Thursday, 18 June 2009

Who has been eating our brassicas?

It would appear that some little pest has been munching on our brassicas. On first inspection, we thought that it was slugs and snails. However, the extent of the damage and the telltale droppings suggest our vegetable assassin is of the winged variety. So the question is how do we stop the pigeons!!

The best option is probably going to be netting, though the children quite fancy the idea of making scarecrows so we may go for a 'belt and braces' option.

Unperturbed by the damage to our current crops, the children got on with sowing some rocket and radishes. They also topped up the potato tubs with what remained of the compost stockpile. At the rate the potato plants are growing, we will need to buy in some more compost very soon.

Friday, 12 June 2009

Pumpkins are in

Today, the children planted out some pumpkin plants. The variety we are growing are called 'Ghost Rider' and are particularly good for using as Halloween lanterns.

We also watered the veg that had been planted out on Tuesday and labelled the beds with the names of the veggies growing in them.

So in time honoured Bullseye style, here is a rundown of what has been planted so far!

In 1 - the Italians call them zucchini, they can be green or yellow - yes they're courgettes.

In 2 - they are big orange can can be very spooky - they're pumpkins

In 3 - no Christmas lunch would be complete without them - they're Brussels sprouts

In 4 - this variety is January King - It's winter cabbages

In 5 - just keep cutting and they'll come again - they're salad leaves

In 6 - nothing yet (unless you count the weeds!)

In 7 - great with cheese - It's cauliflower

In 8 - don't cry about this one - they're Spanish onions

In 9 - they dig a good beat - It's beetroot

And bully's special prize, the crazy guys on the block - they're wildflowers!

Tuesday, 9 June 2009

Hoe, Hoe, Hoe

Today, we tackled the weeds with a vengence.

The children got busy and hoed the weeds out of three of the unused raised beds. They then planted out the courgettes, brussel sprouts and cabbages that had been started off in pots.

Over the holiday, the salad leaves had run to seed, so these were pulled out to make way for new sowings. The beetroot and cauliflower beds also had a thorough weeding.

The potatoes are coming along nicely. Today, the children added extra compost to the poato barrels and gave them a good watering.