Thursday 5 July 2012

A new project - part 2

So, here's the plan for the first plot...


The plot a few days ago...
I'm still a novice when it comes to gardening, but I understand a little about crop rotation. You wouldn't usually do that within a single bed, but with a busy life, you never know how much time you will actually have until you get going...

I'd like to think I could do three or four plots, but even just the one is taking some time... so I've decided to try a bit of everything rather than do a whole bed of just a few vegetables.

I gather the three main groups of veg are brassicas, root veg and legumes/onions/salad, and so I have divided the plot up like so:


I have then opted for the following arrangement:


As I've mentioned before, I've never done peas to any great volume, so I've given a generous slice of the legume section over to those (Kelvedon Wonder). I am then finishing off with a small patch of rocket (wild), and then onions (Ailsa Craig) and probably spring onions... I've put the onions in the middle as they're supposed to be a deterrent to some pests.

On the root veg side, I'm going for beetroot (Boltardy), two types of carrot (long (Autumn King 2) and short (Atlas) varieties), fennel (Florence Chiarino) and radish (French Breakfast 3).

I've put the rocket and radish up in the middle of the plot, because there are a few trees nearby that will provide some shade during the hottest part of the day. Once the peas and fennel have grown a bit, that should also add to the shade in the middle there.

Finally, for the brassica section I'm a little undecided - this will be the first time I've tried them and to be honest I'm not sure what will work, especially seen as I'm halfway through the season... I am considering cabbage and perhaps kale...? If anyone has any suggestions from their own experience please do let me know.

I've then finished off the brassica section by sneaking in a small section of dwarf beans (Tendergreen) - which aren't brassicas I know, but I ran out of room elsewhere and as they tend to be quite tall, it makes sense to have them at the back.


Master of all he surveys...?!
At the moment the peas, beans, rocket, beetroot, fennel, onion, one sowing of radish and both carrots are in (the netted areas)... just waiting to finish the rest of the plot off... then let the battle of wills begin with the wildlife!

1 comment:

  1. There's still time to plant cauliflower and broccoli for over winter, Broccoli is easier than cauliflower. Swede is also a brassica.

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