Just planted...

I still have lots of catching up to do posting about other things that are already underway, but I thought I would just mention what I have been up to this week.

Firstly, I finally managed to sow some more lettuce seed. I decided I wanted some more of the Freckles mentioned before. It's really pretty in a mixed salad, so, a few rows of that in a shallow tub. A few more of Red Salad Bowl, which I think you probably get in most mixes, but anyway. One or two rows went to a mix from Unwins. I've just noticed this contains both red and green salad bowl, so I may remove them to leave space for the others, which are Lollos Rossa, Biondi and Grand Rapids.

I think I may also have added one row of salad onion Ishikura. The packet is open... so it looks that way.. and yet, I'm not sure I even like salad onions..? We shall see. Nothing has come up in that area of the tub, while the lettuces have popped up after about seven days in the soil.

Yet again, I have implemented a flagrant disregard for the planting distances specified on the packet.

In pots inside I have sown some red leaved Basil, to add to the more regular Sweet Genovese I started a few weeks ago. I've never managed to grow enough Basil to meet my greedy needs, so will probably have to sow some more soon. It takes a frustratingly long time to get to picking size.

Also, thyme. The seeds are very small, so mine have come up in clumps of about five - I have already thinned them out a bit. They come up within a week on the windowsill. 

Finally, back outside, I got around to sowing the Chard Bright Lights. The stems will really brighten up the roof, and I think the six plants I hope to get in the one fruit box will provide more than enough leaf. Again, I'm not sure I like Chard all that much, but I do know it's good for me.

The Strawberry Experiment

I've never grown Strawberries before. My parents garden was so infested with slugs that it just wasn't really a possibility, but maybe it just didn't occur to me. Anyway, the roof seems like the perfect place to try them: there is plenty of sunlight, no slugs, and they do well in containers.

In early April I made a trip to Riverside Garden Centre. The fruit bushes I had bought from here before were doing well, the staff are super friendly and helpful - both good reasons to return. They had a good selection of different varieties, I bought:

Christine, Elsanta, Honeyoe, Calypso, Florence, Alice, and two Aromel. I potted up four plants per box in mid-April, in compost, with manure and some chicken manure pellets mixed in.

Hopefully by the end of the year it'll become clear which variety is worth pursuing, and I'll grow on some runners. 

CW from TL - Christine, Elsanta, Honeyoe, Calypso

Honeyoe - Ridiculous name

Christine - getting huge!

Christine, Elsanta and Calypso were the first to set fruit. It was around this point I became mildly obessed with the idea that a pidgeon would steal my treats. Wilkinsons sorted me out, with some netting at 75% off.

With a few sprinkles of manure pellets, and a splash of Comfrey water, all seems to be going well. I scoffed the ripe ones earlier today, but this is how it looked before:

Christine - Marvelous

The box - Swoon

They tasted seriously good. I'm not too hot on subtle flavours, but I think there was something there. Probably a massive dose of smug self satisfaction. And slight amazement at being able to pick strawberries on a roof top...


I went home a few weeks ago, and "borrowed" a few plants of the alpine strawberries that have grown by the garden path for as long as I can remember. I also tried growing them from seed - so far, not to be recommended - only three seeds out of twelve germinated, and growth rate is painfully slow. They were sown a month and half ago, for progress, see below.

Thievings

Seedlings

Sowing Seeds Pt. 1 - Outdoors cont.

Cut-and-come-again lettuce crops are always suggested for a small-space grower, and I'm dead keen on a salad. The plants will hopefully manage in some of the shallower fruit boxes mentioned previously. April (2nd) was a little early for some of these leaves, so I planted half with Cos Freckles (from Sarah Raven) which allows sowing from February onwards. Hedging my latest-frost-date bets, I planted Mixed Lettuce leaves from B+Q, (Cost: 38p) in the other half.

The situation on April 2nd...

...and May 1st

I'm really pleased with how they have come along. I picked my first few leaves last week, and while I couldn't say they were particularly interesting on the palate as a solo act, they worked just fine as a vehicle for salad dressing.


Sadly, over the second bank holiday weekend, the heat and lack of attention meant that I returned from my travels to find a rather sorry sight. I haven't taken a picture, as I don't want to jinx the swift recovery I am sure they will make. Also, I should have already sown some more, to keep up supplies. I have so many packets of seed to choose from now, there really is no excuse. This week. Definitely.


Also sown outside in early April were Pickling Onions ("Paris Silverskin" - Suttons), into a bulb planter I had hanging around from last year. In many ways, was neither surprised nor particularly bothered when they didn't come up, as conventional wisdom would suggest growing onions from seed is a fools game. However, a month later, I am getting invested. I may yet make that one small jar of pickled onions..

Will they make it?

Sowing Seeds Pt. 1 - Outdoors

On the 2nd April, I started sowing some seeds outside on the roof.

After an initial panic about the amount of containers I would need to buy to grow all the things I wanted, I found that several local food outlets were leaving wooden fruit boxes out on the street for people to take. Some had higher sides than others, both had their uses.

Just planted!

To make the boxes usable, I added a lining of newspaper, (or in one case, flattened foil takeaway trays) ripped in several places to aid drainage, before filling with a mix of peat-free compost and multi-purpose compost.

Turnip to left, Carrot to right

Root crops need the 8" depth of the deeper box, so Carrots - "Flyaway" - and Turnips - "Golden Ball" - were the first in the ground.

Here they are again at the end of April, Turnips to the left. I clearly ignored the planting distance guide, and do not have the ruthless grit to thin them out. However, a small rustling of the soil reveals baby Turnips forming, and they will need their space... 

Close up Carrot Seedling

The Carrots are a bit behind. I'm hoping, being far above the usual low-fly zone frequented by the Carrot Fly, that thinning at any time wont be a problem, thus giving me excuses to delay the matter.