Saturday, May 22, 2010

Yesterdays Garden News

Yesterday I finished planting out the lowest bed in the garden. This bed is new this year and is just yard soil that is lightly amended with homemade compost. At the far end there already is a row of brussels sprouts and a hop vine in the top corner. Yesterday the rest was filled in with potatoes, crimson flowered broad beans & celeriac. First off I turned, amended and leveled the bed which you will see below:

I then planted out all the potatoes. They have been green sprouting on a south facing window sill for about a month now and were ready to go in the ground. I planted them in trenches fairly deep with a some kelp meal sprinkled in. I planted similar to what Laura is trying this year, she has a good post about it at this link. Basically you plant them deeper to avoid hilling and space them closure to save space.

I then ended up with half a row of potatoes so I planted some crimson flowered broad beans to finish the row off. I started these in rootrainers and they are just about to flower. Probably should have planted these weeks ago.

At the front of the bed I planted a row of celeriac. I am growing two varieties, both received in seed trades. The potted photo shows giant celeriac on the right from Miss M and brilliant celeriac on the left from Kathy. Never grown or eaten celeriac so I am looking forward to this crop.

To wrap things up here is an overview of the finished bed. Brussels sprouts & hops at the back, potatoes in the big empty spot and broad beans & celeriac at the front.

Now I am off to plant out all the beans, look for a post on that next.

9 comments:

  1. All looks great, Dan! I'm on vacation and I got myself sick :( I'm up here coughing and dreaming of my garden back home. Hope all is well with you!

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  2. Hops! Now there is an interesting crop. Are you going to make beer later?

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  3. I love that the bed is ground level. I'm growing hops too. Not for beer purposes of course, but simply 'coz I like climbers. My packet said to germinate in the fridge. You ?

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  4. Kalena - Hope you get better soon. Lots of bugs going around this year.

    Daphne - Yes! I am growing three kinds, should really do a post on them now that they are growing. I have brewed two beers so far. Hopefully later this summer I can brew with my own hops.

    Miss M - My vines are growing from rhizome cuttings so I can't help with seeding. They must need a cool period to germinate??

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  5. That new bed turned out really well! You have it packed with good things too. :D The potatoes definitely looked ready to go into the ground and will probably just take off for you. This should be a really nice addition to your garden.

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  6. What a great set of celeriac seedlings you have there! Mine are still tiny!

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  7. Dan, your garden is a great example of how you don't need a lot of space to grow a large variety of veggies. I'll be interested to see how those potatoes turn out.

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  8. I have wanted to grow hops for beer making. You have inspired me for next year, I think!

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  9. I always learn something here. Today: sprout your potatos in egg cartons - brilliant!

    Celeriac is delish - you will love it.

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