Slowly getting there!

[chell25]

i'm only digging over the soil where my next 3 beds are going as it is all clumpy and doesnt really look like soil. At the moment i havent done any weed removing from my current beds. My plan is to go there on monday and do some de weeding as going away for the weekend. I do have some weed control fleece, i could lay that over the beds that are currenly planted to keep the weeds at bay i guess.

[chell25]

well just a little update.
Picked my first radish on friday or should i say my first own grown veg.
I had it in my salad and it tasted very nice :-)))

[Lottieval]

Hi Chell and welcome, I think you're doing fantastically well. To improve your clay soil dig in as much organic matter as you can and a good helping of grit too, that will all help to break it up. Have you got beans, both runner and french in pots in the GH yet, they are one of the most rewarding crops, and easy to grow once you've got them in and established, added benefit of them is that they add nitrogen to the soil, so put brassicas or a green crop in after them. Your plants that wilted, did you give them a really good watering when you put them in, they always need it and it perks them up.
If you can get hold of a copy 'The Allotment Book' by Andi Clevely is a fantastic, inspiring guide for all lottie people.
Good luck, you're doing great.

[Alison]

The sweetcorn is in pots at the moment in the greenhouse. My plan is too keep these growing in the greenhouse.

They'll be fine in the greenhouse for now but will want to be planted out sometime next month. They are wind pollinated and should be planted in blocks to ensure pollination.

Sounds like you're doing great but you will suffer badly from weeds. If you have long rooted ones (like I do) such as mare's tail, bind weed etc then every fragment of root can become a new plant so you need to get them all out as far as possible. Try not to break the roots up too much and dig out when they bed is empty and then keep hoeing back when you can't dig as there is crop in the way. Little and often and you'll get there.

[snohare]

"The best mulch is the gardener's shadow"... preferably with a hoe in hand !
Well, that's the old fashioned way of doing it. Me, I'd try to use cardboard, or decent quality weedproof membrane - but then, I'm lazy/pressed for time.

[chell25]

All my bean plants are currently in the green house, looking good and strong.
This week i have managed to get some perfect wood to finish off the rest of my bed free from one of the guys on site! He no longer wants to grow veg and wants to tuff it. So this weekend i can finish them off and get the some more plants from the green house planted out in the ground this weekend. I'll try and get some pic's while i'm down there.

[snohare]

He no longer wants to grow veg

Is such a thing possible ? Do salmon fly, can birds swim, are some politicians honest and clever ? !
Not growing veg. Going over to a lawn. Why...It is a reversal of the natural order of things, an ungodly choice of lifestyle that ends in a coronary while snoozing in a deckchair with the Sunday Times over the face, lawnmower by side. (Assuming that such a garden creature has a heart... ) What creature in a garden does not get its food from there ? !

[chell25]

He's an old guy and is not very well he has tubes to breath though, so he just wants to keep his pigeons. I dont mind, means i get loads of free wood!! The first three bays i put in cost me £40.00 in wood!

[snohare]

Keeps pigeons, has tubes....aw, bless ! ( As long as he eats the pigeons.)

[chell25]

Yes he's not well at all bless him, but he's so sweet. No he wont eat them i dont think, he races them!
Last sunday i was down there for about 5 hours and the whole time all the people with pigeons just stood there look into the sky!! Not my kinda fun!!

[snohare]

It's all just a cunning excuse to get really good compost activator and high phosphate manure.

[chell25]

Hi,

I managed to get some pics today on my phone, also found one from once it was rotativated.

[chell25]

Here is what it looked like just as i was leaving.
Coming on really well, just put another 6 beds in with the free wood form the man up the road!

Had another radish today!
Going well

[Two_Sheds]

Looking good Chelle

[chell25]

Many thanks