As you know I’m part of a growing community called Garden Connect. The idea behind it being that if growers from all over the world grew the same types of vegetables, in the same way, at the same time of year it would be rather interesting to see how each person’s crops progressed and the harvest each country produced (or states and counties within each country). The layout of the garden has been designed by Matt (the creator of Garden Connect).
Courtesy of Matt of Hiemstra Gardens
Month 4 Update
Just a very quick update this month. I realised I’d nearly gone past June without posting my update (my bad).
The good
- Cucumbers have slowed their growth right down. The leaves started to turn yellow which was rectified quite quickly by applying a generous watering of Epsom salts however the growth is taking a while to come back.
- I’m really pleased with the curly kale. Very easy to grow and have had two good meals from it already. It really taste delicious and so far although some butterfly eggs have been found it’s nothing compared to last year.
- The spinach has also taken off and am eagerly harvesting leaves to keep the growth in check
- Some of the carrots are nearly ready for harvest. I pulled one out just to check but it needs another week – the color looks fantastic though
- The bush beans are growing at a phenomenal speed now. Not sure if I should be supporting them in any way? I haven’t so far, they seems to be supporting each other in the bed. Having thinned the beans out I’ve still got 9 plants in the space.
- The poppies and calendula I substituted for the nasturtiums are doing wonderfully well. Both are flowering and I’ve seen many bees buzzing around the poppy heads.
- The chillies are flowering and producing pods so no worries in that department. I think the weather is having a positive impact. It’s warm enough to create flowers while being cool enough at night to retain moisture.
- The onions are doing really well in their space. I thought maybe they might not like the crowding but I think I’ve managed to leave just enough space to produce bulbs they may not be as big as normal onions but big enough for eating and cooking with.
The bad
- Still no parsnips. Something has grown but I’m not sure it’s anything but weeds. Very disappointing
- The lettuce is a constant battle to get big enough before the slugs sneak in however I haven’t added any slug pellets so it’s my fault they are struggling
- The beats are struggling to make any headway. This could be because they are situated between the enormous growth of their neighboring tomatoes and the ornamental poppy growth that lives behind the garden connect bed. A lot of the seeds haven’t germinated so I won’t be getting so much of a harvest from these when they are ready. They would have been better placed as per the diagram above.
The ugly
- I’m not sure what’s happened to the tomato plants but they seem to be sprouting all over. The four plants I thinned out to have completely filled their space allocation, and rather than getting taller appear to be getting wider!
Photos!
