Year of Projects: Week Forty Seven

In the Garden

So this week’s YOP is pretty much just a garden update, but I have been busy out there this week. It’s been a super sunny weekend here. Of course, having spent months complaining about it being too wet to get on with things I am now grumbling about it being too hot out there! Still, things got done this weekend.

Planting out

First up I’ve planted out a few bits and pieces in the vegetable beds. This includes:

• The basil, coriander, and parsley plants
• Tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers, peppers, courgettes, and chillies
• Spinach, spring onions, and something that might be chard or could just be more spinach!

This year I have a few different varieties of tomatoes on the go so it will be interesting to see what works best. My beds have more or less worked out as being root, herb and salads, fruiting plants, leafy veg, strawberries, and peas. Then I have a few crops in pots like potatoes, beans, Jerusalem artichokes and some other bits.

Sowing

It’s strange what seems to struggle some years. Last year my courgettes and squash failed, and this year I cannot get my lettuce seeds to germinate. Still I’ve done yet another sowing this week so fingers crossed. This week I made my final May sowings for:

• Sweetcorn
• Lettuce: Rosso di Trento
• Spring Onions: Lisbon
• Chard: Bright Lights
• Green Beans
• Rocket
• Cabbage: Summer Jewel

I also took the opportunity to get my seed tin back in order so that I have all my seeds arranged by date of next sowing. This is really helping with keeping on top of successional sowing.

Wildflower patch

I admit that this corner of the garden has never really been what I’ve wanted it to be. It is basically an overgrown grassy spot, although well loved by slow worms. Every year I sow some flowers and every year they fail. This is my second sowing this year so I’m hoping something might appear. My rabbit Dylan died earlier this year so I also took the opportunity to scatter his ashes to join his companion, Efa, at the same time, so I really do hope it takes off.

I also found some old marigold and Cosmos seeds so I scattered a few of those in various blank spots and empty pots just to see if they take.

That’s it for this week, I have a few plans for the coming weeks. I need to get some straw for my strawberry bed as the fruits are already starting to set. I need to water in my nemotodes which I’m trying for the first time this year to see if they help with the slug and snail population. I also need to make a start on the mess that is the side border. I want to clear it, get some weed membrane and wood chips down, and then think about getting some raised beds put in.

Most importantly though, I need to make sure I keep up with the little jobs so that things don’t get out of hand. I’m always surprised by how much can happen if I just take a couple of weeks away from gardening. Thank goodness housework isn’t the same!