My vegetable patch isn’t doing so well. I cleared an area of rubbish and weeds a few months back, and sowed lots of seeds, but mostly weeds came up.
Two main problems : it’s been very dry and I didn’t water it enough. Also most of the seeds were years out of date.
I hoed the weeds off yesterday, and the hot sun shrivelled them all up. There’s some potatoes coming up in the corner, these were regular shop spuds that had started sprouting.
The seed potatoes in grobags are also doing well, and I earthed them up a bit more. At least I’ll have plenty of potatoes. Maybe I can make my own crisps.
This planter was full of weeds, especially lots of baby nettles. The soil had been swept up from near the shed, it had washed down from the hillside. I hoed them all out, and 0ut fresh new carrot seeds in.
The cut and come again salad isn’t doing too bad considering my lack of watering, so I’ve spruced that up a bit, and put more seeds in an adjacent planter.
I’ve also planted further spring onion, carrot and radish, all modern in-state seeds. But I also added a row of out of date seeds, down heavily, to see what comes up.
To solve the watering problem, I’ve put a submersible pump in the water butt that’s close by. It was a cheap end-of-line offer from Aldi last year. It plugs into my outdoor socket, so it’s easy to quickly water the garden with little fuss.
It’s very effective, and you have to be careful not to get carried away as it quickly drains the water butt! Rain is forecast tomorrow and next week, so hopefully that’ll get the seeds off to a good start. 2nd time lucky?
My Shed and Other Environs 