My real address is rodthegardeneratmyisp

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
In article , Muddymike
writes

That's impressive Rod. Thanks for sharing it with us. I for one
would like
to see more pics as the season progresses.

Mike




Oh yes definitely. A closer look at the type of vegetables and how
you are growing them as well!
What are the frames for, do you actually have the luxury of a
vegetable cage!
Yes, but it's a legacy from when this was a shooting estate and
pheasants were reared just over the wall. The moment the young birds
could fly they were over into the kitchen garden and they were
devastating, I could go in there some mornings and find a couple of
hundred young pheasants in the crops. This was in my early years of
working here and struggling with various forms of temporary netting
covers - after some years and a particularly bad attack I finally got
the estate to let me make these cages. Shooting finally stopped here a
few years ago when my old boss died but the cages remain and they're
still a useful protection against pigeons in this well wooded area.
As for growing methods, it's all fairly conventional deep bed practice
plus careful watering (properly - more later) and just watching the
crops and their response to me and the conditions.
Watering is something that drives all head gardenersand nursery
managers mad. It seems to be almost impossible to teach and persuade
anyone to put enough on, in the right place and without blasting the
plants out. So not wanting to teach you to suck eggs ;~) this if for
anybody else wondering why things aren't doing well. Dribbling a bit
of water down a row of peas won't do, you need to visualise the extent
of the root run of the mature crop and at least get the whole volume
of that soil thoroughly wetted. Don't rely on nature to provide all
the water container crops need but be mindful of overwatering.
Thoroughly water seed drills before sowing in dry conditions. If
planting container grown plants (especially large expensive ones) out
in the garden, watch them like a hawk for the next couple of growing
seasons. If you're planting a £20 plant, dig a £50 hole (with
apologies to Geoff Smith for the misquote and updated figures) and
incorporate plenty of well rotted organic stuff and making sure the
bottom of the hole is draining OK.
You're probably losing the will to live so I'll leave it at that for
now.
--
Rod