Where were we ? Ah yes .... beds !

OH said he'd help me on Sunday and advised me not to go to the lottie yesterday cos the Old Firm was playing at Ibrox.

Little does he realise I'm up with the lark and intended to beat the rush both before and after K.O. So with the car fully loaded (what would I do without it?) I got up there about 10am and set about making the final RB. When I say "final", I mean the last one with the wood I have. Now standing back and looking at the layout, there are definitely two areas that would benefit from some edging, but they can wait .......

First things first, make the bed. I had to sacrifice the For Sale post that was in the garden intended to be a support for a leccy cable through to the greenhouse. I needed bed legs, so it had to go ! I'm getting a dab hand at making RBs now. Had this one finished in double quick time.

Now the cabbages and final swede were in the way, so out they came ! There appears to be two different varieties of cabbage, one light green and crunchy, the second deeper and erm, less crunchy ! lol These were donated by an anonymous kind soul earlier in the year so I have no idea as to the names. They have been pulled far too early but will still make 4 or 5 meals worth as long as we eat them and don't just leave them to rot in the fridge !

With the ground now clear, set about digging the foundations for the bed legs. This is always befuddles me, I can never get the beds quite level, or straight for that matter, but they're dug in and done so that's what matters. I'm sure the veg won't worry about slightly out of parallel lines.

Dug the bean bed quite deep and threw that soil into adjacent new bed. Will line the bottom of the bean trench with newspaper and then cow poo today. I was going to have the bean bed right up again the fence, but then I thought about it a bit more and decided I did want a double row, so left enough of a path to pick from the fence side (north). Don't know how the lack of sun will affect that side, but will find out next summer eh ? lol

Removed the final two strawberry plants to take home and over winter. The wee one, was from a runner this year and it has already got a good looking root system on it. No way I'm leaving the strawbs on the plot with the potential flooding.

Got the hanging basket brackets up on the fence posts, empty atm. Could fill them with primroses I suppose as I still have plenty back on the plot that I've not planted out yet.

Planted garlic in the trug ! Only about 20 cloves, but then I really don't need to feed half of Britain ! We do use a fair bit in our cooking but I think I've got enough hanging in the shed to last me a lifetime (for as long as the bulbs will store anyway). Thought I'd just picked up Solent Wight, but would appear that I got a Purple Wight as well.

Hung the jacket up as a flag of loyalty (Rangers tartan). The team must have been watching as they came away with the first OF victory of the season. I kept having to run up to the lovely Jean to keep her updated with the score.

I was thinking of doing a blow by blow round up of the season, but my record keeping has been shocking this year, so here's a few observations instead.

1. Taking on a lottie just the season after getting the plot together was a huge undertaking. In hindsight would I have said "yes" if I'd known exactly how much hard work it was going to take ? .... aye probably. Definitely pleased I only took a quarter plot though. At least by the beginning of next season, I'll be able to concentrate on sowing and growing rather than building and banging.
2. Never mix your Gigantes beans with your runners. They look so similar ! Fantastic crop of Gigantes though and will definitely grow them again next year even if they do take a long growing season.
   
3. Courgettes did reasonably well. Plenty to eat and more than a few in the freezer. Will definitely start them off at home again and plant out when they've got to a reasonable size in pots. Only trouble is, not a clue which variety was which.
   
4. Broad beans will definitely be on the menu again. Love them and have got a successional plan for next season.
5. Cabbages, still not convinced by these. Although I do have two new varieties to try next year. Will give them another shot in half a bed.
6. Was impressed with the swedes even though I'm sure they weren't prize winning size, but at least we got to eat them which was 100% success over last year.
   
7. The beetroot grown in situ were just sown too late to reach any kind of useful size. The early ones raised at home did well though so they'll go in the plan.
8. Blue Lake climbing beans were a winner, but don't think I'll have room for them next year. Have got Dwarf Bush Bean - Purple Teepee instead.
9. Ahmed's Bosnian Pumpkin was delish however took up loads of room. I may find a home for him on the plot next season but not at the lottie.
10. Find a new way of growing leeks. The hassle of having to weed around them was a right faff, and my nicely prepared holes just seemed to fill up with soil far too fast. Some are getting to a reasonable size but a lot of them still look like large spring onions !
11. Green manure is the way to go. That's one bed I've not had to worry about since I sowed the Mustard way back. All I can see is Mustard, no weeds ! Like that idea lots !
12. Will definitely plan and label better. For all my playing with excel charts, I simply lost track of what was where and when it was planted, and simply MUST find a pen that doesn't fade in the sun !
    
13. Must get the watering and feeding thing sorted though. Everything was left to it's own devices this year and I'm sure with a bit of TLC I would have got more and bigger than I did.
14. Don't go mad with the seed catalogues. Realistically I have enough to last me until the end of time................. famous last words.
    

There's still a lot of work to do, filling the beds with old compost bags and the like, but hopefully the hard part is done (apart from getting the netting and supports sorted and everything else that I've forgotten already ! ).

Found this purty wee pink thing over the back in the nature reserve. No idea what it is, but it's very girly !

Am away next weekend with the A4A girlies so must get up there again today so have another good bash. No useful daylight to get much done after work nowadays and just SO much still to do on the plot.

Have a good one folks !