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So here's the deal. I'm helping a chum who is the guardian of a chateau locally (owned by a multi-squillionaire brit business man) put in a potager for organic fruit and veg. Money no object, two greenhouses, raised beds on a huge field, the lot.
So I've been there helping to put the beds together, design the whole plot and more importantly, sowing the seeds and bringing stuff on.
Now my chum is employed as a gardener and he knows what he's doing small scale. Big scale, disasterous. So, he's completely bolloxed the seedlings (greenhouse reached over 80 although I kept turning the thermostat down) overwatered so many of the small things went leggy and some have rotted off.
I told him we needed to start hardening off and he put up some trestles, loads of fleece to cover them etc. But, despite my warnings, he put them against the wall of the house, nice and light but sheltered so plants reaching for the light all the time.
Went there today as he and wife are away in the UK and disaster. Greenhouse was colder and the plants were drying out because I've managed to get that sorted. BUT, the gutter is away from the eaves of the house and the torrential rain has caused havoc, lots of seedlings lost and many of the emerging seeds have been washed away.
I'm actually quietly bloody furious because I told him so!!! But, last week when I was there I managed to retrieve some of the seedlings etc for my place and I've had them gently recovering in my cold frames and even the smaller, more delicate herb seeds are doing well.
So, when he gets back later this week, a serious re-organisation I think. I'm not paid for this work (one day a week) I just get use of the greenhouse for my own stuff plus the buzz of doing it so I think I'll be setting anotjher load of seeds but on my terms this time.
But the work in the pig farm garden is doing brilliantly so that makes life a bit better and the farmer has loads of piles of very well rotted horse manure mixed with straw (some over a year old) that I'll be taking away when things dry out a bit here.!
So I've been there helping to put the beds together, design the whole plot and more importantly, sowing the seeds and bringing stuff on.
Now my chum is employed as a gardener and he knows what he's doing small scale. Big scale, disasterous. So, he's completely bolloxed the seedlings (greenhouse reached over 80 although I kept turning the thermostat down) overwatered so many of the small things went leggy and some have rotted off.
I told him we needed to start hardening off and he put up some trestles, loads of fleece to cover them etc. But, despite my warnings, he put them against the wall of the house, nice and light but sheltered so plants reaching for the light all the time.
Went there today as he and wife are away in the UK and disaster. Greenhouse was colder and the plants were drying out because I've managed to get that sorted. BUT, the gutter is away from the eaves of the house and the torrential rain has caused havoc, lots of seedlings lost and many of the emerging seeds have been washed away.
I'm actually quietly bloody furious because I told him so!!! But, last week when I was there I managed to retrieve some of the seedlings etc for my place and I've had them gently recovering in my cold frames and even the smaller, more delicate herb seeds are doing well.
So, when he gets back later this week, a serious re-organisation I think. I'm not paid for this work (one day a week) I just get use of the greenhouse for my own stuff plus the buzz of doing it so I think I'll be setting anotjher load of seeds but on my terms this time.
But the work in the pig farm garden is doing brilliantly so that makes life a bit better and the farmer has loads of piles of very well rotted horse manure mixed with straw (some over a year old) that I'll be taking away when things dry out a bit here.!
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