Gardening in lockdown

Now that we’ve all been locked down with the Covid Virus measures there’s more time to take stock of how much better I could grow more of our own food.  Seeing empty supermarket shelves on TV is enough to make anybody rush outside and start sowing seeds!

The greenhouse is under utilised – probably because in the past at this time of the year the stronger sunlight shining through  scorches tender young seedlings and kills them.

Solution:  Look for some whitewash to paint on the glass.  Last year I tried pinning up thin sheets of envirofleece but even though lightweight, they fell down.   This year I began looking in garden centres and Wilkos for some whitewash but couldn’t find any.  Found some on EBay though and this seems to be working.  Trying to paint the inside of a hexagonal dome greenhouse is not as easy as a more tradition shape.

Recent slug control methods of find pick and feed to hens is working better.  I still suspect some munching going on but can’t fins them!  Carrots of germinated as have spring onions.  I’ve sown lettuce three times now…will try a fourth! In the plugs chard, spinach, kale, spring cabbage and beetroot are growing quite well.  I’ve started pricking the cabbage out into pots.  Inside the house the tomatoes, repotted a week or more ago, are showing signs of increasing leggyness so they’ve gone in the greenhouse too this afternoon.  The cucumbers on the window ledge are very leggy.  I tried potting on one or two but they are struggling.  Probably tried to start growing them too early.

 

 

 

March 2020 activities

I’ve been blind to the potential of the dome greenhouse we bought second hand off a school about 20 years ago.  There’s potential to grow all sorts of veg in there at the moment.  So I’ve set to work.  There are several crops that have taken things into their own leaves though.  The rocket has been self seeding diligently for some years now and yield a steady crop.  Another leaf  salad veg are some of the spicy leaf  lettuce I grew from a pack from Wilkos which have self seeded too.  Some leaves are huge and quite hot.

I sowed lettuce, radish, spring onion and  carrot and waited.  Nothing!  apart from a few radishes which bravely poked through the soil.  What’s going on?  Slugs?  I can’t see much activity though…hang on.  One slug trap of beer later and a huge fat slug lay in the bottom of the dish accompanied by several tiny slugs, looking for tasty leaves to fatten up on.   Gradually I have come to the conclusion that the slugs are quicker and more wily than me!

Alice Fowler writing in the Guardian on gardening suggests placing a stone/slab/ wooden plank flat piece of some material to create a place for the slugs to hide and congregate. Then..lift up the cover and there they are.  I picked up about 20 in one session, hiding under plant pots and fed them to the excited hens.  Each of my precious seed trays , some with ominously empty plugs had at least one slug each nestling underneath waiting for night time to begin their midnight feast. No wonder plants weren’t growing!

 

After a few days of intensive slug removal it looks like there are less to find.  I’ll need to resow the lettuce and see if I get some success.  Why the rocket and spicy leaves then?  I guess they are too hot to handle.