About a month ago I sowed some broad beans as my contribution for 2009 to The Growing Challenge.
I'm pleased to say that they have all started to grow, pushing out of the ground and today they are standing about 75mm (3") high.
A few days after sowing the beans I planted out some garlic and covered it with about 100mm (4") of dead leaves as a mulch. The garlic has also started to grow and is now poking it's heads above the mulch.
I've had some guests staying here with us for the past couple of weeks and that, coupled with the weather, which I have commented on elsewhere, has limited my time in the garden. It was good, when today, I managed to take a walk around the periphery of our land and observe what was happening. Our land is only a couple of hectares, (about 4 acres) and taking only about 10 minutes, this walk is not hugely significant as a route march. However, it did hold some special significance for me and I enjoyed to make the effort. I don't very often go to the periphery of our land....
Elsewhere in the garden today I have been clearing up, moving herbs and other things into my workshops for overwintering and where it will be easier to keep an eye on things over the coming months.
Plans for next year are still fluid but the few winter crops I have are doing ok. The red cabbage has been very successful and I'm hoping to have some nice bits and pieces to bring into the kitchen in the early spring. One firm plan I have for next year is to get a lot more out of the garden and I am looking for crops that will mean I can harvest something every day of the year.... I don't know if I will achieve it, and maybe it's a tall order for my second year...but the help and support I am receiving is making me very ambitious....
3 comments:
Good to hear the beans and garlic are coming up! Our beans are too. The garlic is going in tomorrow as I was away for the right phase of the moon last month - that's my excuse for not doing it before, anyway! Next year if you can plant/sow leeks, cabbage, spinach, turnips in time for the winter you should have something all through the year. We're eating some of these every day now and hoping to continue through till March/April. Last year we found Rougette de Montpellier lettuce stood up well to cold weather (even in January), but we haven't had much luck with germinating lettuce this autumn. Bonne chance et bon appetit!
Ambition is good! ; ) I'm glad to hear the broad beans are coming up. I love that moment where little seedlings emerge, and you know that you have done something wonderful (and soon to be tasty!)...
Hi both,
CL, I decided not to follow the moon with my garlic but to go with the advice of our neighbour. You may recall, that back in September, when I took Kate to visit him, he recommended that we planted the garlic on the 15th October...so that is what we did.....Thanks for the tips on the other things I could plant next autumn...although I might try sowing some lettuce and raising it indoors for a while and then seeing if it will cope with our winters...
Thanks for the encouragement, Melinda. I seem to have rekindled my ambitiousness again over the past year or so and hopefully, some of my plans will bear fruit...There is something quite magical about seeing seedlings emerge and personally, I think that it happening at this time of year, when so much else is dying back for winter, illustrates the completeness of nature.
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