The gardening week (May - Week 4, 2024)
All done ~ although gardening's never done!
Not just gardening
I’m really busy at the moment in every area of my life. I have one of my daughters and her husband staying with me along with their kids, that’s keeping me on my toes. I’m also having the house re-roofed (plus soffits, facias, gutters, downpipes etc) and while we have the scaffolding up I’ve been painting the render with a builder friend. He’s now ripping out the kitchen roof to repair leak damage.
Finally I’m gardening as much as I can, replanting most beds on the allotment for summer. I’m still trying to relax though and I’ve had some lovely walks and my outdoor seating area is finally finished, it will soon be surrounded by squash, tomatoes and beans, growing on 3 sides.
We’ve just finished the painting the house (first coat) this week and I have a couple of days rest before driving south to collect my eldest daughter and her family who are holidaying in St Annes for a few days.
Last plantings and a lot of tidying
Last week I was very busy planting and this week I’ve continued at a pace. I now have very little left to do, just two beds of calabrese and cauliflower to harvest next week and replace with melons and a few outdoor tomatoes to go in and I’m virtually done. Then life returns to normal as I replace roughly two beds a week through summer.
I also managed to spend a whole day tidying and weeding the plot, it’s never looks so sharp, every where I look, there’s a view that I can appreciate and now we are enjoying two days of rain, so when I return it should be very lush!
Gardening problems this week
Each week I will highlight any problems I’m having, although this week it’s makes a change to report that I’ve not had any … well maybe dripping paint on Debbie’s hostas in the front garden!
Old new stuff
Here’s a few reminders of things that are already in the database/book, but that anyone who’s started to follow me recently might not know about.
I’m often asked about my planting plans and I don’t have a great answer because I don’t plan in great detail. I do however have a rough plan showing the main plant type that will go in each bed in each month. I’m always changing these plans, because no plan survives contact with reality, and I don’t detail all of the interplants, nor do I usually list every variety if I’m planting more than one (for lettuce I usually just list Navara).
I find that this rough plan gives me enough to go on and then I just sow what I think we will need to feed everyone and then try and figure out where to squeeze everything in later on.
For what it’s worth though these rough plans are available, the snapshot below shows my plot, I have plans for the polytunnel, Debbie’s plot and the kitchen garden too.
Although the planning view above is useful, I love that I can get a visual view from the same database, which is much easier on the eye!
If you want more on planting, take a look at this chapter of my ebook.
Pests of the month
Pests vary by location, so your pests and my pests will vary. This is what I’m dealing with though:
Flea beetle as I mentioned earlier flea beetle is about now and I’m noticing damage to turnip and some spinach leaves, but there’s plenty of food around now so I’m not too worried. You can prevent flea beetle with a very fine net or fleece, but I don’t use either because I like to see my crops and since I’m harvesting every week, pests always find a way in. Asian greens are most at risk, but I don’t grow them now, I’ve had Asian greens from September until May, it’s nice to have a break over summer. If you can’t cover your crops the next best option is to just plant out larger plants, ie pot them on and plant them 3-4 weeks later than you otherwise would.
Slugs and snails are still an issue, but less so now as I’ve cleared almost all of my winter/spring plantings and taken the slugs and snails out at the same time. Strulch helps and I’ve been using last years Strulch for the peppers and savings the new Strulch for the melons.
Carrot fly is out and about now, so all of my carrots are high up on my IBC tanks, or covered. I generally start with a temporary cover of Envirotect while the carrots are establishing and I’m thinning and weeding and looking out for slugs and snails, but once they are established I use a fine net, in a few weeks time. I’m also watering with the Fruit and Veg Protection nematode because carrots are too important a crop for me to risk failure.
Cabbage root fly arrives now and in previous years I’ve lost a lot of brassicas to it. I used to try collars, but they always blow away here, so now I use the Fruit and Veg Protection nematodes. I water the brassicas with it when they are in their pots and then every two weeks after planting. I don’t use a fine net over my brassicas because I almost always find that the net hides as many problems as it protects from, so I prefer to see problems early through butterfly net (on the allotment) and bird net (in the kitchen garden).
