On another lovely day (sunny but not too warm) I decided to finally liberate my poor broad beans and peas from their small pots into their final position. First I needed some supplies. We went off to our local garden centre www.woodcotegreen.com first thing to stock up on a few things. Not the cheapest place to get supplies but it is one of those garden centres that can turn into a day out rather than a quick shop.
Still, we managed to control ourselves on only buy those things that were needed. I came away with:
- 10 x 4 ft bamboo canes
- 10 x 3ft bamboo canes
- 10 x 3 inch plastic and therefore reusable (but also biodegradable) pots
- 5 x 4 inch plastic and therefore reusable (but also biodegradable) pots
- 5 x 5 inch plastic and therefore reusable (but also biodegradable) pots
- 5m x 0.5m Roll of green plastic garden netting (to support peas)
- Garden sieve (to sieve out stones etc from soil / used compost
This is what I managed to achieve in 4 and half hours (with the help of the next door neighbours cat):
7 x Tomatoes (Gardeners Delight) Sown on 21.2.2011 - Potted on into bigger pots. The three biggest plants went from 3.5 inch pots to 5 inch pots. The other four went from 3.5 inch pots to 4 inch pots. Planted them deep right up to seed leaves and gave them a good water. I let them bask in the sun outdoors for a while and then brought them back into the safety of a sunny kitchen windowsill.
7 x Tomatoes (Gardeners Delight) Sown on 21.2.2011 - Potted on into bigger pots. The three biggest plants went from 3.5 inch pots to 5 inch pots. The other four went from 3.5 inch pots to 4 inch pots. Planted them deep right up to seed leaves and gave them a good water. I let them bask in the sun outdoors for a while and then brought them back into the safety of a sunny kitchen windowsill.
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| Closer view |
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| Before potting on |
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| A couple of the bigger plants potted on into 5 inch pots |
5 x Red Peppers (California Wonder) Sown on 21.2.2011 - Potted on into bigger pots. Only 5 as I decided to get rid of two which were very small and weak and had not been growing at all. All five went from modules into 3 inch pots, planted all of them deeply right up to seed leaves and once again gave them a good water. I let them bask in the sun outdoors for a while and then relocated them to warm sunny windowsills in a bedroom upstairs.
French Beans (Cobra), Red Cabbage, Beetroot, Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Courgettes. All sown on 6/3/2011 - all had become leggy and weak and needed throwing away - lesson learnt! Luckily I hadn't sown many of each.
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| Red Peppers and Chillis in the centre of the module before potting on. All the leggy weak plants in the sides. |
5 x Broad Bean (Sutton) Sown on 21.2.2011 - Now 8-10 inches high. Moved into final planting position in round patio salad planter (approx size of planter 14 inches across). Planted 4 around the edge, one in the middle. Each with a 3 ft cane support. Loosely tied each plant to the cane. All canes joined at the top. Gave them a good water. Ideally these should have been planted into their final position sooner I think but they seem to be fine.
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| Broad Beans in their new home with a wigwam of 3 ft canes as supports |
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| Strawberries in their original 6 inch pots |
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| Strawberries in their final planting position in a trough |
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| Peas in their final planting positions with support in place |
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| Close up of peas with their support having carefully hooked them on |
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| View from the top into the planter |
4 x seed potatoes (First Earlies - Vales Emerald) - planted out into a potato planter bag. I put in 12 inches of a mix of old compost and new compost added 4 seed potatoes, chitted end facing upwards. I then added about an inch or two of compost on top. Gave them a water and placed in the bottom of the blowaway as a bit of protection whilst they get started.
5 x seed potatoes (First Earlies - Charlotte) - Same as above, except I have planted these in what is actually supposed to be our council glass recycling bin. But as we never use it and as it is the perfect size for a potato planter I put in a green garden sack first and planted within this. That way I can just pull out the bag should we ever need the recycling bin, or if the council want it back for any reason, but without disturbing the crop.
No pics for the potatoes I'm afraid. Or for the chillis and red peppers potted on.
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| You can see the potatoes in their planters in the blowaway on the right here. I also sowed some wildflowers in the pot right at the front of the picture. |
Next I really want to sow:
Marigolds
More wildflowers
Courgettes (2nd attempt)
Broad Beans (successional sowing)
Peas (successional sowing)
Basil
Beetroot (2nd attempt)
Lettuce (a few different varieties)
Rocket
Purple Sprouting Broccoli (2nd attempt)
Spring Onions
Radishes
Moneymaker Tomatoes?
However, I want to have a think about it first and plan a little more to ensure I don't sow any too early and waste anymore seeds. I also want to make sure I am sowing the right amount and to figure out how often to sow to ensure we get a continuous crop.
Due to limits on space and the fact that we have to grow in containers we are obviously never going to be able to grow enough to always have a plentiful supply of things we like to eat, however I would like to get as close to this as possible with the limitations we have with where we live at the moment.
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