Courgettes

I have just put my  courgettes in, hoping for another year of a bumper crop. I find them such an easy plant to grow; all they need is water and  with some ‘feed’ once a month and your are well away. The only thing that they do not like is frost.

I grow mine from seed and then plant them out this time of the year.

If you do not have the time or the space to start your crops off from seed, you can always start with ready grown plants.

Not everybody has the time or patience to grow from seed, so mini plants are a great speedy way to get going.

All types of plants can be found at a good garden centers and now is the time to get going.

If you live near a sheep farm now is the time when farmers start to thing about shearing their sheep. It is worth while going to have a word with them to see if you can get a bag or two of shoddy or dages as they are some times called.

This is the dirty bit of wool around the sheep's rear end. It makes a great use as bulky manure for incorporation into your soil or compost. The nitrogen content varies from 2per cent to 15 per cent.  The shoddy acts like a sponge and helps to hold moisture. It is slow in action ( meaning it does not break down very fast ) but well worth having if you can get hop of some.

Another great cheap and valuable manure for those who live near the sea is sea weed. It is comparable to farmyard manure, though slightly deficient in phosphates. A big advantage is that sea weed is free from weed seeds and much better then anything else. Seaweed, you will find ferments very quickly. To my mind, seaweed is an ideal organic manure and should be used at a similar rate too farmyard manure. 

If you are going any where near the sea this summer, it is worth while bringing home a bag or two of fresh seaweed.       

it is on the allotment where the simplicity of life is not obscured by lies that men tell themselves to believe that they are masters of their own fate.