I have made a decision that I am not going to grow my lettuce at the allotment. The first reason for this being slugs. They always seem to make a mad dash for lettuce and it's so hard trying to keep them off. The second reason is that we don't actually eat a lot of lettuce so I don't really need a lot of room to grow them. So I made a trip to Wyevale Garden Centre yesterday and bought a couple of these wooden containers. I've already got two and they're ideal for the garden. As we don't eat much lettuce I am growing a cut and come again variety, Salad Bowl, so that I can cut the amount I want and leave the plant to grow on. I also like Little Gem which is a nice compact plant.
My tomato plants are growing like nobody's business and they're now ready to be planted into their final containers and moved into the greenhouse. This is a job for this coming week. I also need to plant some more peas so that I can get a successional crop from them.
The sweetcorn which I planted last week are now growing away. I planted 28 seeds and 27 have germinated so I'm happy with that. Some people chit their sweetcorn seeds before they sow them but I don't seem to have any problems with germination so they just get planted straight into toilet roll inners.
Alot of my brassicas seem to be on the way out. They were growing really strong but seem to have run out of steam. Some of them have been in the greenhouse and some have been lifted out during the day to harden off, but some look to be wilting and their leaves seem to be dying. I think perhaps they've been too warm. We'll have to see how they go on.
I haven't got much done either in the garden or at the allotment this week due to the weather we've been having. There's been a couple of thunder storms over the past day or two and it's rained really hard. Obviously it's perked up today and the sun is shining just as I'm about to set off for work!
Now you have freed up more space at the lottie what do you plan to plant in it ;)
ReplyDeleteHello! Thought i would bob over and say hello! nice blog by the way! Our cabbage were on their way out, the wilting leaf thing, and it seems that they were too hot in the greenhouse - we bunged them outside and about 6 of the 8 have come back to life! They may be too hot...? Not sure. It worked for us.
ReplyDelete27 sweetcorn! Wow! I've never been very good with them - what your secret! Cat x
I am attempting to grow lettuce on a windowsill, and I like your chances more than mine ;-)
ReplyDeleteI grow lettuce in the garden and not on the plot. I want them close at hand for salad you see. We have too biggish wooden troughs that provide enough to take us right through the summer. When they're in the garden it makes slug patrol much easier as well :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://organicallotment.typepad.com
I am sensing alot of enthusiasm in your writing about gardening... Good luck to your gardening.
ReplyDeleteI love those wooden boxes. I was at wyvale today and picked up a couple of sale plants for next to nothing, they just need a bit of TLC, I do love a bargain.
ReplyDeleteI also grow the cut and come again salad leaves in the garden. It's handy to have them there outside the kitchen door.
I hadn't really allocated a space for lettuce, Kella, but I'm sure I'll find a use for every bit of land.
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping by Cat and for your nice comments. I don't have any secret with sweetcorn. They just get planted into toilet tube inners and they do the rest.
Thanks for visiting, Citydiggity. Lettuce are quite easy to grow so I'm sure you will be successful.
My thinking exactly, Liz. I'm sure if I planted lettuce at the allotment there wouldn't be much left of it as the slugs would get there first.
I am extremely enthusiastic Bangchik and Kakdah. I'm not sure that enthusiasm will ensure a good harvest though, but I'll do my best. Thanks for your good wishes, and for dropping in.
I'm not a huge fan of garden centres, Maureen, but I think that Wyevale is one of the best. It's great when you can grab a bargain. Wyevale reduce all their seeds to 50p at the end of the season so I usually pop by then and stock up.