Where can I plant my cauliflower?

[mrbadexample]

I seem to have run out of space.

I've got four varieties of cauliflower seedlings, but I can't see where I'm going to plant them out. I've got three raised beds. Only one has any space left in it:



There are some maincrop potatoes on the left, and the rest is empty. It's quite loose and dry as we've had no rain, and I know caulis like firm ground. I also wanted to plant some Blue Danube potatoes in there, when T&M eventually deign to send them (ordered 13th April! ). Anyway, there isn't room for more than a couple.

That leaves the left side of the garden:



Do I take the spade to the lawn (such as it is), and dig a new bed? Will cauliflower grow ok in new ground? Or shall I give up on caulis this year, and plan better next year? The trouble with the left side of the garden is that the fence side is shaded until mid afternoon. To get another bed with good sun I'd be looking at one 90° to the other three, along the edge of the path. I'm not convinced how that would look.

I've also been negotiating the supply of used straw bedding, as I fancy a go at the mulching-not-digging method described elsewhere on this site. I could just take the turf off, not dig it (so the ground stays firm), mulch it, plant caulis and see how it goes.

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions & criticism all welcome.

Thanks,
MBE

[solway cropper]

I've grown cabbages in containers so I don't see why you couldn't do the same with caulies. Just use a mix of soil and compost with some pelleted chicken manure and they'll be fine. You can move the pots around the garden to get the most of the available light.

[mrbadexample]

I have to say I never considered something the size of a cauliflower a container plant!

But I don't have any spare containers either.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Morrisons black buckets £0-99p for eight, one cauli in each is the way I go. There are only two of us so when I cut a head we use half fresh the other half is frozen in a cheese sauce. 20 plants this year.

Colin

[binley100]

I'm trying Igloo cauli's cos they're small and I think they can be grown in pots ..6" spacing recommended for them .

[Potstubsdustbins]

Binley same here, first year with Igloo but must say the plants look good and sturdy. They are already into 6" pots.

Colin

[mrbadexample]

I've got plenty of the flower buckets, but the caulis I've got are all full size cultivars. Do you think it's worth having a go in the buckets? Don't they take a huge amount of feeding & watering? How do you get the "ground" firm enough?

[zazen999]

How addicted to growing veg are you?

I'd contemplate - growing the seedlings into max 3inch pots, until they are almost pot bound and thus as big as possible; using a bulb planter and taking a plug out of the grass near the fence, popping some egg shells in and then the seedlings, put the soil back on top and tread the soil down carefully.

But it does depend rather on what you are using that grass for.....

[Snadger]

A nice border of caulis up the fence!

[mrbadexample]

Which fence? Left or right?

The left fence creates shade until the afternoon, so might not be the best place.

If I grow them in the buckets, will that restrict the size of the plant, so I end up with a smaller plant and smaller curd (sort of like a bonsai cauli)? Because that would be ok...

[mrbadexample]

How addicted to growing veg are you?

Quite.

But it does depend rather on what you are using that grass for.....

I'm not "using" it for anything. I can't eat it. It takes time to mow.

[Bramble_killer]

why not just dig up the whole garden for veg planting?

[zazen999]

Quite.



I'm not "using" it for anything. I can't eat it. It takes time to mow.

When we bought our house, it came with an 'allotment style' garden next to the canal. It was grassed over. The weekend after we moved in, I hired a rotavator and the whole lot got rotavated over; we bought those 1.8m and 0.9m logs with sides shaved off, and made 5 square beds, put weed fabric and bark for paths, made borders and have the best of both worlds; fruit and veg in the 5 beds, flowers and herbs in the borders. Grass didn't last a week with us.

[mrbadexample]

why not just dig up the whole garden for veg planting?

Bit by bit, that is happening. Every time I think I need a bit more space, I start eyeing up the lawn.

This all started about 4 years ago when, after a few beers (ok, many beers), my mate challenged me to grow pumpkins. I had the greenhouse, but all the rest was lawn.

So, for a £5 bet, the first bit of lawn had to go:



I dug this lot out of a patch about 8'x5':



And I nearly quit right there.

The pumpkins were a complete failure. I lost. The winner failed to make 100g. Yes, that's grams:



That was the winnner. Since then (for the same £5 bet) we've grown swede (I won) and walking stick kale (another win for MBE). This year it's runner beans (longest).

I haven't looked back.

[Bramble_killer]

My first ever pumpkin was about that size too. I planted too close together, didn't feed them etc etc. I'm eyeing up another bit of garden today. I have a slightly bigger garden though..