I've had to remove the remaining uneaten seedlings from the salad bed as the slugs are winning on that front at the moment. I managed to rescue 14 spinach seedlings, 4 sorrel seedlings and 4 calendula seedings which are now all safely planted in trays in the coldframe. I've sown some more calendula seeds in trays in the coldframe as well as a length of drainpipe with a mix of Lettuce 'Salad Bowl' and Wild Rocket. I am guessing lettuce seedlings are a slug delicacy as they were all eaten pretty quickly. Once the salad bed has been treated with the nematodes and it is safe to put plants back in the soil, I'll replant my seedlings into the salad bed again.
A bit of maintenance was needed for the broad bean plants, which we thought we might lose at one point but they are looking really well now. The first main shoot of pretty much all of the plants eventually keeled over, however a second strong shoot has developed near the base on each which is a healthy as anything and they are starting to produce flowers. So today I cut off the first main shoots near the base so that the plant is not wasting energy keeping them going and then tied in the new shoots to the wigwam frames. The slug barrier granules seem to be keeping the slugs at bay too.
I transplanted my 16 dwarf french bean plants from the cold frame out into the same raised bed underneath the shorter climbing frame that we made last weekend. Each plant has a skirt of slug granules around the base which I am hoping will keep them safe. I'll be putting a border of copper around the edges of the bed too.
The tidied up broad beans and the newly planted dwarf french beans behind
The first broad bean flower has opened and I had no idea they would be so beautiful. It looks like a delicate piece of tissue paper with a hand painted pattern in a deep chocolate brown
The jerusalem artichokes are growing really quickly so today I removed the wire mesh covering the raised bed and where they are gaps of bare earth between the plants, I've stuck in some thick twigs to deter the cats. One third of the bed which has very young salad onions just coming up has been covered over again with some wire mesh, again to keep the cats off.
Jerusalem artichokes underplanted with cornflowers and two rows of shallots - the young salad onions are in a row next to the shallots and a few in the gaps between but are too small to show up on the the photo
I have moved the 6 mange tout pea plants from the nursery out into the coldframe to harden off and I'll be sowing a load more in the nursery tomorrow. There is a bit of space at the front on each trough container that I have the climbers planted in (sweet peas and nasturtiums) which I was going to fill with more of the same, however looking at them today, it would be nice to plant something low growing at the front to give some colour underneath. I'm not sure what yet, maybe something that can be picked for cut flowers indoors?
I have a crazy amount of work to do for college at the moment with a deadline looming in a couple of weeks and I've found that taking time out to tend to the garden really does help me to relax, recharge my batteries and clear my head so I can go back to my work and hopefully be much more productive. There is always so much to do in the veggie garden that it is a necessity to make the time to care for the plants even if you have a busy schedule, especially at this time of the year when everything is so young and vunerable... and what a great excuse for spending time pottering about in the garden!
I found this little fella sunbathing on a coriander leaf earlier - its always nice to find a friendly visitor!
4 comments:
Ooh, I'm commenting on your blog from Vittel in France and blogger is speaking French to me -- how odd!
I love your ladybird picture. Is it of a 12 spotted variety? I have had 7 spotted and then a bit later 12 spotted. I think the 7 spotted are the rare ones. They all do a great job though!
My son pointed out some ladybird larvae to me - they look really weird and sinister compared to the ladybirds themselves. Google them and you'll see what I mean!
Well bonjour Ashleigh! How lovely to be over in France.
I think it may have had 12 spots though I can't be sure as I didn't count at the time. I read somewhere recently that coriander in particular is great for attracting ladybirds and it seems this has been proven correct in my garden!
The only way I can avoid slugs is to grow everything on in the greenhouse or cold frame until it's bug enough to hold its own. Having said that they still eat a fair bit but I just don't see what I can do about it. And as our weather gets hotter and hotter it's only going to get better for our slimy friends!
I think that will be the approach I'll be taking from now on too. I've definitely learnt my lesson not to sow lettuce seedlings etc directly in the ground.
I recently got some drainpipe to use for successionally sowing rows of leafy veg so I hope that will do the trick.
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