Rural Living
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Our Vegetable Garden 2008 .
With the summer of last year being so poor, our harvest was not as good as normal. We had a good harvest of potatoes, runner beans, tomatoes, and our leeks which we are just starting to use look good. Our other vegetables did not do so well. The slugs had one of their best years ever, and even our ducks could not cope with them. With the poor year of 2007 behind us, winter brings the opportunity to plan for 2008.
January. We
have always found it uneconomical to heat the greenhouse to start our
plants early, although we have always wanted to be able to start our
season early. This year we have decided 
to have a heated cold frame, which I suppose is a contradiction
in terms. To ensure we have control over the temperature we are going
to use an electric greenhouse fan heater. This will give us control,
and also air circulation in the cold frame. With an oil heater we would
not have the same control. With electricity already in the greenhouse
it will be a simple task to install an electrical connection in the
cold frame. We have decided to go for a 6x3 cold frame, and although
it would be nice to build a red cedar wood frame, the cost has put that
out of the picture, so we have settled on tanalized timber. With an
improvement in the weather in mid December we have constructed a concrete
base with 2ftx2ft slabs laid on top. This is perhaps a little over engineered
for a cold frame to sit on, but should see us through our lifetime.
Once the concrete has hardened the cold frame will be erected on top,
and an electrical supply installed.
One of the benefits of living in the country is the availability of manure. I have had access to a heap of very old manure in the middle of a field covered in grass supplied by some magnificient Shire Horses. The manure is really well rotted and has been laid in sections of the vegetable garden for the frosts of winter.
With the month being so wet the manure has begun to settle well on the soil. We have continued to harvest the leeks, and together with some of our stored potatoes, and locally produced bacon, we are regularly eating a very tasty soup. The Cold Frame is now assembled on it base, and held down with some very secure raw plugs and bolts. Because of the very strong winds we get up here the top lights are also well secured.
Visiting our local gardening store the other day we found that this years seed potatoes are now in stock. We like a nice tasting salad potatoe for an early variety and chose Ascent this year. For our second early we chose Charlotte, which is a variety we have not grown before, but like to try something new each year. Our maincrop is our old favorite King Edward, we find it stores well, has a great old fashion taste, and bakes well.
Our Kitchen Garden in January.
February The first few days of the month were not particularly kind for the gardener, days of winds and rain. We finally started looking at the seed catalogues to decided on what we are going to grow this year. We came across a company on the web that sell packets of vegetable seeds from 50p. I do sometimes wonder how some of the big seed companies's can substantiate the prices they charge for a packet of seeds, so this year we have put our seed order into Alan Romans. We were very impressed when two days later our order arrived, the seeds are packed in foil, and the cultivation instructions obtained from their website. I have found the saving being up to £2-40p on a single packet of seed, so thought it worth a try. This year we are growing
Artichoke Green Globe Improved F1, Broccoli Early Purple Sprouting Red Arrow, Brussels Sprout Trafalgar F1, Carrot Flyway F1, Cauliflower All Year Round, Cucumber Marketmore, Lettuce Iceberg, Pepper (Sweet) Californian Wonder, Runner Bean Celebration, Spring Onion White Lisbon. We also have some seeds over from last year which we will be using this year.
February 10th. While shopping in Conwy this morning a visit to Woolworth's came up with a bargain. I find Woolworth's one of those stores where you never really know what they sell, they seem to have a bit of everything, but not much choice of any particular product. They are always worth a look however, particularly their garden section. We have been considering planting some Raspberry Canes, and found some heavily discounted in the store, they looked very healthy, and too good to miss (Glen Clova). This afternoon a section of the garden has been turned over with copious amounts of compost added, and the Canes have been planted 18" apart. With the weather so nice, sunny and warm, the fruit trees have been pruned, and the strawberry beds have been tidied up.
CONSTRUCTING A COMPOST FRAME.
Probably like most gardeners we can never produce enough compost, so I decided I needed another container for compost. I looked at a number of alternatives, but decided in the end to construct my own. I had been given a number of lengths of used decking and thought this would not rot, and would give me a strong composting container. I cut a number of lengths 40" long, and cut notches out at each end, so the timber lengths would slot into each other forming a square bin. It is now constructed and the height can be altered as it is filled or emptied by adding or removing individual lengths of timber, cost zero. Please see the pictures.