Planting up 2 of the beds

It threw it down all morning and then at 2pm the rain stopped and there was some blue in the sky. My daughter Katie offered to help me.

First, we sprinkled a couple of ice-cream from the cinema size tubs of organic chicken manure onto the bed and hoed it in. I bought this from Wilkinson’s. We used some copper nails I found in the garage and a hammer and tapped them into the inside edge of the raised bed 12” apart. Then using garden string we tied it to one nail and looped it to the next until we had made our 12” squares out of the string.

Using the Square Foot Gardening book I made up the first bed by putting the spring cabbage that Matthew had given me along with the kale in the corners of the bed. Because the cabbage has a pink colour to its leaves, I decided to also plant the red onions there too.

I have followed the book and the packets instructions so I have two people to hold responsible in case they don’t grow.

I need some fleece to stop the birds from picking out the onion sets…Don’t think I have any at the moment. You see, on Gardener’s World they just have it all to hand don’t they?

Note to self…when I go to the garden centre for the soil testing kit, I’ll get fleece as well.

Then we did the 6’ X 4’ bed. Around the edge I put a pattern of cabbage and kale with broad beans in the six centre squares. I also pushed the garlic sets into each of the cabbage squares. In the book, he talks about using the corners of the squares to grow something whilst the little plant that will grow big eventually is still growing, if you know what I mean.

The rain stayed off just long enough to do this and take some pictures and have a cup of tea and feel smug. It looks really good.

Is it too late for the soil testing kit?