Transplanting the turban

As suspected, the Turk's Turban squash (and the patty pan squash) seeds are a bit big for the little compost pods and are quickly outgrowing them. The roots are already stretching far beyond and I fear if I don't do something about it they'll just die.


Today I cleaned up some old plastic pots (I have collected lots over the years) and got some potting soil to transplant the bigger squashes. There, more room.


I'll wait a few days for the patty pan. One is doing pretty well, the other is just starting to peek through. Overall, I am pretty pleased with the pods. Compact, very easy to handle and transplant, everything germinated eventually, and there's no danger of the soil getting water-logged. I still have another tray but wondering if I actually need it - if everything survives then I already have plenty to fill up my little garden.

Reviewing my plant list for this year I just noticed that I should get the Welsh onions and the rocket (aka arugula) sown. It's not a desperate rush, it's been so cold until recently that a few days won't hurt, but may as well do a first sowing. I have a habit of not spacing sowing out over time so I will try and improve on that.

What I should really do is make a plan of what goes where - I haven't done that this year. Last year, the tomatoes were in the wrong place (not sunny enough) and I think they'll go where the beans were. Keep forgetting what I have, so yes, definitely more planning needed...

finally...another harvest

Finally - some ripe tomatoes (plum, yellow and cherry) and some patty pan squash! I even found some more raspberries.


I pulled a few more white beetroot -- not sure how good they are going to be -- and a cucumber.

Not too thrilled with all of it and intend to make some changes next year:

• Grow fewer tomatoes, get them in earlier and in a sunnier spot.
• Patty pan is fine but grows too big and two out of the three I planted only produced male flowers. Maybe see if I can get a variety that is smaller.
• Dwarf zucchini - give up on them, grow proper ones.
• Don't grow white beetroot, grow leaf beet instead.
• The cucumbers have too many seeds and are too spiny for my liking. Look for a different kind.
• The beans are too stringy to eat as green beans. I'll harvest them later but I think I'll switch back to runner beans "Painted Lady".

Seed wish list for 2009

I have been planning what to grow over the last few days. As always, my wish list may be a bit over-ambitious, especially this year when I have reduced growing space. I will probably also deviate from this list, if I get given seeds or find something amazing in a garden centre.

First off, I will not grow tomatoes from seed. Last year this worked out well, giving me the choice between interesting varieties and, especially in the English climate which makes for a short growing season, probably the best approach to get them going quickly. However, this also means that I have to look out for tomato plants in the garden centre - and I am not blessed with a good garden centre nearby.

I will also not grow carrots. They annoyed me so much last year. This year I will have deal with stonier soil. No, no, no.

I looked for seed suppliers online. Suttons is the biggest, or most well-known one but I think their selection is a bit rubbish. There are various seed suppliers that cater to the allotment and prize grower communities but they didn't have everything I wanted. I also wanted to stick to just one or two places, rather than splitting any orders between multiple suppliers (saves on delivery charges).

The two that I liked most are Thompson-Morgan and Realseeds. Realseeds is particularly interesting as they only carry open-pollinated vegetables and encourage seed saving.

So here is my list (using (T) for Thompson-Morgan and (R) for Readseeds, to indicate where I intend to order them from):

1. Cucumber
Either Marketmore (T) or Wautoma (R). Tending slightly more towards the Wautoma since I haven't seen or grown it before.

2. Patty pan
Growing patty pan squash was great last year. Unfortunately, over here in the UK they seem to be a bit of a rarity so haven't been able to find the colourful range of different types. The best one seems to be a Mixed assortment (T).

3. Zucchini
No garden is complete without at least one bush of them. I will hopefully restrain myself this year and only plant a couple (ha, famous last words...). I am looking for somewhat compact plants and I liked the sound of Verde di Milano Dark Green Dwarf Bush Courgette (R).

4. Potato
There are so many to choose from that I still haven't made up my mind. I may also try and grow them in growing bags, instead of the soil. There are a variety of crosses with Rose Finn Apple which has a delicious flavour - Anya and Harlequin - and a few small potato types ideal for container growing - Mimi and Lady Cristl. All of these come from Thompson-Morgan which offer 5-tuber bags and so I may try out a few.

