Greenhouse, then to now...

Well, after several PC breakdowns, we've finally got a new one... Still battling with the terrible new operating system (which for legal reasons will remain nameless), but I've managed to upload my photos, so this is going to be a MAJOR update!

At the end of the last post, we had just got the greenhouse up, a fairly major undertaking - think Meccano on a grand scale, with rubbish instructions and you'll be somewhere near!

http://www.norfolk-greenhouses.co.uk/shop/buy-Greenhouses-Standard.php

This is the greenhouse we bought (the Standard 12, which is about 6'x12'), and despite what I said above I would recommend it to anyone on a budget - it's big enough, the covering is good with good light transmission, the rear window will take an automatic opener with minimal modification, and it seems to retain heat well too.

Anyway, enough of the waffle already, here's some pics;

This was the exciting moment of starting to fill the greenhouse, on 10th June.

The plan was to have tomato plants in the first half, left and right - nearer to the door for ventilation, then cucumbers and chillis in the second half - cucumbers nearer to the centre for more humidity. Every plant in there was grown from seed at home, so I feel quite proud looking at this picture.

The tomato plants are; Pink Brandywine, Black Russian, Ailsa Craig and Roma which were left over from last year, San Marzano and Rio Grande plum tomatoes which I'm trying for the first time this year. Don't think I'll bother with the Brandywine again next year - too many of them are suffering with blossom end rot this year, and I only got about 2 fruits per plant last year... Bad yield for the effort involved!

Everything Else...

Of course plenty of things have been happening apart from the greenhouse. Where to start?!

On my last post, at the beginning of June, I'd planted potatoes in bed #3 and tubs, the onions, shallots & garlic were in bed #1, I had a bed ready for courgettes etc., and bed #2 was being sieved.

So, bed #1 ;

The weather hasn't been kind to my onions, and they were all badly attacked by slugs & snails. A lot of the red ones went to seed, even though I paid extra for heat-treated ones. The shallots and garlic did better to begin with, but eventually the garlic succumbed to rust, and the shallots were in danger of rotting in the wet ground.

The shallots were a reasonable size, so I decided to harvest them even though the foliage hadn't died off - they might not store brilliantly, but at least they wouldn't rot in the ground!

I lifted them on July 7th, on a reasonably dry day, and laid them out on a pallet to dry off.

Oh 'eck... it's well after midnight, and I'm struggling to keep me eye's open...! Think I'm going to have to kaffle - I promise I won't leave it a month to tell you about my potatoes... Although I don't suppose you'll be as interested as I am :)

Potatoes, and a greenhouse.

I know you shouldn't start a sentence with 'because', but I'm going to anyway...;

Beacause I didn't start this blog until 3 months after I started rescuing 'the lottie', there's quite a lot to catch up with, so please excuse me if I miss anything out, or seem out of sequence with myself....

So, potatoes...

Back in January (when I knew I was getting a plot, but hadn't seen it), I got a little carried away with my seed order (?!) and ordered 3 types of seed potato - Desiree main crop, Charlotte salad and new variety Harlequin second earlies. Once I had actually seen the plot in early February, I knew I was going to have my work cut out to get ground ready to plant them all in, as well as the onion sets, shallots and garlic that I mentioned earlier. After the weeks it seemed to take to prepare the onion bed, I knew I had my work cut out! So I had to look for some solution, and it needed to be quick - the weather was warming up sooner than expected, and all around me other plot-holders were getting their spuds in the ground! Cue the wise Grapes on The Grapevine, with some great advice;

1. Mark out a bed, and loosen the soil. Take out any large roots which work loose turning the soil.

2. Cover the bed with a layer of cardboard (preferably the thick corrugated box sort) and dampen.

3. Cover the cardboard with a thick mulch of 'organic matter' - homemade compost, or well rotted manure

4. Cover the whole lot with weed suppressing membrane.

5. Leave for a week or so

6. Cut holes through membrane, push a trowel through mulch and what's left of the cardboard, and push your seed potato as far down as possible.

