New Year, New Plans

Hurrah for sunshine! At last the sky had blue patches and the sun's rays reached to earth, despite a biting wind. We have spent a good six hours outside today as we set to on the field hedge. We have hacked back to the wire fence and in places, beyond, so that we may hedge lay and chicken wire along that portion of the garden. It has given us two foot by 40 foot of ground back. The hedge width itself is about four foot so time to reclaim a little more methinks. I am hoping that Mr VVG sets about laying a bit each weekend and then posts and wires straight in. It will mean the girls have security along the open edge.
Today was also time to notice the bulbs starting to spring through at the base of the big old lime trees. Crocus I assume or maybe the scillas. As the girls dust bathed in the sun, my next task was to set to on the polytunnel. The celeriac needed some outer leaf pulling. It received a comfrey feed as indeed did the alliums. Their patch needed hoeing to remove green algae growth, a byproduct of a winter polytunnel. Rockdust has been added to the beds in there, so I'm hoping it will condition a poor soil, although I have added more mulch compost for enrichment. Mr VVG has taken the remaining garden leaves, dutifully raked into piles by me and put them into our wire cage. This should rot down nicely now over the course of the year. The composters are filling too as the girls add newspaper and chicken poop every day. Must find more greens to add!
I intended cleaning the greenhouse out today, although as you can see, it was not my first job. This I completed so pots are scrubbed and ready, benches are cleared and awaiting seed trays. As 2013 starts I am hopeful of a decent GYO year. Tomorrow is a fruit day, which sees me start off my tomatoes, peppers, broad beans and peas.

Going Potty On The Lotty

After a week out of action, owing to recovery from an operation, I went down to the allotment today. One word, carnage. Squashes, fairly recently planted are yellowing and getting nibbled. All early potatoes have blight and were dug up. It's been the most pathetic yield ever on these, which is a real disappointment given all the new varieties I was hoping to try. Only the Amorosa yielded anything sizeable - thanks for the recommendation Zazen999 - I should listen to you more often! It's one for my list next year. Beetroot was bolting, most of it pulled and cooking as we speak. Leek seedlings look to have rust and they are not even planted into final position yet. Time to pull most of them out and go and buy some...sigh! The broadies that still had lots of life left in them last time I looked, all black and dead. They were pulled out and composted, so no more broadies. The peas are fattening and we should have a fair number of those to go at. The runner beans look thoroughly miserable and boy do I know how they feel. My blackcurrants that I had asked Mr VVG to harvest for me, hadn't been and had fallen off and rotted. The raspberry canes are so high and yet very little yield. What there is has no flavour or has gone mouldy. I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry. All my heritage varieties and synodic sowing has faired badly this year. I may resort to biodynamic for 2013 and mix some modern varieties with my heritage, just for back up.
I have pulled the last of the kale. I have weeded four beds out of six. I will be buying large bales of compost I think and mulching everywhere before planting anything else. It's quite obvious that any nutrient is just being washed totally from my soil, which is sandy loam. Nothing else will grow in such dreadful weather conditions, so I give up for now.

PS. I have reported my blight to blightwatch in order to warn others in the area.

Cabbage for Springtime and Brassicas for the Hungry Gap

Yes I know it is still Summer, somewhere...but it's time to think about sowing brassicas for the hungry gap. I have already mentioned Kale, now it's the turn of Spring Cabbage. I had a really great crop from my July sowing last year. So, I will sow only biodynamically on this tomorrow. These may get into my polytunnel, just depends how big the shoehorn is!
My chosen varieties for this year are "Precoce de Louviers" and "Piacenza" from Real Seeds. Never having grown these before I am interested to know if anyone else has and their views upon either of them please. I will also be sowing Broccoli Raab or Turnip Broccoli, variety "San Marzano", another experimental variety for me. It's a quick cropper, turning around a harvest within 60-80 days. Not really a filler for my hungry gap, although if the bad weather continues the hungry gap will be considerably wider than normal.

Leaf And Flower Week

One of my Grapevine chums started a thread around the old adage of "oak before ash in for a splash. Ash before oak in for a soak!"
Now we are having some pretty wet and cold weather for April and all I can see at home are the oaks, no ash trees up here. So I have no idea if we are in for a soak other than we have yet to see much sun. The tomatoes have been back and forth from the greenhouse to dining table more times than I care to admit owing to very low night time temperatures. The gamble on us having a warm start to Spring, as we had last year, has not paid off. All seedlings are currently in a state of limbo whilst I wrestle with my itch to sow. This brings me nicely to my next post of what to sow in April during my lunar period of leaf and flower week, which starts today. I must set out that raised bed of salad and herbs at home, but need to sort compost and top soil, so this is a job for later on. But what else at this time of year? I have sown pretty much everything I need to for now, coupled with a lack of room in the greenhouse, except kale and maybe some PSB. I intended sowing those, along with Winter cabbage in May, as by then some seedlings should have left home. All other seeds that need sowing in April are my roots and fruits...but lo and behold the postman came to my rescue. For it was he, who brought a large brown A4 envelope from Garden Organic, which contained my exotic seeds. Back in February I signed up to a new project led by GO called "Sowing New Seeds". This is designed to get non traditional crops growing across the Midlands. I have Shark Fin Melon, Chick Pea, Calaloo and Fenugreek. The latter two fall into my week of leaf, so guess what I will be sowing now!

Full Moon - Staying True To Ones Roots

Today is a full moon and a root day in the synodic calendar, so staying true to my chosen method this year, I have sown leeks, onion and celeriac.
- Leek Monstruoso de Carentan
- Leek Bleu de Solaise
- Leek Jaune de Poitou
- Onion Jaune Paille de Vertus
- Celeriac Balder

A sum total of six trays in my house now. All on windowsills.
Is it a coincidence that today I notice chits on my new potatoes? Spooky!

Update
- Celeriac Balder starting to come through 21st January ALL DIED OFF

- Leeks all varieties starting to put on growth 5/3/12 - picture added

From Fruit to Root - Lunar Planting

Today is a biodynamic Root day and although I am trialling Synodic this year, I will repeat some sowings of biodynamic, which worked so well for me last year. This should provide me with a compare and contrast as to which method works best for me and why...results to come later!

So(w), today I will be getting leek Bleu de Solaise, Jaune de Poitou, Monstruoso de Carenten and Onion Jeune Paille de Vertus into modules. In the next three days I will be making further sowings of all again, this time when the moon is full and synodic! I will repeat both next month on leeks only for successional purposes.

UPDATE - 10/1/12 two leeks showing and through

Lettuce Pray For A Leafy Success

OK today is a leaf day and I have sown some mixed salad leaves. Well we have got to have some interest on our plate and the kale from 2011 is not yet big enough. Question is if I sow some peas for shoots as well, do I sow on a leaf day or on a fruit day?!?

Photo of germinated seedlings shows day 3 activity

No More Sleeps Until A Fruit Day

OK lunar planting is thought to be for lunatics right? Wrong and I am here to prove it!
I shall be sowing my tomatoes early this year and what better way to celebrate Boxing Day can there be than sowing on a fruit day ready for 2012 harvest.
I will be using the Gardeners Calendar schedule which can be found at http://www.thegardenerscalendar.com/Moon_Planting.asp

Oh dear, I got carried away and sowed two of every variety of tomato I possess. My finger slipped :)

1st January 2012 - UPDATE 50% of tomatoes are germinated and through...wahooooo

6th January 2012 - UPDATE 75% of tomatoes are germinated and through...double wahooooo

8th January 2012 - two chillis are through...triple wahoooooo

14th January 2012 - All Synodic sown tomatoes are up, through and away...100% germination in January