We’ve finally had a run of good weather which means time to get in the garden before the rains descend again! This week’s big win was constructing the new raised bed and polytunnel. This one is much taller than last year’s, about four foot as opposed to two, so I can use it for some larger crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, and chillies.
The cover really made a difference with last years herbs and chillies, but was far too small for the chilli plants. This year I’m using the smaller covered bed for soft herbs. This weekend I split up one supermarket plant each of basil, parsley, and coriander and potted them into place. I hope I’ve not done it too early and the cover will protect them from the colder nights and frost, but time will tell. There is also spring planted garlic in this bed. I find autumn planted garlic doesn’t work very well here and tends to rot before it gets going so I’m hoping the drier weather will work better.
I have three other beds in use at the moment with shallots and more garlic. It will be interesting to see how the garlic fares in a covered vs uncovered bed.
I also managed to get my first potatoes in! L-R (so I remember!) are Charlotte, Jazzy, and Ratte. I have more to plant out but I’m trying to space them out a bit to avoid a glut. I’ll have to keep an eye out for growth for another month or so and cover them up if it looks like frost might be on the way, but I tend to find they’re better protected in bags rather than in the ground.
It looks like good weather for the rest of this week so hopefully I’ll be able to get out for an hour or so each day to start getting things in order. I have to admit it doesn’t look too pretty out there at the moment!
My boxy is coming on at a glacial pace but at least I’m on to the neck and shoulder shaping now (not that you can really tell).
To round off the weekend I took a trip to visit my favourite sheep in the village! I hope you had a good weekend where you are!
Ceulan Fibres 
Your garden looks great! And so does your Boxy!!
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Thank you!
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Your raised beds are just beautiful. Love those polytunnels. Did you buy them or make them? If you bought them, where did you get them. I hate that we have to wait until mid-May to plant due to frost risk. It would be well worth trying one of those. While your sweater is coming slowly, it is beautiful.
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I bought these from Harrod Horticultural in the UK. I read a lot about making your own but I like the fact that this hoop system actually fits the bed, which wouldn’t be the case if I made my own! There is still a risk of frost here so I’m careful with what I put out, but this should offer some protection.
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You have a lovely garden. So much variety.
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I’m not so good at growing things I can’t eat!
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Oh my the face on that sheep. Adorable!
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I adore this group. There are only eight of them now so I think they are someone’s pet/hobby sheep.
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That’s a cute sheep, do you know the breed. I’m so sad I have 2 sheep spotter books in the car and we are constantly doing u-turns for me to go spot a potential new breed. I’m pretty behind on the garden having done nothing yet. I’ll make a start a week on Monday and hopefully can play catch up. Our soil stays too wet over winter too and I’ve not had success with winter garlic. Enjoy the sunshine in the garden this week and keep is posted on the progress.
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I think they’re Zwartbles, which is quite unusual for these parts and one of the reasons I think they’re pet sheep rather than the usual farm flock. I have to get an early start in the garden because late spring/early summer is usually pretty wet here and getting out there reliably on a weekend becomes more difficult.
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That new cover looks fantastic – plenty of height in there for the larger/taller plants. Are your potato bags 20 quart? I need to pick some up but can’t decide what size is best for potatoes. I’m jealous of your garden progress already! They’re calling for more snow here today…..
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They’re 40 litre bags so I guess around 40 quarts if I’ve understood quarts correctly? I’ve tried various sizes and you can certainly plant in smaller than this with fewer plants but I find these a good size overall. In these I plant about four seed potatoes per bag.
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I’m so jealous you are already planting!
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Your garden looks great! I also planted potatoes this week, only in the ground. The garden bags did not work for me last year. I love your tunnels. We hope to be able to do something like that in the future. Right now we’re just trying to figure out gardening with clay soil.
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