October 30

Warm and Dry

It has been unseasonably warm and dry. Having been away for a week, the tomatoes in the polytunnel continue to ripen and the lettuce has rocketed away with lots to pick again. The borlotti beans have dried on the plants this year although I did give them a final dry in the greenhouse.

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I have had some manure delivered and have started to use it straight away on new beds. I know you are supposed to use manure that is about 2yrs old but I don’t have any. It will be interesting to see whether I can grow in it next year. Perhaps potatoes.

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I have covered it with black plastic and will leave it until April and then try planting in it.

How do people get enough compost etc that is 2yrs old? I am still not sure how I can get enough to save some for the next year. Anyway, I will keep going. More leaves gathered but the trees haven’t really dropped their leaves yet.

October 9

The badgers beat me!

imageThe weather has been warm, if a little windy, so time on the plots has been pleasant. Last week the Badgers beat me to the final cobs of corn. We had eaten most of the primary cobs, only the secondary ones were left, but next year I am going to grow them in the fruit cage! They cause havoc by knocking the plants down and then chewing the cobs. In fact the first year they did this, I thought we had been visited by vandals but an older, wiser person on the plots put me straight.

There is a cost to no dig because you need so much material to mulch with and it all needs to have been rotting down for a year or so before you use it. The cost can be financial , buying in compost, or it can be effort. I have gone for the effort cost and collected about 25 bags of seaweed early one morning and spread it on two of the beds.

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I will cover these beds so that weeds don’t grow and then see what they are like in the spring. I have also started collecting leaves by driving round the neighbourhood and jumping out with my rake and bags when I see some.  Ahh! The things we do for our vegetables.