Early start to proceedings

The garlic experment is going well. All three bulbs have shooted, so that bodes well. Only one brocolli has survived the winter and has been chomped on by unknown insects even though it has been 'protected' by the enviromesh cover all Winter :-(.

In the kitchen I have seeded two trays containing basil, tomatoes and lavender. I have a nice blueberry bush bought from Homebase and a pot of parsley on the go. As if this wasn't enough Trudi gave us a nice artichoke which has just germinated. I almost forgot, I also have a large pot full of aubergine seedlings!

Out in the garden I have been busy preparing the plots for the carrots and onions which I have also seeded as of last weekend.

Fin came round yesterday and gave us some raspberry canes. I am just in the process of double-digging a trench next to the old shed to accomodate these. Unfortunately there are lots of bricks and rocks to contend with. This is not as bad as the mahoosive bramble roots that need digging out.

Today there was a slight frost so I am taking a gamble with my broad beans. A couple of them seem a little limp. I may pot a few more in case these don't make it.

Take that you pesky fox

All is not lost with my carrots. They must be hardier than I thought, as several of them have sprung to life after being squashed by one or more fox cubs. So now they need protection!!

A couple of days ago I ordered a device to try and rid my veggie patch of my foxes. It uses an ultrasonic pulse that is triggered by a PIR device similar to those used in security lights. This high pitched noise is particularly unpleasant for foxes and cats(a bonus there then).

Last night I set it up next to the shed pointing in the general direction of the carrot bed. Then I put my mesh back over the carrots and secured the whole lot with some bricks.

I'm happy to say that this morning the mesh was intact and undamaged :-). Was this a one-off? Only time will tell...

Building the raised bed

I thought it was about time to get things moving in the garden again. For the past few days I have been mooching around. Bit of watering there, bit of tidying here.

On Sunday I started building the raised bed kit. This task was quite satisfying. It involved little more than lining up the various pieces of timber and screwing them together.

The next task was to start digging out the area where the raised bed will sit. The reason I have to do this is because the garden slopes down towards the end so I need the bed to be nice and level.

The end of the raised bed closest to the house will need to be sunk a little way into the ground. Digging clay soil is difficult at the best of times, but when it has dried out it makes the going even harder. I'm pleased to say that I struggled on and got the bulk of the work done :-).

On the plant front, the beans are going great. Their splindly little tendrils are just beginning to grab the canes and start their path upwards. The lettuce has germinated somewhat haphazardly but the coriander remains a disappointment with only one plant making an appearance. The nasturtiums have germinated they should provide some colour, as well as being beneficial companion plants.

Last but not least the carrots have started to grow their frilly leaves. This indicates that I should start to thin them out, maybe this week.

Those pesky foxes

I planted my carrots and runner beans last night. Just before it got dark I went out with my torch to go 'slug picking'. I found several of the beasties inching their way to my marigolds. They were soon dispatched with some salt. I've ordered some nematodes in order to get rid of them organically.

The weather has turned thundery again. This morning it was raining heavily. I went out to see it there was any slug damage. No damage by the slimy beasts, thankfully, but the foxes have run off with my home-made 'beer trap'. They also have been digging where I planted my beans yesterday. Maybe they were looking for slugs to eat?