Today is the 22nd March and the day we created the Patch! We moved in on the lush green spring grass at the top of the field with the digger and skimmed off the turf and turned over the soil to a bucket's depth. I was delighted at the soft loamy soil and the depth of the top soil. We have had a couple of days of glorious spring weather and now I am itching to get it all hand dug, separated into five beds with paths in between.
I have a huge pile of cow manure from the farm pile to work in. I should get pretty fit in the next few days - lots of digging to do!
Look at that soil! It was good news.....
Today I planted three rows of potatoes in the second bed from the bottom where the soil is deepest. I am planning to keep the bottom bed for fruit - strawberries, raspberries and currants - so it can be covered by a net if need be from the birds. These are Premier second early potatoes...my first planting in the new earth...lovely!
In the plastic greenhouses near the camp I have been sowing in earnest. It is wonderful to know that the baby plants now have a lush manured bed to go into. I am doing a little digging every morning and gradually the beds are being prepared. I have sown a summer purple sprouting broccoli, a romanesco green broccoli for the autumn and Red Arrow winter sprouting broccoli. It's amazing to a novice like me just how long these need to stay in the ground! The winter variety will take a year to come into flower next spring.
lovely roots on the healthy broad bean plant!
These are pandora leeks which will be ready at the end of the summer, tiny little pencil green shoots are coming through. Jiffy pots are perfect for them as I can put them into the earth without disturbing the fragile stems and roots.
