Root Bed Construction

As everyone seems to be re vamping their tap root beds I have decided to follow suit. I am going down a slightly different road I have dug out one of my raised beds in the new tunnel, then constructed a framework to suspend the barrels 2 feet off the ground the space underneath has been filled with a mix of compost Vermiculite soil and sand which has been sieved and shredded. The barrels were placed on the framework and filled with the same mix with added nutrients Seaweed Meal Calcified Seaweed Powdered Vitax Q4 and a small amount of Dolomite Lime. I decided on this method instead of sand cored out because this is how I grew my Carrots and Parsnips last year and it worked very well, the total depth of compost is now 4 foot 6 inches I intend to place some 6" diameter pipes on top of one of the barrels to gain another few inches. I found that using compost only last year enabled me to get the roots out easier without loosing the ends and also I have loads of cheap compost to fill the barrels (this is purely experimental so please do not try this at home) as they say.

This Weeks Progress Report

Things are moving on nicely I have now started chitting my Spuds they are in the tunnel with frost protection

The Vento are now in Pots and are all in the tunnel with the Spuds

The Leeks have now had the collars changed for 22mm  pipe insulation 9" long and are coming on nicely

Large Onions ticking away nicely

Quality Onions both sowings are also coming on nicely I may have sown them a bit early on reflection as they have another 6 weeks to go till they can be planted in to their final positions,

                                     

                                    

You can do it if you B&Q it

Visited B&Q last week as I had some time to kill before an appointment, I ventured out the back for a look around and came across a large cage full of split bags of their peat based compost ,14 bags in total.After seeking out an assistant I was informed that they were been sold off at £1 a bag so I promptly bought the lot and as they went through the checkout the till also knocked off the bulk discount making the grand total £8.32 for 14 x 75litre bags of compost bargain or what !!!! they will now be put through the shredder ready for mixing the Potato mix.

Spuds Shredder Shallots Seeds

The first lot of My Spuds arrived today from JBA. rather are more than I thought I ordered with more to come. they are fine looking specimens the next job will be to put them in trays to chit them.The varieties are Blue Belle,Sherine,Armour,Celine,Winston and also some International Kidney (Jersey Royals for the table) to follow are Nadine and Cassablanca these were ordered later than the others.

I have read with interest about the use of a shredder on the growing medium for the Spuds and the Carrot mix, so I decided to give it a go I managed to get a good used one off Ebay for £6.50 and a friend collected it for me as she works nearby to where it was Thanks Rachel.

Garden Shredder Ebay

It works a treat I shredded 300 litres of compost in an hour and when the shredded compost was sieved there was virtually no waste.I am using Wickes compost again this year as it is just Irish Peat with added nutrients it is already quite fine and does not have any twigs in it best of all it is only £13 for 4 x 75 Litre bags

wickes compost

 Some of my Shallots are starting to sprout and are now in an unheated tunnel as I do not want to plant them out yet.The large one bottom left is a Spanish onion from the Co Op which was bang on 250g and a lovely shape so It escaped the Curry, And I am going to see if I can get some seeds from it.

I have also now ordered the rest of my seeds from Medwyns and am anticipating their arrival.



Potting on

Only another week left before I start work again after the Christmas break, as I will be away in Edinburgh for the week so I spent yesterday potting on the Onions and Leeks. The Large Onions are really motoring and are now in 5" square pots

 half of the Quality Onions are in 4" pots and the others from the second sowing which are slightly behind them are in 3.5" pots.The Leeks are now collared with pipe insulation and are also in 4" square pots

The germination of the Vento has been a bit erratic with less than half coming through I sowed another 30 last week just in case as I need around 30 plants to choose from.

I am now looking to start positioning the barrels in the tunnel ready for the long Carrots and Parsnips

The Shallots Are In and Vento Sown

I Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and wish you a happy and prosperous new year.

My thoughts have now turned to next year, I have read many different peoples Ideas on when to plant Shallots and decided to plant mine in pots of John Innes no 2  in the Tunnel yesterday, there are 61 in total as previously mentioned from 4 different sources.The tunnel has some background heat to guard against frost. The 6 plants at the back right in the photo are Elephant Garlic pips that I have successfully managed to root. I also sowed 40 Vento Onions these are a week earlier than last year which will give them another week to ripen hopefully. when these are through I will not be giving them any artificial light as last year they reached the required size in plenty of time for the shows without any.  

Shallots Large Onions

I have obtained Hative De Niort Shallots from several sources as I needed to build up my stock. The best ones were from Smithy veg  the next best were from Dobies followed by Plants of Distinction and last of all from M Brereton who advertises in the Garden News these were the smallest but good sound bulbs it will be interesting to see if the size of the original bulb determines the size of the new bulbs. (pictured as mentioned left to right)

The large Onions are now in large square pots and are doing well they are still getting 12 hours of daylight the photo shows them in a double seed tray sized gravel tray this enables them to be watered from the bottom.

