Another 2 long days on the plot!!

2 hot and sunny days, 2 days off, 2 days spent on the plot! On the wednesday we inspected the beehives with Pat and Colin, stopping for a brew and lunch in the glorious sunshine! After that we did some weeding and watering, getting ready for a hard day on the thursday, clearing another 2 beds and planting with broccolli!

Day 2 saw us tackling these 2 beds on Plot2, last year we had courgettes in them, but this year we are using them for overflow brassicas, specifically some of the broccolli!




Once cleared we rotovated and then firmed up the soil by close stepping over it for the brassicas.

Next holes were dug, limed, chicken manured and filled with compost and firmed in, then weed control fabric was laid, holes cut through it and 40 broccolli (4 varieties) planted, then covered with debris netting held up by waste piping (with bamboo canes bracing them so they stand up straight), this combination not only keeps the cabbage whites and cabbage root fly off, but also reduces the weeding and the watering by keeping the soil more moist. The only drawback is that its a haven for slugs, so measures have to be taken to control them in some way!

So, at the end of the day the plot is beginning to look really good!

The spuds are growing well, the squash and sweetcorn seem to be thriving, and most of the other crops are looking good!

Plot 1 is also coming on well, there's 2 beds left to clear on here, small ones at the front, one for curly kale and the other for our 2nd batch of courgettes!

The new compost bins are getting full already, and the path area is a lot tidier and easier to traverse than its ever been before!

The brassica beds netted and growing well, hopefully we'll have some good crops from here this year!

Plot 1, coming along nicely

Plot 2 panoram towards plot1, growing nicely!

1 thing we noticed today was this psychedellic honey bee, it had been gathering pollen from one of the poppies on Pat and Colins plot, and was covered in purple pollen, even more noticeable on the second pictur (click on the piccy for a bigger view!)

So, things are going ok, crops growing well, only 4 small beds left to clear and plant up!

Hope your plot is clear, your crops are in and growing, and your harvests are set to be huge ones!

More updates soon!