Salad Days

After a week of sunshine, blackbird damage and watering, we can savour the first fruits of the crop!

I confess a few have been tasted when thinning out. They may only be radishes, but coming straight out of the ground and then eating is very fulfilling. They taste great (for radishes that is!)

Everything in the patch is growing very fast now, and the radishes will soon have to make way for the second sowing of carrots and onions.

You may notice all the old tea bags! These didn't completely rot down in the compost, and surface as the birds dig them out for nesting materials!
The French Beans aren't growing very fast...

..and the sweet pepper has been rescued from the grow-bag after blackbird damage:

The tomatoes were completely destroyed by the blackbird, and haven't been replaced.

Not Again

Well, I woke up this morning, squirrels running through my mind,
Looked out the window, and guess what I did find?
The plants had been dug up once more
When I find that squirrel , he'll get what for.
I guess I've got those squirrel digging up my plants again blues.

BUT.... then I saw it. It was a blackbird - caught red-handed (well, yellow beaked). Sorry Mr Squirrel.

I replaced the plants, protected by bricks, and when I came in from work, there were dug up again.

You win again...

Meanwhile this is what the plot looks like:


The plot thickens!

Vandals!

I know I should have updated this a day or so ago. I'll upload a new photo when I remember where the camera is.



I thought all was going well, until I took a look outside at lunch today only to find the tomatoes and pepper had been pulled out of the grow bag and were left wilting in the sun. Anywhere else and we'd have blamed some local yobs, but in the back garden the blame has to fall well and truly on THE SQUIRREL!



I put them back in and they have picked up a bit... we'll have to wait and see.



Meanwhile, the patch is getting greener every day.

It's Still Only Two Weeks!

It is now just over two weeks since we started the patch. It is now starting to show full life.




The Radishes and Carrots:


The Onions and the Spinach:



To cap it all, we've brought some small plants for the growbags:- pepper, tomatoes and french beans:

A quiet day

To be honest there isn't too much excitement here on the patch today. It looks as if the spinach will be noticeable in a day or two, and the first seedlings in the carrots have started to show. The radishes were thinned out today as well. I expect it will all look very different by the end of the week.

Exciting, eh?

Perhaps you would like a bit more detail, you sad people?

The patch was dug on 6th April, and was sown on 7th April 2007.




Eight rows of seeds were sown. Left to right these are:

1. Carrots - "Early Nantes 2"
2. Spring Onions - "White Lisbon Winter Hardy"
3. Carrots - "Early Nantes 2"
4. Spring Onions - "White Lisbon Winter Hardy"
5. Spinach - "Perpetual Spinach Leef Beet"
6. Radishes - "Sparkler 3"
7. Spinach - "Perpetual Spinach Leef Beet"
8. Radishes - "Sparkler 3"

The first signs of the radishes were visible in 13th April. The above photo was two days later, the 15th April 2007.


Bye for now.

It doesn't look much, but there is much excitement as the radishes start to show after one week!



Here is the evidence in closeup!