Ive seen the Light

After speaking to Dave Metcalf on the phone, as I forgot to ask how much light the Leeks needed. I was informed that they only require 12 hours .So as they are in the same place as the Onions I asked him if it was OK to cut down on the light the Onions are receiving he said it was, so everything is now receiving 12 hours of artificial light and ticking along nicely

THE LEEKS HAVE LANDED

Traveled across the Pennines today to collect my Pendle Improved Leeks from Dave Metcalfe. What lovely specimens they are, and what a nice chap Dave is.I learned loads he was very forthcoming with info which I wrote down hastily I now need to make sense of my notes so I can feed out the info.I took a couple of photos below and also one of mine now tucked up in the growing chamber. a photo is also below.

leeks

I had a Brain storm today and decided that although the collection of Pendle improved Leeks was imminent I would sow some leek seeds as a banker. I sowed some Robinson's Giant Leeks in Rootainers they are now awaiting germination. It will be good to see which does best at the shows. I was quite successfull with the Robinsons last year considering I was learning as I went along. I am also a month earlier than last year with the sowing. I also sowed some seeds that I saved from my Runner beans and Poppy the pumpkin to check germination, these have now popped through making my first attempt at saving seeds a success. 

My Final 15

I have now selected my final 15 Onions for size, and potted them on in a mix of John Innes no2 combined with a hand full of Vermiculite a sprinkling of Nutrimate and another sprinkling of powdered Vitax.The root system is very strong and they are growing well,there is a small amount of yellowing to the tips of the leaves I have researched this and it could be down to lack of fertilizer. I have also lifted the lights slightly to accommodate them they are still on 24 hours of light.I am hoping to get one over 10lb so we will see what happens.

The first sowing of the Quality Onions are not far behind, and the second sowing are now through and will be potted on this weekend.

Onion Progress and other veg

Still plenty of veg for the table Sprouts Broccoli Sweedes and Parsnips to name a few are all doing well

Not a lot needs doing at this time of year but the Onions are still progressing.The Large ones sowed about a month ago are growing well they will soon be ready to pot into bigger pots.

Not as good results on the Quality Onions I only managed 20 out of the 80 sown (my fault I let them dry out ) the 20 I did manage to germinate are good specimens with at least 4 roots these have now been potted on and are under the grow lights.I have sown another 40 just to be on the safe side

The first sowing of Giants are now in the tunnel and apart from some heat they are fending for themselves the 12 of them are all a good size. 

Progress Report

The last sowing of Heavy onions have now come through and today I transplanted the strongest 20 in to John Inness no 2 compost most of them had the second root starting to form.They are now under the grow lights receiving 24 hours of daylight.

I also sowed my quality Onions today 84 in total,they are now in the propagator I am aiming for 50 to pot on fingers crossed.I also continued with deepening the Onion bed in the Polly tunnel once this is done and filled I will be having the soil analysed to correct the pH and find out what nutrients are required.

Heavy Onions

My first sowing of Heavy Onions  is now under the Grow light there are 12 plants growing well, I have set the temperature to 50 deg and the growlight at a height to give 17000 lux at plant level. The Onions are receiving 24 hours of daylight at the moment. I have also inserted a soil warming cable to give bottom heat this should hopefully produce a big one.

I also sowed another 40 Vin throup heavy strain Onions a week ago, these are in the propagator and should be through soon all being well. . I will be sowing my Quality Onions also from Vin in the next few days. I have ordered some plants from Vin also to collect in January, this will enable me to pick the best 50 to grow on for a set of  5 for Harrogate.

My Over Winter Onion Sets which are now covered by the new Tunnel are also doing nicely, I need as set of 3 for my local show.The plan is to lift them earlier than the Spring sown setts giving them more time to ripen.

Poppy the Pumpkin and Blackpool

Took the head Gardener to see the Blackpool illuminations last night the highlight of his visit was going to the pub just like his Grandad.He then spent most of the time looking out of the wrong window at the hotels instead of the lights.

Today me and Linda have been digging out a path in to the plot where there is a hill I just wanted to level it out and get some more soil for the Onion bed

I have also carved Poppy the pumpkin ready for all the trick or treaters photo below

TUNNEL VISION

Today I finally managed to get the cover on the tunnel with the help of Ted and Linda, it was quite windy but it went well without any major problems. This will enable me to grow much more under cover next year. I am now going to make all the beds another plank deeper to give the roots of the crops more to go at. I also intend to start my bags of spuds off under cover i have been reliably informed that this is what some of the top growers do so i will give it a try.

I managed to swap a large bag of Onions for 12 Blue plastic drums a couple of weeks ago, some of these will be placed in the large tunnel for Parsnips and long Carrots. I will be taking delivery of my Pendle Improved Leeks from Dave Metclfe at the beginning of December. I have the grow lights rigged up already and this week purchased a soil warming cable to give bottom heat to them and my Onions. I will be sowing some Onions mid November and have some plants ordered from Vin Throup for collection early January

I have also received some seeds from a grower of giant veg in Cornwall they are giant Cabbage which can grow in excess of 70 lb some Marrow seeds from a 111 pound er and some from a 707 pound Squash which should be interesting. thanks again David