Planting the brassicas

Two rows of winter cauliflowers were put next to the Trafalgar Brussel sprouts.  They were spaced about 2 feet from each other and the rows were two feet apart.   They were watered in with dilute, comfrey liquid.  The ground was very firm because I had been walking on it to gain access to the sweet peas and to hoe the brassicae bed.

There are several reasons why the brassicas should have firm ground.

• They are less likely to get cabbage root fly.
• They are more likely to stand upright and not lean over.
• They are less likely to keel over if they get club root. 

I also like to hoe them up during the summer after giving them a good feed.  I hoe them up for similar reasons.  I have enough room to squeeze in a line of Jan-April flowering brocolli and a line of April-May flowering brocolli.

In order to keep the pigeons off the seedlings I covered the whole area in plastic 1 inch mesh netting.  If the pigeons are determined enough they will be able to get to the plants and eat them but it is all in the perception.  If they consider the netting prevents them from getting to the seedlings easily, they will look for some where they are can get a free meal with less effort.

I planted the lettuce in the onion bed where I had watered on the anti slug nematode worms.  They will be past their best in a couple of weeks and I will have to decide whether to get some more.   I would be happier  using  nematodes rather than slug pellets organic or not.  I still have the option of using beer traps though and this might be the most economic of solutions.

I put some Florence fennel seed into the ground next to the lettuce.  It did not germinate in the greenhouse so I am going to give it a go sown straight into the soil.  The Florence fennel seed did not stretch right across the bed so I planted some celeriac seedlings to make up the row.  I will need to prick the rest of these out into 3 inch pots and grow them on   because they are a little small.

I removed the side shoots and the tendrils of the sweet peas and then tied them up.  This is going to be a regular job for the rest of the season now.  I am hoping to get some really  big blooms this year.

The Woden beetroot and some more spinach were sown on the roots bed.  They were watered in with comfrey to give them a good start.

The allotment too far is being ignored at the moment because I have so much to do on my main allotment.  However, today I went down and did some more digging.  I have cleared right back to the black bins.  There is a damson tree in the middle of this area and I don't know what to do with it.  I will probably cut it off at the roots.

Now I only have the latest sowing of leeks, a few more brocolli and the curbits to plant out in the allotment..