Cut worms are around for most of the year, but they are a particular challenge in spring and autumn, when there are lots of young plants around. I find they are a particular issue with no-dig gardening, because they are never brought to the surface for the birds to hunt. Fortunately the same Fruit and Veg Protection nematode kills cut worms.
There are a few types of leaf miner, but up north the worst offender is Beet Leaf Miner and so I usually cover my beetroot, otherwise they can make quite a mess of it. They go for chard and perpetual spinach too, which we have in the kitchen garden, but we don’t cover that, we just watch it every day and squash any grubs in the leaves as soon as possible.
For more on pests see my growing guides and this chapter of my eBook.
First harvests of 2024
If you have any first harvests earlier than mine, or in addition to mine, I’d love to hear about them, the varieties, timings and growing conditions, but only if you are in the UK! I can’t ‘compete’ with California and Texas, for example!
Nothing new this week, except more successions of cauliflowers and calabrese, tomatoes next week though!
As I mentioned last week I’ve already covered my heating costs for the greenhouse from the peas, potatoes and strawberry harvest, but now the courgettes and especially the cucumbers have put me into profit and of course I still have early peppers and tomatoes to come. Perhaps the highest value harvest has come from the cauliflowers, calabrese and cabbages that I kept frost free in the greenhouse through winter, they’ve really been a huge success.
Spring growing overview
As mentioned above, you can now browse my seasonal guides for each type of growing environment that you have, you can find those here.
Sowings for May
Here’s my new sowing guide for May, as always, significantly updated since the preview that I did last month. You can find my database for May here too.
Sowings for the week
Not much this week, but I did direct seed some beans into a new narrow bed that I created in the wood chip, next to my new outdoor seating area.
Here’s everything sown to date, in more detail.
Not germinated yet
The Centercut squash seeds that I saved failed to germinate, but other than that I’m just waiting for last week’s sowings.
Germinated this week
The big news of the week is that the winter carrots germinated, or at least started, I won’t know how well until next week. The calabrese and cauliflowers are all germination tests for important sowings in June, so I’m especially pleased with these, I will be planting them too.
Pricked out
Nothing this week
Potted on this week
Nothing this week and thank goodness, because the greenhouse is crammed full. The leeks need potting on soon, otherwise they won’t be ready for planting in July.
Greenhouse progress
I’ve rationalised the greenhouse, moving all of the tomato containers outside, allowing me to give the peppers and cucumbers a bit more space. These peppers have very nice fruits forming now and they are looking fairly healthy. The cucumbers are all growing strongly and the beans have their first flowers. Finally the first tomatoes are colouring up now!
I’ve switched the heater off now and I’m leaving the side vents open at night, although the doors are closed.
Polytunnel progress
It’s all change in the polytunnel as I’ve now planted all of my tomatoes, early melons and main crop courgettes in the main beds. That means I’ve cleared out the lettuce, Asian greens and calabrese. I’ve still got the early celery, beetroot and one cauliflower and I still have two cucumbers to plant, later in May.
It’s so nice to have a bit more space in the tunnel and this year I’ve notionally decided that once the beetroot has been harvested I won’t be replanting the main bed - in front of the tomatoes - until August, I will probably just cover it with landscape fabric to reduce water loss.
Planted this week
last week was a mammoth planting week, but this week has still been busy.
Here’s everything planted this year so far.
Waiting to be planted out
I have almost nothing left to plant out now, which is actually quite disconcerting, I might even end up with the odd empty bed for a few weeks.
I feel very relaxed this year though, because the greenhouse courgettes, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes are very well established and fruiting well, so I’m in no rush.
You can see all of the details here, note the links to growing guides have been added.
Sowing’s for next week
Nothing to sow now until the end of the week. I did have lettuce scheduled, but they’re now needed because of slow growth of some of the early lettuces, which are only just coming ready now.
You can find all of the details for May here, make sure to look at the notes section, and the details of where I’m sowing and where I’m planting etc.
Growing guides for May
This link takes you to all of my monthly guides, where you can find a lot more than just my growing guides. I particularly like the list of videos produced in the relevant month in years gone by. Click here for May’s guides.
