A May planting frenzy

Finally its warm enough to start putting stuff in the raised beds. I have spent many happy hours this last week outside pottering, planting, weeding and building more string and bamboo construction.

The Great Wall of Barton was in need of something growing over it. My peas were rapidly outgrowing the pots they were in, so it was time to put them in. But there was one thing worrying me. Slugs. As Gibson is now allowed into the vegetable garden, I didn't want to put pellets down as without a doubt he would eat them. So after some research I decided to try something called Nematodes. 

Basically they are roundworms and if they are in the soil in big enough quantities they will eat the slugs. So I have signed up for a summer long supply of this product.

The packet contained 12 million roundworm larvae which I was required to mix with water and water in to the beds. It also said to do it in the evening, This meant it needed storing for a while. The label on the pack was pretty clear. 

So I popped it in the fridge. Jim was a little surprised that I was storing 12 million worms next to the cheese, but it was only for a few hours and it was very well sealed. 

They were watered in that evening and then I had to wait a few days for them to grow before I could plant. 

Back to the peas. They were ready a raring to go 

Didn't take long to plant them. 

Next was the Mange Tout. I spent a few hours with the string and bamboo and made another frame. This time it was in a large pot, as I don't have enough space for them to be in a raised bed

And then the brassicas. These are the plants that come under attack the most, from Birds, Slugs and Butterflies, so some serious protection was needed. 

Sprouts and Savoy Cabbage were wrapped up in this bed, which took hours to construct. 

The final things to go in this week are my first alicante tomatoes. Last year, the greenhouse ones were brilliant but those outside suffered badly from blight, so I have decided to only plant in the greenhouse this year. This means I am going to have to take out some of the staging, which is currently covered in plants, so at the moment, I can only get a few in.

Thats it for planting, now some digging up. I am also trying to turn the bank of the stream that runs along our boundary, into a wildflower bed. I saw lots of this growing. It wasn't there last year, so I was hopeful that some of the thousands of seeds I have thrown around had taken. I posted a quick picture on twitter to find out what it was, to my dismay the answer was Ragwort. 

For those that don't know, it is an invasive weed which is toxic to horses. it also spreads very rapidly. I therefore spent a lot of time digging out all the plants. There are still lots of small ones, I am leaving until they get a bit bigger and easier to get out. So long as they don't flower, I should be able to get rid of it. 

And finally something that is ready to eat. Rhubarb. The crowns are growing like mad, after the flowers were cut off. I cut some !! 

I decided to use a recipe I had been directed towards on the BBC Good Food website . Rhubarb Crumble Muffins use the link and make them, they are wonderful

The garden is alive with the sound of birds singing and this little chap was a bit brave, he flew in the Greenhouse to pinch some of the hens corn. Jim rescued him, but after he had taken this brilliant photo. 

It was a busy weekend for Gibson. Saturday was our local May Fayre and they had a dog show. We entered him in Most Handsome Male and Best Puppy. He came Second in the first class  and Third in the second. He was pretty pleased with his haul of rosettes. 

and then on Sunday we went to the New Forest Spring Fair. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it very much. A nice lunch of Hog Roast and beer was enjoyed by all of us (Well not the beer for Gibson) 

Thats it for now. Have a great week .