Almost everything I intend to plant out on the plot is there now except the leeks and winter cabbage which will go out soon.
The parsnips have germinated and I've started to thin them out so I eventually get one per position. The Sweet Candle carrots in the barrel are coming on well and have been thinned. The first two rows of Rocket early spuds are flowering and the second two rows I planted nearly a month later are coming through now.
I decided to put up a wigwam for my runner beans this year. I sowed Firestorm and Snowstorm seeds in long root trainers and they were planted out last week. Hopefully there will be both red and white flowers around the frame this year - it might look quite nice. There's about fifteen canes and if they all do OK there should be plenty of beans for us.
Last year there was an issue of root fly on the site and my cabbages and sprouts were affected. While I net them against butterflies and birds, it obviously didn't stop the fly. So, this season I've bought some fine enviromesh and my brassicas will be planted underneath. We also have leek moth so they'll go underneath too.
The Bosworth F1 sprouts and a couple of Primo II summer cabbages have been planted out with a little fertilizer and a sprinkling of lime underneath them. The leeks are still in pots underneath the mesh and I'll be dibbing them in early next month.
As usual I'm devoting a whole bed to squash. I've raised what was left of last year's Hunter F1 butternut seeds and bought in some Waltham butternut too as an interesting comparison. There were also a few old Crown Prince seeds that surprisingly germinated and some Big Max pumpkins.
In total there are around a dozen butternut, three Crown Prince and two Pumpkins (for Halloween) plus three courgette plants. They were planted out yesterday as they were beginning to suffer a bit in pots despite being potted on; as the weather has been warm they are better off planted. I've used the upturned plastic bottles as funnels again, planted at the roots they ensure an easy way to get water and food to the plants especially when they grow and bush up.
Right, that's it for now.
