First off the SPUDS ARE IN! Hoorah. As tradition dictates the spuds are to be planted on St Patrick's Day and so that is where we were on the day, up to our eyes in good old lottie muck :)
We (and of course by that I really mean Andrew) chitted and planted these beauties this year:
early -
'Sharpes Express'
main -
'Maris Piper'
We went for a V shaped trough this year (on my recommendation so let's hope it goes well - eek!) and planted them out a good 30-40cm apart chitting shoots up of course. I love this method; so much easier to do than digging individual holes or using the black membrane stuff. You can see clearly where everything is and then just push the soil back over the top like a zipper. Done.
I cut a heck of a lot of grass from around the beds (about 5 buckets full; Andrew needed to sharpen my shearers half way through!) and we used this as a protective cover over the newly planted potatoes. In time this will of course become hay and keep the heat in like a big cosy eco friendly duvet.
It was a happy sight to see so many caterpillars and worms and a ladybird but lordy bless us all why oh why could St Paddy not have gotten rid of the darned slugs at the same time as the snakes!! I hate them so much and sorry to my plot neighbours but at one stage I got really peeved and threw them all over the place as hard as I could and they are probably in your soil now *blush*. Though Dougie you escaped as I wasn't up that far :)
It was cold and rainy but we had the whole place to ourselves which was a great way for me to get back into the feel of the place. As I do this more for the Ecotherapy (by that I mean it does feel like therapy and makes you mentally tired just like a talking therapy session) aspect than the pure joy, it is hard for me but I'm glad I did it. Next time will be easier too.
There was also a little bit of the old seed sowing done :
- mixed lettuce (which is under a mini sun tunnel)
- peas 'kelvedon wonder'
- beetroot 'blotardy'
- and leeks 'lyon 2 prizetaker' and 'musselburgh'
Andrew fixed the dodgy downpipe into the water butt - hooorah! I love gaffer tape (never thought I would write that! hahaha)
And here is a photo of one of our guerrilla daffodils planted last year ;)
Happy Days :)
We went for a V shaped trough this year (on my recommendation so let's hope it goes well - eek!) and planted them out a good 30-40cm apart chitting shoots up of course. I love this method; so much easier to do than digging individual holes or using the black membrane stuff. You can see clearly where everything is and then just push the soil back over the top like a zipper. Done.
I had never heard that Irish spuds are planted on St Patricks day! The tradition here is to plant on Good Friday. I suppose the Irish know a thing or two about potatoes eh?
ReplyDeleteMatron, not sure what part of the world you are in, but here in the U.S. and in the middle of the states, KS, we try to do St. Patrick's day, but it was muddy here, so we did it the weekend after. This was as close as it has ever been!!! Carrie, it looks great! We just have spuds and onions in. No, I think my hubby said something about a row of greens~
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear you were planting spuds on Paddy's Day :)
ReplyDeleteI'm probably tempting fate saying this, but I've only seen one slug so far this year. The little ******* was in the polytunnel hiding under a seed tray after snaffling a couple of seedlings. He is no longer with us.
Carrie girl I laughed so much about you "pitching" the slugs every where!! that is so me if I run into ICKY things like that which will be Japanese and red beetles come true summer. You are supposed to squish them in soapy water so I will have to have a jar of that close by for sure.
ReplyDeleteI understand that tradition of potatoes on St. P Day .. perfect cycle of how it all starts and I'm sure this method will work out wonderfully : )
Gaffer tape ? you mean DUCT tape here from Canada .. we had a show that was centered around that magical stuff that can fix ANYTHING! haha .. I love the rouge daff : ) my bulbs are coming up amazingly with such cold weather .. Spring where the heck are YOU !!!
Joy ;-)
Matron - Shocked, I am truly shocked! I thought EVERYONE planted their spuds on St Paddy's. Wow. I guess us Irish ought to know about our potatoes :)
ReplyDeleteLisa - YAY! you do spud planting at St Paddys too - big love. Well done for getting the onions and greens in too - we'll catch up in no time ;)
Mo and Steve - oh dear, no you've gone and said it - the slugs will be invading as I write this. I HATE SLUGS, they are evil! Feel like I need to make a slogan t-shirt 'slugs out!' xx
ReplyDeleteJoy - oh dear, they really do bring out the nasty side in me. I can't bare to kill things so flinging around is the best I can do. (Well aphids and green fly I CAN squeesh, with glee).
Sorry DUCT tape - really you canadians and your strange variations on the beautiful English language, hahaha xxx
Good to see that you've both been busy, and enjoying yourselves plotting!
ReplyDeleteI planted my first potatoes today! Flighty xx
Carrie,
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed. You have been very busy. While I don't garden as I'm allergic to grass, it does seem like a "good day's work" mentally and physically.
What you call "gaffer" tape looks a lot like we call duct tape and in the States, we use for EVERYTHING.
I like the picture of the guerrilla daffodil standing straight:~)
Flighty - hoorah spuds all round, fingers crossed none of us get the dreaded blight! xxx
ReplyDeleteSara - oh no - allergic to grass! Eeek, every summer I end up getting hayfever medication so I know your pain, but yep, it is a good days work for body and mind. And it is duct tape I guess :)
Go guerilla gardening sometime - so much fun I do it all the time, hehehe
our potatoes are mostly in but I still am trying to find space for 20 or so, I think they'll have to go in big pots at this rate...
ReplyDeleteReading this post gets me so excited for our garden. I. Ae done nothing yet, but this weekend will include burning all the brush from the winter and kind of clearing out. Then we'll have a clean slate to get those peas and greens in :)
ReplyDelete