The garlic we sowed back in April is growing nicely. The variety is Solent Wight which is usually sowed in November. I thought we’d go for a Spring sowing to see what would happen, and sowed it in pots as garlic likes good drainage. It’s also easy to weed as we don’t have to scramble through the beds like for the onions!
We have just started feeding the garlic with a general purpose fertiliser, and will need to do so every two weeks until it is ready.
Should be ready about August time i think, that’s if the pots are big enough and it doesn’t die! The garlic is in a temporary position at the moment as we are putting a new surface down between the beds…it’ll need to go back into full sun as soon as poss!
Legumes – The far bed has runner beans which have just reached the top of their canes, and the broad beans which are still producing, but the blackfly is taking over. Next to that i have planted some more broad beans and have decided on 8ft canes…not sure i’ll be able to reach the tops to pinch them out! We’ve also got a variety of lettuce and Endive in here, which we seem to have a never ending supply of!
Brassicas – The cauliflowers all have heads…much earlier than i thought they would, and the rocket is growing nicely in their shade. We’ve also got turnips hiding in there, which i planted just to see what they would do, but which are growing quicker than anything else. The purple sprouting broccoli is alive still after having a bit of a munching lately, but nothing that a picking off of a few caterpillars won’t solve. This bed also contains a foxglove, poached egg flower which will encourage pest-eating insects into the garden when they flower!