Too busy to blog

A lettuce of the variety 'Mottistone' from my first sowing. The largest were potted on a couple of weeks ago, these are now big enough to do the same. I experimented with grit, and not only did they push through fine, but it kept them moist, so it may be a good idea in future.

The previous entry was written weeks ago, but I wanted some photographs to brighten it up. In the end I published without the requisite shots, because one of the classic mistakes I make when blogging is writing an entry then not publishing until it's no longer relevant. Oh well.

Actually I have been taking photographs, but not enough and not yet mostly useful for here. But more importantly, I've been very busy outdoors, so this is once again falling behind. Four builder bags (those large, I guess woven nylon sacks, about a metre cubed when full) were delivered in the first week of May, two with well-rotted manure, one with ballast (coarse sand and gravel), and one with sand, plus a pallet of paving slabs. This is all for the vegetable garden - though I won't go into details too much until it's all done. The manure was in part inspired by my discovery of Charles Dowding's YouTube channel, where he does sterling work educating on the benefits of no-dig growing - basically you shove a load of compost or similar growing medium on top of the soil, then plant into it without disturbing what's underneath. This has the benefit of being less backbreaking, and suppressing most weeds, amongst other things - but requires a lot more compost than you might otherwise use. So to begin with, two cubic metres, maybe three quarters of a tonne, of well-rotted horse manure - I'll probably need more in the next few weeks.

Broccoli 'Autumn Green Calabrese' flowering already! This is not good, but there's plenty of time to re-sow.

Other than that, it's mostly a matter of watering, thinning seedlings, pricking out and potting on, and juggling increasingly limited space and resources (pots, labels, trays, etc). That does keep the pressure on to clear space - the vegetable garden we inherited here consisted of four long beds, two square ones, a small broken greenhouse, and a large polytunnel, and although not all of it has been brought back into cultivation yet, I've also added three raised beds so far. It will all be full soon - I have hundreds of plants now, some of which I don't even know where they will fit, so motivation isn't a problem.

These red cabbages are looking okay, and seem to have perked up a lot in the days since repotting.

What is growing? I have one raised bed approximately 1.5m x 1.5m with onions and radishes (the latter are a classic catch crop, which is sown between a slower-growing one, to be harvested before they get in the way), another bed the same size with peas, broad beans, and a little spinach, and one double size bed (~3m x 1.5m) with more broad beans, onions, and a little garlic. About a quarter of the polytunnel is back in cultivation, with some onions, garlic, and broad beans shoved in for want of space. In the original veg beds, there's direct-sown beetroot, spring onions, parsnips, and a row each of garlic and peas.

More brassicas! The ragged-leaved ones are kale, the spoon-shaped leaves are more red cabbages.

I urgently need to plant potatoes, more peas, lettuces, and a whole load more onions, all of which are ready to go in when I make room. I had module trays of brassicas and other things, but for some reason they have started to look unhappy - in fact, broccoli (calabrese) has started to flower (see photo above), despite being two or three inches tall, which is surprising, a little upsetting, but ultimately not catastrophic, as the sowing window for them is long, and I have quite a few alternatives (I sowed a tray of quick-heading broccoli and 'Aztec broccoli' which should still provide summer crops if things go well). I potted up the best kales and cabbages, because I frankly don't yet have anywhere to put them, and hopefully they will grow on safely until I can set up another raised bed somewhere. I've never grown either before, so it's hard to judge how badly I'm doing on that front. Indoors, there are about a hundred tomato plants, some of which are thriving, and some doing poorly - I'm not sure entirely why they vary (variety, pot size, compost type, even that some seeds were poor quality?). Aubergines, okra, some melons have been repotted; Also the first sowings of summer and winter squash and summer beans are growing strongly in pots. I'm already looking to incorporate some vegetables with flowers and bedding because I need the space, and beetroot and red kales won't look bad in that setting, but I still crave a classic allotment or market garden look.

The next batch of lettuces! They're a bit flattened because I watered them before pricking out. Note the great variation in germination. The two best varieties are speckled 'Mottistone', and dark red 'Bijou'. I'll sow even more soon to keep up a constant supply into the summer.

In a word: busy! The weather has mostly been co-operative; April was cold, but May has been warm and sunny - indeed I have lost a few plants to scorching, because the mini greenhouses and propagators I set up to protect from early spring cold are now getting too warm. Multiple learning curves at once, but enough plants should pull through that the garden is good in a few weeks' time, and to be honest there is so much going on I can't get sentimental about losses. Currently I've sown over 140 types of seeds - mostly vegetables, but a few key ornamental flowers, like cosmos and calendula. The end is not yet in sight, however (and indeed it's exciting to think that plenty can still be sown now for popping in after the first summer crops are harvested, let alone thinking of autumn). Can I sustain this?