It’s not that the cabbages are wild rampant beasts. They are quite slow and docile creatures really. They do need some structural support though.
Today about 30 plug plants were plugged in. These were Duncan and sennen cabbages, as well as claret brocolli, and dwarf Curly kale. Each plug was plugged into a small hole with some lime. I had already scattered chicken poop pellets across the bed.
Watered, there was some scattering of blue pellets of doom. Then came the cage itself. A structure made of bamboo canes, lots of them, lashed together. With yogurt pots perched on top to support the netting. Netting was then draped across the top and secured with heavy bricks. Also had to reinforce the structural integrity of the cage built previously. Whilst a few gave succumbed to slimers. Most are doing well. There are however lots of weeds in there that will have to be hoed out. Thinking about removing the make shift fleece and adding netting across now that we have a supply. My only fear is weather damage. Heavy snow or rain could finish the lot.
Looking ahead to the winter, today some winter brassicas were planted out. Ma got very excited yesterday when they arrived, and they have to be planted out ASAP. I had a vague idea where to plant them and how. In the one bed, that hasn’t done very well or very much. Also this area, has in past flooded quite a bit too. Of course, many will tell you about having to net them. Well, these are part netted, part fleeced. I do have veggie mesh on the other cabbages.
Stupidly, have left gaps in those and so flutterbies have got in. As well as that, slugs! I swear they are psychic. Only just planted things, collared them, added pellets. Whoosh. Big fat thing was there as though it had ESP. Was promptly lobbed. It was not pleasant.
Anyway, the cabbages, caulis and broccoli have been sunk. As to whether they last, well that’s another thing.
The butterhead lettuce appear to be doing well, having been transplanted out. The two that in the terracotta pot, do however appear to be doing much better than there family members in the grow bag. Two were sown in the clay pot as I had read somewhere that lettuce were shallow rooted. The pot seemed idea. Transplanting into the grow bag, was better than just leaving the earth bare and not having anything. The leaves of the terracotta lettuce are lolling around drunk, quite long really. What I am concerned about is, whether or not these things will head up and form proper lettuce. I did sneakily, pinch a small leaf. There was a pleasant surprise, one can tell the difference between a shop bought leaf and a home cooked one. Tasted really quite nice.
Cabbage
Greyhound cabbage on the left. Spring hero on the right
I have learned to my cost, that no matter how hard you try, something will get to the cabbages well before you do. To be honest, and to my own fault, I had ignored the warnings. About all the lovely mini beasts that were wont to eat the cabbages. And woe is me, when the blighters have chomped through the cabbage as though it was a three course dinner. The Greyhound cabbages have been chomped to ribbons. Whole leaves have disappeared, the spine stripped bear. I have put down slug pellets, and today; covered with a cheapy warming jacket that is a like a mesh but cheaper. Tis probably most definitely too late. But with only six or seven, I feel altogether precious about them. The spring hero cabbage has to date ::touches wood:: been all right. No sooner is that typed, am I likely to see holes. That said, this has also been covered. I don’t think that for one moment, this will cure the problems. Slugs and snails have their place within the eco-system. They exist for a reason.
I have seen some of those cabbage white butterflies floating around. Even the odd lady bird. Perhaps the only lady bird, as there does not seem to be many around at all. As the autumn draws in, they are likely to disappear anyway. There were also at one point, lots of hover flies. Not many bumblies mind.
Gladys the BNS
Three flowers opened up
Our resident triffid has blossomed yet again. Five babies were identified, and with the absence of male flowers on the BNS. Bruno the Ghost rider pumpkin stepped in to help his third cousin twice removed. Three babies were pollinated having opened first, with the two others following the next day. At the moment, there are five babies still. Though nothing seems to be happening. With the autumn drawing, I daresay it really is monte carlo and bust now. There is probably not enough time to for the fruits to ripen, since these are meant to crop all the way through to November. Gladys has been somewhat of a labour of love.A neurotic labour of love, but a wonderful learning experience. So I am not too sure, if I will try again next year. Especially as I have heard many sad stories about the failure of BNS’s.
Bruno the ghostrider pumpkin
If Gladys the BNS is a curious and fickle creature, her relative is altogether a bit odd and strange. Making him an equally interesting project. Bruno started off with lots and lots of babies. I couldn’t count them, they kept on appearing. He finally settled on three. However, he aborted two. Leaving me with one that kept on growing. At the moment, it is about the same size as football. If Ma is to be believed, the pumpkin is on the turn. There are patches of yellow like tinge. There is however, eight weeks left. So it remains to be seen as to whether or not this particular pumpkin will make it to the final whistle. That said, I have located seeds to try again next year.
bruno pumpkin
babies that didn’t make it
On the right, are babies that didn’t quite make it this year. Sat next to a tendergreen pod.
Radish experiment
This was meant to be a quick and easy thing to do. Just to pass the time, and test out some freebies. Was really quite disappointing. Pencil thin radishes, with the occasional nice one. I do however, have lots of different radish seeds that have been collected. Not to mention some mooli type ones. So those will be the next experiment for next year.
Courgettes
I really don’t want to see any more till next year. All right, enough said!
Allotment update
Six months ago, I joined the waiting lists for the local hobbit land allotments. From what I have read, Brummieland has a massive number. These are, however, difficult to actually obtain. I was advised at the time, that there was a waiting list. That I would have to ring back in September. I was number five or six. It changed on when I rang! So as you can imagine, I’ve been doing a silly dance ever since. Whilst I like growing things in containers in pop’s garden. There is a whole of untapped potential. Not to mention an ever increasing seed box. As it stands, I could possibly get an allotment ‘in late october’. Grandad Mike was kind enough to ask the allotment secretary. The site is something like 80 metres away, and the allotment secretary lives right next door to it, and is across the road. September is what, a few days away. That is when I will ring! As I know it, the site has loads and loads of weeds. It has been neglected for a long period of time. So there will have to be some weed whacking before anything gets sown.
horticultural 'obbit 