Today I feel really rough....a very thick head and a very stiff neck. I know it's not the digging because DH has it too, and he hasn't done any! It is also bitterly cold, so I'm letting today go as far as the plot is concerned. Instead, I've done a bit of pricking out....cucumbers and peppers...and some seed sowing....aubergines. These are all on the sunroom windowsill (north facing so they wont fry!) .
The polytunnel is not the place for very tender seedlings just yet. I do have a polythene covered four-tier mini-greenhouse in the tunnel, and the temperature in there goes up to as much as 30, but it also drops to near freezing....! So I am only using it as shelves at the moment. I ought to use a heater in it at night, but it is a distance from the house and I don't like trailing electric wires across the garden....Freddy the whippet chews through them!
Although the day is wasted as far as the plot is concerned I am at least catching up with reading up about how to do the no-dig method of clearing new ground. I am going to run out of digging time soon, as the spuds should all be going in in the next few weeks. So, a non-dig method for the mainsrop and the pumpkin and courgettes makes sense. I have some very good old (1980's and 1990's) books from the early days of the organic and no-dig self composting movement.
These are.....
"Beds. Labour-saving, space-saving, more productive gardening". by Pauline Pears (HDRA) 1992
"Veganic Gardening.The alternative system for healthier crops". by Kenneth Dalziel O'Brien. Thorsons 1986
"Organic No-Dig, No-Weed Gardening. A Revolutionary Method for Easy Gardening". by Raymond Poincelot Thorsons 1986
"Companion Planting. Successful Gardening the Organic Way". by Gertrud Franck. Thorsons 1983
"Lasagne Gardening". by Patricia Lanza . Rodale 1998
These are all well thumbed, underlined, smeared with mud....etc and I wouldn't part with any of them.....all are a very good read!
I've also got all Bob Flowerdew's books....he knows his stuff.....although I can't seem to do raised beds like his with no "walls". Mine in the back garden have planks.....making the beds 9 inches deep. This cuts out a lot of bending for me. I know the wood wont last forever, but we will just renew it when the time comes.
posted by lilymarlene @ 10:53 pm
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hi there! Love your Blog- discovered it via Alottment21 as they have you listed!
I get my plot on April 1st and would like to do a Blog from day one. How did you find the instructions for setting it all up? Don't know if I could cope with allottment, garden, blog and getting married all at once! (need the plot for extra space to grow my wedding flowers, and then veggies next year, but thought maybe people would like to share my experience!)
Hope you are feeling better soon.
Sarah Choice26. Hastings UK
PS your dogs are sooooo cute!
They are as sweet as they look! So delicious to cuddle.....and they don't smell doggy at all!
I'm glad you like my blog. I love doing it.....and I'm getting better with the photos etc. And, I for one, would love to read yours when you get it going. I'm not much of a computer geek, but I found it quite easy to get a blog. Follow the "Get your own Blog" link at the top of my blog and you will be able to create your own.
And what a good idea to grow your own wedding flowers....you'll save a packet. Try Alan Romans for seeds, they're really cheap!
I hope your plot isn't too weedy! Cleaning mine is taking forever....I'm tryng to do it properly so that eventually the plot becomes easy to run.
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