Ways to get the most out of your plot:
Sow vegetables in modules so you can always be a head of the game and save time by always having strong little plants to put into your beds as soon as there is empty space.Nature does not like bare soil and will fill it with weeds, given half a chance.
Harvest your plants as soon as they are ready, if not just before.
Only grow what you can eat.
Weed and hoe all the time in all seasons.
February is the time to sow your early tomatoes.do this now and you will have fruit in July. however this is only if you intend to grow them in a heated greenhouse, too early for cold grown ones or outdoor ones. Wait till march for them.
Variety of tomatoes to try now: Tirgerella AGM or
Y Draig Goch
Any manure but pig manure is good for cabbage,—barn manure, rotten kelp, night-soil, guano, fertilizers, wood ashes, fish, salt, glue waste, hen manure, slaughter-house manure.
I have used all of these, and found them all good when rightly applied. If pure hog manure is used it is apt to produce that corpulent enlargement of the roots known in different localities as "stump foot," "underground head," "finger and thumb;" but I have found barn manure on which pigs have run, two pigs to each animal, excellent.
The cabbage is a big feeder, and to perfect the larger sort a most large allowance of the richest composts is needed.
If you are growing smaller varieties either barn-yard manure, guano, fertilizers, or wood ashes is good, if the soil be in good condition; though the richer and more abundant the manure the larger are the cabbages, and the earlier the crop will mature.
To grow large varieties of drumhead,—by which I mean to make them grow to the greatest size possible,—You will need a strong compost of barn-yard manure, muck or fish-waste, and, if possible, rotten kelp.
Early in spring, dig your plot making sure all lumps are broken down.
If the lumps are frozen wait until they have thawed, give the heap another digging over, aiming to mix all the materials thoroughly together, and make the entire mass as fine as possible. A covering of sand, thrown over the heap, before the last diging, will help refine the ground.
To produce a good crop of cabbages, with a compost of this quality, from six to twelve cords will be required to the acre. If the land is in good heart, by previous high cultivation, or the soil is naturally very strong, six cords will give a fair crop of the small varieties; while, with the same conditions, from nine to twelve cords to the acre will be required to perfect the largest variety grown the Bonnie Plants sell a variety called OS Cross, which produces cabbage heads that start at 30 to 50 pounds.
A cord is 128 cubic feet
Assuming you are one among those nature lovers who do not mind a bit of cold then this time of year is a good time to get out and do a few jobs.
Your plot should be full of live during winter seasons. Snow and cold temperature should not stop you form getting out there.
Evergreens, supports and greeneries add tone to your plot while winter and late-winter sprouting plants add tone as well as aroma also.
When searching for potential plants to utilize, think about those that can endure brutal winter storms. You can pick red twig dogwood, holly, winterberry or nandina.
These plants offer extra tones supplementing the white winter environmental elements.
Keep your plot free of weeds this time of year helps stop them from taking over in the growing season.
One of the most incredible ground covers during winter season is the English Ivy. Periwinkle, alba or bugleweeds are among different models.
Have a go at establishing vegetables in your colder time of year garden. There are vegetables that are commonly utilized in a colder time of year garden. Among these are winter rye, beets, carrots and a few types of winter-prepared broccoli and cabbage and kale.
While taking care of these errands, have a go at changing your view. Adding bird enclosures, models and seats may add a little change in your nursery.
Given that you add feeders, a few birds that will be seen sneaking into your plot are finches, woodpeckers and cardinals.
With a little preparation, you can appreciate watching extraordinary view from your window. Indeed, even flagstones might captivate you to go out to your nursery to investigate the blossoms of witch hazels or heath.
You may likewise consider making pathways made of old blocks, rock or stone. This will clearly brighten up your colder time of year gardens.
By chewing through a dam, a rodent can drown a country."
Edmund Burke
I needed to get rid of the rodents, or soon over run my plot. Rodents are notorious for the way that quick they breed. Be that as it may, I need to get rid of them.
Rodents have a mind boggling present for endurance. On Engebi, one of the Eniwetok Atolls where atomic bombs were tried during the 1950s, researchers got back to see what stayed after the bombs were detonated.
They observed radioactive soil, vegetation annihilated and a flourishing state of rodents.
Rodents can endure a fall of 50 feet without injury. They are also great swimmers, being able to cross wide streams (a tremendous mass of rodents was recorded in Southern Russia in 1727 when a large number of them swam across the River Volga from Astrakhan).
They can float for three days without resting and plunge to 100 feet without harming themselves.
They live for 2 to 3 years, and a female rodent commonly has a litter of 6 to 12, six or seven times each year.
They live in settlements (loads) with each rodent having a position like in an army, one guy at the top and all the rest ‘know their place’
They rest together, groom one another, and take part in play and play-battling. At the point when the settlement gets too enormous, the more youthful guys pass on to begin there own gang of their own.
Rodents are known for their sharp teeth which can be as hard has a jewel.
These hard teeth empower rodents to chew through wood, bone, plastic line, even block. Rodents will eat almost anything, and have been known to eat cleanser, cowhide, and hides, yet incline toward grain, animals feed, and meat of different sorts, including human, in spite of the fact that instances of that are uncommon.
However, with their huge cravings, they can and will eat 33% of their body weight consistently.
What chance de we stand!
I have caught one, this year, so far and so far this year, they have eaten all my crops on my plot.
As we are moving into warmer summers with climate change. It is time I think to consider trying veg that perhaps we would not grow here in the UK.
I have looked at a few that I will try this coming season.
The first is cucumbers, which I normal grow under cover, but this year I will grow them outside in the open, making sure that they a protected from the wind.
How to plant cucumbers:
cucumber grows well from seed and I aways start mine out in a pot in my glasshouse. The soil must be at least 10 degrees
When to plant cucumbers:
Mid march till Mid April.
Feed the soil when planting and feed them weekly with liquid feed once they have set fruit.
Although they are heat tolerant, they require even and consistent watering to prevent them from becoming bitter.
In hot weather water morning and evening.
Do not overcrowd plants – give them plenty of room
Pick fruit early in the day and immerse in cold water to lengthen storage time.
What do to do on cold wet winter afternoons: Think and plan the next season.
When planting in hot weather, ponder these five things:
Your watering plan
Shade
Mulch (holding dampness)
Wind and,
The vegetables you need to develop
Watering Schedule
In warm environments it is essential to water your plot to some extent two times every day. It is best to do earlier today and evening. Watering in the day is fine, yet it is less effective as such a great deal it dissipates before it gets to your plants. Be careful no to overwater which your crop to rot.
Mulch
I like to apply up to an inch of straw, or some such over the whole plot
Shade
Many plants do not like too much direct sunshine, make shore you have some shade netting handy for those hot days to come
Wind
Also have some netting to protect fro the warm/hot south/west winds.
Do this now and do not wait till it is upon you!
Rats have eaten all my crop apart from the Kale..........the rats are as big as small rabbits.....so this year it is war.....
Any ideas please?