So that's what we did with the Desiree.

And, this is what they looked like a few days ago!

I'm really pleased with how they're doing so far, and the occasional weed which is managing to push through is really easy to pull out. Result!

We decided to take the same approach for other veg that can cope with being planted through plastic, and the next bed has been prepared ready for squash, courgettes and outdoor cucumbers. They are hardening off in a cold-frame at home, to be planted out in a week or so. More later!

The salad potatoes needed a different solution, and we decided to use Spud Tubs - basically a big, black, polypropolene tube - I used them last year, and they worked fine. So the Harequin (a cross between Charlotte & Pink Fir Apple) were planted in those on the lottie, and the Charlotte in big patio tubs at home. Since then I've been gradually adding compost, until the tubs were full. They are looking super healthy, and hopefully we'll get a good crop.

I know, the middle one's wonky!

The job I'm in the middle of now, is still the joy of sieving soil - bed #2 still isn't clear, and I have sweetcorn plants nearly growing out of the top of the cold-frame, desperate to be in there!

Progress so far;

Only a third left to do!

And I've saved the best bit 'til last!!

Greenhouse!!!!

More Progress

Once the shed was up, it seemed a bit easier to get on. I got the plot properly measured up, and sat down with some squared paper to draw a plan. After several attempts, this was the final draft...

We all set to work, marked out several beds with stakes and string, and covered some of the 'spare' ground with weed-control fabric. Then started the almost soul-destroying job of turf-stripping and soil sieving...! There really is no other way when you have horse-tail in the ground - even if you are predisposed to use weedkilller, this nasty weed can withstand it...

Bed #1 was the first to be ready for planting, this was destined to be my onion bed - the shallot sets had already started sprouting and were desperate to be in the ground, and garlic started in pots at home needed their final home too...

This is Bed #1, the garlic is in the centre, shallots closest to camera. At the far end are HyRed and Hercules onion sets. They were all planted out in the first week of April.

I've read a lot of other people's blog's recently, and finally taken the plunge into writing my own... Wish me luck!

The Wixy Pixies are the Wicks family, me (Sarah), husband Jez, and our 3 kids Sam, Mike and Milly. In February this year (07), we finally came to the top of the waiting list for an allotment - Plot #36. This will be a record of our attempt to bring it under control and grow some lovely food, and then persuade our darling children that they want to eat it...!

Before getting our allotment, this is the space I had been growing veg in for the last 2 years, as well as various pots, and a couple of mini-greenhouses. I had to clear this bed of several overgrown shrubs, couch grass, dandelions and improve the soil. I learnt a lot, and was raring to go with a bigger space...

A shock in store?

When I finally got the call in February to go and look at the plot we'd been allocated, I didn't expect to meet any problems I couldn't tackle... Oh dear, was I heading for a shock?!

I joined the forum of Grow Your Own magazine (www.growfruitandveg.co.uk) and this is a copy of one of my first posts. It says it all...

"26/02/07 Despair?!
This is the plot we've just been given at our local site, having been on the waiting list for over a year. Apparently it's had nothing done to it for over 2 years (why didn't we get it last year then? who knows.....), and it's full of dock and bindweed, not to mention glass, rubble,half buried plastic... There's a large rectangle been dug out, presumably for a greenhouse, which is covered in broken glass and grown over with weeds, and has very little topsoil... I've measured it, and planned where my shed will go, drawn up a plan of where the beds will go, but i just don't know where to start... My OH's enthusiasm waned after the 1st hour of trying to level the site of my shed, and i can't even lift the bags of hardcore out of my boot to finish it myself.. My seed potatoes arrived this morning, it was a real effort of will power not to just throw em all in the bin.I really, truly feel like giving up right now."

Luckily, The Grapevine is full of nice people, who are also very wise, and I got lots of encouragement to carry on. Within a couple of weeks, I got my lovely shed up (thanks to my Dad for a great early birthday present!) so at least I had somewhere to brew up, shelter from the rain, and even wee in a bucket if really necessary!

So, this is what the plot looked like, with shed;