beans, outdoor cucumber, and tomatoes.