We've spent several hours on the plot, weeding the strawberries and digging the potato patch over. This meant harvesting the last of the turnips, and admitting defeat on our rather abortive swede crop.
That one on the left is the biggest by far (most were barely an inch long) and it's still not really big enough to use, even if a slug hadn't burrowed right through the middle of it... Ah well; I did sow them rather late, and never thinned them, so it's my own fault. In the background you can see some of our turnips - also rather small, though there were quite a few good sized ones too. I'd never tried turnips until I grew these, but we've been enjoying them with our roast dinners. And they made excellent ground cover over winter; no weeds and barely any digging needed in that patch!We have decided to cancel raspberry-planting plans, as there is some doubt as to whether we'll still be living here by the time we get a crop next year. I'm looking on the bright side; that's £20 saved, a few things knocked off my to-do list, and twice as much space available for planting squashes and melons from my lovely 'Melon Sweet Medley' mixed pack!
But on the same subject, I'm now not sure what to do with the fruit trees I've ordered. They're tiny 'minarette' trees, suitable for planting out or keeping in pots. I'd much prefer to plant them out, but if I do will I have to leave them behind if we move? I'm guessing the rootball will be pretty small, so I'm hoping I could take them with us, but I'm just not sure. Advice welcome...
5 comments:
You could try planting it in a planting bag. I have some of these but don't remember where I got them from. They enable a shrub or small tree to be planted in the ground but also be easy to remove if you need to.
Alternatively you could transfer it to a bigger pot and wait until you know for sure where you'll be next year before planting in the ground.
We were thinking about trying Swede and Turnip when we have space later in the year, is they easy to grow (assuming you thin them out of course lol)
Fantastic blog by the way, loads of great pics and info :)
"is they easy to grow"
Argh... I sound like I can't talk... I ment to say "are they easy to grow?"
lol ooops... ;)
Lilymarlene - those planting bags look good, I'll definitely think about it.
Paul and Melanie - thanks for stopping by! Turnips are dead easy but I've heard swedes are tricky. I can only judge by this harvest because I've never grown them before, but they seemed to do ok considering the level of attention I gave them - all I did was scatter the seed and leave them to it! They are prone to attack from flea beetles and slugs though, so keep an eye out.
Just found your blog, do like the idea of having the to do list, might keep me a bit more focused on what I should be doing!
Post a Comment