Because I’m always experimenting you might find me sowing a few things that are not on this list, but you can always look those up from the complete list of guides, which you can find here.
Downloadable resources
Last year I experimented with providing downloadable versions of my database, I’ve updated these below with the latest information. Please feel free to give me feedback on these.
For even more details and a more up to date list (I’m always tweaking things and fixing mistakes) check out my live data for March, April and May.
Start planning for June
Here’s my rough plan for sowings in June.
Weekly Harvest
Here’s last week’s harvest. Tomatoes still from the supermarket, but it won’t be long now!
Useful links!
Top level links
The website associated with this newsletter
My free eBook - Outgrow : The Art and Practice of Self-sufficiency
My complete gardening database real time access to everything!
My Amazon shop, which lists the gardening products I use, with comments
If you can afford it, you can buy me a cake or some seeds
The most useful lower level links
The reference info section of my eBook, lists what I actually sowed, planted, harvested each month, plus all of the tours and guide videos for that month
Monthly growing guides (what to sow, harvest fresh and eat from the store room each month)
Comprehensive growing guides to every type of veg that I grow
The section of my eBook that covers the basic tools and techniques of gardening (sowing, planting, pests, weeds etc)
The section of my eBook that covers the more advanced tools and techniques of gardening ( extending the season, successional plantings, spacing)
Using grow lights and alternatives to extend the season
Introduction to growing under cover with fleece, low tunnels, polytunnels etc
The chapter of my eBook that covers conservatory gardening
The chapter of my eBook that covers greenhouse gardening
The chapter of my eBook that covers polytunnel gardening
The chapter of my eBook that covers cold frames and low tunnel gardening
The chapter of my eBook that covers extending the season with fleece
The chapter of my eBook that covers outdoor gardening
A guide to my database, how to use it and how to take a copy of it
Useful database links
The types of veg that I grow, roughly ranked in my order of priority
The varieties of herbs, fruit and veg that I’m growing this year
Overview of all of the successions for year round gardening (I don’t grow/recommend all of them) main crops successions are the most reliable
What I’ve sowed so far this year
What I’ve planted to far this year
What I’ve harvested so far this year
First harvest dates for key successions
The pots and trays that I use with my comments and ratings
The nets and other covers that I use with my comments and ratings
Information on root depth for each type of veg
Information on germination temperature for each type of veg
Information on pesticide use for each type of fruit and veg
List of fruits and veggies that benefit from Mycorrhizal associations
How long seeds last for each type of veg
Which types of veg are heavy, medium and light feeders
Wow you've been busy! We've taken our leaky chimney down this week so also have scaffolding up. Not such a big job though.
Ive planted half my tomatoes and the polytunnel melons. I'm still hanging on for the cauliflowers in the north bed of the polytunnel. I planted them a few weeks later than you. I knew it was a risk. They're about single portion size curds, so I potted the remaining tomatoes on in the hope I can stretch it out another week.
How lovely that you're going to have so much space in the polytunnel this year. Mine will be like a jungle again no doubt, as always.
Not planted squash yet. That's happening this week.
When do you sow your first succession of psb? Is it this week?
All the best - Alison
Great summary of your week... We had our roof lifted in 2020. An epic job...2.5t of lead went on to the roof!
Following your suggestions/guidance...
The Kale (3 varieties) I seeded at the end of December is still producing really well. They're just beginning to show signs of going to seed. I think we'll make kale-crisps with the glut of leaves. Broccoli, Savoy Cabbage and Cauliflower have been producing over the post 4 weeks or so. I'd never eaten raw cauli before... And I'm 57!. The brassicas are very mild/tender when picked straight from the plot. I'm swapping out the brassicas as they get harvested with replacement plants and interplanting with spring onions.
I can across a 6m*12m polytunnel on eBay (Halifax) recently which looked a good buy... With the vote of erecting it ready for Winter planting. I'm in the middle of lifting/resetting 90m2 of cobbles, which I've never done before, so it's occupying my free time.
Always good to hear what you're doing/growing... Best wishes from Saddleworth... Mark (SaddleworthOrchard on Instagram)