5. Beans
Usually I grow runner beans in England, as they cope well with cool summers. However, I quite fancy a change and this time I think I will try Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Beans (R).

6. Chard
Love them as a replacement to spinach. I prefer rainbow chard but I only found it in the Marshalls catalogue (breaking my rule of no more than 2 suppliers). Therefore I think I may be stuck with the ordinary Leaf Beet (R).

7. Mange Tout
I had a request from Toxicfingers to grow some peas. I am a firm believer that peas and carrots can be bought much more easily than actually growing them yourself. Hence, I am going for Golden Sweet Mange Tout instead (R).

I may have to give some thought again as to where I am growing all these vegetables. At the moment it is too cold to do anything much outside (it hit -4C last night, warming up to freezing during the day). Maybe next weekend...

Plotting...

Managed to take opportunity of a rare break in the weather to gig in some fertiliser (organic garden vegetable fertiliser from Howard Johnsons, makers of Zoom! - not sure about the quality but can't fault the attractive packaging - and I got it half-price). Hopefully it does something and I still have plenty to do side-dressings.

I have been wondering about the space I have to grow stuff, given the list I prepared earlier. Since I am an organised type I drew a plan of the plot.

Some factors that influenced my decisions to place things:

• Winter squash are in the area where I suspect someone before me had a compost area. Should be fertilised enough for it to do well.
• Beans are grown along a trellis on the side. May have to change that if I get a neighbour on the plot next to me. Thought first about growing them along the fence but garden manager warned me of the projectile qualities of the big stakes that may prove too tempting for neighbourhood kids. May have the trellis in the middle and use it as shading for more delicate plants that may otherwise be roasting over the summer.
• Strawberries are also far, far away from tempted passers-by.
  
• I initially forgot about the compost bin. It's in the exact location where I've been stacking piles of ripped-out weeds.

On other news, I finally met the garden manager. She seems nice and fired up by the job. Apparently, 5 people have volunteered to be Produce for People coordinator this year (!). I'll be playing back-up in case the "official" one can't do a week. Just by chatting we also organised a garden clean-up combined with a seed exchange.

On yet still other news, I seem to winning out over the weeds. Possibly.

Next week: Probably laying out of beds, getting rid of more weeks, sowing rocket (aka arugula) and building a proper compost area with stakes and chicken wire.

Thinking of actually growing stuff

I am mainly going to use the Territorial Seed Company, which is based in Oregon. This appeals to me because a) the plants are local to the climate and therefore may do well in Portland and b) I can walk over to a small nursery that stocks the seeds. I also still have a few old seed packets lurking around, which I am going to try, and I have some strawberry plants from last year in pots. For the rest, I am going to use bought seedlings. All my tomato plants I've ever grown from seed turned out to be weedy and thin and straggly. It is very good to know your limits.

Here is my partial list of what I would like to grow:

• Green beans - pole variety (having found out that it is probably too hot here for runner beans...). I still have 'Kentucky Wonder' and some unidentified beans from the seed exchange at Earth Day.
• Peppers - hot and bell. I'm going to buy plants so will need to see what is available.
• Tomatoes - preferably heirloom. I will buy plants. I may have some grape tomatoes on my porch, too.
  
• Zucchini/summer squash/aka courgettes. I like the look of 'Romulus PM' or 'Sungreen' in the seed catalogue. I never liked the yellow ones enough to grow a whole lot of them.
• Patty pan squash. The 'Flying Saucers' in the seed catalogue look wonderful. I've never grown them before but I may really enjoy eating them.
• Winter squash. There is so much choice, especially if pumpkins are also considered. I have to say that I prefer squash in terms of taste. 'Marina di Chioggia' looks very weird but strangely I'm very attracted to it.
• Collards. I love green leafy vegetables. I also like cabbage. I'll probably try 'Flash'.
• Roquette/arugula. We can eat buckets of that stuff. Doesn't matter what variety.
  

I'm also considering cucumber, broccoli and corn. Maybe I should also plant some carrots for the guinea pigs. Hopefully my patch is as big as I think it is...