Neeps, French Beans, Carrots from France... Voila!


That's neeps at the back, beans to the left, carrots to the right. Don't know why I've broadcast the seeds in this way, rather than rows. Something to do with making it more creative, but I'm still just mixing the paints and cleaning the canvas. Planted all in rows, like soldiers on parade, might have its place but shouldn't be the norm.

Several times as I hoed and raked the ground, getting up the weeds, spreading the oomska around, I thought: if anyone thinks no-dig is a lazy option, forget about it. All of that hoeing, particularly, is bloomin' hard work. This is it, though, I've started no dig. There were some stones and glass, but I got them out fine with the hoe.

It was forecast to rain in the later afternoon, and right on cue, about 5pm, it started. Which was absolutely perfect to water-in the seeds.  By then I'd finished the sowing, and was filling the comfrey-liquid barrel with water from the allotment tap, with a 10 gallon container and a wheelbarrow. I'd put a lot of comfrey in there, no hessian sack this time, but it only had a little rainwater in. As it filled with tap-water, I thought how integral the dubious odour of decomposing comfrey in water is to my conception of an allotment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LTPTP XXV: We Shall Overcome

Image
We shall indeed.  It's a lovely wee tune to learn.  I've almost memorized it this morning, the idea being, when I encounter a piano, I want something to sit down and play on the bugger.  I've a feeling that my keyboard's keys are lighter than a proper piano's, and there'll be a bit of effort transferring the skills I've gotten so far.  Probably, at some point this year, I'll be in workplace with a piano.  I'll print off some simple music and scales, and work at it, but it's likely to be in a public place so I want something to avoid making a twat of myself initially. It feels right that this should be the first tune I learn by heart.
Read more

Leech or flatworm? Ants and Swiss Chard

Image
For the 2nd time in a week or so, (1st time regarding dwarf beans ), I'm following Alys Fowler's advice, this time with regard to Swiss chard .  Long story short, after midsummer plants which often bolt if planted in spring will resist the impulse to do so, probably because of shortening days; (I say shortening, but in Glasgow, in July, we're still getting 18 hours of daylight).   I got a packet of Bright Lights , at a good price, (another reason to wait until July before sowing, lots of bargains, I've noticed). But where to sow them? Most of the 2nd bed is under a tarpaulin, but it wasn't quite big enough to cover the whole bed, so the last 5ft or so went under a sheet of plastic, (in the background of the photo in this post, here .) Transparent plastic was a foolish idea, weeds were growing underneath it, so I covered most of it with sheets of metal from the old shed. I decided to leave the tarp, but use the area beneath the plastic for the chard. Who-ah there
Read more

VINEGAR!

That wine I started a while back has turned to vinegar. Well, that answered questions I was asking myself back then, viz., 'Do we get vinegar flies around here?' And, 'Are all these little flies vinegar flies?' The fuckers. I thought I was being a clever recycler, not buying proper air-locks and using the old plastic-and-lacky-band method. Ah well, another step up another learning curve. Anybody need three gallons of white wine vinegar and two gallons of the impossibly exotic strawberry wine vinegar? It's been a 'business day', dealing with officials and filling out forms. Don't get me started! Alex came over tonight. He gave me the Aphonic CD (he's been in touch with them and they sent him several copies). I thoroughly approve of this new trend of bands getting their work known over the internet, by-passing (initially at least) the poisonous attentions of the music industry. Come to think of it, some of the people in that business are rat
Read more